UNASHAMED WORKMEN
How Expositors Prepare and Preach
Edited by Rhett Dodson
Christian Focus Mentor. 254 pages. £11.99
ISBN 978 1 781 913 192
My wife has on her bookshelf Singing for Dummies. I have to tell you that, according to those who know me, it hasn’t worked! Actually, I have to admit a certain antipathy towards ‘how to do it’ books. So I began to read this book with a certain amount of reluctance; can I cope with yet another book on preaching?
However, this book is different. It gathers together ten experienced preachers to tell us how they prepare their sermons. Each preacher explains their method in one chapter and then gives us a model sermon from their repertoire in the next. We can therefore, look over the shoulder as each prepares their sermon from start to finish, and also hear their heart approach to preaching.
Expository preaching
As each contributor is fully committed to expository preaching, there tends to be a great deal of repetition from chapter to chapter, but experienced and novice preachers alike will gain a great deal from reading this book. Many of the preachers are American and unknown to me, but the chapter written by David Jackman is alone worth the price of the book!
Reading this book, I would suggest, is best done just a couple of chapters at a time and then take time to absorb any particular ideas which have stood out for you. But, a word of warning. This book is meant to encourage and instruct us, but some of the contributors may well be academically way beyond most of us, so take care not to be discouraged because you don’t seem to match their level of excellence! As David Jackman wisely says, ‘Anything other than being yourself in Christ will not commend God’s blessing on your work.’
