This is not a text to teach the art of preaching nor to share any exegetical or hermeneutical technique; it is a simple collection of sermons preached over the years from 2005-2020. As I began to consider putting this together, I was first daunted with the size of the task required to fashion all of these sermons into good prose. No one has enough time to do that. Upon reflection, I have decided to leave the sermons pretty much as written save for minor editing to fix typos, misspellings, etc. No major editing has been done; the sermons are basically just as prepared and delivered.

Since preaching is an oral form of communication, it is also a form of performance, just as a piece of theater or a movie. It requires the same elements those do; it requires timing and good vocal projection and planning. Humor is a useful tool and it is important to offer consolation, i.e., while some husbands may beat their wives, not all husbands do so and it is good to offer that so as not to put all the men in the audience on the spot!  I have found it very helpful to put cues or directions in the sermon to aid me in delivering it. Some of these will be self-evident - [pause] means to intentionally pause at that point, for example. I have used bracketed text as a directive throughout my sermons. Additionally, it may be noted that I have a lot of exclamation points and dashes. Exclamation points remind me to accentuate certain statements while dashes signify a short pause. On occasion, I have used italicized text to remind me to emphasize a point or to note a repeating theme that I want to highlight. In the end, preaching has two key actors - the preacher and the congregation; they need to work well together.

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Rev. Scott Taylor was called to serve as Senior Minister at First Christian Church, Grand Island, NE, in September 2007. 

Prior to accepting the call to Nebraska, he served as Youth Pastor at Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville where he formed a RAIN (Regional AIDS Interfaith Network) Team and co-directed annual retreats for long term HIV survivors.

In Nebraska, he was active in NAP (Nebraska AIDS Project) and a local support group, Kaleidoscope.  Beyond ministry, Scott is also a songwriter and singer with 5 CDs released so far.

After 8 years in Nebraska, it was time to return with his wife, Patty, to Oklahoma and family - three children, 9 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren!  He is currently serving as Chaplain at Cornerstone Hospice.