A comprehensive and practical guide on how to develop a '360 Degree' preaching style. 360 Degree Preaching brings expository preaching to a postmodern world. In part one author Michael Quicke offers some vital principles for biblical preaching. He analyses the current situation and suggests that the way forward lies in a recommitment to preaching's Trinitarian dynamic, which he calls '360-degree preaching'. Part two focuses on Quicke's model for the rigorous practical journey all preachers make each time they preach: immersion in Scripture, interpretation for today, sermon design, sermon delivery, and outcome.

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 literature and practitioners on both sides of the gap, this insightful book confronts and corrects ten characteristics of preaching that are disconnected from worship.

Psychologist, physician and preacher Richard Cox calls on the best modern neuroscience to prove that a better understanding of the brain can transform your preaching. Arguing that the sermon is a highly charged cognitive event, Cox explains the role of brain stimuli in such crucial pastoral tasks as delivering comfort and provoking moral action.

Listeners do love their pastors and they agree with the sermon content they hear,' Lori Carrell once explained to a group of pastors, 'but most sermons don't ask for change, and most listeners don't experience spiritual growth as a result of the sermon.' A participant responded: 'Let's get practical. I want my preaching to make a difference. What changes are worth making, and how do I make them?' In Preaching that Matters, Lori Carrell shares answers to that question, drawing on the experiences of thousands of people—preachers and their listeners—whose effort she has studied over many years. In each chapter of this book, she offers research revelations about high impact preaching that will encourage and challenge readers to continue to grow as preachers. She then links these principles with Reflective Practice Challenges (RPCs), exercises that honor the rich experiences of pastors while opening opportunities for self-analysis, spiritual introspection, conversation with a trusted other, or implementation of research-based preaching recommendations. The activities have been used by hundreds of other pastors, and each RPC has been carefully selected for its demonstrated contribution to the process of transforming sermon communication. A selection of the RPCs are available as a downloadable file. E-mail [email protected] for more information. As a communication expert, Carrell approaches preaching from a 'sermon communication' paradigm. She begins with the task of identifying the spiritually transformative purpose of the sermon and then explores exegeting, organizing, deepening, and delivering the sermon, as well as listening to the listeners and planning for continued transformation. Her own goal is simple: to inspire and equip clergy to make changes that will enhance the transformative power of their preaching. To connect with others reading Preaching That Matters and to find an onlne accountability partner, join the book's Google+ communities.

After traveling the globe and speaking to thousands of churches worldwide, Paul David Tripp has discovered a serious problem within pastoral culture. He is not only concerned about the spiritual life of the pastor, but also with the very community of people that trains him, calls him, relates to him, and restores him if necessary. Dangerous Calling reveals the truth that the culture surrounding our pastors is spiritually unhealthy—an environment that actively undermines the wellbeing and efficacy of our church leaders and thus the entire church body. Here is a book that both diagnoses and offers cures for issues that impact every member and church leader, and gives solid strategies for fighting the all-important war that rages in our churches today.

“Witham’s highly readable history of the American sermon strongly bolsters the contention that words change minds and alter the course of events.” —Booklist Pivotal moments in U.S. history are indelibly marked by the sermons of the nation’s greatest orators. From colonial times to the present, the sermon has motivated Americans to fight wars as well as fight for peace. Sermons have provoked the mob mentality of witch hunts and blacklists, but they have also stirred activists in the women’s and civil rights movements. A City Upon a Hill tells the story of these powerful words and how they shaped the destiny of a nation. A City Upon a Hill includes the story of Robert Hunt, the first preacher to brave the dangerous sea voyage to Jamestown; Jonathan Mayhew’s “most seditious sermon ever delivered,” which incited Boston’s Stamp Act riots in 1765; early calls for abolition and “Preacher-Captain” Nat Turner’s bloody slave revolt of 1831; Henry Ward Beecher’s sermon at Fort Sumter on the day of Lincoln’s assassination; tent revivalist/prohibitionist Billy Sunday’s “booze sermon”; the challenging words of Martin Luther King Jr., which inspired the civil rights movement; Billy Graham’s moving speeches as “America’s pastor” and spiritual advisor to multiple U.S. presidents; and Jerry Falwell’s legacy of changing the way America does politics. A City Upon a Hill provides a history of the United States as seen through the lens of the preached words—Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish—that inspired independence, constitutional amendments, and military victories, and also stirred our worst prejudices, selfish materialism, and stubborn divisiveness—all in the name of God.

The sermon is under attack. Many churches are increasingly forsaking formal preaching in favor of substitutes like dialogue, discussion, and sharing. In response to this recent trend, Jason Meyer has written a robust, biblical, and practical theology of preaching where he explores how the concept of preaching develops throughout the Bible and how it impacts one’s understanding of other key doctrines. In addition to offering readers a comprehensive overview of the Bible’s teaching, the book sets forth clear, accessible answers to commonly-raised questions about preaching: what is it, how is it done, and why is it so important? Combining in-depth study of God’s word with practical reflection on the place of preaching in the ministry of the church, Meyer challenges readers to reexamine the importance of preaching for the Christian life.

Leading preaching authority offers a revolutionary exploration of the role of preaching in worship.

As the complexity of our world increases exponentially, there is need for preachers to understand their identities and roles in this new reality and to navigate the landscape of the new challenges facing the contemporary church. Blayne Banting offers seasoned reflections on how contemporary preachers can build upon what cannot change in ways that frees them to practice their ministries creatively in ways which must change.

Privilege the Text! spans the conceptual gap between biblical text and life application by providing a rigorous theological hermeneutic for preaching. Kuruvilla describes the theological entity that is the intermediary between ancient text and modern audience, and defines its crucial function in determining valid application. Based on this hermeneutic, he submits a new mode of reading Scripture for preaching: a Christiconic interpretation of the biblical text, a hermeneutically robust way to understand the depiction of the Second Person of the Trinity in Scripture. In addition, Kuruvilla’s work provides a substantive theology of spiritual formation through preaching: what it means to obey God, the Christian’s responsibility to undertake “faith-full” obedience to divine demand, and the incentives for such obedience—all integral to understanding the sermonic movement from text to application. Privilege the Text! promises to be useful not only for preachers, and students and teachers of homiletics, but for all who are interested in the exposition of Scripture that culminates in application for the glory of God.