Our Sufficiency Is of God: Essays on Preaching in Honor of Gardner C. Taylor

by Timothy George (Editor), James Earl Massey (Editor), Robert Smith (Editor)

Overview

Resources for preachers steadily appear, called forth by the perennial need on the part of working pastors for helpful and inspirational materials backed by tested experience, reverent scholarship, and creative insights. The essays in this book are of that cast, and each essay is the work of an experienced practitioner-scholar in the field of preaching. The chapters focus on the preaching ministry of Gardner Calvin Taylor, in whose honor the volume was prepared. They are offered, with affection and esteem, by colleagues, students, and friends, fellow preachers all, whose own attempts to speak the unsearchable riches of Christ owe much to the life and labors of Gardner C. Taylor. Considered by many as the greatest living American preacher, Gardner C. Taylor has often reminded other preachers about the need for divine help in fulfilling the call: "All in all, a summons to the ministry is no light calling. The work of communicating the gospel requires us to be more than we are-to exceed who we are." This volume will lead readers to the realization of the need for grace and a sufficiency only found in God (2 Cor 3:5 KJV) as indicated by the title.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881464450
Publisher:	Mercer University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2021
Series:	The James N. Griffith Series in Baptist Studies
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Timothy George is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and a senior editor for Christianity Today.

James Earl Massey is dean emeritus and distinguished professor-at-large of the Anderson University School of Theology. He is also pastor-emeritus and founding pastor of Metropolitan Church of God.

Robert Smith, Jr. serves as professor of Christian Preaching at Beeson Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Honor to Whom Honor Is Due Timothy George ix

Tribute to a Titan James Earl Massey 1

Tribute to the Reverend Dr. Gardner Taylor Neville Callam 4

Curriculum Vitae of Gardner Calvin Taylor Robert Smith 6

Part 1 Crafting the Sermon

Composing Sermons That Sing! James Earl Massey 11

Measuring a Preacher's Creativity with a Borrowed Ruler Joel C. Gregory 23

The Magic of Music and Metaphor: Preaching and the Arts Donald E. Demaray 45

Doctrine That Flies: Using Story to Communicate Truth Michael Duduit 62

Preaching Doctrine, Sermon Genre, and Gardner C. Taylor's Sense of Providence Thomas G. Long 82

Part 2 Honoring the Scriptures

What Shall They Preach? Marvin A. McMickle 103

A "Sense of Scripture" Imperative William E. Pannell 123

Preaching as Experience of the Gospel: An Insight with Roots in the Wisdom of Gardner C. Taylor Henry H. Mitchell 139

Preaching as a Contemplative Theological Task Robert Smith 151

Incarnational Preaching Wallace Charles Smith 171

Pulpits without Purpose Cleophus J. LaRue 186

Gardner Taylor as Interpreter of Scripture: Hermeneutics for Homiletics William H. Willimon 197

Part 3 Voicing Truth with Grace

When Preachers Preach, Does God Speak? David G. Buttrick 217

Anointed with Fire: The Structure of Prophecy in the Sermons of Martin Luther King Richard Lischer 229

A Good Man Speaking Well: The Holy Rhetoric of Gardner C. Taylor O. C. Edwards 241

Poetic Persuasion: A Master Class on Speaking Truth to Power Teresa L. Fry Brown 260

What Happened to Sacred Eloquence? (Celebrating the Ministry of Gardner C. Taylor) Martha Simmons Brad R. Braxton 272

The Measure of Prophetic Ministry: Trajectories in Contemporary African-American Preaching and the Legacy of Gardner C. Taylor Cheryl J. Sanders 301

Selected Writings of Gardner C. Taylor and Assessments by Others of His Ministry Compiled James Earl Massey 317

Contributors 321

Index of Persons 337

Index of Scripture Citations 343

Addendum 345