Second Thoughts about the Second ComingUnderstanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian HopeBy Ronald J. Allen & Robert D. Cornwall In this helpful book, Allen and Cornwall explain how we don’t have to subscribe to sensationalist theories or sketchy interpretations to believe in Christian hope. While Second Thoughts on the Second Coming was written with a general audience in mind, preachers can also use this book in their sermon preparation. The two online resources developed by the authors help preachers engage the second coming in the pulpit. You can download these guides using the buttons below.
The first resource is “A Brief Guide to Preaching on the Second Coming,” which includes both a general orientation to the subject and suggestions for sermon series based on biblical texts and topics.
The second resource is “A Brief Guide to the Second Coming in the Christian Year and the Revised Common Lectionary.” This guide calls attention to ways in which expectation for the second coming shapes the year and the lectionary. Preachers may prefer to frame this concern more broadly, as the expectation for the Realm of God or the fulfillment of God’s purposes for humankind and nature. In any event, this guide also highlights days and seasons in the Christian year, as well as texts in the lectionary that provide natural opportunities for thinking with the congregation about how to understand and respond to these texts and themes.