In This Book
Art & Craft of Biblical Preaching
A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators
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The High Call of Preaching
- 1 Core Convictions of Biblical Preaching
- 2 A Definition of Biblical Preaching
- 3 A Weekly Dose of Compressed Dignity
- 4 Overfed, Underchallenged
- 5 Theology of Powerful Preaching
- 6 Preaching That Raises Our Sights
- 7 Leading and Feeding: How Preaching and Leadership Intersect
- 8 John 3:16 in the Key of C
- 9 Spiritual Formation through Preaching
- 10 Preaching Life into the Church
- 11 My Theory of Homiletics
- 12 Staying on the Line
- 13 History of Preaching
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The Spiritual Life of a Preacher
- 14 A Cup Running Over
- 15 The Patented Preacher
- 16 I Prayed for My Preaching
- 17 How Does Unction Function?
- 18 Squeaky Clean
- 19 Required Reading
- 20 Rightly Dividing the Preaching Load
- 21 Preaching Through Personal Pain
- 22 A Prophet among You
- 23 Burning Clean Fuel
- 24 Backdraft Preaching
- 25 Why I Pace Before I Preach
- 26 Preaching to Convulse the Demons
- 27 Holy Expectation
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Considering Hearers
- 28 Preaching to Everyone in Particular
- 29 The Power of Simplicity
- 30 View from the Pew
- 31 Preaching to Ordinary People
- 32 Why Serious Preachers Use Humor
- 33 Connect Hearers through Dialogue
- 34 Self-Disclosure That Glorifies Christ
- 35 How to Be Heard
- 36 Opening the Closed American Mind
- 37 Turning an Audience into the Church
- 38 Preaching to Change the Heart
- 39 Preaching Truth, Justice, and the American Way
- 40 Preaching Morality in an Amoral Age
- 41 The Intentional Bridge Builder
- 42 Connecting with Postmoderns
- 43 Preaching Amid Pluralism
- 44 Connecting with Non-Christians
- 45 How to Translate Male Sermons to Women
- 46 He Said, She Heard
- 47 Connecting with Men
- 48 Creating a Singles-Friendly Sermon
- 49 Preaching to Preschoolers
- 50 Hispanic American Preaching
- 51 African American Preaching
- 52 Asian American Preaching
- 53 Work Wins?
- 54 One Sermon, Two Messages
- 55 The Playful Preacher
- 56 What Authority Do We Have Anymore?
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Interpretation and Application
- 57 Why the Sermon?
- 58 Getting the Gold from the Text
- 59 Faithful First
- 60 God’s Letter of Intent
- 61 Five Bird-dogging Questions for Biblical Exposition
- 62 The Rules of the Game
- 63 Why All the Best Preachers Are–What a Concept!–Theological
- 64 Letting the Listeners Make the Discoveries
- 65 Conviction and Compassion
- 66 The Inadequacy of “Yes” Theology
- 67 What Great Coaches and Preachers Know
- 68 Preaching That Opens Ears and Hearts
- 69 Fundamentals of Genre
- 70 From B.C. to 11 a.m.
- 71 The Big Idea of Narrative Preaching
- 72 Apply Within
- 73 Application Without Moralism
- 74 Blending Bible Content and Life Application
- 75 Showing Promise
- 76 Helping Hearers Practice What We Preach
- 77 The Heresy of Application
- 78 Preaching for True Holiness
- 79 Less Joe, More Jesus
- 80 Preaching That Promotes Self-Centeredness
- 81 The Danger of Practical Preaching
- 82 Grace: A license to Wander?
- 83 The Rich Sound of Grace and Holiness
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Structure
- 84 Set Free from the Cookie Cutter
- 85 Say and Do
- 86 Connecting Biblical Content with Contemporary Audiences
- 87 Clearly
- 88 Skills of Oral Clarity
- 89 Questions That Put Muscle on Bones
- 90 Better Big Ideas
- 91 The Power of Sequence
- 92 Outlines That Work for You, Not against You
- 93 The Tension Between Clarity and Suspense
- 94 Lifeblood of Preaching
- 95 Alliteration Downfalls
- 96 Modulating Tension
- 97 The Purpose-Driven Title
- 98 Why Should I Listen to You?
- 99 Satisfying Conclusions
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Style
- 100 Determining Your Strengths and Weaknesses
- 101 Interesting Preaching
- 102 Crafting an Experience
- 103 Seven Habits of Highly Effective Preachers
- 104 The Sermon’s Mood
- 105 Teaching the Whole Bible
- 106 Dramatic Expository Preaching
- 107 Verse-by-Verse Sermons That Really Preach
- 108 What Makes Textual Preaching Unique?
- 109 Can Topical Preaching Be Expository?
- 110 Topical Preaching Can Be Truly Biblical
- 111 Topical Preaching on Bible Characters
- 112 Topical Preaching on Contemporary Issues
- 113 Topical Preaching on Theological Themes
- 114 Making the Most of Biblical Paradoxes
- 115 Getting the Most from the Sermon Series
- 116 The Next Big Thing
- 117 The Compelling Series
- 118 First Person Narrative Sermons
- 119 Biblical Preaching Is about Life Change, Not Sermon Style
- 120 Seven Timeless Principles for Reaching Lost People
- 121 Evangelistic Preaching in the Local Church
- 122 Felt-Needs Preaching
- 123 How to Preach Boldly in a “Whatever” Culture
- 124 Preaching with a Leader’s Heart
- 125 Critique of the New Homiletic
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Preparation
- 142 Why I Pat the Bible on My Nightstand
- 143 Busting Out of Sermon Block
- 144 Centered
- 145 A Long, Rich Conversation with God
- 146 A Mysterious Impulse to Pray
- 147 Preparing the Messenger
- 148 The Hard Work of Illumination
- 149 Heart-to-Heart Preaching
- 150 Imagination: The Preacher’s Neglected Ally
- 151 Preaching That Magnifies God
- 152 When Is a Sermon Good Enough?
- 153 How to Build a First-Rate Library
- 154 What Makes a Sermon Deep?
- 155 Before You Preach
- 156 Inspiration Points
- 157 Simplify
- 158 Using Someone Else’s Sermon
- 159 Planning for a Richer, Deeper Sermon Series
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Delivery
- 160 The Source of Passion
- 161 Place of Pathos in Preaching
- 162 Preaching with Intensity
- 163 No Notes, Lots of Notes, Brief Notes
- 164 In the Eye of the Hearer
- 165 No Voice, No Preach
- 166 Eliminating My Um, Um, Annoying Pulpit Mannerisms
- 167 Reading Scripture in Public
- 168 The Importance of Being Urgent
- 169 The Day I Lost My Nerve
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Special Topics
- 170 When You Don’t Look Forward to Special Days
- 171 Preaching the Terrors
- 172 Preparing People to Suffer
- 173 Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age
- 174 Speaking into Crisis
- 175 When the News Intrudes
- 176 Redemptive Sermons for Weddings and Funerals
- 177 The Landmark Sermon
- 178 You Had to Bring It Up
- 179 Preaching on Contemporary Issues
- 180 Preaching Sex with Compassion and Conviction
- 181 The Ever-More-Difficult Marriage Sermon
- 182 When the Sermon Goes to Work
- 183 Bridging the Marketplace Gap
- 184 Sermons on Giving That People Actually Like!
At the end of the day, in my sermons and ministry I hope people forget who I am and seek Jesus Christ.
In your preaching, what are you most passionate about?
Joe Stowell: Calling followers of Christ to a renewed commitment to focus their lives and aspirations on the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, " If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to me. " One of the preacher's dilemmas is that preaching is so much about us. Preaching has a way of sucking us down into the bog of Who am I preaching to? Will they like me? Will they listen? That's the pre-agony. The post-agony is Did I do well? Did I get my point across? Oh, I should have said it this way; I should have said it that way. If we're not careful, preaching becomes all about the preacher. I have been convicted about that, and though I don't have any easy formulas on how to extract myself from these demons, I do know that my preaching must be more and more about Jesus.
Issues like, Did I lift him up? What would he have thought about my sermon? Did my listeners see him more clearly? Do they find him more compelling because of my sermon? Did I represent him and his calling in our lives in a winsome and yet authoritative way?
Preaching needs to be Christocentric. Jesus is the storyline of the Bible, the Creator of the universe, the pinnacle revelation of God. The Holy Spirit within me does the ministry of glorifying Jesus Christ, and Jesus shows me what God the Father is like. Jesus really is the focal point.
But so often, Jesus gets lost in it all — in our preaching and in our churches. Instead it's the worship group, the music, the setting, the auditorium, the preacher. Everything is man-centered. I wonder if Jesus feels like the body at an Irish wake: Nobody expects him to sing, but they can't have the party without him.
When Marty and I escape to England every once in a while, we attend a tiny village church where about 20 villagers show up. The pastor stands off to the side. The organ is behind us. The main image that catches your attention is a statue of Jesus on the cross. A woman and a man are on each side looking up in adoring awe at Jesus on the cross. I think that's what we miss. We haven't worked to create church and to drive our preaching in ways to draw people's hearts and minds to Jesus Christ.
When I turned 50, I realized I'd been very busy for God, working, working, working. Suddenly I had this longing for God that my busyness had buried. I wanted to go deeper. I wanted to know Jesus like Paul says in Philippians 3, that I would count all things loss — that I would finally get me out of the way and know Jesus in my life. I thought, This is what it's really all about, isn't it? That began to impact my preaching. When people hear me preach on a regular basis, my prayer is that they hear more about Jesus then they used to. And that their hearts and minds are drawn to him, his character, his call, and the beauty of his holiness in a life transforming way.
At the end of the day in my sermons and ministry, I hope people forget who I am and see Jesus Christ.
What practical things are you doing to bring that about in your preaching?
I find myself going more to the narrative texts in the Gospels to where Jesus is in action. I'm also more intent to see all of Scripture in its Christological flow, from Jesus as Creator in Genesis 1 to ultimate Redeemer and consummator in Revelation 21. Whether in the Old or New Testament, I want to end up at the Jesus issue that is in the text and draw a life-changing application based on him.
I'm doing a couple of messages with our students in Psalm 15 on drawing closer to God. " Who shall dwell in my holy tent? " Our closeness to God is really about our relationship with Christ. To David, it was God who lived in a tent in the tabernacle. But we are the tabernacle now, and it is Christ who dwells in us. So I'm taking Psalm 15 and drawing us back to Christ.
Any other passions in your preaching?
To equip saints to live their lives so well that the world takes notice, as Peter describes in 1 Peter 2:12. Peter writes to Christians in a pagan environment much like ours today. We live in a postmodern, pluralistic paganism where everybody's god is in vogue. It's okay to be religious again, but Jesus is odd man out because his exclusive claims rain on the parade of paganism, just as it did in the first-century.
As Peter notes, Christians are often seen as the bad guys because we oppose the " cultural progress " of issues like abortion, the normalization of gay lifestyles, and so on. But as our world spins out of control and moves more deeply into the despair of the moral chaos that inevitably comes from ignoring God's law, our lives well-lived will catch the attention of a hopeless heart, and people will say, I've been watching you. Where do get the peace and purpose that drives your life? How did you get a family like that? What do you have that we don't have? And then we can tell them about Jesus. That's Peter's strategy for doing Jesus in a non-Jesus world.
So, preaching for me today is equipping followers of Jesus to look more clearly toward him and to live compellingly righteous lives. In the text, Peter uses the word kals for good deeds, not agathos. Agathos is the Greek word for the rules. I can't go up to a pagan and say, " You ought to come to Jesus Christ and then you can start tithing, " or " then you wouldn't have to swear on the golf course, " or " then you wouldn't have to sleep around " . Pagans don't want to tithe, and most likely they want to swear now and then and sleep around when it's convenient. Our agathos, as important as it is, doesn't usually hook people. What hooks people is good deeds, the kals. It's reaching to our neighbors, being there in a crisis, showing them the peace, purpose, and hope of our lives. That opens up the door so we can speak to them about Jesus.
If I were back in the pastorate again, my preaching focus would be to lift Jesus up and to train people to engage their world with the good deeds of righteousness and compassion, that our world might be drawn to the authentic Jesus living through our attitudes and actions as the answer to their needs.
