Author: Ezekiel Ajibade

The theme of this conference to which I will address is,
“Engaging a World Homiletic.” The world is a big place. With a
population of 7.9 billion in seven continents and consisting of
nothing less than 3800 cultures, the world is enigmatic and a big
assignment to comprehend.1
Yet, God loves this world and the
people in it. We are commissioned to go into the world, preach
the gospel and make disciples of its component nations. Paul’s
words in Acts 17:24-28 is very profound: “The God who made
the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth
and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not
served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he
himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From
one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the
whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history
and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they
would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and
move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said,
‘We are his offspring.’”2
From the passage above, there is an indication that God
was deliberate in situating every human being where they are
and for a purpose: seek, reach him, and find him. The task of
preaching and of a preacher stand between these divine designs.
Paul later asks in Romans 10:14-15: “How, then, can they call on
the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in
the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone
preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news!” The preacher, therefore,
becomes the connector between men and women in their divine
location and the vision of God to see them seek him, reach out for
him and find him.
A “world homiletic” presupposes that God has placed
humans in their different locations in the world and within their
cultural and other contexts. He has also raised preachers (and
continues to call in places where they do not have one) who
would preach to them and ultimately lead them to salvation in
the holistic sense.
To prosecute this task, I will discuss the basic assumptions
in homiletics and Christian preaching. I will examine preaching
from an African context and perspective since that is my root. I
will situate African preaching in a global context and offer a few
considerations to put in place if one is to engage a world
homiletic. The idea of “engaging” as we are attempting to do is
“to give attention to something” and possibly “participate” in it.3
It is to seek to understand it, to know how to handle and probably
involve in it.

Sermon note-taking has long been practiced in various “church cultures,” and some may wonder about the future of the practice. Challenges to note-taking include secondary orality, the emergence of the digitoral generation, and the technologization of the world. This paper, engages with homiletics, systematic theology, communication studies, and discipleship studies to demonstrate the relevance of note-taking for enhancing listener engagement during the sermon. First, ,this paper will suggest a biblical and theological premise for note-taking. Second, it will investigate the relationship of note-taking to good listening and journaling. Third, it will describe methods of effective note-taking for both oral and digitoral sermon hearers. Fourth, it will discuss the criticism that note-taking is a distraction to the listeners. This paper will show that note-taking is still practiced by church-goers, and that while it should be encouraged, it should not be forced on worshippers in any way.