TEN SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDING VALUE TO YOUR PREACHING

1. Identify the kind of literature you are preaching from, and let it have at least some influence on your sermon structure/content. You may want to familiarise yourself with How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth (someone has borrowed my copy but I think it’s by Gordon Fee et al) or the more technical book by William Klein et al, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Word).

2. Take note of anything written by Walter Brueggemann (e.g. Theology of the Psalms) and Eugene Peterson (e.g. Reversed Thunder – on Revelation).

3. Consider books that may not appear obvious for sermon preparation. I’m thinking of certain volumes in the International Theological Commentary series (for example, I picked up the volume on Numbers by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld and found it wonderful in researching a 15-part series I preached on Numbers titled “Tips for desert travellers”); or recent expository commentaries by James Montgomery Boice; or 19th century commentaries by Alexander Maclaren and J C Ryle (but NOT Spurgeon) – you can sometimes find these in a second-hand bookstore, or in a library at a theological college.

4. Buy a good one-volume OT theology. I regularly use Paul R. House, OT Theology (IVP) and Dillard & Longman, Introduction to the OT (Apollos/IVP).

5. Although not an Anglican, nor captive to Moore College’s (Sydney) understanding of biblical theology, I recommend Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Eerdmans, 2000).

6. Keep a good NT theology nearby. I regularly use Guthrie (IVP), Erickson (Baker), Reymond (Nelson).

7. Consider buying the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Baker) – good scholarly treatment of all major issues with emphasis on NT (and of course a US-evangelical flavour); or IVP’s New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (with more of a European flavour).

8. Consider buying Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Dictionary of the Later NT. I find these helpful for overviews of individual books as well as specific topics (e.g. divorce, flesh, gifts, Melchizedek, etc.) These provide fantastic material at a relatively low price. Don’t bother with the fourth volume in this series.

9. Read new books that wrestle with the big issues of our times with respect to ideas (or theology) and communication (or preaching). There is a lot of unhelpful pulp (often found on the shelves of stores like Koorong) but now and then some gems appear. Some suggestions to get you going:

– Mike Riddell, Threshold of the Future (SPCK, 1998) – Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Baker, 1999) – Mike Riddell et al, The Prodigal Project (SPCK, 2000) – Millard J. Erickson, Truth or Consequences: The Promise and Perils of Postmodernism (IVP, 2001) – Graham Johnston, Preaching to a Postmodern World (Baker, 2001)

10. And some final advice to preachers: gather all your sermon illustration books in a big pile (in a safe place) and burn them. You can do better with fresh, personal illustrations and short cogent quotes from books and films you actually read/viewed yourself. If you’re short of film material (or you have yet to get a life) try visiting http://www.hollywoodjesus.com

Rod Benson