A sermon from Will Willimon on the disciples' post Easter encounter with Jesus

Below is a sermon from Will Willimon preached last year on the third Sunday of Eastertide. The text is John 21:1-14. The sermon starts at 27:45 and ends at 46:44.

Fred Craddock on Lazarus and the Rich Man

Though One Rise from the Dead from Hershael York on Vimeo.

Review: Preaching Today

Website: http://www.preachingtoday.com/

Publisher: Preaching Today is a part of Christianity Today's online offerings.

Cost: $69.99 a year (or $9.95 a month); there is a 30-day free trial.

Offerings: 11,000+ sermon illustrations; almost 1000 sermons; 600+ articles/podcasts on improving your preaching; and more.

Leading contributors: Haddon Robinson, Mark Buchanan, John Ortberg, Leith Anderson, and a whole bunch of other evangelical pastors.  It does include a few sermons/articles from mainline pastors like Barbara Brown Taylor, Will Wilimon, and Fred Craddock.

My Thoughts: Obviously, there are plenty of free preaching resources out there on the web (some of which we'll cover soon).  My experience with many of them is that while helpful, they can be difficult to navigate and sometimes spotty in what they deliver.  I've even found that to be true with some of the pay sites.  Not so with Preaching Today.  Your $70, about the cost of two nice commentaries, gains you access to a well organized, easily searchable, treasure trove of preaching resources. 

By far, Preaching Today has the most expansive illustration database on the web.  It is easily searchable by keyword, subject, even biblical reference.  Now, as is always the case with illustrations gathered by others, many of the 11,000+ illustrations on Preaching Today will be illustrations that you will never use because they don't ring true to who you are or your style of preaching.  That's OK, many will.  And Preaching Today allows you to mark those that do resonate with you so that you begin to build your own file cabinet of illustrations within their system.

One especially rich source of illustrations on the site is to be found in the weekly "News that Illustrates" sections compiled by editor Craig Brian Larson.  In these short articles (which can be received as e-mails) Larson lists four or five news stories a week that might be rich sources of illustrations for upcoming sermons.  I like this section quite a bit because far from giving the preacher canned illustrations, the "News that Illustrates" section encourages the preacher to make his or her own connections between the sermon and current events in the world.  Surveying these over the past year or so have helped me to develop my own ability to read the news with an eye on the pulpit.

While my guess is that most ministers who subscribe to Preaching Today do so mainly for the illustrations, the best part of the site may very well be its articles.  Seasoned practitioners have provided a wealth of articles on every thing from the technicalities of the sermon to preparing the preacher's own soul.  Like the illustrations, the articles are easily searchable and often grouped together in ways that create an online workshop for the preacher to work through at his or her own pace.  It would take forever to work through all the articles, but reading two or three a month not only helps keep me constantly thinking about ways I can improve my preaching but also provides me with encouragement for the task.

Not everyone has $70 to invest in such a resource, but if you do, I recommend giving Preaching Today a try.

Learning through imitation: A comment worthy of a post

Yesterday, my friend, Eric, left this comment on my post about listening to other preachers. It reminded me of something Augustine wrote, "The fact is, given a bright and eager disposition, eloquence will come more readily to those who read and listen to eloquent speakers than to those who pore over the rules of eloquence." I liked Eric's comment so much I wanted to give it its own post so that it might get the attention it deserves. I'm going to give this a try very soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

"Research a friend of mine has done shows that repetitive listening to good sermons can enhance the listener's ability to understand and imitate vocal inflection and delivery pace, among other things. He requires his seminary students to choose a sermon (from a provided list) and listen to it over a period of three weeks. Week 1: 3 times consecutively three days in a row. Week 2: 2 times consecutively three days in a row. Week 3: 1 time three days in a row. This is based on the Suzuki music method."

Question of the week: What preachers do you like to listen to?

Last week we talked about listening to one's own sermons for the purpose of self-evaluation. Today, we're visiting about listening to other people's sermons for personal and professional edification. I've made it a practice to listen to other people's sermons for a while, now. It helps with my own creativity. It keeps me thinking of ways to improve my own sermons. Perhaps most importantly, it feeds my soul.

Here are three preachers I've listened to recently - who do you like to listen to?

Adam Hamilton - Dr. Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.

You can stream or download both audio and video at his church's website and on Itunes.

The sermon below is a sermon he preached a few weeks ago that combines a first person monologue (something we've discussed recently) with a normal sermon. I don't know what I think about combining the two, but it gives you an idea of what we were talking about previously.



Richard Kannwischer is the Senior Pastor at St.Andrews Presbyterian Church in New Port, Beach, CA. I visited with Dr. Kannwischer a few months ago for a D.Min. project. He was gracious and kind and had a wealth of wisdom for the task of preaching. I benefited greatly from that conversation and from listening to his sermons.

The video below is the only one I could find in a video format, but audio of his sermons can be streamed/downloaded from both his church's website and on Itunes.

Easter Sermon 04/04/10 St. Andrews Presbyterian Church from sapres on Vimeo.

Julie Pennington-Russell is the senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Decatur, GA. Julie was my pastor in Waco, TX when I was in seminary.

The sermon below is one she gave to the students and faculty of Logsdon Seminary in Abilene, TX. Audio of her weekly sermons can be streamed and downloaded at her church's website.

Seminary Chapel September 24, 2009 from Logsdon Seminary on Vimeo.