Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Many biblical texts seem almost impossible to preach. They may be violent or terrifying or strange or abrasive. They may deal with matters simply beyond human experience. The preacher could well be tempted to choose an easier text on offer! But leaving taxing passages untouched means the Bible is effectively silenced.
In Wrestling with the Word, well-known and accomplished preachers grapple with a range of notoriously difficult biblical Old and New Testament texts. As well as providing sample sermons - in an exhilarating variety of structural styles and voices - they offer ideas to help in the planning process of interpreting and applying such passages.
'A well-constructed and delivered sermon has the potential to inspire people as few other experiences can.'
The Rt Revd John Pritchard, from the Foreword
KATE BRUCE is tutor in preaching at Cranmer Hall on BA and MA courses, holds a PhD in Preaching and Imagination, and is on the executive of the College of Preachers.She is a sought after preacher and teacher of preaching (Reader training, clergy IME/CME, CRE seminar stream, free church training courses, collaboration with other TEI’s). She chairs the successful Durham Preaching Conference and launched The Durham Preaching School in 2015, working with younger preachers in a variety of contexts. She is passionate about imaginative preaching and committed to preaching and encouraging others to preach across the whole of the bible, rather than cherry picking texts.
JAMIE HARRISON has been a Reader for over 30 years in a variety of church contexts and is a former Chair of the Ely Diocesan Readers’ Board. He is a lay member of the General Synod and of the Clergy Discipline Commission, a Lay Canon of Durham Cathedral and a Reader at St Nicholas, Durham.
THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
1 The call to preach Kate Bruce 3
2 Wrestling with the theology of preaching Kate Bruce 13
Part 2
SERMONS ON TRICKY TEXTS
3 Beyond human experience 25
John 11.1- 44 James Dunn 26
Matthew 17.1-13 Magdalen Smith 31
Matthew 27.51-28.8 Roy Searle 36
Homiletic strategies 41
4 Violent 44
Psalm 137 John Bell 45
Judges 4.4 - 22 Kate Bruce 50
Mark 6.14 - 29 Walter Moberly 55
Homiletic strategies 61
5 Terrifying 63
Judges 11.28 - 40 Richard Briggs 64
Judges 19.16 - 30 Alison Wilkinson 71
Genesis 22.1 - 19 Geoffrey Stevenson 75
Homiletic strategies 81
6 Strange 84
Daniel 5 Jolyon Mitchell 85
Exodus 28.29 - 39 Miriam Swaffield 92
Genesis 1 David Wilkinson 98
Homiletic strategies 105
7 Abrasive 107
1 Corinthians 11.1-16 Lis Goddard 108
Mark 10.2-16 Mark Tanner 113
Romans 13.1-7 Lindsey Goodhew 118
Homiletic strategies 123
Part 3
WRESTLING WITH THE WORD
8 An Archbishop's sermon Justin Welby 127
9 A last sermon Ruth Etchells 131
'Song' 139
'The Last Enemy' 140
10 From tricky text to lifestyle change: the debate about application David Day 141
Afterword by Jamie Harrison 151
Appendix: David Day - a life well preached 154
Select bibliography 158