The word family is warm and inviting. Preaching on family matters can be quite the opposite. It can cause visceral, knee-jerk reactions. How can our preaching strengthen families without discouraging broken people?

In this interview, from the PreachingToday.com online journal, editor Craig Brian Larson talks to Robert Russell, who has served since 1966 as pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

With all sorts of family models in our culture today, it's not just two parents, two kids, and a dog. How do you help all of them?

That's tough. There's a tendency, with few traditional families, to think it doesn't exist any more. We still need to hold high the ideal. At the same time, we must acknowledge failure, forgiveness, and a fresh start.

Before I preach on the family, I talk with single parents and parents of blended families. I listen for a phrase or two I can draw into the sermon. "Maybe you're taking care of an elderly parent right now. You're still under God's umbrella ...