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John Henry Jowett
John Henry Jowett (1864–1923) was an English preacher and Congregationalist minister whose eloquent sermons and devotional writings earned him a reputation as one of the early 20th century’s most gifted pulpit orators. Born in Halifax, Yorkshire, to a working-class family—his father, Joseph, a tailor, and his mother, Sarah, a devout Christian—he grew up in a religious home and excelled academically at Airedale College and Edinburgh University, where he trained for ministry. Ordained in 1889, he began his career at St. James’s Congregational Church in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, serving until 1895, when he succeeded R.W. Dale at Carr’s Lane Chapel in Birmingham, a post he held for 16 years. Married to Mary Jane Langhorne in 1891, with whom he had no children, Jowett’s personal warmth and intellectual depth fueled his pastoral work. Jowett’s ministry reached its zenith in the United States and London, where his preaching drew widespread acclaim—Charles Haddon Spurgeon reportedly called him a successor in spirit. In 1911, he accepted a call to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, serving until 1918, captivating American audiences with his poetic style and emphasis on Christ’s transformative power. Returning to England, he ministered at Westminster Chapel in London from 1918 until ill health forced his retirement in 1922. Author of over 30 books, including The Passion for Souls and The Preacher: His Life and Work (from his 1912 Yale lectures), Jowett blended mysticism with practical faith. He died in 1923 in London, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose lyrical voice and spiritual insight inspired congregations across two continents.
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John Henry Jowett emphasizes the importance of expanding our perspective and thoughts to align with God's grand purposes and will. Using Abraham as an example, he illustrates how God leads us out of our limitations to see the vastness of His plans. Jowett challenges the listeners to examine the breadth of their love and prayers, urging them to move beyond selfish confines to embrace a more extensive, inclusive approach that encompasses the world.
The Larger Outlook
GENESIS xv. 5-18. "And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven!" The tent was changed for the sky! Abraham sat moodily in his tent: God brought him forth beneath the stars. And that is always the line of the Divine leading. He brings us forth out of our small imprisonments and He sets our feet in a large place. He desires for us height and breadth of view. For "as the heavens are high above the earth" so are His thoughts higher than our thoughts, and His ways than our ways. He wishes us, I say, to exchange the tent for the sky, and to live and move in great, spacious thoughts of His purposes and will. How is it with our love? Is it a thing of the tent or of the sky? Does it range over mighty spaces seeking benedictions for a multitude? Or does it dwell in selfish seclusion, imprisoned in merely selfish quest? How is it with our prayers? How big are they? Will a tent contain them, or do they move with the scope and greatness of the heavens? Do they just contain our own families, or is China in them, and India, and "the uttermost parts of the earth"? "Look now towards the heavens!" Such must be our outlook if we are the companions of God.
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John Henry Jowett (1864–1923) was an English preacher and Congregationalist minister whose eloquent sermons and devotional writings earned him a reputation as one of the early 20th century’s most gifted pulpit orators. Born in Halifax, Yorkshire, to a working-class family—his father, Joseph, a tailor, and his mother, Sarah, a devout Christian—he grew up in a religious home and excelled academically at Airedale College and Edinburgh University, where he trained for ministry. Ordained in 1889, he began his career at St. James’s Congregational Church in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, serving until 1895, when he succeeded R.W. Dale at Carr’s Lane Chapel in Birmingham, a post he held for 16 years. Married to Mary Jane Langhorne in 1891, with whom he had no children, Jowett’s personal warmth and intellectual depth fueled his pastoral work. Jowett’s ministry reached its zenith in the United States and London, where his preaching drew widespread acclaim—Charles Haddon Spurgeon reportedly called him a successor in spirit. In 1911, he accepted a call to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, serving until 1918, captivating American audiences with his poetic style and emphasis on Christ’s transformative power. Returning to England, he ministered at Westminster Chapel in London from 1918 until ill health forced his retirement in 1922. Author of over 30 books, including The Passion for Souls and The Preacher: His Life and Work (from his 1912 Yale lectures), Jowett blended mysticism with practical faith. He died in 1923 in London, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose lyrical voice and spiritual insight inspired congregations across two continents.