Homiletics is the study of the composition and delivery of a religious message such as a sermon, bible study or other type of message. There are two basic forms of homiletics. They are evangelistic (preaching the gospel to those who are not Christians) and pastoral (teaching those who have the Spirit of God in them). We will navigate through the history and development of the two in this study. Definition and Background of Homiletics Functional Preaching For Today Structural Composition Planning A Preaching Plan
We tend to think of our time in a Chronos mindset. We think of having 24 hours in a day. We define our workweeks by the number of hours that we work. We have a list of things to do and only so much time to get everything done. Being conscious of our minutes and seconds is a good thing. We should number our days as the scripture says. Our time on earth is so brief, and we want to be good stewards of every second that we must glorify God on this earth. But ironically, this chronos mindset can make us miss what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5. Paul instructs us to redeem the kairos – to pay attention and take advantage of the opportune times and seasons.
Have you noticed - so many voices are speaking for God, I wonder have many of them actually spoken to God lately. Makes one wonder how much more does God need to say new? Far too many people today are “led by the Spirit” to do things explicitly prohibited by Scripture. But this subjective leading may overrule Scripture because truth is relative to them and not absolute. The affirmation of irrational contradictions (a redundancy) is justified by appeals to a “higher order of logic” found in the mind of God through their feelings and not through their intellect. Coupled with the need of so many to claim titles or key positions, you wonder just who is the real VOICE OF GOD! Let's explore these issues together in this forum.
Women in leadership or ministry positions in the church has been a highly controversial subject for many centuries. Looking at this subject in this webinar is not a "put down" on women or their abilities as both sincere Christian men AND women stand on both sides of the question. What we really want to know is: what does the Bible really teach? Once we have established the Biblical teaching, then it is only a matter of obedience or rebellion. In re-examining the discussion at hand, we have to be careful not to allow the norms of our society to influence our biblical worldview or how we look at the Scripture, specially at women in leadership. It is easy to accept what society says and then go to the Bible to try and justify what we have already decided to believe.
As an introduction to the discussion of water baptism, this webinar will attempt to examine three major methods of baptizing individuals, and two major distinctions regarding whom is to be baptized. Those who would baptize infants would also baptize adult converts, but the inverse is not true. Those who believe in believer baptism will not baptize infants.
In the history of Christianity, the Eucharist controversy was triggered over the interpretation of Holy Communion practiced by many Christian denominations. Still there has not been a clear settlement. In other words, depending on how one looks at the bread and wine used in Communion, there are several competing arguments.
The Glory of The Lord should be the goal of the Church. It is not the glory of the Church, but the Glory of The Lord that needs to be resurrected today. Glory is defined as the visible manifestation of the invisible presence of God. By the time we see it - it is already accomplished. So what we see is not happening, it has already occurred. We view the residue and not the very act. But some people would like to experience worship alone at services and demean the need for sound teaching. Or, some seem to feel that God accepting their praise on Sunday means He accepts their sinful lifestyles all week. What a perversion of true worship, which is in Spirit and truth. So how do we avoid making "worship" an idol?
On the heels of The Deconstruction of Christianity comes the need to express the core teachings of the Bible as they have been defined in Christianity for over 2,022 years now. Nearly all Christians who seek to have a faith that is biblical hold to some form of these basic doctrines that maybe described as pillars of the Faith. Christians may not always agree on how they work out , but they should agree on these essential doctrines.
In the history of this country there has been a struggle among various sub-cultures vying to become cultural insiders, meaning that they want control over the six cultural conduits that will allow them to penetrate the culture with their particular message and values. Last month, we explored the concept of "Changing Theology For A Modern World." This month we continue the discussion by learning how to defend the "Faith" against the cultural shifts that would try to dismantle the very core of our Christian doctrines.
Christians are no longer to be ignored by a secular culture; they are to be attacked and silenced. It is more important than ever that lay leaders in the churches get serious training in theology and apologetics to combat a desensitize worldview. This webinar will explore these issues.
