Preaching to People in Pain: How Suffering Can Shape Your Sermons and Connect with Your Congregation

This book offers an important corrective to a pain-averse culture that celebrates individualism and success, encouraging pastors to preach on the painful issues their congregations face. Preacher and teacher Matthew Kim has witnessed the weekly struggles of broken parishioners and has worked to make sense of his own pain as a follower of Jesus. In this book, he encourages preachers not to avoid preaching on afflictions. Rather, he emboldens pastors, whenever appropriate, to connect the pain in Scripture passages with the pain of their listeners. Through vulnerability and self-disclosure, says Kim, pastors can help their congregants share their suffering in community for the purpose of healing and transformation.

Preaching to People in Pain asks preachers to consider nine questions that will help them move from hermeneutics to homiletics as they prepare, write, and preach sermons on pain and suffering. The book includes stories, shares relevant Scripture texts imparting biblical wisdom, and offers best practices for preaching on specific topics. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and a sample sermon.

240 pages.

View excerpt here.

Contents

Introduction
Part 1: Naming the Pain
1. The Preacher's Pain
2. The Listeners' Pain
3. A Plan for Preaching on Pain
Part 2: Preaching on Pain
4. Painful Decisions
"The Anatomy of a Bad Decision" (Sermon on 1 Samuel 15)
5. Painful Finances
"The Secret to Contentment" (Sermon on Philippians 4:10-20)
6. Painful Health Issues
"Panhandling for True Satisfaction" (Sermon on Acts 3:1-10)
7. Painful Losses
"Successful Suffering" (Sermon on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11)
8. Painful Relationships
"Honoring Mom as Honoring God" (Sermon on Ruth 1-4)
9. Painful Sins
"The God of Fourth Chances" (Sermon on John 21:15-25)
Conclusion
Appendix: Worksheet for Understanding Pain
Indexes