How to Preach: Times, Seasons, Texts and Contexts

In How to Preach, Samuel Wells goes beyond the arts and disciplines of preparing, crafting and delivering sermons, to explore preaching as an act of worship and prayer. Here, preachers will discover how being attentive to God, to Scripture, to the world, to their hearers, and to themselves can inform and shape their message. They will be renewed in joining the long tradition of witnessing to the revelation of God in every area of human experience. Preaching takes many forms and responds to many different needs and occasions. This broad-ranging volume considers: - the times in which we live: politics, society, freedom, disability and war - the seasons of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost - the variety of biblical texts: Old Testament narratives and poetry, Gospel miracles and parables, the writings of Paul - life's key moments: baptisms, weddings and funerals. For each topic, there is reflection on the demands and opportunities presented, ways of approach, sermon examples, and memorably wise and uncompromising practical guidelines that will nourish and inspire all who long to embrace the call to preach more faithfully.