Discussions of Jesus’ words and actions as he went to the cross are fairly common. What about the other players? How do their reactions connect to the critical, final action of Jesus? Dr. William Powell Tuck, who has previously written about the centrality of the cross in Christian faith (The Church Under the Cross), and the last words of Jesus (The Last Words from the Cross), takes a look at the reaction of others who were involved, leading up to the final cry of Jesus, “It is finished!” In doing so, Dr. Tuck leads us to questions of how we respond to Jesus personally, and especially to the meaning of this central event of Christianity. It is easy for us to think about the resurrection and to speak of the joy, strength, and triumph that it portrays. But we lose the depth and breadth of the resurrection when we fail to look at these scenes from the journey Jesus took to the cross itself. Our response to strength, glory, and triumph is less a demonstration of who we are than our response to trials and apparent tragedy. In this book you will learn to look at different perspectives on that difficult time, as people react to events they do not understand. How can we learn to respond better to the situations that our lives present to us? This book is suitable for individual reading, and would also make an excellent study for a small group. While it would be particularly valuable as a Lenten study, mediation on the cross is valuable at any time of the year.
In seeking to explore who Jesus is, the author has explored the meaning of the Incarnation, Christ as Teacher and healer, and the rejected, crucified, and risen one. Finally he probes the meaning of the Chris as a present reality and how he can still be known. Tuck writes in a nontechnical way to draw reader into the realization of the importance of personal commitment to Christ if one is to more fully grasp the meaning of Christ's person and presence. The ink drawings by Israel Galindo invite the reader to probe in a visual manner the rich interpretation of the compelling faces of Jesus."--BOOK JACKET.
Stewardship is one of the essential means the church utilizes to roll up its sleeves and engage in the ministry it is challenged to do. — William Powell Tuck Jesus said in His sermon on the mountain, "Blessed are ..." (Matthew 5:1-12) James said, Faith without works is dead. (James 2:14-26) Dr. Bill Tuck shares his heart and his teachings on stewardship that will bring the reader into a greater appreciation of how God wants to use our time, talent and finances to build His Church as well as draw us into a deeper relationship with Him. You will find each chapter begins with a scriptural notation that will lend itself to further study and meditation on God's Word. May we be found to not only be reader of God's Word, but also doers of His Word.
The popular Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins has sold more than 62 million copies since the first volume appeared in 1995. Jerry Falwell pronounced it the most important series of books in the history of modern Christianity. Many readers have assumed it gives the true facts about the way the world will end and what will happen to all the people in it. But according to real biblical scholarship, this series is seriously flawed. Based on a misreading of many scriptures, including Daniel and the Book of Revelation, it has fed a kind of hysteria in the Christian populace that has led many people to reorder their existence in expectation of an impending doom and the sudden, unexpected return of Jesus. In this book, William Powell Tuck carefully and authoritatively refutes the premises and faulty theology of the Left Behind books, critiquing them in the light of genuine biblical scholarship and common sense.
Many negative voices predict the demise of the church, or even claiming it has already happened. Is this negative assessment accurate? Is there hope for the church? William Powell Tuck believes that there is. Drawing from a lifetime of experience as a pastor, honed by research, teaching at the seminary level, and writing, he provides a roadmap for the church to be both faithful and to speak clearly in the 21st century. The presentation is rooted in scripture, theologically informed, and fully aware of the reality that churches face today. This is not your dry text on ecclesiology. While it could serve as a text for a seminary class, the class would be a practical class about how to reform the church and reach out to a world in need. This book is an exceptional resource for pastors, but it would also provide an excellent basis for a churchwide study, helping a congregation to extend their witness.
One of the most difficult tasks that may confront a pastor is the preaching of a funeral homily. What are the words that will provide comfort and encouragement to the family and friends of the deceased? What words will be faithful to the message of the gospel and the community of faith? William Powell Tuck, author of the practical guide to preaching, Overcoming Sermon Block and Holidays, Holy Days, and Special Daysdraws on his years of experience, training, and teaching to provide some examples of funeral homilies that can help young pastors to prepare for everything from joyful celebrations of a long life well lived to the memory of life tragically shortened. But this book is not just useful for pastors. Reading these homilies will provide you with insight into understand grief. Whether you are dealing with loss yourself, or looking for ways to help friends or family, you will find insights and encouragement in the homilies in this book.
Many people go through life as though they were blind and deaf. They seem to hear and see so little of the world that surrounds us. Through the Eyes of a Child summons us to an adventure to become a "seer" and experience life in a child-like way. This is a summons to discover or rediscover the world around us or within us and see all the miracles around us that we continuously neglect or fail to notice. Being awaken to child-like wonder and expectancy enables us to experience the deep mystery that is realized through learning how to see, hear, feel, touch, taste, and celebrate the wonder of life- even the wonder of sleep. Routine, busyness, noise, distractions, work, burdens, cluttered existence, and countless other matters blind us to seeing the splendor, beauty and mystery of the holy in the ordinary all around us. This book helps plant our feet on the path to recapture the child within to experience the blessing of being genuinely alive to God and to the world in which we live. It is an invitation to go on a journey within to try to see through the eyes of a child once again.
What is the primary mission of the church? In this book author William Powell Tuck argues for the significance of the church's mission to proclaim the good news of God's reconciliation with the world through Jesus Christ. To place this mission in historical and theological context, the author explores various biblical stories that highlight the importance of carrying out the church's missional calling. He argues that the church must reclaim its calling to share the good news, especially in a world that has largely lost the true message and meaning for which the Church was founded. He insights into understanding biblical characters, the sweep of Christ's love, and the role of reconciliation in the context of God's eternal plan of redemption. Tuck also discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on churches and congregations and provides suggestions for how the church can re-engage in its mission effectively in a post-pandemic world. The message of this book is presented with biblical depth, pastoral compassion, and the potential to inspire and challenge readers to embrace the church's mission of sharing the good news. It's broad view of biblical history makes it helpful for understanding the broad sweep of the Bible's message. It's practical presentation makes it useful for any church leader, and in fact for any Christian who wants to embrace Christ's call to reach the world.
Do you feel like your prayers are not heard? Prayer has often been described simply as communicating with God. How many of us talk to God daily? If we did not speak to our spouse daily, how much would we know about her/him? Dr William Powell Tuck brings not only years of studying the Scripture but perhaps more importantly his own prayer experience and his time as a pastor, counseling and teaching others. "I have often been embarrassed to admit that praying has not come so easily or naturally to me," he confesses in this book. This frank and open attitude gives us all a renewed hope, makes us eager to see what Dr Tuck has to say about prayer, and try his suggestions.
What happens at the end? What do we mean by the end? When will we see the last things? The theological term for "the last things" is eschatology. It is the Christian doctrine which is concerned with the final "things," death, the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, the final judgment, heaven and hell. Even though these themes are at the heart of the Christian faith, it is often difficult to voice with clarity what we mean by them. In The Journey to the Undiscovered Country, William Powell Tuck says, "Although there is no clear, simple, New Testament answer on all of these issues, the New Testament is unequivocal in its hope for men and women in Jesus Christ. No one can speak with certainty about such matters as the mystery of death, the resurrection, heaven and hell, the second coming, or the final judgment of God. However, the New Testament does offer some concrete pointers which I believe can be helpful to us. I invite you to join me as we look to see if we can gain some insight to determine the future hope for those who die in Christ." This book is suitable for personal reading and study or for use as Sunday School curriculum.
Even when it comes to our faith, voices seem to come from many directions, urging us to follow them. How do we decide what is real and what is false? Christian voices are mixed with fundamental certainty to agnostic Christianity, biblical literalism and inerrancy to prosperity gospel, the only true church to come as you are and leave as you came invitations, narrow-minded beliefs to anything goes philosophy, or an eternal quest for the truth with an openness to a growing faith. - William P. Tuck Prolific writer, William P. Tuck, brings his insight from years as pastor and mentor. He pulls no punches and seems to look the leader right in eye with his candor and desire to bring each person closer to the real deal, Jesus Christ. This book is a comprehensive presentation of how to live the Christian life faithfully with an effective witness to the world around us. How God speaks, the temptations that distract us, praying, hearing God answer in various ways, are all part of Tuck's sharing. Jesus called us to be Light and Salt. What voice will you follow to be Jesus' Light?
Passing our faith from generation to generation is difficult. It has been this way from the time that Cain killed his brother, through Israel's call for a king because Samuel's sons were not like him, up to the present day when children reject their parents' faith. Prolific author (37 books and counting ) William Powell Tuck wants to "tell to the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, his might, and the wonderful things he has done" (Psalm 78:4). In this book, he does so by answering serious questions from his grandchildren, many of whom are college age. He's not afraid to address the controversial questions with them, including current issues of politics, climate change, and human sexuality. But all of these questions are addressed from a foundation of informed Christian faith, honed through years of preaching, teaching and writing. At the same time, he addresses questions from the younger grandchildren in simpler terms. With an accessible, question and answer layout, the reader can find direction in addressing these topics during their own family discussions, or in teaching them in small groups, Sunday School, or even from the pulpit. Every generation can benefit from this book, but those who teach will find it especially helpful. Shouldn't that be every Christian?
When called on to preach, whether you are a pastor or lay preacher, do you sometimes find yourself blocked? "Writer's block is a common complaint from many authors. They reach a point sometimes when they simply cannot produce anything worth reading. Preachers often encounter this same kind of roadblock when they attempt to prepare sermons."- William Powell Tuck With this opening sentence, Dr Tuck brings his many years of experience as professor and pastor and freely gives some "nuts and bolts" of sermon preparation and "pots and pans" essential for effective preaching. This book is not about the philosophy or theology of preaching but about preparing for, writing, and preaching a sermon. While the reader may quickly find a solution to this week's sermon, Dr. Tuck also gives ideas and plans for long-term preparation to open a new pathway, moving sermons from a burden to a blessing for the writer as well as the intended listener. Anyone called to preach can benefit from reading this book.
What’s a preacher to do with holidays? Some seem to almost preach themselves, especially those in the church calendar. Others are more secular or may seem to conflict with the church calendar. Some are even controversial and require a gentle, but firm touch of the preacher’s art. William Powell Tuck is a master preacher and in this book he demonstrates his sensitivity to the issues raised by some of the holidays and special days of the year along with his grounding in biblical studies, theology, and homiletics. You can read these sermons as essays if you want, but they are not light devotionals. They are serious efforts to grapple honestly with issues and to guide a church community in learning and growing as they celebrate their lives, their families, and their communities. For the preacher, these sermons can serve as models for how to approach these days, as well as providing insight into the various issues involved.
The Cross. The central symbol of the Christian faith. "Can a church be an authentic Church and not focus on the cross?" William Powell Tuck began answering that question in his book, The Church Under the Cross, and now he leads us into the second part of his answer in his new book, The Last Words from the Cross. "The words of our Lord on the cross have become very memorable. These words of Jesus have been designated as the seven last words. They are, of course, more than individual words. They are really sentences or fragments of sentences. One of these seven words is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Three of them are found in the Gospel of Luke, and three are recorded in John. No one gospel contains all of them. But, to me, that is a way of authenticating the gospels. Each writer drew on what he remembered or considered most important in those moments or what he had heard from others who shared their experiences." says Tuck. A study of these words gives us, His disciples, a deeper insight into Jesus' thoughts through suffering, facing death, and what His death meant to Him as He met our need for salvation. Rev Tuck further says, "These words reveal his personal agony, his concern for others, his forgiving spirit, his physical suffering, his ultimate trust and faithfulness in the One he had proclaimed. Even in his moments of forsakenness he still resisted the temptation to turn away ultimately from God's will or deny the One who led him to this shameful death as he identifies with sinners." This book is an ideal study for Lent, or at any time for a church that would like to better understand taking up their cross. And what church can't benefit from that?
A Revolutionary Gospel" focuses on the centrality of Rauschenbusch's concept of salvation-his view of both personal and social salvation-in its relationship to the Kingdom of God in the teachings of Jesus. Rauschenbusch believed that Jesus' teachings were revolutionary and aimed to bring about the moral transformation of the individual and society. William Powell Tuck describes how Rauschenbusch's concept of redemption requires a transformation of society as well as individuals-and that no one can genuinely be redeemed without this redemption affecting the social culture as well. "A Revolutionary Gospel" shows us how Rauschenbusch's revolutionary concept of salvation is still relevant today.
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The cross has always been a scandal and sometimes a source of ridicule. At the same time, it is the central symbol of Christianity. Author William Powell Tuck believes that the cross has never been more relevant than it is today. It may be difficult to preach the cross, but it is the duty of Christians to do so. "As long as the church lifts up a hollow, aluminum foil cross instead of a heavy wooden cross, we will always be guilty of heresy in the message we present to the world," he says. In the pages of this book you will start by looking the cross as the central symbol of the gospel, a symbol that you cannot forget if you want to preach and live an authentic gospel. From there you will look at how the cross illuminates our understanding of God, and then to the way it guides the way we will teach and serve. The cross is truly a difficult subject to preach, both because we stand amazed at what it represents and because of what it calls for each of us to do. But however difficult it is, we must not avoid it. Only if we become the church under the cross will we be the genuine body of Christ.
Usually there are seven signs denoted in John. But there are several other events that I think are clearly signs as well. The book also has numerous disclosures of Jesus beginning with the phrase "I am." There are such phrases as "I am the light of the world," "I am the bread of life," and "I am the resurrection and the life." All of these signs are presented by John as revelations about Jesus. They are in essence "parables" of the kingdom of God as seen in Jesus Christ. Each of the signs presents an avenue into the nature of Jesus. Each sign reveals an aspect of his redemptive work. As we understand the meanings of these signs, we are drawn into a deeper awareness of God's love, grace, and redemption and of our own need for a deeper commitment to the One who has revealed to us what God is like. My prayer is that the reader will be drawn more closely to the self-giving God disclosed in Jesus Christ"--
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