Inflections make or break a good sermon. Make sure you are conversing with people, not just speaking “at” them. The word in scripture when Jesus speaks with His disciples is “lalein” –to chatter, discuss, chat with, converse with…. all together like “bird twitter.”...
Metaphor is timeless. This is the beauty of metaphor. This is why the Hebrew scriptures can be so enduring and wonderful and illuminate Jesus so well! But metaphor also manifests within Time and Place. And we need to understand how and why certain metaphors were...
In wintry days when the best solution for a nasty cold is salt water nasal rinse… it’s a great time to talk about the value of salt. The “salt covenant” was a key metaphor in Hebrew thought, and Jesus used that metaphor several times as well. The shepherds knew...
This year, Christmas Eve falls on Sunday. That means for many churches, more emphasis on liturgy, and the bells and smells of Christmas on that last Sunday in advent, as well as evening services. Christmas Eve is a time more than any other when we break out the...
Many times when we read the same scriptures over and over, we wonder how to make them new. You can not only focus on the metaphors but the characters of scripture in advent. What is Mary’s story? Joseph’s story? The Shepherd’s story? What are the various perspectives...
Many pastors lament over doing the same scriptures each year for advent and Christmas. What to do? Here’s where your metaphors can help! Look at the metaphors in the scriptures. Exegete those images to find that they link to many other scripture stories in the Hebrew...
