Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

350 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

2. How do we establish contact with the audience? To what extent must we understand and incorporate issues of culture and custom into our work if we are to gain the ear of our audience? What limits exist in shaping our message with attention to culture, in other words, how do we keep from changing the message itself to accommodate the culture of those whom we address? 3. Why is it important to use contact only as a springboard into the larger context of the Word of God? What is liable to happen if we do not progress beyond the immediate concerns and issues of the hearers and move on to the word of God regarding Christ and his Kingdom? 4. What are some central principles we ought to keep in mind as we seek to communicate the Word of God with clarity and boldness to our hearers in a way they can appreciate culturally? What limits ought we to place on the way in which we communicate the Gospel? How does Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 9 help us to see the role of freedom in preaching the Word to others (cf. 1 Cor. 9.19-21)? 5. What did Jesus and the apostles preach as their actual content during their ministries, and how should their themes and focus affect what we choose to preach about today? 6. Why is it important to preach the content of the Bible in a manner that resonates with the Bible’s own methods of presentation: the use of images, metaphors, symbols, and stories presented in a plain and simple manner? 7. How may our use of the liturgical year (along with the resources, texts, and tools associated with it) provide us with a way to expose our audiences with a continuous retelling of the Story of God, and in some way allow us to preach “the whole counsel of God” (cf. Acts 20.27)? 8. What are some practical ways in which our preaching can help our audiences make connections with the truths of our preaching? What is the difference between making connections and manipulating responses from an audience? What is the role of making invitations and appeals to our audience as we proclaim the Word to them? 9. Why should we place a large emphasis upon following up all responses made to our preaching, and how can we use these specific follow-ups to reinforce our messages to particular individuals and families?

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