Bret Capranica, Author at THE CAPRANICA

What Will I Preach? (part 2)

by Bret Capranica | Mar 25, 2010 | Featured Articles, Ordinary Pastor, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching

Here the rest of the mess I started on Tuesday – how do I determine what I will preach? 4. Topical Periods. I do recognize that the summer months and holiday seasons in American ministry bring great challenges to successive exposition. I do generally plan to preach through shorter series during these periods, addressing a number of topics that I feel are critical for the congregation’s understanding – issues of which we believe exhortation and action are needed. I generally preach a message on the importance of preaching at the beginning of every year. I try to address the subject of the Lord’s Supper (what, why, how, etc.) every year. I make it my aim every year to preach a message on how to listen to a sermon. This summer I plan to preach through some of the distinctive convictions we have as Baptists. There is a waning understanding and commitment to these convictions blowing in the wind, and I want to show from God’s word why they are significant. Sometimes, a passage will lend itself to a break from the exposition so we can focus on a subject. For example, I paused the series in Revelation after preaching chapters 4 and 5 to take 4 weeks and preach a series on corporate worship. 5. Preach the Paragraph. As a general rule, a paragraph tends to reveal a significant thought, or comprise a single argument, press an important emphases. I don’t stress peaching one verse at a time as much as I want to stress showing the main idea revealed in a pericope. So, I tend to want to...

Great Commission Resurgence Resources

by Bret Capranica | Mar 24, 2010 | Featured Articles, Southern Baptist Issues, The Gospel

I am preparing my mind and hopefully my heart as well for what God is doing in the Southern Baptist Convention through the Great Commission Resurgence. I am hopeful, but still wanting to know more. So, this post will be a parking lot for compiling what I think are significant resources across the web that address this subject. I’m interested in reading all the angles and sides on this issue, so my linking here does not mean my own endorsement of any particular persuasion. I am favorable to the GCR’s work and am trying to be diligent in digesting its implications and thinking (even discussing) through them. If you know of significant resources, please leave them in the comments or e-mail me. I’m happy to take a look. Background: Timmy Brister, “The Backstory to the Great Commission Resurgence“ Information: The Official Great Commission Resurgence Website Commentary: Baptist Messenger Video Interviews (some interesting GCR interviews you will find here) Baptist Press Articles on “Great Commission Task Force” Tom Ascol, “My Take on the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report“ Tom Ascol, “Why Southern Baptists Need a Great Commission Resurgence“ Bart Barber, “How to Resurge“ Todd Benkert,”Thoughts on GCR Component # 2 – NAMB Refocus“ David Dockery Podcast on GCR Nathan Finn, “The Spiritual and the Structural Coincide: Some Thoughts on the GCR.” Nathan Finn,...

A Practical Blog for Ordinary Pastors Like Me

by Bret Capranica | Mar 23, 2010 | Ordinary Pastor, Pastoral Ministry

Brian Croft, a good friend and very faithful pastor in Louisville, KY, has started blogging. Another good friend, Stephen Jones, pointed out Brian’s latest foray into the blogosphere. Those of us ordinary pastors will be wonderfully helped and our souls ministered to through this faithful under-shepherd of Christ. Check out Practical Shepherding and read Brian’s books: Visiting the Sick Test, Train, Affirm and Send: Recovering the local church’s responsibility to the external...

What Will I Preach? (part 1)

by Bret Capranica | Mar 23, 2010 | Featured Articles, Ordinary Pastor, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching

In a recent conversation with a group of pastors, we were listening to each other discuss how we determine what we will preach. Here’s a few of the ideas that govern my sermon selection: 1. Annual Planning. In late fall each year, Kelly, the kids and I get away for about a half week. We each take turns watching the kids for half of a day to allow the other to spend some time alone to pray, think, and plan. This is the time that I normally plan out my preaching schedule for the following year. The details of this would comprise another blog post. Suffice it to say that after listing each week of the year, I think through how I plan to preach the major book I am expositing. I then plan out a number of topical messages, and think through calendar items such as vacation, holidays, and major church events that would effect my preaching schedule. Obviously, this annual calendar is interrupted by the unplanned issues like sickness, or events in church and family life that necessitate a change. But it is a helpful tool throughout the year that helps me provide some guidance to the Scriptural diet I provide the flock. 2. Every Genre. I heard from another pastor how he made it his aim to try and preach through each major genre of Scripture each year. I love the idea and have tried to follow it for a few years. So, I will plan a short series or one message here and there through the year from which I will cover an Old Testament...