A healthy congregation isn’t monolithic. Like the kingdom of God, it likely includes people of various ages, personalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and cultures. And, hopefully, on a given Sunday, it includes the spiritually curious—those who don’t yet believe in Jesus but are interested in learning more. This variety brings great glory to God, but it can also pose an immense challenge for preaching. How can a pastor effectively connect God’s Word to so many different listeners—all in one sermon? These new and recent books equip pastors to take on this challenge.
Preaching to a Divided Nation: A Seven-Step Model for Promoting Reconciliation and Unity by Matthew D. Kim and Paul A. Hoffman (Baker)
Preachers in North America face an enormous challenge today: People both inside and outside the church are divided over ethnic, racial, gender, and political issues. How can preachers faithfully proclaim the gospel and promote peace and healing in a church and society that are so polarized? In this practical guide that is grounded in a biblical and theological understanding of the gospel, Kim and Hoffman offer a seven-step model for skillful and contextually relevant preaching in today’s divisive climate. They provide helpful tools for understanding the issues in our polarized society and our local communities, and they suggest concrete practices that invite preachers to humbly and prophetically address difficult issues. For example, the contextual step in their model helps preachers develop the historical intelligence needed to diagnose America’s past and present sins and understand how they can manifest in our congregations. Preachers will be encouraged by the model and the six sermon examples from the authors and other notable preachers.
—Kerwin A. Rodriguez is a doctoral candidate in preaching at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary and serves as an assistant professor at Moody Bible Institute.
Speaking Across Generations: Messages That Satisfy Boomers, Xers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Beyond by Darrell E. Hall (InterVarsity Press)
It’s probably a bigger dilemma than most preachers realize: How do you prepare and preach messages that span the generations while still being true to Scripture and speaking out of your own generational strengths? According to pastor Darrell E. Hall, the answer is to become an intergenerational preacher—“one who is characterized by Bible-based content, aha moments, no emotionalism or manipulation, simplicity, and teaching.” How does a pastor do this exactly? Hall emphasizes understanding the values and perspectives of each generation and how these shape their language. This is where Speaking Across Generations is an incredibly helpful tool for pastors: Hall offers well-researched cultural analyses on Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, boomers, and elders while providing a sermon manuscript for each, using language they will best understand and receive. For pastors who feel an increasing burden to shepherd their multigenerational congregations with greater cultural and contextual sensitivity, Hall provides an invaluable resource.
—Ronnie Martin is the lead pastor of Substance Church in Ashland, Ohio, and the author of The God Who Is with Us.
Topical Preaching in a Complex World: How to Proclaim Truth and Relevance at the Same Time by Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill (Zondervan)
As unashamed advocates of topical preaching, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill encourage pastors to contextualize “both the message and the method” because “in different cultures, people resonate with different styles of message.” They demonstrate how topical preaching makes sense for dealing with differences because it not only recognizes that people learn in different ways but also embraces diverse cultural expressions. Whether it’s preaching to both believers and unbelievers or to different cultural groups, Chan and Gill challenge pastors to reevaluate their cultural assumptions and homiletical practices. For instance, the authors remind preachers to focus on what believers and nonbelievers hold in common: the need for grace. They write, “Neither the believer who needs to be built up nor the unbeliever who needs to be forgiven can live the way God intends through their own efforts.” As Chan and Gill remind us, amid differences, something always remains the same: In our preaching we show people the wonderful, transforming grace of God.
—Patricia Batten is an assistant professor of preaching and associate director of the Haddon W. Robinson Center for Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel edited by Daniel Darling (Lexham Press)
This book serves as a brilliant, practical resource for pastors to lead their congregations in engaging race and ethnicity in a biblical way. Thirteen authors from various backgrounds weigh in on this often-contentious topic, each focusing on one biblical passage and all interweaving their personal vantage points drawn from their unique racial and ethnic experiences. Readers who may tend to shy away from addressing race and ethnicity from the pulpit will likely be convicted by how often the Bible addresses race and ethnicity. All 13 contributors passionately press the point that the healing of racial and ethnic brokenness is central to the gospel message. They exhort believers to champion God’s healing as an outflow of our Christian lives. This compilation will challenge, encourage, and also equip preachers with solid scriptural exegesis and practical tips to use in leading their congregations to navigate this important topic in such a crucial time in history.
—Dennis Liu is the lead pastor at Vineyard of Hope Church, a predominantly Asian American congregation near Los Angeles. He oversees Vineyard USA’s AAPI Association.
Speaking by the Numbers: Enneagram Wisdom for Teachers, Pastors, and Communicators by Sean Palmer (InterVarsity Press)
“A communicator best serves hearers by knowing the nine compulsive personality patterns that hearers adopt in order to feel seen, known, and loved,” writes teaching pastor Sean Palmer. As communicators, we tend to speak out of our own intelligence centers, without training in how to integrate our ideas in ways that hold others’ interest. Palmer empowers us to craft messages across differences in the Enneagram’s intelligence centers of thinking, feeling, and doing . In his view, the essential work is shepherding that brings “healing and wholeness into the lives of hearers in the Intelligence Center where they are repressed.” Providing specific examples throughout, Palmer helps preachers “hit that mark”—the point when our message galvanizes hearers in their thinking, feeling, and doing. In a world riveted by differences, preachers can use Palmer’s method to connect relationally just as Jesus did. This is a critical read for preachers and speakers seeking to be heard by hearers who long to “feel seen, known, and loved.”
—Juanita Campbell Rasmus is a pastor, spiritual director, and author of two books, including Forty Days on Being a One.
This article is a part of our fall CT Pastors issue. You can find the full issue here.
