A Philosophy Of Pastoral Preaching

“I am a pastor. I preach. Doesn’t that make me a pastoral preacher?” Not necessarily. Many preach missional rather than pastoral sermons designed to appeal to the unchurched, not the churched. The popularity of regional churches and the global reach of the internet allow preachers to focus their sermons on people they do not know and market a message to an audience they never see. Evangelical leaders produce many resources on attractional preaching, but who is developing a vision for pastoral preaching? David Christensen draws on years of experience to develop a philosophy of pastoral preaching. He writes, “Social media changes the way we preach. More and more pastors are preaching clickbait sermons. These are sermons designed to get clicks or attract interest rather than teach truth. We want catchy titles and clever analogies that will grab people’s attention because the digital world is built on attention, whatever will get likes or drive outrage.” However, pastoral preaching builds community. It is rooted in local soil to the people we know in the place we live. We need a philosophy of preaching that shepherds a community of disciples who worship together in one place.

"I am a pastor. I preach. Doesn't that make me a pastoral preacher?" Not necessarily. Many preach missional rather than pastoral sermons designed to appeal to the unchurched, not the churched. The popularity of regional churches and the global reach of the internet allow preachers to focus their sermons on people they do not know and market a message to an audience they never see. Evangelical leaders produce many resources on attractional preaching, but who is developing a vision for pastoral preaching? David Christensen draws on years of experience to develop a philosophy of pastoral preaching. He writes, "Social media changes the way we preach. More and more pastors are preaching clickbait sermons. These are sermons designed to get clicks or attract interest rather than teach truth. We want catchy titles and clever analogies that will grab people's attention because the digital world is built on attention, whatever will get likes or drive outrage." However, pastoral preaching builds community. It is rooted in local soil to the people we know in the place we live. We need a philosophy of preaching that shepherds a community of disciples who worship together in one place.

Abraham Kuruvilla's A Vision for Preaching offered an integrated biblical and theological vision for preaching. A Manual for Preaching addresses the practical (and perennial) issue of how to move from the biblical text to an effective sermon. The author, a well-respected teacher of preachers, shows how to discern the text's theological meaning and let that meaning shape the development of the sermon. Clearly written and illustrated with Old Testament and New Testament examples, the book helps preachers negotiate larger swaths of Scripture and includes two annotated sermon manuscripts from Kuruvilla.

Pastor and preaching coach, Dr. Yancey Arrington offers a new paradigm for message preparation - one that focuses on seeing sermons emotionally, where preachers will be trained on discovering a message's emotional center, charting sermon bandwidth, and leveraging one's God-given personality in the preaching event. This innovative approach to preaching can produce more effective seasons in the pulpit where congregants are carried `down the mountain' of messages in such a way they can't wait to do it again!

More and more pulpits are occupied by motivational speakers rather than preachers. Church congregations are not being given a comprehensive, biblical understanding of the faith. Drawing on his own experience as a pastor in Zambia, Conrad Mbewe tackles issues such as the content of pastoral preaching, how pastoral preaching relates to church life, finding the time to prepare pastoral sermons, and dealing with discouragement. Throughout the book, it is clear that the author’s conviction is to see preachers grow strong churches, to build a people for God.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1867.

This book by a well-respected teacher of preachers develops an integrated biblical and theological vision for preaching that addresses the essentials of this most important activity in the church. Drawing on influential voices from church history, Abraham Kuruvilla reclaims what has been lost through the centuries and offers fresh insights, showing preachers what they can aim for as an ideal in their preaching. He helps preachers have a better conception of what it means to preach, a fuller understanding of the divinely granted privilege of preaching, and a greater excitement for the preaching ministry. Concluding biblical reflections reinforce the teaching of each chapter.