Imaginative Preaching

From generation-to-generation there has been an anguished cry from
preachers about preaching - there is no imagination! The Scriptures
present the wondrous hope and vision of “Kingdom Come†and yet
contemporary preaching can often be mute and blind by comparison. This
book explores what is possible when the Scripture to be preached is prayed
through the agency of two ancient prayer disciplines: lectio divina and
Ignatian Gospel Contemplation. Through the experiences of eight vocational
pastor-preachers this study tracks the difficulties, discoveries and
delights as they commit to utilising these prayer disciplines as part of
their regular sermon preparation. The reader will be orientated to what a
Biblical imagination entails and how praying the Scriptures affects the
preacher, sermon and listener. Careful explanation of how to pray using
lectio divina and Ignatian Gospel Contemplation is included. This work is,
in places, a raw examination of the forces which regularly conspire
against the preacher as he or she endeavours to faithfully expound the
Scriptures. The study is also a rousing exclamation of the joy experienced
when preachers’ preparation and imagination is formed the Spirit bringing
the Scriptures to bear on all who speak and hear it.