Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God's Word and Keep People Awake


J. Gary Millar - 2013
    Written by an Aussie and an Irishman with very different styles who share a passion for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Saving Eutychus delivers fresh, honest, faithful and practical insights into preaching the whole word of God, sunday by Sunday, in an engaging way. This book is a practical distillation of decades of thinking, writing, preaching, failing, humbly praying and seeing God at work, and is an invaluable tool for honing your own gifts to become the best preacher you can be.Includes sermons and mutual critique from each author, a sermon critique sheet, and practical tips and helpful diagrams.

Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages


Haddon W. Robinson - 1980
    This updated edition will benefit a new generation of preachers. Praised by Newsweek magazine and his peers as one of America's most significant preachers, Robinson guides you step-by-step through the fundamentals of preparing and preaching an expository sermon.

How People Change


Timothy S. Lane - 2006
    Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane collaborate to expose the heart issues at stake and help people to make real, lasting change. These answers, the authors assert, lie in appropriating the fullness of the grace and freedom of Jesus in new ways that offer radically more hope than conventional models.

Hearers and Doers: A Pastor's Guide to Growing Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine


Kevin J. Vanhoozer - 2019
    While it can be dry and dull, when it flows from the story of Scripture, it can be full of life and love. This kind of doctrine, steeped in Scripture, is critical for disciple-making. And it's often overlooked by modern pastors.In Hearers and Doers, Kevin Vanhoozer makes the case that pastors, as pastor-theologians, ought to interpret Scripture theologically to articulate doctrine and help cultivate disciples. scriptural doctrine is vital to the life of the church, and local pastor-theologians should be the ones delivering it to their communities.With arresting prose and striking metaphors, Vanhoozer addresses the most pressing problems in the modern church with one answer: teach sound, scriptural doctrine to make disciples.

Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication


Andy Stanley - 2006
    Take heart before your audience takes leave! You can convey your message in the powerful, life-changing way it deserves to be told. An insightful, entertaining parable that’s an excellent guide for any speaker, Communicating for a Change takes a simple approach to delivering effectively. Join Pastor Ray as he discovers that the secrets to successful speaking are parallel to the lessons a trucker learns on the road. By knowing your destination before you leave (identifying the one basic premise of your message), using your blinkers (making transitions obvious), and implementing five other practical points, you’ll drive your message home every time! “Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” “Once upon a time…” “In the beginning…” Great stories capture and hold an audience’s attention from start to finish. Why should it be any different when you stand up to speak? In Communicating for a Change, Andy Stanley and Lane Jones offer a unique strategy for communicators seeking to deliver captivating and practical messages. In this highly creative presentation, the authors unpack seven concepts that will empower you to engage and impact your audience in a way that leaves them wanting more. “Whether you are a senior pastor with weekly teaching responsibilities or a student pastor who has bern charged with engaging the hearts and minds of high school students, this book is a must-read.” -Bill Hybels, Senior pastor, Willow Creak Community Church “A very practical resource for every biblical communicator who wants to go from good to great.” -Ed Young, Senior pastor, Fellowship Church, Grapevine, Texas “To communicate effectively, you have to connect. Andy has been connecting with people for years, and now he’s sharing his insights with the rest of us.” -Jeff Foxworthy, Comedian Story Behind the BookAndy Stanley and Lane Jones are on staff at one of America ’s largest churches, North Point Community. Leaders of thousands of people, they regularly speak in front of large groups. They also listen to numerous speakers and know the disastrous effects of a poorly delivered message. This book is the result of their efforts to make public speaking—one of the most common fear-inducing activities known to mankind—simple, easy, and even enjoyable, so that God’s messages will readily produce the life-changing results they should.

The Christian Ministry


Charles Bridges - 1981
    One of the best and most comprehensive books ever written on the work of the ministry.

What is the Mission of the Church?: Making sense of social justice, Shalom and the Great Commission


Kevin DeYoung - 2011
    Addressing mission, evangelism and social justice, two pastors draw readers to the Bible's teaching on some contentious matters.   Readers in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.

Spirit Empowered Preaching: Involve the Holy Spirit in Your Ministry


Arturo G. Azurdia III - 1999
    Careful, meditative and painstaking exegesis brings a potential liability, that of losing the vitality, which must accompany exposition.The Puritans called it 'that certain unction', Martyn Lloyd-Jones called it 'an access of power', others have called it 'the anointing'. If you desire that your preaching be lifted up to a position in which you are being used by the Spirit as a channel, then Arturo Azurdia can help you.The insights in this book are gained from Art's careful study and practical experiences of being used by the Holy Spirit in his ministry.

Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God's Word Today


David R. Helm - 2014
    What makes for good preaching?In this accessible volume--written for preachers and preachers in training--pastor David Helm outlines what must be believed and accomplished to become a faithful expositor of God's Word.In addition to offering practical, step-by-step guidance for preachers, this short book will equip all of us to recognize good preaching when we hear it.

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus


Jonathan Leeman - 2012
    Yet the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions.Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it's important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love


Edward T. Welch - 2015
    In this short book, a highly respected biblical counselor and successful author offers practical guidance for all Christians--pastors and laypeople alike--who want to develop their "helping skills" when it comes to walking alongside hurting people.Written out of the conviction that friends are the best helpers, this accessible introduction to biblical counseling will equip believers to share their burdens with one another through gentle words of wisdom and kind acts of love. This book is written for those eager to see God use ordinary relationships and conversations between ordinary Christians to work extraordinary miracles in the lives of his people.

Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson


D.A. Carson - 2008
    A. Carson's father was a pioneering church-planter and pastor in Quebec. But still, an ordinary pastor-except that he ministered during the decades that brought French Canada from the brutal challenges of persecution and imprisonment for Baptist ministers to spectacular growth and revival in the 1970s.It is a story, and an era, that few in the English-speaking world know anything about. But through Tom Carson's journals and written prayers, and the narrative and historical background supplied by his son, readers will be given a firsthand account of not only this trying time in North American church history, but of one pastor's life and times, dreams and disappointments. With words that will ring true for every person who has devoted themselves to the Lord's work, this unique book serves to remind readers that though the sacrifices of serving God are great, the sweetness of living a faithful, obedient life is greater still.

Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus


J. Mack Stiles - 2014
    Leaders administrate the new program, and members go on a raid. But picture a church where evangelism is just part of the culture. Leaders share their faith consistently and openly. Members follow, encouraging one another to make evangelism an ongoing way of life.Such is the way of evangelism presented by this brief and compelling book. No program here. Instead, it just might give your church a new way to live and share the gospel together.

Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching


Don KistlerEric Alexander - 2002
    There is sharing, suggesting, plenty of storytelling, and lots of preaching to "felt needs." But the authoritative, expositional opening of the Word of God is harder to find all the time. In the Old Testament God decried the fact that His people were perishing for lack of knowledge about Himself. Too often, those who have been called to feed Christ's sheep with the Word of God do little more than "pet" them. This book is a plea for preachers to "preach the Word." It will encourage pastors to strive to maintain their calling. However, it is not intended just for pastors; it will also be useful in guiding congregations to know what to look for in a pastor and in holding their preachers to this Biblical standard.

Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609


Scott M. Manetsch - 2012
    During these seven decades, more than 130 men were enrolled in Geneva's Venerable Company of Pastors (as it was called), including notable reformed leaders such as Pierre Viret, Theodore Beza, Simon Goulart, Lambert Daneau, and Jean Diodati. Aside from these better-known epigones, Geneva's pastors from this period remain hidden from view, cloaked in Calvin's long shadow, even though they played a strategic role in preserving and reshaping Calvin's pastoral legacy.Making extensive use of archival materials, published sermons, catechisms, prayer books, personal correspondence, and theological writings, Manetsch offers an engaging and vivid portrait of pastoral life in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Geneva, exploring the manner in which Geneva's ministers conceived of their pastoral office and performed their daily responsibilities of preaching, public worship, moral discipline, catechesis, administering the sacraments, and pastoral care. Manetsch demonstrates that Calvin and his colleagues were much more than ivory tower theologians or quasi-agents of the state, concerned primarily with dispensing theological information to their congregations or enforcing magisterial authority. Rather, they saw themselves as spiritual shepherds of Christ's Church, and this self-understanding shaped to a significant degree their daily work as pastors and preachers.