In Preaching and Preachers, the author states unapologetically his attitudes about his role in the church and explains his methodology, all the while addressing various problems and questions that have been put to him.
Renowned preachers and teachers (James Boice, Donald Macleod, Sinclair Ferguson, R. C. Sproul, and others) contribute to this volume on the preacher, his message, and his method of presentation.
Preaching Magazine's 2015 Book of the Year If you are a pastor, you know the importance of preaching. You have spent time learning and refining the art of preaching because it is vital to the life of God's people—including the preacher. But you probably also find it challenging. On Preaching is a masterful resource that will refresh your soul and revitalize your preaching ministry. Drawing upon Scripture and years of preaching experience, H. B. Charles offers a practical resource for pastors, seminarians, church planters, and Bible teachers that is full of energy and wonderfully enjoyable. He gives tips like, "Avoid indecent exposure—get your wife's permission before using your family in the message" and "Illustrate! A good illustration is like a window on a house. It helps your listeners see in or out." Written in a very clear and concise manner, this resource is formatted into 30 short chapters that can easily be read as a devotional. On Preaching will encourage seasoned preachers to dig deeper into the basics as they pause and reflect on the effectiveness of their ministry. It will also serve as a spring board for those who are just beginning a preaching ministry.
Is bigger always better? It's not often that we hear the virtues of the small. Our culture teaches that bigger is better--and that includes church ministry and preaching, too. But what if rather than swinging for the fences, preachers focused on improving their sermons through small habits, practices, and exercises? What if smaller is better? In a world where "small" isn't always celebrated, Jonathan T. Pennington provides Small Preaching, a short book of simple tips that can have revolutionary effects over time. Pennington offers preachers 25 words of wisdom that will help shape their preaching for the better.
This book is an analysis of shifts in dominant media forms and their effects on the sensibilities of the culture as a whole. Many of those shifts have profound, and unfortunate, effects on preaching. T. David Gordon has identified a problem, one that affects all preachers (indeed, all public speakers) and needs fixing. Our preaching is just not communicating properly anymore. Fortunately, Gordon not only explains the causes of this failure but also shows us how to make things better. - Publisher.
You can teach the craft, but you must first form the heart. Many preachers want to preach better, but they don't always know how to go about improving, and most books on preaching focus on the mechanics of the craft. But preaching involves more than the steps from a text to a sermon, because every time a preacher stands up to preach, their character shines through—for better or for worse. In The Heart of the Preacher, Rick Reed focuses on the personal heart preparation required before any preacher is ready to preach. He explores issues preachers often wrestle with—like discouragement, insecurity, and pride. He then offers practices to fight these challenges and form a heart that carries the fruit of the Spirit into the pulpit. It takes more than a good speaker to preach. It takes a Spirit-filled person. This book will help you check your heart and cultivate the most important aspect of preaching: your character.
C. S. Lewis excelled at plumbing the depths of the human heart, both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the corrupt. From science fiction and fantasy to essays, letters, and works of apologetics, Lewis has offered a wealth of insight into how to live the Christian life. In this book, Rigney explores the center of Lewis's vision for the Christian life—the personal encounter between the human self and the living God. In prayer, in the church, in the imagination, in our natural loves, in our pleasures and our sorrows, God brings us into his presence so that we can become fully human: alive, free, and whole, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
Pastor and preaching coach, Dr. Yancey Arrington offers a new paradigm for message preparation - one that focuses on seeing sermons emotionally, where preachers will be trained on discovering a message's emotional center, charting sermon bandwidth, and leveraging one's God-given personality in the preaching event. This innovative approach to preaching can produce more effective seasons in the pulpit where congregants are carried `down the mountain' of messages in such a way they can't wait to do it again!
Many sermons preached today lack the divine knowledge and spiritual understanding available only through dynamic expository preaching. In Preaching: How to Preach Biblically, John MacArthur’' well-known passion for the Bible combines with the expertise of faculty members at The Master's Seminary to inspire and equip preachers in effective biblical preaching. Preaching: How to Preach Biblically flows from biblical foundations for expository preaching through a detailed process of developing expositions and creating sermons to the actual delivery of expository messages, connecting what pastors learn in seminary with the sermons preached in a local church. This volume shows how to progress purposefully from one phase to the next in preparing to minister to God's people through preaching. This book answers these questions and more: What is expository, biblical preaching? What are the theological and historical foundations for insisting on expository preaching? What are the steps involved in preparation for and participation in biblical preaching? What models exist for expository preaching today? The Master's Seminary faculty, with over thirty years' experience in preaching and seminary training of preachers, contributes a treasury of expertise alongside insights from expositor John MacArthur. While united on their commitment to exposition, the variety of individual expressions and methodological preferences discussed offers beneficial assistance for any preacher seeking a higher level of expository excellence.