These Ancient Words is a practical framework for Disciples preachers engaging scripture in sermon preparation. Starting from the reality that for many people the sermon is the only encounter they will have with the Bible in a given week, the framework suggests five essential tasks of the preacher when working with a text. The accompanying handout provides questions and prompts for each task, helping preachers move from first encounter with a passage to a sermon that takes the text seriously on its own terms and speaks truthfully to the congregation.

The resource is designed to be used week after week as part of a regular sermon preparation practice. Its five-task structure offers a repeatable process that preachers can internalize over time — one that attends to both the historical and literary dimensions of a text and its contemporary proclamatory possibilities. Whether used in personal study or as a framework for a preaching group, These Ancient Words provides practical scaffolding for the most demanding regular discipline in congregational ministry.

You might also find helpful:

• A Lover’s Quarrel — Weekly lectionary reflections from Disciples New Testament scholar Eric C. Smith, available in text and audio.
• Textweek — A comprehensive weekly lectionary resource for preachers and worship planners.
• Preaching God’s Grand Drama — Ahmi Lee’s theodramatic framework for biblical preaching, a Preacher Book Club selection.