Preaching Justice

Preaching Justice brings together eight very diverse voices from eight distinct cultural/ethnic communities, challenging them to articulate the specific justice concerns, issues, and passions that give rise to a preaching ministry within the their own community and beyond. Theological analyses are offered by theses persons representing their particular communities: Kathy Black - persons with disabilities Martin Brokenieg - Native Americans Teresa Fry Brown - African Americans Eleazar Fernandez - Filipino Americans Justo Gonzalez - Hispanics Eunjoo Mary Kim - Korean Americans Stacy Offner - Jews Christine Marie Smith - lesbians and gays This volume offers a rare vision of what transforms preaching might sound and look like, and urges that all preaching - whatever community it comes from, whatever community it hopes to reach - be grounded in the sacred acts of listening and knowing.

The principal concern of this book is not complex theoretical discussions of justice so common to the discipline of ethics, but how working for justice fits into the church's mission and especially into its preaching. An opening chapter sets forth a biblical and theological basis for the conviction that justice is at the heart of the church's mission and witness. Then follows a chapter on preaching that distinguishes between merely moralizing about justice and genuinely preaching it. The remaining chapters in the book speak of preaching justice in dialogue with current contextual realities such as: (1) the racism of our American context, (2) the church's pentecostal heritage of communicating in and through all cultures, (3) the fact that much of the injustice in our society is a by-product of greed in its individual and enculturated manifestations, and (4) the need to deal appropriately and faithfully with the multicultural context of today. A concluding chapter brings the preacher back into the context of the church and its gospel foundations, that is, the source of preaching justice and walking together with the people of God in quest of it. James M. Childs is the Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and Ethics and Academic Dean at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of Faith, Formation, and Decision: Ethics in the Community of Promise (1991) and Ethics in Business: Faith at Work (1995). For: Clergy, seminarians, homileticians, ethicists, peace-and-justice readerships, students of mission and modern culture

The call to holistic preaching has many dimensions. Are we called to preach the good news of God's grace? Advocate for justice? Is preaching worship? A prophetic act? "Yes," Jennifer Ackerman answers--to all of the above. Through personal stories, biblical examples, and concrete advice, readers will learn how to join gospel and justice in community. Ackerman draws on her experience as a practitioner, teacher, and director of Brehm Preaching--A Lloyd John Ogilvie Initiative at Fuller Theological Seminary to provide concrete tools for readers seeking to develop their capacity for preaching with a relational focus. Ackerman helps us think about preaching through the lenses of community, justice, worship, and prophecy. The work of the church is work best done together, both within congregations and as ministers connect with fellow practitioners. Grounded in Scripture, with tangible resources and exemplar sermons, Preaching the Gospel of Justice is a hands-on tool for translating theory into practice.

"This edited volume conveys the urgency of Christian antiracism preaching from ecumenical, intercultural, and intergenerational perspectives"--

This is the final volume in a unique new commentary series that helps the preacher identify and reflect on the social implications of the biblical readings in the Revised Common Lectionary. The essays concentrate on the themes of social justice in the weekly texts and how those themes can be teachable moments for preaching social justice in the church. In addition to the lectionary days, there are essays for twenty-two "Holy Days of Justice," including Martin Luther King Day, Earth Day, World AIDS Day, and Children's Sabbath. These days are intended to enlarge the church's awareness of God's call for justice and of the many ways that call comes to the church and world today.

Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Hearts Minds Bookstore's Best Books RELEVANT's Top 10 Books Englewood Review of Books Best Books When Soong-Chan Rah planted an urban church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his first full sermon series was a six-week exposition of the book of Lamentations. Preaching on an obscure, depressing Old Testament book was probably not the most seeker-sensitive way to launch a church. But it shaped their community with a radically countercultural perspective. The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Lament recognizes struggles and suffering, that the world is not as it ought to be. Lament challenges the status quo and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Soong-Chan Rah's prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church's relationship with a suffering world. It critiques our success-centered triumphalism and calls us to repent of our hubris. And it opens up new ways to encounter the other. Hear the prophet's lament as the necessary corrective for Christianity's future. A Resonate exposition of the book of Lamentations.

Keller explores a life of justice empowered by an experience of grace.