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.
Preaching @ Northwest 2020
Quick note …
I am preaching at Northwest Bible Church, here in Dallas, on July 5, 12, 19, and 26 (9:00 am and 10:35 am).
Four sermons on 2 Timothy: Completing the Course!
[Please check here for streaming links and restrictions on numbers attending due to COVID-19.]
[For other speaking events, see here.]
Ephesians: Introduction
This is the first in a series of posts on each pericope of Ephesians, essentially a distillation of what is in my Ephesians commentary (more on that here).
The theme of Ephesians is clearly established early on in 1:9–10.
… the consummation of all things in Christ—
the things in the heavens and the things on the earth in Him.
Ephesians 1:8–10
God’s plan, his “administration/working out of the fullness/completion of time,” is to “consummate/bring together/unify
Genesis 48:1–50:26
Agents of divine blessing remember the blessings of the past, pass on the blessings in the present, and expect the consummation of blessings in the future.
This pericope concludes the Joseph Story and the book of Genesis.
The first section, Gen 48:1–49:27 describes Jacob’s blessings upon his sons and grandchildren.(Though their lives may have overlapped, none of the other patriarchs before Jacob are shown to have any interaction with their grandchildren.) And, three
DMin
25 FEBRUARY 2020
These are the products of a Doctor of Ministry Webinar conducted by Dallas Theological Seminary: “Look Before You Leap.”
Click on each item below for content …
Video
Handout
Comments/Questions
Several questions were asked by chat, some of which I was able to answer in the live forum. Expanded answers from that event and answers to questions that I couldn’t get to then are written out below …
ef
Why
Genesis 46:1–47:31
Agents of divine blessing, obediently trusting God for blessing in their own lives, extend God’s blessing to others.
Divine promises—of presence, of return, of greatness of nation, and to be unafraid (46:2–4)—all encourage the patriarch Jacob in his decision to leave Canaan. What is interesting in God’s word of exhortation is that he promises to make Jacob “a great nation there,” in Egypt, in a foreign land (46:3). That would also remind Jacob that this move
Kill the Big Idea?
For those interested in a different—and somewhat provocative!—approach to preaching, check out my ARTICLE in a recent issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society:
“Time to Kill the Big Idea? A Fresh Look at Preaching”
(JETS 61.4 [2018]: 825–46)
ef
See Steven D. Mathewson’s RESPONSE to my article in the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society:
“Let the Big Idea Live! A Response to Abraham Kuruvilla”
(JEHS 19.1 [2019]: 33–41)
And here
Ecclesiological Singleness
A quick to note to alert you of an essay I’ve written: “Ecclesiological Singleness.”
That title is my take on celibacy. More about it in the article.
Comments welcome!
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.