Many people in the church carry hidden pain: anxiety that keeps them awake, depression that makes every day feel heavy, or trauma that flares up in quiet moments. For some, that pain feels like a weight they cannot lift. They may feel like they must perform faith perfectly, or they worry that their struggle means they don’t have enough faith. But the means of grace—preaching, prayer, fellowship, the sacraments, and pastoral presence—are not tools we use to prove our faith. They are gifts God gives to sustain us when we are weak, weary, and unable to carry everything alone.
Preaching
Building a Moveable Pulpit for Mental Health: Connecting Our Stories to God’s Story
Preaching should and must have a great impact on the welfare, present and future, of the human race. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the US struggles with mental illness in a given year.
Principles of Hermeneutics, Homiletics and Expository Sermon Writing
If you wrote a letter with some statements in it that are a little ambiguous, then what does the letter mean? It means what you intended it to mean, not what the reader thinks it might mean. The true meaning of a text resides in the authorial intent of the text.
Tim Keller on Preaching to a Mixed Audience
Posted on 2011/09/21 by Daniel L. Sonnenberg I appreciate the work of Pastor Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian in downtown Manhattan in New York City. Over the past twenty years he has brought the Gospel to bear on a generation of mostly professionals… Read More ›
Thoughts on Preaching
Posted on 2011/08/10 by Daniel L. Sonnenberg I am adjusting to the new responsibility of preaching every Sunday. My preaching responsibilities in the past were more infrequent, so I’m adjusting to a much faster pace. I love God’s word and the process of… Read More ›
Lloyd-Jones on the Practice of Real Preaching
Lloyd-Jones on the Practice of Real Preaching by Daniel L. Sonnenberg, Wilmington, NC
Four Reasons Preaching is a Supernatural Event
Written for Dr. Steve Brown, Communication II, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando), 2003. Preaching is a supernatural event for at least four reasons. First, preaching is the proclamation and application of Scripture which is God-breathed. Scripture itself tells us that it is metaphorically… Read More ›