Monday Musings – Page 4 – Ordinary Christian Ministries

Humor in Preaching?

“Jokes don’t really have a place in sermons. To tell a joke that is obviously set down in a sermon […]

“I must make clear in my preaching that I preach what I have been told to preach. I serve the

“My colleague, Stanley Hauerwas, was recently asked about the moral confusion of contemporary clergy. Hauerwas said something to the effect

“Informed imitation, that’s our goal. We don’t listen to the preaching of others so that we can be slavish imitators.

“Unfortunately, we preachers are not always attentive to issues of delivery. Bad habits are often begun in seminary. The professor

“The effective sermon is not simply a report on what the preacher may or may not think. Rather, the engaging

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for,

In one of his recent books, William Willimon, offers some sound counsel concerning preaching with the aid of a manuscript

“Use prayer as a boring rod, and wells of living water will leap up from the bowels of the Word….Prayer

“You and I, as preachers, are dealers in words. Words are all that we have to do any important work.

“Sometimes people say, “God? Oh, can’t say anything definitive about God. God is large, nebulous, and vague.” We wish. By

“Ministry itself can create a mask of performance, the projection of success. Everyone wants to be a winner. In contrast,