aBeLOG
Welcome to the aBeLOG, a series of (hopefully!) fortnightly posts on all matters homiletical. I intend to touch on whatever grabs my attention regarding preaching—issues contemporary and ancient, ideas hermeneutical and rhetorical, personalities conservative and liberal, publications antiquarian and avant-garde. Essentially, I’m going to follow my own homiletical olfactory instincts up rabbit trails and after red herrings. Comments are always invited and appreciated.
Ephesians 3:1–11
Paul’s divinely empowered role in the administration of God’s plan forms a paradigm for the ministry of all believers, as God is made known to the cosmos through the church.
Paul begins in Ephesians 3:1 intending to utter an intercessory prayer but breaks off immediately, to resume in 3:14, where he repeats his opening phrase, “For this reason ….” The seeming digression of 3:2–13 describes the stewardship entrusted to Paul by God’s grace—the apostle’s
Authorial Doings and Application
I was recently interviewed on the Bible Study Methods podcast (under the aegis of Faithlife, the parent of the Logos Bible software) by its editor, Dr. Mark Ward. We talked of a number of things, but focused on authorial doings and the derivation of application in sermons.
Here’s our conversation …
Ephesians 2:11–22
All (believing) humanity has been united in one body, the work of Christ removing the condemnation of the law for sin, winning access to God, and building believers together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Believers are “co-citizens” with the saints (Eph 2:19), an edifice “co-fitted” (2:21), and being “co-built” into a divine dwelling (2:22). This incorporation of all humans into one new body reconciled to God, i.e., the church, continues the grand design
Ephesians 2:1–10
Believers, once in dire straits, but now sharing Christ’s exaltation, demonstrate to the universe God’s mercy, love, grace, and kindness as they undertake good works.
Prior to regeneration, the sphere of the Ephesians’ life was governed by evil influences (Eph 2:2–3), so much so, unbelievers are referred to as “sons of disobedience.” These are people characterized by disobedient lives. They are rebels against God, and their fate is divine punishment: the “sons
Ephesians 1:15–23
As the fullness and body of Christ, the church manifests God’s incomparable power against supernatural foes.
This section is essentially a prayer by Paul. He asks that the Ephesians might know three things: the hope to which God has called them, the glorious inheritance that God possesses in them, and the great power of God working for them (Eph 1:18–19). The first two—hope of divine calling and glory of divine inheritance—have already been dealt with in 1:1–14
Big Idea Interview
The other day, Matt Woodley of Preaching Today (an arm of Christianity Today) interviewed me on their “Monday Morning Preacher” program about an article I had written last year in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. That article (“Time to Kill the Big Idea?”), a couple of responses from others, and my rejoinders to those responses, can all be found on this page.
Interview here. Enjoy!
Hermeneutics and the Gift of Singleness
Dr. Hershael York is the Dean of the School of Theology and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY). This enterprising young man is also senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. And, to me, Hershael and his wife are good friends.
(Several years ago, I featured him on these pages in my “How I Preach” series.)
When I was at Southern Seminary in March of this year to deliver the Mullins
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.