Sacred Desk or Sacred Cow? Perspective on the Pulpit (Part 1)

Bob Gonzales

Since the days of the Reformation, Protestant churches have traditionally situated the pulpit front and center in the architecture of their meeting places. The purpose of the pulpit’s conspicuously elevated and prominent position is to symbolize the authority and centrality of God’s Word in the life and ministry of the gathered church. The question we want to raise in this brief article is whether such symbolism is always necessary or helpful in our day.

Discussion

How to Preach When Your Congregation is Online and In-Person

SI Filings

“Having written already about preaching to a camera alone at the beginning of quarantine, I hope to share some of what my team has learned now in this present awkwardness as we film a sermon during the week for online viewers and then preach the same sermon to those who reserve spots in our limited outdoor services.” - F&T

Discussion

Warning & Wooing

Clint Archer

The ignition of the Great Awakening began at Enfield, Connecticut. It was July 8, 1741, when a local congregation of well-to-do Americans went to church to hear the guest speaker, Jonathan Edwards. He is known in evangelical circles as the man who best articulated a theology of joy.

Discussion

“Every imperative of Scripture (what we are to do for God) rests on the indicative (who we are in our relationship with God), and the order is not reversible.”

SI Filings

“The human instinct with every non-Christian religion reverses the order, teaching that who we are before God is based on what we do for God. Thus, any preaching that is distinctively Christian must keep listeners from confusing, or inverting, our ‘who and our’“do.’” - Bryan Chapell

Discussion