Posts By Homiletics Team
Over the years of publication Homiletics Online has had many contributing authors. This team has worked diligently to thoughtfully craft material to assist in sermon preparation.
Recent headlines about ChatGPT may have you wondering about using artificial intelligence (AI) to write sermons — or at least to conduct sermon research. In fact, some people are promoting AI as a time-saving tool for overworked church leaders. Most pastors can relate to being short on sermon-prep time, or lacking ideas for yet another…
Summertime in ministry often means moving time, particularly for pastors in the Methodist tribe who criss-cross the country just before July 1. If you’re passing a moving van on the highway any time between June 15 and the Fourth of July, there’s a pretty good chance a set of John Wesley’s journals is somewhere inside. But it…
The original telephone was a large wooden box, often in a walnut finish, that hung on the wall. When it rang, you had to get up, go to it, and speak into a microphone mounted on the box. In 1919, the “candlestick” tabletop model was introduced. In the 1920s, the black desktop device with a…
The season for pastoral moves in some denominations is right around the corner. While you’re packing boxes, painting walls, grousing about mortgage rates, and threatening to fire your realtor, you’re also looking forward to a new church where the people will certainly be nicer, the building is new and problem-free, and the worship is more…
As preachers, we spend most of our time trafficking in words. We’re constantly thinking about the words we’re going to speak to a congregation each week, which also means studying the Word of God in the words of the Scriptures. Then we deliver those words and receive the words of encouragement (or rebuke) from the…
Christmas Eve is almost here, but we know it’s been on your mind for a while. You started planning sometime in September or October, psyching yourself up for the big night like a pro football player prepping for the Super Bowl. You ordered the manger-themed bulletin covers and decided to get a few more than…
’Tis the season to be … what? Grateful? Jolly? Joyful? For many, it’s the season to be depressed. Yes, we’d all like to feel thankful sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner with loved ones or celebrating the joy of the Nativity, but the sad fact is that the holiday season can be a time of…
In Homer’s Iliad, a scene depicts a footrace between Odysseus, the hero, and his rival Ajax. As the race plays out, Ajax breaks out to a big lead and it soon becomes obvious that Odysseus is going to lose. As they come down the home stretch, Odysseus does what athletes seem to have been doing…
You’ve just finished writing an epic sermon that is sure to cause your congregation to be overwhelmed by the Spirit. They’ll marvel at your stunning command of biblical exegesis and the brilliance of your powerful illustrations. This one is definitely a home run — a grand slam, even. Problem is that your finished draft is…
“In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” wrote Tennyson. What the poet chose to leave out, however, is that in the same season the fancy of many young women turns to thoughts of a wedding. Those of us who deal professionally with couples and their wedding ceremonies often find…
