Book Review: Expositional Preaching

by Joshua updated on add a comment

For those of you out there interested in preaching, here’s a book I would highly recommend: Expositional Preaching by David Helm. At only 100-some pages, it’s an easy read with sound practical advice for preparing messages.

Expositional Preaching by David HelmPart of the 9Marks book series born out of Mark Dever’s “nine marks of a healthy church,” this book promotes expositional preaching as essential for today’s churches.

Interestingly enough, it comes with Mark Dever’s personal recommendation on the back cover, which I found to be slightly amusing.

But all joking aside, it really is a good book, at least in my opinion (since it was an assigned book for one of my seminary classes, it also comes with the recommendation of my professor).

Helm begins by talking about inadequate styles of preaching that ultimately have no impact because the preachers mishandle Scripture and carelessly prepare sermons that tickle the ears but bypass the heart.

Next, Helm examines exegetical methods that honestly seek to derive truth from Scripture. Emphasis is placed on interpreting Scripture as it was originally intended to be understood.

Third, the book shows the importance of understanding the Bible as a unified canon with theological themes that run throughout the whole book, crossing the blank pages that separate the Old and New Testaments. When exploring any aspect of theology, all of Scripture should be taken into consideration.

Finally, Helm looks at application and how it can be done effectively.

I especially like the examples Helm uses of how Jesus and Paul preached and how we can draw principles from their style.

Now, I’m not completely sure yet what I think about Helm’s comparison between Saul the night before his death (1 Samuel 28:20-25) and Jesus the night before his death on pages 81-82. It’s an analogy I have never heard before and seems kinda creative. But at any rate, it’s something for me to study for myself.

Great book that should take you no longer than an afternoon to get through.

Feel free to check it out from the Waterloo Public Library. Faith’s library doesn’t have it so I had to borrow it from there. 🙂

The Blessing of the Family of God

by Joshua updated on 11 Comments

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the church lately…

You might say, “Well, of course. You’re doing a church planting internship!”

Yes, that’s true, but that’s only part of it. Another part of it is simply the fact that I see local churches everywhere I go, whether in Omaha or in the Des Moines area.

Baptist churches, Catholic churches, Lutheran churches, Presbyterian churches, Congregational churches, Reformed churches, Community churches, non-denominational churches, First churches, and last churches.

Christianity Through the CenturiesAdd to that the fact that I just took a seminary module covering church history from the Reformation until now, and you have just a small glimpse into my recent mind matter.

I could talk about the church history that I’ve been reading lately, but it was more ugly than it was godly, and I don’t want to write about wars and heresy and corruption right now. Look it up online and you can get your fill from other sources.

Rather, I just want to reflect for a moment on the beauty of the family of God, the body of Christ.

This morning I enjoyed a great time of ministry, worship, exhortation, and fellowship at our little church plant here in Bennington, NE. We gathered as a group of like-minded believers to give to God, to give to one another, and to receive blessing and joy from both.

ChiliSince we do not have Sunday evening services, tonight I went to Park Lane Baptist Church, the congregation that is providing me with housing during my first month here in Nebraska. They had a chili feed and invited me over for the fellowship.

As I sat at the table and talked to some friendly people I had never met before, I was reminded that these are my brothers and sisters in Christ! We are all family, even though we might have only known each other for a few short minutes.

We have the privilege as believers to enjoy a special relationship with every other person born into the family of God. No club or association enjoys the Christian fellowship we enjoy because we are bound by something that goes much deeper.

It’s an eternal tie…yes, we are literally blood relatives (Romans 5:8-9).

Unlike the earthly connections and families that will ultimately dissolve, we will forever be children of God and thus one big glorified family (Mark 3:33-35; Matthew 22:30). Every time we meet another believer for the first time, we’re meeting another one of our relatives.

Since we are all saved by grace, you could even say that each time you are meeting a “long-lost” brother or sister (for those of you who like to play on words).

One final thought for myself and for you. One of my sisters in Christ tonight asked me, “So do you come from a big family?” I smiled and told her that I was the oldest of eight children. She commented on how nice it is to be in a big family.

It’s true. So what are we doing to grow our spiritual family? Are we seeking to add brothers and sisters to our nucleus, or are we content with the size it is now?