"THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed." -- "God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Charged With Grandeur: Sermons and Practices for Delighting in God's Creation is a collection of sermons that encourage congregations to improve their stewardship of the environment by delighting in God's creation. Each sermon is paired with questions for reflection that could be used in follow up discussions, as well as "take action" suggestions for congregational participation.
Author Christopher Keating wrote this book with the purpose to assist preachers as they prepare sermons about the environment. Bogged down by the "data of despair," and by the political nature of environmental concerns, many pastors avoid speaking about environmental issues. Yet the Bible is filled with ecological references that point to God's concern with the natural world. Charged With Grandeur provides resources that help congregations celebrate creation while also discovering ways of improving our stewardship. This is an excellent resource for pastors, church members, as well as congregational Earth Care teams and seminary students.
Included in this book:
Questions for reflection and action
Ideas for ways individuals can "take action"
Sermons that incorporate creation care elements
Ways to discover connecting environmentally oriented scriptures into worship and preaching
Sermon titles included:
Visiting Our Stuff
Casting Out into the Deep
Listening to the Song of Creation
Paths of Danger
Christopher Keating is pastor of Woodlawn Chapel Presbyterian Church in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. He is the graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and Saint Paul School of Theology, and writes regularly for The Immediate Word on SermonSuite.com. He is a regular contributor to the St. Louis' Post-Dispatch's Belief St. Louis blog and has written for the Church of the Brethren's Messenger magazine.
