The UK's 'Sermon of the Year' competition will receive a major boost this year by its finals featuring on the BBC's 'The One Show'.

Now in its third year the competition, run by the London School of Theology (LST) and Preach magazine, invites written submissions of up to 1,500 words on the theme 'be set free'.

The four finalists in the contest will preach their sermons on Thursday, June 21 2018 before a judging panel, a BBC camera crew and a live audience at LST. The winner will receive a year's free tuition at LST, or a £500 LST book shop voucher.

LST Principal Rev Dr Calvin Samuel said: 'Preaching is a key element of life and study at LST. The Sermon of the Year is a great opportunity for preachers, whatever their previous experience, to share and develop their skills with a new audience.

'We're excited to be championing the art of sermon preaching. We hope to ignite a passion to share God's word effectively to the glory of God.'

The finals judging panel will feature Dr Krish Kandiah, author, speaker and director of Home for Good, practical theology academic Dr Chloe Lynch, writer and minister Rev Anne Calver, and the head of theology at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC), Antony Billington.

Louisa Lockwood, editor of Preach magazine said: 'We have been delighted at the interest and conversation generated by Sermon of the Year, and heartened by the consistently high standard of the entrants: We wholeheartedly encourage applicants regardless of level of skill to enter.

'Sermon of the Year continues to show us that preaching is alive and well and still one of the most powerful agents of transformation in the church.'

Christian Today attended last year's competition, which was won by a retired woman preaching for the first time in her life.

The first runner-up to the 2018 contest will receive 50 per cent off a year's LST tuition, or a £250 LST bookshop voucher. The top 10 finalists will have their sermons published in a book. The finalists' sermons from the 2017 competition, collected in the book God in the Dark, can be purchased here.

The deadline for this year's submissions is midnight on Sunday 18 February 2018. For more details click here.