Resources for Preparing and Delivering Sermons
John MacArthur’s Preaching: How to Preach Biblically (Thomas Nelson, links go to Amazon) is one of the hallmark books on preaching in recent years.
John MacArthur has been the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. He is also the founder of the radio ministry, Grace to You, and president of The Master’s University in Newhall, California, and The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles, California. MacArthur’s recent publications include: Right Thinking in a Church Gone Astray: Finding Our Way Back to Biblical Truth, The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good News at the Heart of Paul’s Teachings, Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth, and None Other: Discovering the God of the Bible.
In his book Preaching, MacArthur includes a section called “Additional Reading” (p. 293) where the reader can find recommended preaching resources. Below is the list of books in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
John MacArthur’s theology is loved by some and criticized by others. See Is John MacArthur Reformed? to learn more.
Expository Preaching
by Harold Bryson | B & H Publishing
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “A variety of approaches for preaching through a Bible book, including how to analyze, exegete, and interpret, plus discussion of sermon structure. Also includes chapter outlines, examples, and extensive bibliography.”
The Imperative of Preaching
by John Carrick | Banner of Truth
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “Believing that preaching remains of vital importance today, John Carrick argues that its effectiveness can be greatly enhanced if preachers make use of the patterns of communication laid down by God in Scripture for their instruction. He sees in the Bible a sacred rhetoric which the apostles and prophets, and Christ himself, used to awaken, move and persuade their hearers. While depending on the power of the Spirit, the preacher should not neglect any help which Scripture affords.”
Christ-Centered Preaching
by Bryan Chapell | Baker Books
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “In this complete guide to expository preaching, Bryan Chapell teaches the basics of preparation, organization, and delivery–the trademarks of great preaching. This new edition of a bestselling resource, now updated and revised throughout, shows how Chapell’s case for expository preaching reaches twenty-first-century readers.”
Toward An Exegetical Theology
by Walter Kaiser Jr. | Baker Books
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “According to Walter Kaiser there is a gap between the study of biblical text and the delivery of messages to God’s people. Very few centers of biblical and homiletical training have ever taken the time or effort to show the student how to fill this gap. Kaiser intends to bridge the divide by proposing a syntactical-theological method of exegesis, consisting of contextual, syntactical, verbal, theological, and homiletical analysis.”
The Anatomy of Preaching
by David Larson | Baker Books
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “Insight and commentary on fifteen issues that affect a pastor’s effectiveness, including making a sermon flow, escaping predictability, and using narrative effectively.”
Preaching and Preachers
by D. Martyn Lloyd Jones | Zondervan
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “For over 30 years, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones ministered at Westminster Chapel in London. Today, he is widely considered one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century. Based on a series of lectures originally given by Lloyd-Jones to the students of Westminster Theological Seminary in the spring of 1969, this collection of essays on the essence of powerful preaching has become a modern classic. Lloyd-Jones defends the primacy of preaching, showing that there is no substitute, and he challenges preachers to take their calling seriously: “The most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching.” He also provides practical direction on the task of preparing a sermon, sharing insights on the shape and form of a message as well as covering such topics as the use of humor, giving invitations in a message and the preacher’s relationship to the congregation. If you can own only one book on preaching, make this the one you read.This 40th anniversary edition includes the original text of Preaching and Preachers along with essays by Bryan Chapell, Mark Dever, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan, Timothy Keller and John Piper reflecting on the impact this book and the ministry of Lloyd-Jones had on their preaching. This is a book that will continue to speak to a new generation of preachers and teachers for years to come.”
The Preacher and Preaching
by Samuel Logan, ed. | P & R Publishing
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “How can today’s preaching recover the vitality of its great Reformation heritage? What are the main weaknesses of the contemporary pulpit, and how can they be met biblically? Eighteen leading pastors and homiletical scholars have joined in this volume to address these questions as they offer sharp analysis, biblical insight, and practical directives.”
Preaching
by G. Morgan Campbell | Baker
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “If there is any excuse for this book, it is that it is an attempt to answer a question that I have been asked, certainly hundreds of times during the course of my work of preaching. The question has taken many forms, but it is essentially the same. It is an enquiry concerning methods of preparation in expository preaching. Individual preachers and groups of preachers have asked me to tell them how I work. I have always felt it difficult to reply. During the three years which I was President of Cheshunt College, Cambridge, I attempted to talk to the students on the subject. The notes of what I then said are embodied in these Lectures.”
The Supremacy of God in Preaching
by John Piper | Baker Books
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “This newly revised and expanded edition of this classic preaching resource is the essential guide for preachers who want to stir the embers of revival. John Piper has added valuable new material reflecting on his thirty-three years of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church, offering a glimpse of what a lifetime of putting God first has done for the faith of the hundreds of thousands who have heard him preach over the years.”
Between Two Worlds
by John Stott | Eerdmans
Cover links to Amazon
From the publisher: “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity.” World-renowned preacher John Stott opens this book with those five bold words. He maintains, further, that “nothing is better calculated to restore health and vitality to the church than a recovery of true, biblical, contemporary preaching.” Stott was aiming to foster such a recovery when he wrote Between Two Worlds, which has become a modern evangelical classic.
Link:
Get John MacArthur’s book Preaching: How to Preach Biblically on Amazon
Also see:
Best Old Testament Bible Commentaries – any style
Best New Testament Bible Commentaries – any style
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