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Clear, Concise, Consistent, and Contextual Preaching Nov 06, 2007
Jim McCormick...his preaching, his theology, his person, and his ministry have had a profound impact on my life. So I have to confess at the outset in reviewing his book Does It Look and Sound Like Jesus?, I am biased. I am convinced that he is one of the best preachers and teachers among us today.
This collection of sermons is classic McCormick preaching. It is the kind of proclamation that nourished me as a young adult and opened the door for me to respond to God's call to ministry. It is the kind of preaching that has challenged congregations and individuals across 50 years to follow Jesus more faithfully. It is the kind of preaching that sets a standard of excellence and continues to call me to hone my skills as a preacher and teacher.
When Jim writes and preaches, it is clear, concise, consistent, and contextual. He does not muddy the waters. He says what he means to say, and before he writes it or speaks it, he carefully considers his words. Each word, each phrase, is intended to carry with it deep meaning and to move the listener/reader closer to a central point. Above all, Jim is consistent in his preaching. It is not just that he works diligently each time he preaches, seeking to give God the best he has to offer, but also that his theology is consistent from week to week, month-to-month, year to year. I learned the framework for studying, preaching, and thinking theologically from listening to Jim preach. Finally, it is fitting and appropriate that the subtitle of this collection is: "Sermons from Big Canoe Chapel." Jim's sermons have broad appeal, but they are always grounded in the reality of his context. When he writes or preaches, it is with eyes, ears, and heart tuned into the spirit of the congregation where he serves.
I am biased, but I am also convinced that had I not known Jim for these many years and picked up this book, I would still be thankful for the chance to read the Word of God proclaimed. And I would be challenged to a more faithful life of service. The only thing better than being able to read this collection of Jim's preaching is to be in worship to hear him. I commend this book to any who would seek to know God more fully and to follow Jesus more faithfully.
Just a reminder: Do we look and sound like Jesus? Sep 15, 2007
For almost 5 years, Sylvia and I have been asking again and again, "Does it, do we, look and sound like Jesus." It is indeed an intriguing question with which Dr. James McCormick confronts us weekly in his sermons at Big Canoe Chapel, Big Canoe, GA, and now in his mindful book entitled "Does It Look and Sound Like Jesus?" And we necessarily pause to consider and to answer that simple yet profound question. And weekly, and now, thanks to his new book, at all times, Jim McCormick helps us to look at God, at life, at our relationships, and ask that important question, for it is in answering that question with a "yes" that we best become what God has always intended for us to be.
Master theologian and respected teacher, Jim preaches sermons that lead us to the conclusion that our God is a loving God, who has created a wonderful world, and has brought into being humankind, and has pronounced humankind good. Far too often we overlook that "goodness" of God. But Jim captures that so well in his sermon, "If We Had Known It Was You," when he writes, "Somewhere we have misplaced the concept of the worth and dignity of every human life....As the sons and daughters of the one Father, we are all brothers and sisters, and we are intended by God...to act like a family" (p. 63). And family, in its truest sense, has as its base God's love.
That is Jim's good word for us. Maxie Dunnam says, in his introduction to this book, what most of us, and I especially as a minister, are constantly thinking: "I wish I had said that." Jim writes it, preaches it, and lives it. What better recommendation!
Rev. Lamar Helms
Associate Chaplain
Big Canoe Chapel
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
This book will reach the hearts and minds of its readers Sep 14, 2007
While listening to Dr. Jim McCormick's sermons, which I've done for most of the Sundays he's preached at Big Canoe Chapel, I've often wanted to press the replay button, so to speak, and listen again to what he's said and let some especially cogent thought play around in my mind and thoroughly sink in.
But, now, even better, I have his book of selected sermons and I can sit there in my reading chair, as I did recently, and wallow around all I want examining the wisdom of his words.
In his sermon, "Follow Me," one of the book's selections, he tells how Jesus said it wouldn't be easy, but that it would lead to abundant and eternal life. And then he asks, "How do we know when it is God? How do we know how we should act?
"The answer," he says, "always comes back, `Does it look and sound like Jesus?'"
It is a threshold question and a recurring theme in his classes and sermons. And, as the author writes in the book's introduction, the question is on target, and thus it became the title given to his book.
"Does It Look and Sound Like Jesus? Sermons from Big Canoe Chapel" was published recently to coincide with the Chapel's 30th anniversary celebration.
Big Canoe Chapel is a multi-denominational congregation in the community of Big Canoe located in the foothills of North Georgia's Appalachian Mountains, about an hours drive from Atlanta.
The 166-page soft back book includes 25 sermons preached during his five years as Senior Chaplain. Many of the titles are unique and grab your attention, such as "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," "Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry" and "What to do with Yesterday."
The foreword was written by the chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary, Maxie D. Dunnam, a friend of nearly 50 years. They shared the same seminary experience, he writes, and were young preachers together in Mississippi.
The Asbury chancellor aptly describes Dr. McCormick as a master preacher. About preaching, he writes that it's more than a mechanical exercise. It's about communication and reaching the hearts and minds of a congregation.
And Jim McCormick has done just that - certainly from the pulpit of Big Canoe Chapel and now in his book, "Does It Look and Sound Like Jesus," he will surely reach the hearts and minds of its readers.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Thought-provoking Sep 04, 2007
I have had the privilege of hearing Dr. Jim McCormick preach at Big Canoe Chapel for the past five years. His preaching and teaching skills have helped steadily incease our membership since he came out of retirement to take on the responsibilities of pastoring our multi-denominational congregation. While I consider my listening skills to be fairly well-honed, I realized after reading these previously-heard sermons that there is so much more to be learned! Based on scripture and peppered with lyrics, story and poetry, the sermons in this collection help the reader think through many important life decisions. The seemingly simple title-question of the book, does it look and sound like Jesus, helps the reader think through everyday challenges in light of how God might want us to choose, based on the examples given to us in the life of Jesus. This ia a great chair-side or bed-side volume filled with inspirational, instructional and meaningful messages.
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