Preaching God's Word: A Hands-On Approach to Preparing, Developing, and Delivering the Sermon

People in churches today are hungry for a word from God. Preachers need to prepare and deliver sound biblical sermons that connect with their audience in a meaningful way. Whether you are a student new to preaching or a veteran looking to brush up your preaching skills, here is a valuable resource.Good preaching begins with good exegesis. Preaching Godýýýs Word walks you through the steps of the ýýýInterpretive Journeyýýý from the biblical text to contemporary application:ýýý Grasp the text in more >>

People in churches today are hungry for a word from God. Preachers need to prepare and deliver sound biblical sermons that connect with their audience in a meaningful way. Whether you are a student new to preaching or a veteran looking to brush up your preaching skills, here is a valuable resource.Good preaching begins with good exegesis. Preaching Godýýýs Word walks you through the steps of the ýýýInterpretive Journeyýýý from the biblical text to contemporary application:ýýý Grasp the text in ýýýTheir Townýýý (what it meant to the original audience).ýýý Measure the width of the river that separates the biblical context from today.ýýý Cross the ýýýPrincipalizing Bridgeýýý by identifying the timeless theological principles.ýýý Grasp the text in ýýýOur Town.ýýýWhile the science of solid biblical interpretation is essential to effective preaching, it must be married to the art of contemporary communication in order to bring the message home. Preaching Godýýýs Word also shows you how to understand your audience, develop powerful applications, use illustrations well, and deliver the sermon effectively. The concluding chapters discuss the unique preaching challenges presented by the various biblical genres, providing interpretive keys, things to avoid, and numerous examples.ýýýCarter, Duvall, and Hays have given us a basic and worthy manual of how-toýýýs for preaching. Now since Haddon Robinsonýýýs classic text has a book taken such a practical and understandable, step-by-step approach to the sermon.ýýý-Calvin Miller, Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity SchoolýýýIn a day when the church-world is lulled into complacency by sermons that are little more than entertaining homilies on good values and fix-it paradigms, here is a guide to proclamation the way it was meant to beýýýbiblical, understandable, and transforming.ýýý-Joseph M. Stowell, Teaching Pastor, Harvest Bible Church; Former President, Moody Bible Institute.This user-friendly practical textbook helps preachers and homiletics students develop and deliver biblically based expository sermons relevant for the twenty-first century.ContentsAcknowledgments...9Preface...11Introduction...15PART 1: Developing and Preaching a Biblical Sermon1. Preaching a Biblical Sermon...212. Discovering Biblical Truth: The Interpretive Journey...413. Preaching the Meaning in Their Town...694. Exegeting the Audience...845. Communicating the Meaning in Our Town...996. Applying the Message...1167. Illustrating Biblical Truth...1338. Delivering a Biblical Sermon...150PART 2: Preaching the New Testament9. Preaching Letters...17110. Preaching the Gospels and Acts...18711. Preaching Revelation...204PART 3: Preaching the Old Testament12. Preaching Old Testament Narrative...22313. Preaching the Law...23714. Preaching the Prophets...25115. Preaching Psalms and Wisdom Literature...268Conclusion...289Scripture Index...291Subject Index...295Part 1 Developing and Preaching a Biblical SermonStep 1 Grasp the Meaning of the Text in Their TownStep 2 Measure the Width of the Interpretive RiverStep 3 Cross the Principlizing BridgeStep 4 Grasp the Text in Our TownStep 5 Exegete Your CongregationStep 6 Determine How Much Background Materialto IncludeStep 7 Determine the Sermon Thesis and Main PointsStep 8 Develop Text-Centered ApplicationsStep 9 Find IllustrationsStep 10 Write Out the Sermon and Practice DeliveryPreaching a Biblical Sermon1Have you ever experienced the preaching of John R. W. Stott orEugene Lowery or Tony Campolo? Stott is calm in presentation andfills sermons with background information from biblical times. Heis intentional in his outline and lays out the truths clearly. Lowery isfree in his approach and fills his sermon with narrative and colorfullanguage to lead the audience in discovering the truth from the text.Campolo is a whirl of activity and excitement, filling his sermons withstories of exploits of radical ministry. In our homiletics classes wewant our students to be exposed to preachers lik << less