Telling the Whole Story is both a book about preaching and reading the narratives of the Hebrew Bible. John C. Holbert (PhD in Hebrew Bible) was a longtime teacher of preaching and Hebrew Bible at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, having retired in 2012 after thirty-three years. In this volume he combines his two skills of careful narrative reading and imaginative story preaching to offer the first comprehensive look at this particular kind of sermon proclamation. ...

How can we be just and merciful? Are justice and mercy in conflict? Or are they aspects of the same truth? Christians in America are presented with two conflicting versions of justice and mercy. One version comes from the dominant secular narrative of America. Justice and mercy are contradictions. Mercy is devalued and discouraged. But within the counter narrative of God revealed through Torah, the prophets, and particularly through the life and parables of Jesus, justice and mercy are asp...

The human race, along with the animals and plants that make up the creation of God, face a difficult future due to the multiple ways that the ecosystem on which they all depend is currently under stress. Temperatures are rising along with the oceans. Rain forests are falling along with the polar ice caps. Questions of the environment are now front and center in any catalog of concerns. Those who are called to preach need to include in the subjects of their sermons these environmental issue...

King Saul is based on the Biblical story of the first king of Israel. It retells the story in a fresh way, offering new looks at the three major characters--Saul, Samuel, and David--and the events that brought them together at the very foundation of the nation of Israel three millennia ago. Holbert's retelling reveals how this old story is surprisingly modern as it turns its gaze on power politics, personal rivalries, and religious use and abuse as the life of early Israel unfolds.

The Book of Psalms study begins with a look at the hymns of praise and ends with the Psalms of confidence. Some of the major ideas explored are: God is the Creator of all, what does the Lord require of me, the diversity of the Psalms, responses to crisis, and the use of Psalms in worship.Leader Guide includes:A verse-by-verse, in-depth look at the Scriptures.Background material, including word studies and history of the biblical setting.Answers to questions ask...

The Book of Psalms study begins with a look at the hymns of praise and ends with the Psalms of confidence. Some of the major ideas explored are: God is the Creator of all, what does the Lord require of me, the diversity of the Psalms, responses to crisis, and the use of Psalms in worship.More than 3.5 million copies of the series have been sold.This revision of the Abingdon classic Genesis to Revelation Series is a comprehensive, verse-by-verse, book-by-book study ...

Many resources have been written to offer assistance in exploring and understanding the lectionary texts for the purpose of preaching. However, few have sought to provide this kind of preaching commentary on texts that do not follow the lectionary's grouping. For those whose preaching does not customarily follow the lectionary, and for those who depart from the lectionary text during certain periods of the year, little guidance has been offered for how to select, and preach on, important b...