David L. Bartlett

This collection of fifty-two sermons shows beloved New Testament scholar David Bartlett at his best. Bartlett, who died in 2017, spent his career teaching and mentoring preachers at The University of Chicago Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, Union Presbyterian Seminary, and Columbia Theological Seminary, as well as serving as a pastor in American Baptist churches. Thus, he has generations of friends and former students who knew him for his quick wit, passion for justice, and deep knowledge of the Bible. Those traits show through in these sermons. As Nora Tisdale says in the foreword: "All of the sermons in this volume give witness to David's passion for preaching that is solidly grounded in the biblical text. Most of them actually begin, as Karl Barth urged preachers to begin, with the biblical text. If they don't begin there, they always get there fairly quickly. And David's interpretations of texts often surprise the reader with their freshness and clarity." In addition to individual sermons, several multiweek sermon series, including a series on Who Is Jesus? and Great Words of the Faith, are included.

New Testament writers offer varied and persuasive pictures of Jesus that seek to draw people into faith. For David Bartlett, New Testament Christology is "not so much a set of doctrines as a variety of stories, songs and scriptural interpretations that help Christian believers and Christian churches follow the Jesus they read about, hear about, and praise." Early Christians framed and told stories, shared teachings, testified to encounters, found solutions to problems, acted out in faith and love, and sang songs about and to Jesus Christ- the resurrected one who represents and shares God's very self to repair and redeem a broken world. Baptized by John the Baptist. Embarrassingly crucified. Teacher and interpreter of Torah. Reformer. Messiah. Proclaimer and agent of a new Kingdom era. Lord above and beyond Caesar's empire. And most of all, a suffering, resurrected savior addressed through poetry, songs, stories, titles, and ongoing encounters with the community gathered by and in his name. Bartlett takes readers on a quick look journey through the New Testament writers' understanding of Jesus and his saving significance. In the process, he reminds Christians and those who would understand their founding documents that these differing, context-dependent portraits of Jesus are vehicles of a practical, living faith. They don't just say something, they do something, revealing an underlying conviction: somehow God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to God's very self (2 Corinthians 5:19).

This new volume in the Feasting on the Word series will serve as an all-in-one pastor’s companion for Lent and Holy Week, providing worship materials and sermon preparation tools for both lectionary and nonlectionary preachers. In keeping with other Feasting on the Word resources, four essays provide theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical perspectives on an Old Testament and a Gospel text for each Sunday. A complete order of service is provided for each of the Sundays in Lent, plus Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Hymn suggestions, midweek services, and children’s sermon suggestions make this an invaluable resource for the season of Lent.

Feasting on the Word Guide to Children's Sermons equips church leaders and children's ministry volunteers to deliver children's sermons that are free of gimmicks and simplistic conclusions, that welcome children into the family of faith, and that give a foundation in God's good news for all people. This volume will address the common questions pastors have about the children's sermon, steps on avoiding common pitfalls, suggestions on how to use the children's time in a church following the lectionary, and sample Bible stories for use in the children's time.

Written by world renowned experts in surgical oncology, this book examines various types of cancer and their treatment options based on 'Level of Evidence' tables. The text provides an up-to-date review of the knowledge required by surgical oncologists, from basic biology, to the application of regional chemotherapy, minimally invasive surgery and palliative care.

How shall we interpret the stories of miracles, particularly the resurrection, in this secular age? The author calls us to look beyond the fact of a miracle to faith in what the miracle means. To do this, he tells us, we must first of all try to understand what actually happened in history. However, he warns us that merely knowing what happened will not necessarily lead to vital Christian faith. In developing his theme, the author discusses the way in which each of the Four Gospels presents miracles, the meaning of exorcism in the New Testament and today, and the significance of the resurrection accounts. Throughout, the author suggests significant themes for preaching. David L. Bartlett is Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, and Lantz Professor of Preaching Emeritus at Yale Divinity School. Bartlett is an ordained American Baptist minister. His most recent book is The Fourfold Gospel (2006), for which he wrote the section on Matthew. His Lyman Beecher Lectures were published in 2003 under the title What's Good About This News? He also wrote the study of 1 Peter for The New Interpreter's Bible. Fact and Faith was his first book.

In this study of the Gospels and the book of Galatians, David Bartlett explores how to reconcile the biblical text's message to our contemporary context and a particular congregation's character and need. While, as he shows, important continuities exist in the way the good news is understood throughout the New Testament, precisely what it looks like and how Christians respond to it differs between Mark, Paul, John, and the rest of the writers. Consequently, he demonstrates, preachers have options as they try to discern what news a congregation needs to hear on a particular Sunday. Including sample sermons, What's Good about This News? shows how each of these biblical texts remains a redemptive word for today's people.

In the early 1990s, scholars voiced skepticism about the capacity of Eastern Europe's new democracies to manage simultaneous political and economic reform. They argued that the surge of popular participation following democratization would thwart efforts by successor governments to enact market reforms that imposed high costs on major elements of post-Communist society. David Bartlett challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the hazards of "dual transformations": far from hindering marketization, democratization facilitated it. Bartlett argues that the transition to democracy in East Central Europe lowered the political barriers to market reforms by weakening the ability of actors most vulnerable to marketization to manipulate the existing institutional structure to stop or slow down the process. Although the analysis focuses on Hungary, whose long history of market reforms makes it an ideal vehicle for assessing the impact of institutional change on reform policy, the author shows how his findings call into question the use of "shock therapy" and arguments, based on the experience in East Asia, that economic development and democratization are incompatible. This book will appeal to economists, political scientists, and others interested in transition problems in formerly communist countries, democratic transitions, and the politics of stabilization and adjustment. David L. Bartlett is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University.

David Bartlett explores Paul's letter to the Romans and there discovers Paul's vision of the nature of God. Along the way, Bartlett also highlights Paul's thoughts on God's gift of Jesus Christ, the world of the first Christians, and the nature of faith. Fascinating and clearly written, this rewarding and uplifting book will encourage and enlighten the modern reader faced with contemporary issues, including pluralism and the meaning of faith. Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.