Resources On Preaching

In a sense everything on this site is intended to help pastors, elders, deacons, and laity better serve Christ but some of the resources are specifically focused on the nature and act of preaching because, in distinction from some traditions, in the Presbyterian and Reformed understanding of Christian worship and liturgy, preaching is the central act of worship and of the liturgy not because it is all about the preacher but because it is in that act that the triune God speaks to his people through his minister, i.e., his servant. As Hebrews considers the congregation assembled for worship (e..g., Heb 10:19–21) the image that drives his preaching (Hebrews itself is a sermon) is that of the congregation of Israel gathered together at the foot of Sinai. At the top of Mt Sinai is pre-incarnate Son of God and, in the New Covenant, at the top of Mt Zion is God the Son incarnate (Heb 12:18–29). There the church, the covenant community, is gathered at his feet.

As the minister opens God’s Word and faithfully announces the Law (in all three uses) and the Gospel (Col 1:7; 2 Tim 2:15) God the Holy Spirit uses the preached law to convict his elect of their sin and need for the Savior. As the minister announces the gospel, the sovereign Holy Spirit works mysteriously through it to bring the elect to new life (regeneration) and to true faith (knowledge, assent, and trust). Through the faithful exposition of the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) the Spirit sanctifies believers in the image of Christ giving to believers the desire to love God with all their faculties and their neighbor as themselves (Matt 22:37–40). Through the announcement of the history of salvation, the Spirit draws the Christian into the history of redemption and leads him to see that story as his story and as through the careful, prayerful application of the Word to the congregation, the Spirit leads believers to see the implications and consequences of what it means to believe in, be united to, and follow Christ by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. In short, through the preaching of the law and the gospel the Spirit does wonders.

The resources below are both an introduction to some of the basic questions around preaching and also a source of encouragement and continuing education for the preacher.

  1. Recovering A Vital Truth About Preaching: It Is God’s Ordained Means To Bring Sinners To Faith
  2. What Preaching Christ From All Of Scripture Does And Does Not Mean
  3. AGR On The State Of Modern Preaching (1) With W. Robert Godfrey
  4. Office Hours: Preaching The Whole Counsel Of God
  5. Heidelberg 84: The Indispensability Of Preaching
  6. Preaching As For The Free
  7. The Attraction Of Legal Preaching
  8. The Attraction Of Legal Preaching: The Interview
  9. Do We Confess That The Preaching Of God’s Word Is God’s Word? A Text-Critical Note On The Second Helvetic Confession
  10. Office Hours: Wisdom In Preaching
  11. What Luther Meant And Didn’t Mean About The Holy Spirit Preaching
  12. On Catechetical Preaching
  13. Preaching The Third Use And Encouraging The Saints
  14. Preaching And Application (Part 1)
  15. Preaching And Application (Pt 2)
  16. Preaching And Application (Pt 3)
  17. Preaching Genesis 1
  18. Herman Witsius on Preaching Law and Gospel
  19. Office Hours: Hywel Jones on Preaching the Doctrine of Regeneration (You Need to Hear This)
  20. Office Hours: Dennis Johnson on Preaching Christ From All of Scripture
  21. The Preaching of the Word: An Offer of Grace and Summons to Embrace It
  22. One of the Dirtiest Little Secrets About Preaching
  23. Office Hours: Preaching Christ
  24. Preaching Sola Fide Better
  25. What’s Wrong With Preaching Today?
  26. Preaching: Advice Or Annoucement?
  27. What’s the Big Deal About Preaching?
  28. Canons Of Dort (22): The Application Of Redemption Is A Mystery Wrought Through Means
  29. Office Hours: Mike Horton On The Spirit’s Work In The Application Of Redemption
  30. Perkins: The Basic Principle In Application
  31. Balancing Preaching with Other Aspects of Pastoral Ministry
  32. In Season: Preaching to the Postmodern Choir
  33. Resources on the Law/Gospel Distinction
  34. Sanctification Is A Work Of God’s Grace: Resources On Sanctification
  35. Resources On Keeping Justification And Sanctification Together Without Confusing Them
  36. Resources On the Doctrine of Sanctification And The Third Use Of The Law
  37. Resources On The Lord’s Supper
  38. Resources On Reformed Piety

Select Bibliography

  1. Bavinck, Herman. Herman Bavinck on Preaching & Preachers. Translated by James Perman Eglinton. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 2017.
  2. Bergsma, Derke P. Redemption: The Triumph of God’s Great Plan. Lansing, Ill.: Redeemer Books, 1989.
  3. Capill, Murray A. The Heart Is the Target: Preaching Practical Application from Every Text. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2014.
  4. Clowney, Edmund P. Preaching and Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961.
  5. Clowney, Edmund P. Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2003.
  6. Clowney, Edmund P, and Dennis E Johnson. Heralds of the King: Christ-Centered Sermons in the Tradition of Edmund P. Clowney. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009.
  7. Garretson, James M. Thoughts on Preaching and Pastoral Ministry: Lessons from the Life and Writings of James W. Alexander. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2015.
  8. Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. Preaching and Preachers. Ministry Resources Library. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Pub. House, 1972.
  9. Johnson, Dennis E. Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures. 1st ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Pub, 2007.
  10. Kim, Julius. Preaching the Whole Counsel of God: Design and Deliver Gospel-Centered Sermons. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2015.
  11. Leemans, Johan, Shari Boodts, Gert Partoens, and Anthony Dupont, eds. Preaching in the Patristic Era: Sermons, Preachers, and Audiences in the Latin West. A New History of the Sermon, 6. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
  12. Parker, T. H. L. Calvin’s Preaching. First American ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster/J. Knox Press, 1992.
  13. Perkins, William. The Art of Prophesying; with, the Calling of the Ministry. Rev.ed. Puritan Paperbacks. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1996.
  14. Sanlon, Peter. Augustine’s Theology of Preaching. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.
  15. Mastricht, Peter van. The Best Method of Preaching: The Use of Theoretical-Practical Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2013.
  16. Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975.
  17. Vos, Geerhardus. Grace and Glory: Sermons Preached in the Chapel of Princeton Theological Seminary. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994.
  18. Vos, Geerhardus. Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos. Ed. R. B. Gaffin.  Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1980.
  19. Vos, Geerhardus. The Pauline Eschatology. Ed. R. B. Gaffin. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub, 1986.
  20. Vos, Geerhardus. The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews … Edited and Re-Written by Johannes G. Vos. Edited by Johannes Geerhardus Vos. [Rev. ed.]ed. Nutley, N.J: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1977.
  21. Watkins, Eric Brian. The Drama of Preaching: Participating with God in the History of Redemption. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2016.

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