Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver...
Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons
Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver a topical sermon that is engaging, culturally relevant, and true to the biblical text. Worse, many pastors worry these messages undermine confidence in the Bible or its authority, leading to a human-centered rather than a God-focused sermon. But that doesn't have to be the case.
In *Topical Preaching in a Complex World*, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill answer these objections and chart a path for how preachers can deliver faithful and effective topical messages. First, they address the biblical, theological, and cultural reasons pastors should add topical sermons to their preaching repertoire. Then, they introduce a straightforward, four-fold approach for preaching a topical message and answer important questions like these:
* How do you approach a topic with the proper interpretative lens? * How can you speak to two or more audiences with the same sermon? * What should you consider theologically, culturally, and pastorally in your preparation? * How do you trace the topic back to Christ? * How can you better connect with your audience?
Best of all, they help readers craft a message that says something people truly need (and want) to hear! Filled with wit, humor, and wisdom from decades of preaching, this book will equip preachers, pastors, ministry leaders, and students to preach relevant, biblical, and engaging topical sermons.
Author Sam Chan says, "*Just over a decade ago, I was asked by an organization to speak at their end-of-year dinner. They wanted me to address the topic of being a Christian single, but I had no idea how to prepare and deliver a topical talk. When the night arrived, I preached an old three-point expository sermon and merely changed the ending to include some application on singleness. At best, I got some polite comments afterwards. At worst, people's looks indicated that my biblical talk had little relevance for them. They could not have been less fooled by my disingenuous workaround.*
**I went home vowing never to repeat that poor performance. I felt like the unfaithful servant who had not adequately used what talents had been given to him. As a result, I have dedicated the last decade of my preaching ministry to overcoming and mastering the art of topical preaching. This book is a product of that journey."**
Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver...
Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons
Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver a topical sermon that is engaging, culturally relevant, and true to the biblical text. Worse, many pastors worry these messages undermine confidence in the Bible or its authority, leading to a human-centered rather than a God-focused sermon. But that doesn't have to be the case.
In *Topical Preaching in a Complex World*, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill answer these objections and chart a path for how preachers can deliver faithful and effective topical messages. First, they address the biblical, theological, and cultural reasons pastors should add topical sermons to their preaching repertoire. Then, they introduce a straightforward, four-fold approach for preaching a topical message and answer important questions like these:
* How do you approach a topic with the proper interpretative lens? * How can you speak to two or more audiences with the same sermon? * What should you consider theologically, culturally, and pastorally in your preparation? * How do you trace the topic back to Christ? * How can you better connect with your audience?
Best of all, they help readers craft a message that says something people truly need (and want) to hear! Filled with wit, humor, and wisdom from decades of preaching, this book will equip preachers, pastors, ministry leaders, and students to preach relevant, biblical, and engaging topical sermons.
Author Sam Chan says, "*Just over a decade ago, I was asked by an organization to speak at their end-of-year dinner. They wanted me to address the topic of being a Christian single, but I had no idea how to prepare and deliver a topical talk. When the night arrived, I preached an old three-point expository sermon and merely changed the ending to include some application on singleness. At best, I got some polite comments afterwards. At worst, people's looks indicated that my biblical talk had little relevance for them. They could not have been less fooled by my disingenuous workaround.*
**I went home vowing never to repeat that poor performance. I felt like the unfaithful servant who had not adequately used what talents had been given to him. As a result, I have dedicated the last decade of my preaching ministry to overcoming and mastering the art of topical preaching. This book is a product of that journey."**
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Topical Preaching in a Complex World: How to Proclaim Truth and Relevance At the Same Time$24.99
This book is truly one of the best preaching books (homiletics) I've read. I find it very easy and enjoyable to read and understand. The author starts by discussing the worth of topical preaching, contrasting with expository preaching. Furthermore, some more topics that are covered are how to construct preaching that will be edifying to believers and evangelistic to unbelievers, how to address a topic pastorally, and exegete cultural values. I am sure both beginner and experienced preachers will benefit from this book.
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Anonymous
I do not recommend this product
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
2 years ago
Disappointing
This seemed more like a general guidebook on preaching than on topical preaching. \\nIt had many practical tips/advice for preaching. The best parts of the book were on the need to address the hearers in a way that was relevant to them. \\n\\nI don't think the debate of topical preaching vs expository preaching was adequately argued from Scripture. There did not seem to be a high view of preaching as God's (unique) ordained means of bringing the gospel message to the world through his Word and by the Holy Spirit. It seemed at some points, that the only unique thing about preaching was the topic or that it was from a Christian worldview. \\nMany times, the authors argued that expository preaching can be done badly (of course it can) and so other ways must be used as well. The authors also often conflated general talks/speaking with unbelievers with """"preaching"""". There seemed to be an assumption that expository preaching cannot be relevant or makes it harder to be relevant to the hearers when compared to topical preaching.
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Anonymous
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
3 years ago
Informed. Nuanced. Practical
Highly informed. Aware of the issues. But at the same time it was forward looking and super practical. Great insights on both how to talk to different audiences AND how to address the same topic in a variety of different ways. The tips on how to talk to camera were worth the price of the book
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Anonymous
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
4 years ago
Excellent Read
Great book for all preachers! It very helpfully challenges the reader to move beyond simplistic cheap shots between proponents of expository and topical preaching. The issue is one of faithfulness to scripture not structure. Indeed, there can be both faithful and unfaithful preaching in both forms of preaching. Done well, the book helps you to see both forms of preaching as valid and complementary tools in the preachers the 'kit bag. ' Although the book is on topical preaching, it is full of gold on the art of preaching generally. Well worth the read and full of heaps of practical examples that takes your from the abstract to the concrete.
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Anonymous
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
4 years ago
One of the best 5 books I have ever read on preaching (and one of the most needed)
Absolutely loved this book. Hands down one of the best five books that I have ever read on preaching. Some individual chapters alone were worth the price of the book. \\n\\nBoth Sam and Malcolm studied and / or taught expository preaching and so are huge advocates of that method. However, they have also worked extremely hard at developing an approach to topical preaching which respects the biblical text, has cultural intelligence, and applies both biblical and systematic theology in a simple and straight-forward manner. \\n\\nBoth have firsthand experience in preaching to audiences of a non-western mindset. Sam is Chinese-Australian and part of a Chinese church. Malcolm is married to a South American. Both regularly preach cross-culturally and so the book is full of illustrations and observations of how they have applied these principles to cross cultural preaching. \\n\\nFor those who favour expository preaching this book dovetails nicely with stuff which you may or may not (but should be) doing already - namely, how biblical theology (i. e. , creation, fall, redemption, consummation) categories shape the way we should be teaching / applying a particular topic or ethic. Because of this, they demonstrate the multiple ways in which we should be able to move from any topic to that of Jesus and the gospel. (Loved this!)\\n\\nLastly, I'd say that this is possibly the easiest and most enjoyable book I've ever read on preaching. It's simple, readable, enjoyable, and hard to put…
