Preachers Studio: Todd Jones
As the campus gears up for Call Day, Todd Jones discusses his sermon from the SMP call service with David Schmitt
Preachers Studio: Ron Rall
Ron Rall discusses his sermon on Matthew 9, and the art of preaching, with David Schmitt
Proper 25 • Luke 18:9–17 • October 23, 2016
By David Schmitt Textual Notes In this reading, Jesus moves from the world of the imagination, where he tells a parable (vv. 9–14), to the world of his ministry, where he blesses children (vv. 15–17). Both of these worlds are joined by a common problem and a common theme. The common problem is contempt for others, ..
Hope Rising: Preaching Luke
David Schmitt on preaching Luke from Advent to Easter in Year C. Need we say more?
Proper 28 • Hebrews 10:11–25 • November 15, 2015
By David Schmitt Textual Notes This reading captures a moment in Hebrews when the author moves from proclamation to exhortation. 10:11?18: These verses capture the close of the writer’s proclamation of the work of Jesus. Jesus is the great high priest, who has offered a sacrifice once for all sin for all time and now is ..
Fred Craddock, In Memoriam
Remembering the life of a preacher, Fred Craddock (1928-2015)
Epiphany 3 • 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 (32–35) • January 25, 2015
By David Schmitt At the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, there is an installation called Cup by Thomas Skomski. It’s basically a shelf extending out of the wall with a cup at the very end. The shelf is about the height of a countertop, making the cup perfectly within reach. Suspended there, this cup promises water for the weary. ..
A Time to Listen
Beginning the conversations begun by what’s happened in Ferguson
Proper 13 • Isaiah 55:1–5 • August 3, 2014
By David Schmitt In 1538, the Dance of Death made its way into the Bible. In their printing of the Old Testament, the Treschel Brothers included Life after the Fall, a woodcut by Hans Holbein. In his woodcut, Holbein pictured Adam and Eve both involved in postlapsarian labor. Adam is tilling the ground and Eve is nursing a child. ..
Telling God’s Story
David Schmitt’s opening plenary at the 2013 Theological Symposium
Proper 21 • Revelation 12:7–12 • September 29, 2013
By David Schmitt On the celebration of St. Michael and All Angels, it would be easy to expand a sermon on this text in Revelation into a larger discussion of angels and their service before God. In fact, the Collect of the Day encourages such a broader emphasis. What happens, however, if you read the ..
Proper 21• Numbers 11:4–6, 10–16, 24–29 • September 30, 2012
By David Schmitt This narrative selection from Israel’s wilderness wanderings captures a gracious transformation. The story begins in poverty, but ends in abundance. It begins in memory, but ends in hope. It begins in physical need, but ends in spiritual gifts. This gracious transformation occurs when God speaks and Israel hears his words for them ..
The Preacher’s Studio: Robert Rosin
The journey from text to pulpit can be a long and winding road, filled with false starts, surprising discoveries, and hard choices along the way. On a semi-regular basis, the homiletics faculty of Concordia Seminary invites you to walk the road with the preacher in the Preacher’s Studio series. Each sermon was preached during chapel services at ..
Textual Presence and Sermon Preparation: A Visual Feast
This past Thanksgiving, we were watching The King’s Speech and someone sat on the DVD remote. The screen froze. And in the midst of the commotion of looking for the remote, a funny thing happened..
The Tapestry of Preaching
Dr. David Schmitt explores the various voices, functions, and contexts that interweave to form the “tapestry” of the preaching task. Reprinted from the Spring 2011 CONCORDIA JOURNAL
Proper 24 • Matthew 22:15–22 • October 16, 2011
By David Schmitt Textual Study: At the heart of this text lies an aphorism (v. 21), the saying of Jesus that the Pharisees had hoped to use to entrap him (v.15), but through which he entrapped them in their answer (“Caesar’s”) and in their fear of the crowd that marveled at him (v. 22). Preaching ..