This book revolves around two concerns. (a) As a Homiletical aid, it seeks to make Christian preaching Biblically rooted and contextually sensitive amidst the overwhelming changes that drive the Church away from her original purpose of proclaiming the redemptive-liberative Gospel of Christ in a world that hurts and being hurt. (b) As an apologetic task, it intends to defend the life and ministry of the Church, especially the ministry of reconciliation, amidst the intense criticisms levelled against her in modern times. The materials contained in this book are not the result of intense research, but reflections based on my long experience in pastoral ministry and teaching as a theological educator (that too in the premier theological school – the United Theological College, Bangalore), almost having equal number of years of experience. This book contains fourteen sermons preached by the author on various occasions in the Church. They are thematic in nature. There is an introductory essay on the “Art of Preaching”, which mainly focuses on the challenges that the contemporary ministers face in preaching. The title of the book: Relationality, Responsibility and Faithfulness: Theology from the Pulpit represents the author’s passionate search for the much needed human impulse to embrace each other in a context in which experience human tendency of mutual ostracism both in India and also worldwide.

Prof. Rev. Dr. R. Sahayadhas is the Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology of the United Theological College, Bangalore. He also served as the Secretary of the UTC Society for a term (2017 – 2020). He hails from the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), where he served as an ordained Pastor for about two decades before coming to academia. Two of his main foci in his pastoral and academic life are: (a) a constant search for human relationship, which he expresses always in his academic and pastoral works, and (b) an unflinching commitment to be a bridge-builder between ecclesia and academia. Readers may experience these interests of the author running throughout the book. He was the author of Hindu Nationalism and the Indian Church: Towards an Ecclesiology in Conversation with Martin Luther (2013 & 2016), published by Christian World Imprints. Prof. Sahayadhas is married to J. Usha, Retired High School Teacher, and they are blessed with a son, Benil Sahayadhas, who works in a Private Company in Bangalore.