The Pulpit Series Volume I

The Pulpit Series, which is exclusive to the Jack Hyles Library, is a preservation in print of the sermons of Jack Hyles. Volume One contains conference sermons preached by Dr. Jack Hyles from 1983 to 1991. Whiles these sermons are from the past, they resound with relevant truths for the Christian today.

During the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the cities of the Northeast, Midwest, and West, the local black church was essential in the making and reshaping of urban areas. In Detroit, there was one church and one minister in particular that demonstrated this power of the pulpit—Second Baptist Church of Detroit (“Second,” as many members called it) and its nineteenth pastor, the Reverend Robert L. Bradby. In Race, Religion, and the Pulpit: Rev. Robert L. Bradby and the Making of Urban Detroit, author Julia Marie Robinson explores how Bradby’s church became the catalyst for economic empowerment, community building, and the formation of an urban African American working class in Detroit. Robinson begins by examining Reverend Bradby’s formative years in Ontario, Canada; his rise to prominence as a pastor and community leader at Second Baptist in Detroit; and the sociohistorical context of his work in the early years of the Great Migration. She goes on to investigate the sometimes surprising nature of relationships between Second Baptist, its members, and prominent white elites in Detroit, including Bradby’s close relationship to Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford. Finally, Robinson details Bradby’s efforts as a “race leader” and activist, roles that were tied directly to his theology. She looks at the parts the minister played in such high-profile events as the organizing of Detroit’s NAACP chapter, the Ossian Sweet trial of the mid-1920s, the Scottsboro Boys trials in the 1930s, and the controversial rise of the United Auto Workers in Detroit in the 1940s. Race, Religion, and the Pulpit presents a full and nuanced picture of Bradby’s life that has so far been missing from the scholarly record. Readers interested in the intersections of race and religion in American history, as well as anyone with ties to Detroit’s Second Baptist Church, will appreciate this thorough volume.

The call to preach is just that- a call to preach. The call to preach, however, is more than just preaching. The call to preach is a call to prepare. Too many pastors have refrained from preparation while they await the Holy Spirit to do all of the work. God expects preachers to prepare sermons as much as possible and allow Him to prepare the preachers. Join Dr. Jerry Vines and Dr. Jim Shaddix as they achieve a balanced approach to teaching sermon preparation in Power in the Pulpit. This book combines the essential perspectives of a pastor of forty years with another pastor who also devotes daily time to training pastors in the context of theological education. Thus, Power in the Pulpit is a practical preaching help from a pastoral perspective in the tradition where expository preaching is a paramount and frequent event in the life of the local church. Power in the Pulpit is the combined work of Dr. Vines's two earlier publications on preaching: A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation (Moody Press, 1985) and A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery (Moody Press, 1986). Dr. Shaddix carefully organizes and supplements the material to offer this useful resource which closes the gap between classroom theory and what a pastor experiences in his weekly sermon preparation.

Spurgeon examines the nature of “free will,” and uses the text John 5:40, “You will not come to me, that you might have life.” He observes: “The will is well known by all to be directed by the understanding, to be moved by motives, to be guided by other parts of the soul, and to be a secondary thing.” He puts forth the Calvinist doctrine that a person cannot come to Christ by their own means, but Christ must come to the person. He expounds on the nature of legal, spiritual and eternal deadness and how people are unable to overcome this by themselves. He then goes on to describe legal, spiritual and eternal life that is in Christ Jesus. This sermon has been updated to modern language.

G. Campbell Morgan Reprint Series Foreword If it is true that the measure of a person's greatness is their influence, not only on his own time but on future gen- erations, G. Campbell Morgan must be regarded as a great person. His greatness is seen not only in the wide impact of his ministry on both sides of the Atlantic, but in the fact that his books are still read and studied sixty-five years after his death. Named one of the ten greatest preachers of the twentieth-century by the contributing board of Preaching magazine, Morgan made the Bible a new and living book not only to the congregations who listened to him, but the vast multitude of persons who read his books. Fox sixty-seven years Morgan preached and taught the Scriptures and served churches in England and the United States. What is remarkable is that his commentaries and expositions of the Bible still speak to persons of a new millennium. There have been many changes in the world since he faithfully preached and taught the Scriptures, but the wide appeal of his books testify to the timelessness of his message. Although he held pastorates in the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations, he had an ecumenical appeal to persons of all denominations and traditions. The mystic Thomas á Kempis once wrote, "He to whom the eternal word speaks is delivered from many opinions." In one of his sermons, he referred to the words of Amos that there would be a famine for hearing the word of God (Amos 8:11). The timeless work of G. Campbell Morgan addresses that hun- ger, as his books enable his readers to get beyond opinions to the living Word. Wipf and Stock Publishers have rendered a great gift to the religious world in reprinting dozens of Morgan's books. This growing collection makes his books more available, so that readers have an option other than searching the internet for used, and often expensive, copies. Among this collection is the classic The Great Physician and commen- taries on the Gospel of Matthew and John. Persons seeking a living faith and a meaningful encounter with God would profit from reading any of these Morgan books. Near the end of his ministry, in a sermon entitled "But One Thing," Morgan commented on how Portugal changed the words of a coin after Christopher Columbus discovered America. No longer did the inscription say, Ne Plus Ultra (nothing more beyond) but Plus Ultra (more beyond). It is the hope of the G. Campbell Morgan Trust that the reprint- ing of these books will bring readers to the "more beyond," and an even deeper encounter with the Word in Scripture. The Morgan Trust Richard L. Morgan Howard C. Morgan John C. Morgan