Preaching Sanctification in Lutheran Sermons - some key differences from motivational preaching
What this piece does that's valuable: It doesn't just critique the motivational approach—it offers a genuine alternative with concrete examples. It's not just about telling preachers what not to do but also showing them what to do. It holds proclamation and embodiment together without collapsing one into the other. That's the balance most preachers are hunting for. It trusts the reader. It's not over-explaining or hand-holding. It lays lay out the pattern, demonstrates it twice, gives a diagnostic tool, and let them work. Who needs to read this: -Seminary students who've been marinated in both therapeutic preaching models and pure law/gospel theory but haven't seen how to integrate them. -Experienced pastors who feel the tension but haven't had language for it. -Anyone tempted to turn Sunday sermons into TED talks with a Jesus ending. ------------------- A Lutheran pastor once expressed something like this: “I often feel caught between two impu...
