Travel with revered preacher and author Fred Craddock through his early years as he considers what made him take to the pulpit. "For some reason, I felt I had to say 'Yes' or 'No' to the ministry so I could feel free again. My siblings and friends talked almost casually about options and preferences as to careers, but with no evident sense of urgency. Not so with me. I did not then, nor do I now know whether the burden of choice was a trait of personality, a kind of super-conscientiousness...

One of the things that makes Fred Craddock's sermons so compelling is his masterful use of storytelling, but, until now, few of his stories have ever been published. This collection offers for the first time hundreds of Craddock stories told in his own words and a glimpse of his life.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob brings readers on a surprising journey from the dawn of divine-human communion to the present, showing how this mysterious, ongoing relationship holds the keys to true worship. Laying a new foundation for understanding worship, the book makes a compelling case for distinguishing the church's practices from those of the world. Recognizing the holiness of worship, the author observes that music itself, apart from language, conveys its own theological mean...

This update of Craddock's original work on inductive preaching remains one of the most important contributions to homiletic scholarship. Revised with three new sermons, inclusive language, and NRSV texts, it is still as fresh and provocative as ever.

In his landmark "As One Without Authority," originally published in 1971 and updated by Chalice Press in three decades later, legendary preacher Fred B. Craddock explores the state of American preaching with the goal of restoring the power of preaching in shaping our religious lives.Craddock begins by conceding preaching is viewed by some as outdated and ineffective, with new forms of ministry emerging to meet contemporary needs. He identifies six challenges preachers face:...

Revised and Expanded Edition! When originally published in 1978, Overhearing the Gospel introduced "narrative preaching" and forever changed the shape of contemporary preaching. Now a new generation of preachers can learn from the master himself in this revised and expanded edition of Craddock's groundbreaking method.

Using Luke's own prologue as the guideline for his commentary, Fred B. Craddock calls attention to the continuities between Jesus and his heritage in Judaism and the church after him. Like Luke, Craddock assumes the reader is not only a believer but also a leader in the community of faith.Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching...

This collection of more than fifty of Fred Craddock's sermons provides a glimpse of a master preacher at work. Amazingly, only one of the sermons was preached from a manuscript written in advance, as Craddock considered a sermon to be an event in the world of sound. As a result, the selections here wonderfully reflect and preserve Craddock's "voice" and engage readers with all the immediacy of the spoken word.

Every night of revival--1945 to 1956--the Evangelist and his family carried the mostly Appalachian folks to whom they ministered on up to a higher place. Worn down bodies in from the heat and dust of a sharecropper's cotton fields or unventilated rooms of the mill barely made it over to the local Pentecostal church house, to the shelter of a raised-up tent or bush arbor. But by the time they sang, shouted, and prayed in response to the Skondeen family's music and preaching, something shift...

M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock present this new one-volume commentary on the New Testament. Writing from the fundamental conviction that the New Testament is the people's book, Boring and Craddock examine the theological themes and messages of Scripture that speak to the life of discipleship. Their work clarifies matters of history, culture, geography, literature, and translation, enabling people to listen more carefully to the text. This unique commentary is the perfect resource fo...

Now in reissue with a new foreword by Fred B. Craddock and afterword by the author, Eugene L. Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, Expanded Edition follows in the same solid tradition of its predecessor. Upon its release, The Homiletical Plot quickly became a pivotal work on the art of preaching. Instead of comments on a biblical passage, Lowry suggested that the sermon follow a narrative form that moves from beginning to end, as with the plot of a story. This expanded edition co...

The church does not cope very well with dying. Instead of using its own resources to mount a positive end-of-life ministry for the terminally ill, it outsources care to secular models, providers, and services. A terminal diagnosis typically triggers denial of impending death and placing faith in the techniques and resources of modern medicine. If a cure is not forthcoming, the patient and his or her loved ones experience a sense of failure and bitter disappointment.This book offers...