Preaching grace to image-saturated audiences: building a grace-full congregation in a video-shaped world

Kevin Jay Adams

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Preaching grace to image-saturated audiences: building a grace-full congregation in a video-shaped world

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Kevin Jay Adams. Preaching Grace to Image-saturated Audiences: Building a Grace-full Congregation In a Video-shaped World. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/753f795e-1597-4301-9608-94c7601f5c0a.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

K. J. Adams. Preaching grace to image-saturated audiences: building a grace-full congregation in a video-shaped world. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/753f795e-1597-4301-9608-94c7601f5c0a

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Kevin Jay Adams. Preaching Grace to Image-Saturated Audiences: Building a Grace-Full Congregation In a Video-Shaped World. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/753f795e-1597-4301-9608-94c7601f5c0a.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Kevin Jay Adams

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In Copyright

Abstract

This work is designated to help pastors preach in a way that builds their congregation into a culture of grace. A startling number folks, after hearing hundreds of biblical sermons, still think they are saved by 'being good people.' Many Christians who sing 'Amazing Grace' with gusto, live functionally 'graceless' lives. Few people think grace when they hear the word church. This project aims to help preachers and Bible teachers who long to communicate grace in a way that transforms grace novices into a community of grace connoisseurs. This thesis suggest pastors begin with expository preaching. By basing each message on the central idea in each biblical text, a pastor fastens himself and his congregation to the message of grace. Next it suggests pastors make shalom, an Old Testament word describing the 'kingdom of God,' the target of every sermon. This single, unifying target provides the cohesive framework that forms years of sermons into one grace-full whole. The thesis then encourages pastors to understand their congregation's worldview, a way of answering what and how people think. A pastor who identifies and understands what his congregation believes about the alternatives to grace promoted in culture, can make his message clearer. Likewise, when a pastor understands how his congregation receives information he can communicate his message in a method clearest to their pattern of hearing. American culture has become so image-saturated that its main language is the language of images. In such a world, the rich variety of biblical images provides the optimal introduction and understanding of grace. Often preachers focus their sermons on changing a specific behavior of their audience. This thesis suggests that pastors can best build a culture of grace by aiming to change a congregation's worldview. Multiple sermons using multiple images helps individuals and an entire congregation learn to see people and circumstances gracefully.

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