How Do We Witness? / Sharing the Faith This week’s sermon was “How Do We Witness?” Do we trap a person in a theological argument and prove we are right? Do we convince someone that he/she is going directly to hell, and we know it for sure? Do we point out that we believe the Bible and other’s do not? Do we pray as loud as we can in a crowded restaurant? Do we drop to a knee in the end zone after scoring a touchdown? How do we witness? Or, is witnessing about our faith something we United Methodist do not do? Is it something we leave to Pentecostals and Baptists? I say that to the credit of Pentecostals and Baptists. According to surveyors, many people are quite willing to reveal intimate details of their lives; yet, mainline Church
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she utilizes an array of symbolism such as color, the store, and her husbands to solidify the overall theme of independence and individuality. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered by many a classic American Feminist piece that emphasizes how life was for African Americans post slave era in the early 1900s. One source summarizes the story as, 1 ”a woman's quest for fulfillment and liberation in a society where women are objects to be used for physical work and pleasure.” Which is why the overall theme is concurrent to independence and self.
Henry Mitchell does a great job of focusing on a few main arguments in Celebration and Experience in Preaching. These arguments center around the experience of the Word and the vehicles of experience. Mitchell starts the book by stating that he believes that salvation and spiritual growth come through a spiritual encounter with the Word and that preaching at its best is used by the Holy Spirit makes this experiential encounter possible. Mitchell contends that this experience is not a coming to faith moment. But, rather the experiential experience is one that helps to “describe, interpret, and help communicate” the faith experience. An experiential encounter with Word happens when three major elements are present. The first major element that needs to be present for an experiential encounter with Word is a Biblical text that encourages trust in and obedience to Word, along with a behavioral purpose calling for real-life application. The second major element needed is a basic understanding of hearing and other senses and how they relate to belief in Word. The hearing experience must consist of vivid details and images, some sense of familiarity, and homiletic moves in consciousness. Mitchell believes that details allow for a greater sense of meaning for believers, familiar associations call to mind similar experiences that bridge the gap between then and now, and the homiletical moves break down abstract concepts bringing them to life for the hearer. The third major element
One can hear a sermon any day of the week, because there are many preachers out there in the world. Many sermons are retold Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments that tell how our ancestors lived, and teach us life applications of how to glorify God while we are living our lives. For over a thousand years God’s word has been preached by many faithful men who follow Him. However, there were some of those faithful men who used God’s Word and their own improvisation to convict sinners and to put their trust in God. Those times resulted in an era called the Great Awakening of the 18th century and they also put an end to the segregation era of the 20th century. Two of the faithful men during those eras were
Slang: a type of language that consists of words that are regarded as informal, and is most common in speech, and is typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Nearly everyday, even without noticing it, most people use slang in their speech on a daily basis. How people speak can be interpreted very differently to listeners depending on their background. Many areas have their own type of speech that usually, only people who come from that background will understand. After reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and making an FJAVE dictionary and examples, it is easy to see that speech holds so much power, especially when the people communicating are born around the same time period or if they live in the same area.
The article, When I Witnesses Talk, covers the issue of eyewitness testimonies and their reliability with memory conformity. Often when two people experience the same event they both have very different recollections of the occurrence. One event within the journal article incorporates the murder of Jill Dando, within this investigation there was a lineup where 16 witnesses were asked to identify the suspect, where only 1 of the 16 witnesses recognized him. The police conducted a second lineup where for example one witness stated that they were 95% sure that the suspect that they identified was at the scene of the crime, yet in the original lineup that person was unable to identify anyone from the lineup. One key piece of information was discovered,
Since the beginning of time, the way that people, communities and churches deliver the word of God has evolved into a global multimedia event. Now days the word of God is being delivered in many
Today I talked Melba’s mother, Lois about cancelling Melba and my plans to the wrestling match. I pray to God Melba will understand the rationale for not attending the match, and realize the losses we have to go through during this segregation period. God when will white people treat us blacks equally and allow us to watch wrestling matches without a concern or worry about our safety. I can already imagine how upset Melba will be, she understands how much I enjoy these dates. At the same time I should make sure Melba is not depressed and that Central High is God’s opportunity for her, despite the consequences and risks it might withhold. The integration will put Melba and our family in danger; the whites have a target on her head and she is
The beginning of chapter one in Grasping God’s Word discusses the four steps of ‘The Interpretive Journey’ that are designed to navigate readers through the Bible, but as a whole, it is designed to help readers “grasp the meaning of the [Bible that] God intended” (Duvall & Hays, 2012, p.21). In order to understand the intention God has for each passage of His word, there must be a substantial understanding of the context according to the original audience, therefore the first step is titled “Grasping the Text in Their Town” which answers the overarching question of ‘What did this message mean for people of that time’? As this question is inquired throughout Ephesians 2:1-10 , the reader is instructed to make simple yet meaningful observations,
Witnessing is an intimate and unique event that depends on both the people involved. The exact details of how one would witness cannot be assumed, so this is an overview of different ways “The Lottery” might be included in it. It is vital to be in prayer before witnessing. It can also be useful to come up with questions to allow the person to apply “The Lottery” and the Bible to their
I.Witnessing is sharing the truth of God Ps 145:10–12; Lk 24:46–48 See also 1 Ch 16:7–9; Ps 71:15; Mt 27:54; Jn 1:35–36; Jn 4:29
In summary, McRaney noted that the witness “should prayerfully and persistently pursue the presence of lost people, then proclaim and persuade at the prompting and in the power of the Holy Spirit” (p. 73). The next several chapters
It can be concluded, based on the writing of Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions (2014), that the most significant example of Exodus was the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. The Israelites were under the control of the Pharaohs and lived a life of slavery. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites to the promise land. It is said that they were guided by God as he sent clouds in the day and fire by night in order to lead them out of slavery. They were lead to the red sea where Moses parted the sea allowing the Israelites to cross to freedom and closing on the Egyptian soldiers that followed.
Muzinic, L. , Kozaric-Kovacic, D. , & Marinic, I. (2016). Psychiatric aspects of normal and pathological lying. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 46, 88-93.
The first world congress of consecrated life held in Rome in 2004 says “religious life needs fewer professionals more witnesses.”2 We Christians/religious have been worrying about our identity for a long while now. Who are we? How do we fit into the fabric and structure of the church?
At the core of our faith is the living Christ, the incarnation of the triune God. During his time among us Christ brought us a new covenant based in grace and salvation through alone, setting up the beginning of theological tradition that would become the Christian. After his death and resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven leaving the immediate task of continuing his mission to us. How we carry the mission of Christ out today is known as our theological task or the process by which we are “drawn into a deeper relationship with ‘faith’s pioneer and perfecter.’” This is no simple task and so as United Methodists we turn to Wesley for guidance. “Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture,