When you stand before your congregation, what do you hope to accomplish when you preach the Word? If people have Bibles and the freedom to read and pray on their own—why do they need you? In short, what do you bring to the table? Author, pastor, and professor John Koessler answers those questions and many more. Why does one sermon have a powerful effect on the audience while another falls flat? Why should listeners heed what the preacher says? Is human language adequate for facilitating an encounter with God? What is the point of preaching a sermon? Folly, Grace, and Power is a must-read for pastors, seminarians, and lay leaders charged with the task of preaching God’s word. This essential book is both a stern reminder of the sacredness of the awesome “job” of being a preacher, as well as a how-to that reveals the key to speaking powerfully on God’s behalf.

Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith

FROM FOLLY is the amazing true story of a 21-year-old college student's survival in the ocean following a failed suicide attempt on LSD. Matt's plan was to swim out as far as he could into the Atlantic Ocean so that even if he wanted to turn back at the last minute, it would be too late. Yet when the time came to drown himself, he recognized something that would change him forever. At the brink of death, he finally saw the value of life.

The Folly of Preaching contains a wealth of theoretical and practical insights into preaching from some of today's best-known preachers, scholars, and homiletics teachers. Many of these contributions derive their inspiration from Paul's letters to the church at Corinth, in which the apostle vigorously defends both the message of the gospel and his own manner of proclaiming it. Several of the twelve exemplary sermons rounding out The Folly of Preaching continue reflecting on the key theme of grace amid weakness and need, expounding passages from Paul's Corinthian correspondence. Of all the current preaching books available, few come close to the compilation here of eminent figures in contemporary preaching. Contributors: Elizabeth R. Achtemeier Charles G. Adams Donna E. Allen John L. Bell David G. Buttrick Tony Campolo Stephen C. Farris John N. Gladstone Edwina Hunter Michael P. Knowles Cleophus J. LaRue Thomas G. Long Martin E. Marty Haddon W. Robinson John R. W. Stott Diane McLellan Walker

"If a sermon is preached in a church and no one is listening, does it make a difference?" There are many expository preachers who forego dynamic delivery and many dynamic preachers who lose sight of faithfully communicating the biblical text. Too often preachers feel they have to choose one or the other. But dynamic delivery and faithful exposition are not mutually exclusive. In Preaching to Be Heard, Lucas O'Neill shows pastors that presenting engaging sermons that are biblically focused is not an impossibility. In fact, the key to commanding attention lies in the text itself. Rather than relying on tricks or gimmicks, his approach to sermon writing focuses on maintaining tension throughout while sticking close to the biblical text. Using practical examples and a step-by-step method, O'Neill shows pastors how relying on the inherent anticipation within Scripture can lead to sermons that are powerful--and heard.

Prayer can feel mysteriously difficult, boringly perfunctory and frustratingly out of our control. Often prayer brings us comfort, but sometimes, especially when there aren t easy resolutions or prayers go unanswered, it intensifies and focuses our sense of longing, pain and care. And often God uses our times of darkness and desperation to awaken our hearts to the ache within us--and the cries of those suffering around us. Prayer is all about coming before God to face life head-on, with all its jagged edges of mystery, joy, longing and agony. In fact, says pastor Matt Woodley, prayer is actually a real encounter with the untamable God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore our experience of it should reflect the power, mystery and even risk of entering into relationship with the Lord of the universe. In this book Woodley strips away all the religious-speak and presuppositions we have about prayer, distilling it to the essence of wholehearted engagement with the living God. Exploring an earthy, unadorned, jargon-free approach to prayer, Woodley unpacks a host of fresh synonyms for God-encounters, including prayer as desperation, invocation, mystery, astonishment, groaning and even absence. These marginal ways of praying compel us to engage marginal people--the desperate, the groaning, the victimized and the ignored. As we pray God will open our eyes to the pain of the world around us. With stories from his own experience and biblical and historical examples, Woodley gives fresh language to describe a life grounded in prayer that leads to compassion and service.