Preaching occurs when a holy man of God opens the Word of God and says to the people of God,“Come and experience God with me in this text.”Encountering God through Expository Preaching ushers preachers of all levels of experience through the practical steps necessary to preach with power. The authors not only cover the exegetical skills and homiletical techniques necessary for sound preaching, but they also dive deeper to emphasize how a pastor’s c...

“Brothers, pray for us.” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). The Apostle Paul’s letters are filled with references to prayer—requests for prayer from the churches, prayers for them, and teaching and encouragement that God was working through these prayers. Pastors and church leaders know that prayer is powerful and it must be a priority in any ministry, yet many pastors struggle to maintain an active prayer life. Even more difficult is the challenge of praying for the flock, lifting up the needs of th...

One contemporary scholar and authority on Spurgeon says of this work: "Next to Mr. Spurgeon's great literary work, The Treasury of David, we consider (these) Lectures to My Students his greatest single contribution to the Christian world. There is more practical wisdom, common sense and sage advice packed within these pages than with any other book of similar size, or content." This complete and unabridged edition of Spurgeon's great work will make it possible for today's generation to app...

Doing justice to the complexity of the preaching task and the questions that underlie it, Wilson organizes both the preparation and the content of the sermon around its "four pages." Each "page" addresses a different theological and creative component of what happens in any sermon. Page One presents the trouble or conflict that takes place in or that underscores the biblical text itself. Page Two looks at similar conflict--sin or brokenness--in our own time. Page Three returns to the Bible...

Christ's seven last words from the cross have long been a source of reflection, challenge, and soul-searching. These simple statements contain the full range of human emotions and divine self-revelation: grief, compassion, despair, forgiveness, physical need, the promise of redemption. In many ways they embody the core of the gospel.In this brief book one of today's most noted churchpersons and preachers confronts the reader with the seven last words's claim on her or his life. Wri...

Much current literature on church worship rarely mentions preaching, and vice versa. Worship is often seen as restricted to music and liturgy while preaching is assumed to operate on different principles for different purposes. But veteran preacher Michael Quicke argues that preaching should be viewed as worship, as both worship and preaching belong within the same Trinitarian dynamic, serving the same purpose and marked by similar characteristics. Drawing on insights from wide-ranging lit...

What's at stake in our worship? Everything.Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God's purposes in the world. But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowlyprivate experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merel...

Face the prospect of preaching your next Easter sermon with joy and confidence, rather than worry about finding something new to say.Preachers dread the arrival of Easter, because these holy days bring the daunting task of finding new ways to tell the old stories everyone's heard so many times before. But what if it were only we preachers who are bored with these stories? asks Will Willimon. What if people keep showing up at Easter because the story of God's victory over death cont...

With the sensitivity born of time and experience, Charles Hoffacker presents an unusually warm and caring approach to preaching at a pivotal transition in human life, one which goes to the very heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Hoffacker teaches the reader, whether a seasoned preacher or a novice homilist, to find the key to unlocking the mystery of Jesus' promise of eternal life in a mortal life now ended.

This is extremely important during the "Great Falling Away"This book is direct and to the point. In it we share a word the church does not want to hear in this modern age of political correctness. But we really need to consider the implications."You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and on...

From a recovering “leadershipaholic": our best model is the first one.With all our sleek ministry models, it’s a wonder our churches are declining—until we read Acts 6:4, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.”After a long, sometimes trying ministry journey, Daniel Henderson was relieved to discover what the apostles knew from the start: The main thing must stay the main thing. It worked in their pagan times, and it ...

The greatness of America's most influential preachers of the twentieth century came from their significant contributions to both religious and secular society. Some names, like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Billy Graham, are universally recognized and typically thought of first by people today. Assorted reviews have also listed other notable names from various Christian denominations, but little recognition has been given to the Catholic contribution to preaching in the twentieth century.