Essays on Preaching

It is said that great character comes from the inside of a person and not the outside; that good people can be found in any race, color, gender and creed. Such is true in the case of Amanda Smith, a pioneer in evangelism and servitude during the late 19th century. Smith’s genuine character proved that goodness could transcend color, gender and tragic experience. Amanda Smith was born into slavery on January 23, 1837 in a rural town in Maryland. She spent the majority of the adolescent and adult years, however, in York, Pennsylvania, joining the family there after ...

MIN-807

The church gets its disciples from the societies that surround it. In order to get these followers, the church has to convince them of gospel kingdom and make them tailor their ways of life just as it is taught in the bible. Hitherto developed disciples were once naïve and young Christians in the kingdom. Just as the military gets its personnel from a community at large, the church too does. This calling of new Christians into a church and teaching them on how to be true disciples can be seen as a recruitment process. This paper aims at ...

Evangelism is defined as spreading the message of Christianity, both to people who are already followers of the religion as well as those who belong to other faiths. The principle of evangelism is that it is not only sufficient to be aware of the teachings of Jesus Christ, but to share that knowledge and information with members of the community, friends and family. Evangelical preaching can be in the form of both one to one interactions as well as large scale preaching to a substantial number of people . In the first instance, the principles of the Christian religion as ...

Importance of ethos in Pastoral Ministry

Pastoral ministerial ethos involve the accepted code of conduct by the pastors in their daily devotion to the work of God. These are the qualities that are morally and spiritually upright that distinguish the pastors from mere men. Every pastor must engage this ministerial ethos so that the gospel be effective. Ministerial ethos are so important because they help a pastor to conduct every function following a spiritual blueprint that offers guidelines that the minister of the Gospel ought to follow (Gula, 2010). Ministerial ethos like total obedience to the word of God will help the servant of God ...

When one ignores the literary genre, the person violates the covenant of the Biblical author and the Holy Spirit. In the process, the understanding of the message would not be in agreement with God’s will and, therefore, would be misleading. For example, parables do not have a direct meaning and requires one to interpret them as the author intended to get the right meaning. At the same time, the way one reads and interpret Proverbs e.g. the book of Proverbs is not the same way one would read and understand prophetic-apocalyptic literature like the book of Revelations. Ignoring ...

Sermons usually have many ideas, but all of them stem out from the main idea of the sermon. Haddon Robinson, in his book Biblical Preaching, came out with “The Big Idea Preaching”. The Big idea is an organizing factor, and preachers should organize sermons based on it. There are two purposes of using this method of preaching. First, the congregation would have something lasting in their minds after the sermon is over and secondly, the sermon is organized around one major idea allowing for a better understanding of the message the preacher is trying to convey. It is significant ...

Lot’s and Paul’s stories in the Bible

Lot’s Encounter A crucial and outstanding aspect that has been well presented in Genesis chapter 19 is the issue of remaining righteous no matter the situation at hand has been demonstrated in an amplified way (Carroll & Prickett, 2008). At times, a heavy resentment has to be overcome with not so favorable options, but just to defend what is righteous. In Sodom, the two messengers could not find a room to stay. No one accepted strangers in the place since they did not adhere to the immoral culture that had taken root in the region. The two strangers were ...

A servant is hurried by his master to go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame people to his master’s house; the servant states that he had already made the invitation, but that there was still room after persons had responded to the invitation as others had cited various reasons why they could not come. The master then told him to go beyond to the hedges and to the highways and to compel people to come in, so that he could have a full house (Luke 14:20-13). ...

The differences between the Christianity and Judaism lie in the differences of understanding, evaluation and apprehension of the Old Testament and the New Testament. To understand what happens then, we must first take into account the fact that, originally, the nascent Christian movement is fully Jewish. Jesus himself is Jewish. His disciples were Jewish. And all the great figures of the first Christian generation, Jacques, Peter, and Paul, to name a few, are Jews. Thus, the Christian movement was born and began to grow within Judaism. However, that Judaism was soon through a terrible crisis, caused by the destruction ...

Abstract

The book "Mystics, Maverick and Merrymakers" talks about the Jews religion. The author gives a glimpse of the inner worlds and daily lives of the Hasidic girls. There are many characters mentioned in the book that have different characteristics. Some are portrayed as weak while others are seen as strong. A character is strong based on his or her degree of self-knowledge, ability to take responsibility for his action, ability to cope with difficulties and awareness of an event (Saddock and Virginia 49). These individuals grow and acquire new ideas from the challenges that face them. A weak character, ...

ISLAMIC SUFISM

Introduction There has been a profound link between the art and the spiritual depth of humans because the true form of art is assumed to be a reflection of the various thoughts, beliefs, and emotions existent in the spirit of the individuals. Religion is a definite medium to address all the above three aspects of humans and therefore, religion has an equally significant impact on the artworks as well. Like all the other prominent religions of the world, Sufism (Islam) is highly capable of reflecting the core facets of spiritual refinement, precision, and profundity in its art forms. The ...

My experience visiting different churches was a tough task because I never been in any church other than my religion. Being Muslims, we are not encouraged to do it, but I asked permission to our Imam (priest in Islam) about the assignment in school. However, in my heart, I am willing to perform the task in order for me to learn more about other religions. Even though I felt uncomfortable, I managed to visit four churches in the city; Soka Gakkai International (Buddism), Cape Bible Chapel, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and First Baptist Church, respectively.

Soka Gakkai International

First, I visited the Soka ...

Buddhism is a way of life that has always fascinated me. The principles of Buddhism and the philosophical elements have always attracted me to know more about the religion. This paper is an effort to elaborate why Buddhism is of interest to me as a student in religious studies. Buddha Shakyamuni is believed to be the founder of Buddhism. He lived and preached in the Indian subcontinent some two thousand five hundred years back. From that time onwards, a huge number of people from around the world have adopted the unpolluted spiritual route of Buddhism and the preaching based ...

The Impact of Charles Spurgeon On the Christian Church

Hermeneutics is succinctly defined as the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures. Mostly known for his oratory display of interpreting the scriptures, Spurgeon was a great preacher. He was so gifted in this area, that by the age of twenty-years-old, he was pastoring in London and invited to preach at many events throughout the city. Historians state the following about his preaching influenced parishioners to listen to his sermons: “His energy and oratorical skills and harmonious voice earned him such a reputation that within a year and a half, he was invited to preach in London, at the ...

Introduction

The essay chooses works of art in the Museum’s collection belonging to different periods. These include ancient as well as modern examples of art and architecture from different geographical locations.

Art from 200 to 1000 - 6th–7th century

Camel with Packboards and Baggage The Bactrian camel is about 11 inches in height and is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum. Made of Earthenware with pigment, the camel carries the right proportions and has been carefully modeled. It is captured in a movement and as it is about to take the next step. Except for the packboard, there is no other object or ornament on the camel. The ...

The supremacy of God in preaching is one of the many books by John Piper and just like all of his other books; the central focus of the book is about the glory of God. It advocates the common saying that Piper, who has served as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist church for thirty-three years makes in all his preaching and writing that God is most glorified when people are most satisfied in him. Throughout the book, Piper makes the clarion call that preachers should make the glory of God the central pillar in their preaching rather than focusing ...

Religion is an organized system of practices and behaviors, ceremonies, world views, mythologies, ethics, holy place, and sacred tests that relate to humanity. Different religious groups are made up of various elements. The elements may differ on grounds of what is being worshiped, sacred things, and divinity. All religions have their practices, and these may include sermons, sacrifices, festivals, rituals, initiations, matrimonial services, prayer, music, and dance (Doyle 107). In most instances, religious groups will always have sacred history and narratives, which tend to be preserved in sacred books, and holy place (Jung 112). Through religion, the origin of ...

1. What were the causes of revolution in the British colonies of North America in the 18th century; France in the 18th century; and Mexico in the 19th and 20th centuries? The feeling of inadequate representation caused unpopular unrest that led to revolutions in France, America and Mexico. Americans opposed taxation without representation and in France, heavy taxation and king’s incompetence made the people rise up to overthrow the political establishment. In Mexico, oppression of the majority by a clique of powerful elite made the masses take up arms. Desire for equality and freedom informed these revolutions. ...

Subject

The politics affecting Middle Eastern countries has a direct impact o world economies and politics. Yet, the political system of Muslim countries greatly differs from modern Western concepts, leading to misconceptions about the morality of such a system and doubts about its feasibility in the modern democratic world of politics. In this paper, I will be firstly be discussing how religion and politics in Islam cannot be separated. I will further discuss the rationality behind Islamic politics existing in the modern democratic scenario. Unlike Christianity, Islam does not consider its clergy and its political rule to be different and to ...