A Word That Sets Free

Inspired by the heritage of African-American churches, Mark Ellingsen has created innovative, visionary sermons on Old Testament texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. His messages reflect his unique vantage point as a Lutheran of Norwegian heritage teaching at a historically black seminary, and they are a model for anyone who wants to learn how to relate the Bible to the cutting-edge social issues of our day. Ellingsen suggests that many American Christians have abdicated their responsibility to advocate justice in our society or to talk about what the gospel can do in our lives and society as a whole from Monday through Saturday.

Ellingsen believes these Old Testament texts are relevant to our contemporary lives. An all-too-common view of many Christians is look to the New Testament to find the liberating word of God, while viewing the Old Testament as being about the law and the confining demands of tradition. But Ellingsen says that the history of Christianity proves this is not true. He observes that Martin Luther was primarily an Old Testament scholar, and that African-American churches have based many of their traditions of liberation on Old Testament stories and prophetic traditions.

Mark Ellingsen's offering of sermons based on Old Testament texts reflects his usual thorough biblical scholarship and his readable, down-to-earth style that consistently render his material useful to both scholars and those seeking the inspiration of a faithful Christian.
Richard H. Stough, Publisher
King Publications

Mark Ellingsen has had a rich and varied career as a parish pastor and a seminary professor. In addition to serving several Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, he has held teaching positions at Luther-Northwestern Seminary and the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. Ellingsen currently is on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, the largest historic African-American seminary in the United States. A regular contributor to several homiletics periodicals, Ellingsen is also the author of ten books, some of which have been used as homiletics texts in many American and Canadian seminaries.