David J. Schlafer – författare

Schlafer’s book is an adventure in homiletical spirituality and imagination. It leads us through reflection and practical exercises to deepen our self-awareness as preachers. These exercises allow us to discern whether we are poets, storytellers, or essayists; discover our preaching “parents” and mentors, and develop a preaching style that avoids rigidity and self-preoccupation.Developed in workshops and conferences around the country, Your Way with God’s Word can also be used in diverse settings and groups, including homiletical workshops, sermon reflection groups in the parish, and preaching colleagues groups. The introduction to the book gives numerous practical suggestions for its use. As a personal preaching resource, this book is also a powerful aid to prayer and spirituality.

Schlafer looks at the preacher’s task at the “high times” of the church and the secular year, those occasions on which expectations run high and emotions can be intense. He explores the temptations and pitfalls of preaching at weddings and funerals; baptisms and ordinations; civic holidays like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving; and the high holy days of Christmas and Easter. He also discusses preaching at times of tension and conflict in the church, the responsibilities of a guest preacher, and how to handle preaching missions and retreats.Included in each chapter are helpful summaries of what to include and avoid in sermon preparation, as well as excerpts of sermons illustrating the principles he outlines.

David J. Schlafer, acclaimed preacher, teacher, and writer, weaves words and ideas like a Celtic braid. He places us in the company of some of the people who appear in the Gospel of John—Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, Martha and Mary, the man born blind, the bride and groom at Cana—and examines them in two unusual sources of light: ·The classic line from C. S. Lewis: “Every idea we form of God, God must, in mercy, shatter.” ·John Newton's hymn “Amazing Grace”.Schlafer offers refreshment: He helps us refresh our ideas of God. He refreshes the meaning of the well-worn phrase “Amazing Grace,” giving it new life and urgency. He refreshes our grasp of John’s Gospel by centering on Jesus’ interpersonal encounters rather than on the famous discourses, which are too often considered only in the abstract and at the expense of the dramas John narrates. The Shattering Sound of Amazing Grace is an inspired meeting with Jesus and the people of John's Gospel.