The Case for Preaching (part 4)
January 26, 2007Strangely (but pleasingly), since I began a short series “The Case for Preaching” four weeks ago, a number of blogs have started posting on a similar theme. Unlike my cursory reflections, many of these posts are much more in-depth and lay out a real case for the ongoing significance of preaching. So find below a few of the links and tell me what you think.
A Case for Consecutive Exposition @ Expository Thoughts
Expository Preaching: A Display of What is There @ Expository Thoughts
Benefits of Expository Preaching @ Steward of Secret Things
Why Should A Pastor Be Preoccupied with Preaching God’s Word @ Fide-O
In addition, at the suggestion of John Brand, Steve Weaver recently listed his top 10 favourite books on preaching. I can’t resist throwing in my tuppence worth:
1. Christ-Centred Preaching by Bryan Chapell. (I agree with SW that this is the best single volume to give to any young preacher)
2. Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd Jones.
3. The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper.
4. Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
5. The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges
6. Preaching by John MacArthur
7. When God’s Voice is Heard by David Jackman and Christopher Green
8. I believe in Preaching (Between Two Worlds) by John Stott
9. Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture by Graham Goldsworthy
10. Preaching & Teaching with Imagination by Warren Wiersbe
unashamed 
I really love preaching, and I really love your site. Thanks for the resources, the encouragement, the training, and thanks for giving God the glory!
Good list! The only one I don’t have is When God’s Voice is Heard. I’ve never even heard of it. Please enlighten my uninformed mind.
Steve, “When God’s Voice is Heard” is a compilation of essays in book form on the theme ‘the power of preaching.’ It is not so much a how to book, as a theology of preaching. The chapter authors should reveal something of the quality of content:
Forward (John Stott)
Preaching that shapes a Ministry (Chris Green)
The Preacher and the Sufficient Word (Peter Adam)
The Preacher and the Living Word (John Woodhouse)
Preaching the Whole Bible (Peter Jensen)
Preaching Christ from the OT (Sinclair Ferguson)
The Preacher as a Theologian (JI Packer)
The Preacher as a Pastor (Edmund Clowney)
Preaching that Grows the Church (Frank Retief)
Preaching that Changes the Church (Philip Jensen)
Preaching that Understands the World (Don Carson)
Preaching that Converts the World (John Chapman)
Preparing the Preacher (David Jackman)
It must not be available in the states. Who is the publisher?
The publisher is IVP. I just checked on Amazon and there are a few copies you can get on there.
Hey Colin. Great list.
#1 on my list is your #9, G.G.’s Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. It’s such an equipping book for making the gospel clear in every sermon. I think I underlined half of the book the first time I read it.
Another good read that would probably appear at around #6 or #7 on my list is Haddon Robinson’s Biblical Preaching. While Goldsworthy and Chapell do a far better job of laying out a rich theology of preaching and of arguing for the necessity of lifting Christ high in the sermon, Robinson’s book does a great job of laying out a thorough methodology for putting a sermon together. If read along with G.G. and Chapell, Robinson can really help the young preacher know how to go from a blank page to a good sermon.
Thanks for your list, Colin. I assume there’s no problem with posting it on my site and including it in my ‘poll’ of the Top 10 recommended books on preaching?
Colin,
You can find a number of excellent excerpts from Tim Keller’s D.Min. course syllabus from RTS, Preaching the Gospel in a Post-Modern World here: http://www.eucatastrophe.com/blog/archives/category/is-it-a-christ-centered-sermon/. I have found the 200 pages of this syllabus to be worth it’s weight in gold.
Dan
Justin, thanks for that insight. I do have Robinson’s book and agree its a good starter for young preachers. It just missed my list…
John, that’s no problem about posting my top 10 in your poll.
I have been away from blogdom for a while (too long) but am working on getting back into the swing of things. Another book to consider is a puritan goodie, “The Art of Prophesying” by William Perkins. Check it out.