The Testimony Edit: Writing Ourselves Back into the Story

Anna Carter Florence
Associate Professor of Preaching, Columbia Theological Seminary

Caldwell Lecture
March 4, 2008

A preacher speaks the truth that she sees and believes –a witness at a precise moment in history. We need to be willing to hear the testimony of the preacher, and the preacher needs to be the witness to the story, not the center of the story. Listen to the lecture. The lecture begins five minutes into the recording following the introductory remarks and introduction of the speaker. The text of this lecture is not available.

Counter-Cultural Preaching

Debra J. Mumford
Frank H. Caldwell Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Caldwell Lecture
March 3, 2008

Counter-cultural preaching is Dr. Mumford’s term for a type of prophetic preaching that critiques various aspects of American capitalism. It explores the devastating consequences of consumer culture on personhood and relationships when consumerism overrides all else. Listen to the lecture. Please note that the lecture begins 7 minutes and 30 seconds into the recording following the introductory remarks and introduction of the speaker. Read the lecture in PDF.

The Girl in the Reeds

Anna Carter Florence
Associate Professor of Preaching, Columbia Theological Seminary

Exodus 1:22, 2:1-10
March 4, 2008

The story of Moses and the bulrushes seen from the perspective of his sister and Pharaoh’s daughter can teach new lessons to both worshippers and preachers. Listen to the sermon. The text of this sermon is not available.

Preaching from the Borders: The Impossibility of Hospitality

Cláudio Carvalhaes
Assistant Professor of Worship and Preaching

Greenhoe Lecture
March 4, 2008

Sermons have a strange force. They can change the history of people’s lives and entire communities. What we preach feeds the thread of the cultural values in our society. Preachers have changed and keep on changing the lives of many people around the world. Preachers can and do make history happen. And yet, in spite of this powerful force, to preach is as fragile as a candle in the wind. In order to become a good preacher one has to be, first, a good worshiper. One has to learn to pray and talk to God first, before one is able to talk about God to others. Listen to the lecture. Read the lecture in PDF.

Speak Louder Please, I Can’t Hear You

Cláudio Carvalhaes
Assistant Professor of Worship and Preaching

Genesis 11: 1-9
Acts 2: 1-13
March 5, 2008

This is where we live: between Babel and Pentecost, at, around and within many borders. We all live between Babel and Pentecost. But how are we to construct the city of God within the city of humankind? What shall we do to speak and to hear God’s language? How can we move from Babel from Pentecost? Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Singing the Lord’s Song in a Capitalistic Society

Debra J. Mumford
Frank H. Caldwell Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Luke 12:13-21
March 2, 2008

Jesus warns the disciples and us to beware of greed in all its forms. This is contrasted with the movie character Gordon Gekko of the movie Wall Street who proclaimed that Greed is good. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

This Child Here

Robert Gamble, Director of the non-profit This Child Here
Minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

John 1:9-14
February 21, 2008

Robert Gamble of This Child Here spoke to students, faculty, and guests about the situation of children who live on and under the streets of Odessa, Ukraine, and his mission in working with these steet kids. He challenged the audience members to find their true calling. This visit to LPTS was sponsored by the Women's Center. You can visit their blog for more information. Listen to the presentation.

Reading for Freedom

Susan R. Garrett

Professor of New Testament

Exodus 32:1-4
Galatians 5:1
February 22, 2008

This service in celebration of African American History Month includes readings and songs exploring the relationship between the Bible, religion, and slavery. The sermon, beginning at minute 22 of the recording, contrasts the hermeneutic of slaveholders with that of the slaves who sang the spirituals, and argues that when our ways of interpreting scripture do not move God’s people forward on the way to freedom, they are moving us backward toward the idols we once served. We are then “submitting again to a yoke of slavery”—the very thing Paul warned us not to do (Gal. 5:1). Hearers are exhorted to preach as one who is free and who, like Harriet Tubman, the Moses of her people, leads others out of bondage and into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Listen to the service. Read the sermon in PDF.

The Summons to God’s Hospitality

Walker, Elizabeth Johnson
Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

John 3:4-16
February 15, 2008

The parallels between the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the summoning of God’s people to experience God’s hospitality are drawn in this sermon given the second week of Lent. Our faith begins with the God of Abraham and the promise of God to create a free home in Heaven. God loves and values each of us regardless of color or status. We are assured that all of us are participants in God’s mercy and grace. Listen to the sermon.

Staying on Track through the Desert

Sheldon W. Sorge
Associate Director, The Louisville Institute

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
February 8, 2008

The opening Chapel of a new semester coincided this year with the beginning of Lent. The Gospel reading assigned for the beginning of Lent is the story of Jesus’ wilderness temptation. In his sermon, Dr. Sorge draws parallels between Jesus’ time of preparation for ministry in the wilderness, and our own practices of preparation for ministry. He suggests that the ministry Jesus inaugurated by his resistance to the devil in the wilderness is one of reconciliation, reversing the reign of human separation from God and each other that constitutes the story of the Fall. This is the Gospel ministry into which we too are called, and for which we too are being prepared. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.