Author Larry Buxton becomes our video companion as millions of American churchgoers hear about the life of David
In Summer 2021, congregations nationwide will read David’s timeless story.
Please welcome a wise companion on that journey.
EDITOR’s NOTE: One outcome of the pandemic year is a wave of multi-media creativity among our authors. Earlier, we reported on the rise in “virtual author events.” This week, Larry Buxton becomes our first author to launch an entire, free-of-chrage, video-learning series to accompany his book, 30 Days with King David—On Leadership. Larry chose a very timely connection with his book. Here’s Larry’s story …
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By LARRY BUXTON
Author of 30 Days with King David
Beginning June 6, 2021, and continuing well into August, millions of American churchgoers will hear weekly readings about King David. I’ve already started talking about about this amazing, inspiring and often deeply troubling hero. In fact, I’ve just posted my entire video series on David’s life on my website.
Not every pastor and preacher follows the Common Lectionary, which assigns these summer months to the life of David—but many thousands do, which means millions of us will be living with David for several months.
Why would we need to be reminded of this famous figure? We know all about David, don’t we!?! We can visualize the Michelangelo statue (the illustration on the cover of my book). We know how he killed Goliath with one well-placed stone. And, yes, we also know all about that scandal with—with—who was that woman?
That’s a classic one for Jeopardy! “And the question is: Who was Bathsheba?”
That’s about where many of us begin to draw a blank about David. Maybe we don’t know as much of his story as we think we do.
Yet David has few peers in all of the Abrahamic faiths. David’s name occurs nearly 800 times in the Hebrew Bible. He is one of Islam’s most revered prophets. He is mentioned more often in the Gospels than Abraham. Only Jesus gets more extensive and detailed attention in the Bible than David. Jesus is called “Son of David” more often than he’s called “Rabbi,” and millions of Christians, Jews and Muslims alike have been named “David” or “Dawud” in his honor.
Preachers who follow the lectionary will have the opportunity this summer to delve into this momentous leader in detail. Christians around the world will hear his stories read aloud during worship.
How did this come to be? And how can preachers, parishioners, teachers and Sunday School leaders take advantage of this opportunity? First, a bit of background: Many churches worldwide find their passages for each Sunday’s reading and preaching in what is known as The Revised Common Lectionary. This is an ecumenical plan for Bible readings prepared by multiple Christian denominations several decades ago to encourage unity among Christians around the world. The first common lectionaries sprang up as far back as the 1960s as a response to Vatican II. In the current version of this ecumenical plan, participating denominations include Catholics as well as branches of the Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist churches—plus the Disciples of Christ, American Baptist Churches and the Reformed Church in America.
In short, if you go to a mainline church in America, the odds are you’ll be spending time with David this summer. Want a preview of how the Bible passages are organized? Many websites list the Common Lectionary, but I find this one provided by Vanderbilt fairly easy to use.
Because the complete lectionary cycles through multiple years, this summer is the first time since 2018 that preachers are encouraged to tell David’s story with focus, continuity and depth.
It is a crucial narrative of inspiration, leadership, warning and encouragement.
To become a personal companion on that journey, I spent several months preparing brief videos for each of the 10 summer readings. In the first video, I briefly explain my own background as your guide through David’s life—then I dive right into this classic adventure. As you watch these short videos, we will talk about David’s anointing and his dancing, his loving, his praying, his forgiving, his ruling and his mourning.
Together, we will meet such towering figures as Samuel, Nathan, Jonathan and Absalom.
In each story, I will point out ways that David’s life intersects with our own.
This whole video series is grounded in the new 30 Days With King David—On Leadership. If you do order the book to read along with the video series, I can guarantee you will have an unforgettable adventure this summer, filled with love and hate, war and peace, temptation and redemption, heroism and tragedy.
You’ll realize how many of the highs and lows in our own lives are mirrored in David’s story.
And, I can guarantee you’ll come through this summer with deeper insights into the qualities of character, integrity, grace, humility and gratitude that we all hope will become a part of our journey in faith.
Visit www.LarryBuxton.com/Preaching-David to find all the videos.
Share that link with friends. Encourage your pastor, lector, small group leader or Sunday School teacher to check out these videos. They’re easy to share—and easy to show as a brief “video clip” to spark discussion in your congregation or small group.
And, YES, for those of you who pay careful attention to intellectual property: You do have our permission to stream these clips in your community.
AN EASY REMINDER: If you want to make the videos’ location even easier to remember, just go to www.LarryBuxton.com and you’ll find a link to the Preaching David video series right there on the opening page.
Interested in placing a group order of books for your class or circle of friends? Amazon ordering is quick and easy for most of us. If you are interested in 10 or more copies, email us at [email protected]
Care to have me visit your group?
Are you interested in scheduling a time when I might be able to virtually visit your group this summer? Visit the Contact page on my website. Depending on our schedules, I welcome such invitations and may be able to arrange something.
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