
OK
About Robert D. Cornwall
Cornwall is very active in ecumenical and interfaith work, having served as the Convener of the Troy-area Interfaith Group and was a founder of the Metropolitan Coalition of Congregations (suburban Detroit), serving as its President from 2013 to 2015. He earlier served as President of the Greater Santa Barbara Clergy Association, the UCSB University Religious Conference, and helped found the Lompoc Interfaith Group.
The author of a growing number of books on history, theology, the Bible, and more, he likes to opine on matters religious, historical, theological, cultural, and political.
Customers Also Bought Items By
Are you an author?
Author Updates
-
Blog post1 Corinthians 7:29-31 New Revised Standard Version
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the presentYesterday Read more -
Blog postToday we pause to remember and honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We know that Dr. King had a dream. In that dream, he saw a time that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” White folks like to mention that word from Dr. King without paying attention to the rest of the dream. That drea2 days ago Read more
-
Blog postJohn 1:43-51
It’s been a while but you may remember our congregation-wide study of Martha Grace Reese’s book Unbinding the Gospel. She wrote the book because mainline Protestants seem uncomfortable with what she calls the “e-word.” That is, evangelism.
We talked a bit about this at a recent elders meeting in our discussion of Michael Kinnamon and Jan Linn’s book on Disciple identity. They bring up Paul’s word about being ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5). They sugge3 days ago Read more -
Blog post
Editor’s Note:
I offer up this essay by my good friend Steve Kindle. He sent it to me as a conversation starter. I invite you to respond. I will admit upfront that while I affirm what he writes here concerning the diversity of authorship, time, place, and even message, I would differ with him as to whether there is a “Bible.” In making that statement, what I am affirming is the sacredness of the text, a sacredness affirmed in both Jewish and Christian6 days ago Read more -
Blog postReposted from January 13, 2015
John 1:43-51 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Na1 week ago Read more -
Blog postTHE INNOVATIVE CHURCH: How Leaders and TheirCongregations Can Adapt in an Ever-Changing World. Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2020. Xvi + 282 pages.
The world is constantly changing, which means the church must adapt. In reality, the church has been adapting to new realities from the very beginnings of the Christian movement. However, in recent decades the pace of change in the w1 week ago Read more -
Blog post
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 New Revised Standard Version
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his1 week ago Read more -
Blog postThis Armenian Gospel book was produced in (1455 CE) at the monastery of Gamałiēl in Xizan by the scribe Yohannēs Vardapet and was illuminated by the priest Xačʿatur. Mark 1:4-11
What does baptism mean to you? What does your baptism say about who you are as a person? As a Christian? How does it define your identity and the way you live in the world?
You may have heard this before, but I’ve undergone several different baptisms over the years. I’ve been told that th1 week ago Read more -
Blog postREADING WHILE BLACK: African American Biblical Interpretation as Exercise in Hope. By Esau McCaulley. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020. 198 pages.
It has become clear that our social location influences how we read Scripture. I am a white male Protestant living in the United States. For good or ill that reality influences the way I view everything. I am, thankfully, aware of1 week ago Read more -
Blog postThe Visitation - Rembrandt - Detroit Institute of Art
Matthew 2:1-23 New Revised Standard Version
2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postThe Sermon of Saint John the Baptist - Jan Bruegel - Basel
Reposted from January 6, 2015
Mark 1:4-11 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 N2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog post
Acts 19:1-7 New Revised Standard Version
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4&n2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postAdoration of the Three Kings - Andrea Mantegna (15th century)
As I am on vacation and not preaching this morning, I am sharing this sermon from one year ago. I offer this sermon on the Sunday before Epiphany (2nd Sunday after Christmas) so that we can welcome the Magi.
Matthew 2:1-12
In the beginning, when God was busy creating things, darkness covered the earth, and God said: “Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” (Gen2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog post
As the Chicago Cubs fans were famous for declaring after another season without a World Series victory, there’s always next year. As we bring 2020 to a close that sentiment may resonate with many of us. The year 2020 has proven to be one of the most challenging in recent memory. A deadly pandemic combined with a racial reckoning that began with the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylo2 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postJohn 1: (1-9) 10-18 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
63 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postAFTER EVANGELICALISM: The Path to a New Christianity.By David P. Gushee. Foreword by Brian D. McLaren. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020. Xvi + 225 pages.
Once upon a time, I was a white evangelical. I'm still white, but the evangelical part of me has faded from view. Therefore, I find myself numbered among a growing community of post-evangelicals. There are parts of me that still re3 weeks ago Read more -
Blog post
Ephesians 1:3-14 New Revised Standard Version
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of3 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postPsalm 148
The joyous strains of the angel voices singing praise to God can be heard echoing from the heavens and across the mountains. They invite us to join in singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo!” Yes, “Glory to God in the Highest!” And as Isaiah declared: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Is. 61:10). Let us, therefore, j3 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postIsaiah 52:7-10, Matthew 1:18-25
It’s Christmas once again and even COVID can’t stop it from coming. That shouldn’t surprise us if we’ve paid attention to the story of the Grinch. Things may look different this year, but we can still celebrate the coming of Emmanuel into the world. We can still proclaim the good news that God reigns through the one born in a manger in the Little Town of Bethlehem.
This is my thirteenth and final Christmas Eve as past3 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postThe Holy Family by Dosso Dossi (ca 1516) Detroit Institute of Arts
As we gather on this Christmas Eve under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be my 13th and final Christmas Eve service at Central Woodward Christian Church. Between now and the next Christmas Eve, I will have retired. Looking back to previous Christmas Eves, I found this one, the first of my thirteen Christmas Eve Homilies. We were in the midst of a major economic crisis at the time of this service.3 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postReposted from December 23, 2014
Luke 2:22-40 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young4 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postTHE BIBLE WITH AND WITHOUT JESUS: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. By Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. San Francisco, CA: Harper One, 2020. Xvii + 494 pages.
Christians and Jews share a common sacred text. Jews call it the Tanakh. Christians call it the Old Testament (though a recent alternative is First Testament). We read the same stories, but we t4 weeks ago Read more -
Blog post
Galatians 4:4-7 New Revised Standard Version
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an4 weeks ago Read more -
Blog postThe Annunciation to Mary, by Fr. George Saget
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 The angel Gabriel revealed to Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of the “Son of the Most High.” This son of hers would also receive the throne of his ancestor David and “reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:26-33). So, in answer to the song, “Mary Did You Know?” the answer is yes, Gabriel gave her the news.
Gabriel’s announcement to Mary is1 month ago Read more -
Blog postOn Monday electors from the fifty states plus the District of Columbia gathered and cast their votes on behalf of the voters. Thus, our democracy held serve. Despite a myriad of challenges, all of which have been turned back due to a lack of evidence, on January 20th Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be installed into their offices. Of course, not everyone is happy, but then I wasn’t happy when1 month ago Read more
There's a problem loading this menu right now.
Following the outlines of the Participatory Study Method, Dr. Robert Cornwall presents a study guide to the book of Ephesians that is both usable and challenging while not skirting the difficult issues.
These eight lessons take you through the letter leading from the history and background to modern application and sharing in corporate study and worship. Whether you are approaching this book as an individual, as a small group, or in a larger classroom setting, this study guide will provide you with direction, exercises, and questions for discussion and further investigation.
This study guide will be useful for individual study, as a guide to key topics in Ephesians, or for small groups.
Can the Bible speak to people in this postmodern age? Are we doomed to a choice between rigid fundamentalism and complete rejection of this foundational source for Christianity?
Bob Cornwall has found that he can take the Bible seriously in his ministry, and yet avoid such controversial labels as "inerrancy" or "infallibility." Taking his vocabulary and direction from the work of Karl Barth, he charts a course toward a serious study and use of scripture that embraces historical-critical methology, but at the same time expects God to speak through the text in ways that will change our lives and minister to this postmodern age.
"As an urban pastor and church historian, Cornwall seeks to reclaim aspects of his church's ecclesial inheritance that continue to resonate within American religious and cultural life. Using the principles of freedom and covenant as interpretive guides, he writes a succinct, readable, and persuasive interpretation of this distinctive American church tradition. Designed to be a study guide for individual readers and classes, this slender volume can help Disciples reframe the way they understand their church."
--Keith Watkins, Church Historian, Open Road Cyclist
"This accessible yet thorough treatment on Disciples' ethos and vocation counters the oft-used quip: 'You can be Disciples and believe whatever you want.' Rather, as Cornwall rightly argues, Disciples are marked by a peculiar call to a unity that encompasses diversity, a freedom fortified by responsibility, and a denominational particularity that nonetheless honors our common apostolic witness to Christ. . . . A timely, persuasive call from a thoughtful theologian and pastor committed to Disciples, and the whole church!"
--José Francisco Morales Torres, Director of Pastoral Formation, Disciples Seminary Foundation, Claremont, California
Robert D. Cornwall is Senior Pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Troy, MI. He received his PhD in Historical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and is editor of Sharing the Practice (Academy of Parish Clergy). His books include Religion, Politics and Dissent, 1660-1832, co-edited with William Gibson (2010), Faith in the Public Square (2012), and Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening (2013).
All too frequently studies of the gifts of the Spirit consist largely of answering two questions: "What are the gifts?" and "Which ones do I have?" In many cases studies go on to a third question: "How can I get more?"
In response, institutional churches and theologically and intellectually respectable Christians often tend to avoid the work of the Holy Spirit in the church entirely. It's much easier to simply close the doors and windows than it is to deal with the wind (John 3:8). After all, they've seen the wind blow out the candles, disarrange the altar vestments, and send a chill through the congregants.
Author, pastor, and church historian Bob Cornwall has experienced all of this for himself. He has seen traditional churches and worship. He has seen Pentecostal worship. He has led congregations in difficult times. For more than 30 years, he has studied, practiced, prayed, and lived the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. The result is Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening. Here he avoids both the errors of replacing the freedom of the Spirit with human whim and of trying to tame or confine the Spirit that will not be fettered. He asks: "Do you truly believe that God is present in the world? And, do you believe that God is working through us to break down the walls that divide us from God, from each other, and from the world? And if you do, do you believe that you have been gifted and empowered to participate in this ministry that takes down the walls of egoism, suspicion, greed, self-interest, and hatred?"
If you can say "yes" to these questions, jump right in. This is the book for you.
If you are hesitant, or if the idea of the Holy Spirit working unfettered in your congregation and community frightens you, read the first four chapters carefully as Bob lays the theological foundation. You may find your "maybe" or even your "no" turned into a "yes."
Building on this foundation, Bob continues with five chapters on the gifts of the Spirit as described in Scripture. These are practical discussions that will let you keep your bearings in discussions of the Spirit and, more importantly, in a community where the Spirit is active.
Finally, he concludes with a discussion of how to lead and pastor a church where the gifts of the Spirit are active. Whether you are a Pentecostal, an evangelical, a mainliner, a progressive, or any other label you might find for yourself or your church, you will profit from reading this book.
The doctrine of the trinity is probably the most complex and mysterious topic in Christian theology, yet it impacts our understanding of many other doctrines.
Pastor/Theologian Robert D. Cornwall brings his knowledge of church history to the task of examining this doctrine, looking at how it developed and what justifies its presence in Christian theology. He uses the history of his own Disciples of Christ tradition as one of the expressions of the Stone-Campbell movement, which avoids creeds very effectively in examining how we distinguish between the statements and events of scripture and our theological reflections on them.
Can a doctrine not mentioned in scripture be of value? Are creeds necessary or even useful? Cornwall threads a careful course between the value of the creeds, and within them the doctrine of the trinity, in defining our ecumenical relationships and task on the one and, and on the other the danger of having creeds as a test of fellowship and faith. While rooted in his own denomination's traditions, this is very valuable to other denominations and movements as we examine what defines us while at the same time seeking freedom in non-essentials.
This book is especially strong in examining the history of the development of this doctrine and connecting this to our ongoing reflection on scripture and what our tradition and experience provides.
This short volume is valuable to all those who seek to understand the trinity not just as an element in a doctrinal system, but as it aids us in thinking about elements of our faith.
What do the letters of John, tucked away near the end of the New Testament, tell us other than that we ought to love one another? That's a good message but can we put some muscle into it?
With the help of Dr. Robert D. Cornwall and his new study guide on the Letters of John in the Participatory Study Series, we certainly can Cornwall guides us through a historical, theological and practical study of these three little letters, taking 1st century material, helping us understand it clearly, and applying it to our daily lives in the 21st century.
Besides its value in studying these books, this guide provides a model for a successful small group or individual study of any Bible passage. Each lesson includes readings, questions, exercises, and a suggested prayer in closing helping to bring the application home.
This study is useful for individuals and small groups, but can also be valuable in planning a sermon series.
This is a study guide on marriage. Discussions include: covenant vs contract, concepts of biblical marriage, loneliness and looking for a mate, the realities of divorce, and family in the larger community. I titled the study guide "Marriage in Interesting Times," because we are living at a time when profound changes in the way marriage is understood.
Not that long ago, it was assumed by many in American society that traditional marriage not only involved a man and a woman, but the man was the head of the household and the woman was a homemaker. The man earned the money, and the woman cared for the children and kept the house in order. Then came the idea that husband and wife were equal partners in the marriage. In most cases both partners worked outside the home, and they shared more equally the duties of the home. Today, the definition of marriage has evolved one more time to include same-sex couples ...
So, when we talk about marriage in the twenty-first century, at least in the United States, and a number of other nations around the globe, we must remember that the legal definition, if not the religious one, includes both gay and straight couples. Yes, these are interesting times. — Dr. Bob Cornwall
Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist are some of the names used to signify what is arguably the center of our worship as Christians.
"Although the Eucharist may stand at the center of Christian worship, there are a great variety of theologies and practices present within the Christian community. For some it is a mere memorial of Jesus' last supper with his disciples. For others it is the place where one not only encounters Jesus' spiritual presence, but consumes his true body and true blood under the signs of bread and wine. Although rooted in the practices of the early Christians, time has witnessed considerable evolution, and with evolution comes diversity of practice and belief," says author, Dr. Robert Cornwall.
This newest addition to the Topical Line Drives series offers a rich but brief stimulus for us to converse about our differences in theology and practice. It is Dr. Cornwall's hope that such conversations will increase our joy in the experience of this sacrament given to us by Jesus Christ.
You've been a lectionary preacher throughout your ministry. You like the discipline of dealing with the scripture of the week rather than just grabbing something that is easy for you to handle.
You're willing to preach on the hard stuff. But what about the rest of scripture, those passages that never appear in the weekly readings from the Revised Common Lectionary? Are you and your congregation missing something that could be of great benefit? Dr. David Ackerman, who writes the introduction to From Words of Woe to Unbelievable News, felt the need to cover more of scripture and proposed a fourth year lectionary that covered passages that are not included in the Revised Common Lectinoary.
In turn, Dr. Bob Cornwall, a pastor highly qualified for the task, chose to use these texts in a series of sermons for Lent and Holy Week. He preached those sermons in 2014. We now offer these sermons in this Topical Line Drives volume. One of the stumbling blocks with new ideas is the question of how one gets started. It's sometimes hard to find just the approach to take to a new set of texts and a new set of ideas. Bob Cornwall leads the way, finding timely and powerful applications of these difficult texts. Besides being a resource for pastors, these sermons provide meditations that can be used as the basis for a Lenten study or for small groups.
- ←Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- Next Page→