Sermon Seeds Year C Inclusive Reflections For Preaching From The United Church Of Christ

In the United Church of Christ, we hope to not only preach God's extravagant welcome but we aim to provide help for sermon preparation for preachers of progressive churches. "Sermon Seeds: Year C Inclusive Reflections for Preaching from the United Church of Christ" offers the preacher tools to listen for the Stillspeaking God. Kathryn Matthews Huey offers scholarly and personal wisdom for your sermon preparation.

Written in expansive, inclusive language, characteristic of the United Church of Christ and drawing on the finest biblical scholarship, Sermon Seeds provides reflections on selected texts for every Sunday all in one volume. New and seasoned preachers will gain inspiration and valuable insight through this collection of thoughtful biblical interpretations.

Note: This is the eBook version, and does not contain the DVD nor the DVD contents that the print version contains. If you preach, you are looking for ways to create worship experiences that keep people on the edge of their seats, straining to hear every word. Sermon Seeds helps pastors who want to approach the job of preaching more creatively by suggesting out-of-the-box surprises that bring about deeper understanding of God’s message. Creative, multifaceted sermons can happen without extensive technology, money, or staff. Sermon Seeds stirs creative juices by providing ideas that can easily be adapted for use in a variety of settings. Contains forty creative sermon starters, each complete with the Scripture passage, message theme and elements, background information, creative avenue, and suggested ending. Themes include: Passing the Mantle, The Bread-Maker God—Holy Communion, and Grace: Breaking Through the Barriers.

Jesus used his parables to teach ordinary persons with mundane concerns about the kingdom of God; and because these simple stories contain universal truth that transcends time and culture, they still strike a powerful chord with us nearly two millennia later. Preaching the Parables provides a gold mine of background material on each of the eighteen parables appearing in Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Dallas Brauninger brings a fresh, imaginative approach to these familiar texts, probing them to reveal what they tell us about God and inviting further reflection on what they mean for us today. Preaching the Parables is more than just a sermon preparation resource; it's also stimulating reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how God speaks to us through the parables. Modeled on the format of Brauninger's popular Preaching the Miracles series, each chapter in Preaching the Parables includes five sections: - Text -- the entire parable text is reproduced, eliminating the need to flip back and forth to a Bible - What's Happening? -- a synopsis of points of action within the story, defining its movement, conflict, and change or resolution - Spadework -- significant terms are examined through a survey of Hebrew and New Testament writings - Parallel Scripture -- similarities and differences with parallel stories in the other Gospels are highlighted; where the story is unique, parallel words and concepts are examined - Chat Room -- readers are creatively engaged in a variety of imaginary online exchanges, ranging from interviews with parable characters to browsing ideas to self-driven conversations. This permission-giving resource encourages the reader to develop questions for the text. It's the kind of yeast that gives rise to new shades and flavors of meaning. Preaching the Parables nourishes a fresh receptivity to the speaking of the Spirit of God in the lectionary passage and in life. Nancy B. Rohde Interim Pastor, Charlevoix United Church of Christ Charlevoix, Michigan What a refreshingly helpful way to exegete the text. The succinct but substantive "Spadework," "Parallel Scripture," and "Chat Room" sections provide the preacher with an exciting array of ways to understand and give meaning to the parables. Brauninger's writing will afford the reader many "Ahas." Diana Coberly Pastor, First Congregational United Church of Christ Great Bend, Kansas Dallas A. Brauninger, a cum laude graduate of Albion College, received her Master of Divinity degree and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Chicago Theological Seminary. A full-time writer, she has served churches in Colorado and Nebraska. Brauninger is the recipient of denominational honor for outstanding ministry to persons with disabilities and their families, and she is the editor of That All May Worship And Serve, her denomination's national disabilities ministry newsletter. She and her husband, both ordained ministers in the United Church of Christ, live in Friend, Nebraska.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith

This collection of essays expands knowledge about the diversity of the UCC, and connects the UCC with many significant developments in American religious and ethnic history. It explores such areas as Native American Protestantism, black Christian churches, a schism in the German Reformed Church, Armenian congregationalism's missionary beginnings, German congregationalism, blacks and the American Missionary Association, Deaconess ministries, the Schwenkfelders, the Calvin Synod (Hungarian), women's work and women's boards, and Japanese-American congregationalists.

"The book chronicles Cheri DiNovo's own attempts as a minister to expand the membership of a rapidly shrinking congregation in a poor, inner city Toronto neighborhood. As a result, DiNovo discovers that, in her congregation's decision to evangelize among the marginalized and "queer" in their neighborhood, church members are radically changed by realizing how "queer" or different they are themselves."--Jacket.