Often gravitating toward the Bible stories because of their great truths, Dr. Frymire looks for more than the obvious when he preaches and teaches. Instead, he finds the problem in the passage to tell the story in a fresh way, wedding the Bible story with an effective, creative and novel preaching practice.
“I think boring sermons are a sin,” Dr. Jeff Frymire, Associate Professor of Homiletics on the Florida Dunnam Campus, said. “It takes an awful lot of work to take the most exciting book that’s ever been written and make it boring.”
Dr. Frymire preaches once a month and leads the young adult ministry at the Solid Rock Church of God in Kissimmee, Fla. His most recent message explored the showdown between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal. Even without dew or rain for three years and the country in serious drought, Elijah still found water to pour over his sacrifice to the Lord. But, where did he find the water?
“I liked that problem and thought that was worth exploring,” Dr. Frymire said. “After work and research, I discovered that there were only two probable places to obtain water. One was Ahab’s palace, and the other was in the temple of Baal because Baal was the God of fire and water.”
In his message, Dr. Frymire examined the irony of pouring water that had been dedicated to a false god over a sacrifice designed to obtain God’s favor. He believes that is why God not only consumed the sacrifice with fire, but also lapped up the water in the trench.
“If you’re scratching your head and wondering why yourself, then people are more likely to be engaged,” he said. “Rather than standing up and saying, ‘I know the truth and I’ll pour information into your head,’ I invite listeners to come on a journey with me and discover the truth as we go along together.”
In addition to preaching, Dr. Frymire also serves as the Dean of Chapel on the Florida Dunnam Campus and teaches a variety of classes in his role as professor. These classes include Vocation of Ministry, Worship and Introduction to Preaching. This January, he’ll also be teaching a class entitled Public Reading of Scripture.