Bonhoeffer Series

The format for Sunday Morning services at the Church attended in 2003 consisted of an opening, a short 10-15 minute devotional or sermon, followed by Bible Study Classes and a longer Sermon. Throw in some A Capella congregational singing and you have a typical Sunday Morning with the Dunkard Brethren.  I always like to find a theme when I'm going to be speaking repeatedly and for openings in 2003 I did a series of short lectures on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship as our opening Devotions.

I am uncertain how to characterize this series. It certainly is not a scholarly examination of Bonhoeffer's thought. I sometimes neglected to mention Bonhoeffer's positions except to say that I disagree with them. It is not merely a book review either, I am not so interested always in what Bonhoeffer said as in thinking about what he thought about. And yet is is not an original work in any sense of the word: chapter by chapter I reviewed the concepts in The Cost of Discipleship and relayed them to my Church each Sunday.

Perhaps it is best to call these conversations with Bonhoeffer. My style has certainly been conversational with more of an ear for rhetorical polish, perhaps, than written formality. While each chapter leans heavily upon someone else's thoughts, they also contain my own. I encourage all christians to read The Cost of Discipleship. Hopefully my own contribution will encourage you to do so if you have not.

  1. Costly Grace
  2. The Call to Discipleship
  3. See Chapter 5
  4. Discipleship and the Cross
  5. Single Minded Obedience/Discipleship and the Individual
  6. The Beatitudes
  7. The Visible Community
  8. The Righteousness of Christ
  9. The Brother
  10. Purity
  11. Integrity
  12. Revenge
  13. The Enemy
  14. Hidden Righteousness
  15. Hidden Prayer
  16. Fasting
  17. Mammon
  18. Judging
  19. In or Out?
  20. What is the Rock?
  21. The Harvest
  22. Laborers in The Field
  23. Success!
  24. The Suffering of the Messengers
  25. See 26
  26. The Decision and the Fruit
  27. Questions
  28. Baptism
  29. See 30
  30. The Body/The Visible Community
  31. The Saints
  32. The Image of Christ