Skip to main content

Preaching with Accuracy




Preaching with Accuracy by Randal E. Pelton

There is an overarching tendency in preaching to focus our entire sermons on one minor caveat in the biblical text that is not the big idea.  Focusing on the minors really does a disservice to our listeners because often it draws them away from the text to our own opinions.  Randal E. Pelton seeks to dismantle this focus on the minor issues of a text in his new book, Preaching with Accuracy.  In the introduction, he alerts readers to the course of his book, such that finding Christ- centered big ideas is not only possible but necessary for truly good preaching. 

In the section on Cutting the Text, Randal helpfully gives us some key markers for identifying a text in preaching.  He commends us to identify the context that precedes if we are preaching in the middle of a story, also he asks us to notice the genre of a text (narrative, parable, poetry, etc.).  In identifying the big idea of the text, Randal calls attention to the main storyline of the passage (conflict, climax, resolution), any questions that the text addresses, and the main verbs and action points of the text.  By locating the broad subject we are able to narrow down our focus on the main textual point of the sermon. 

In the canonical context, Randal helps us see the redemptive-historical context of a passage as well as how the NT fulfills the OT and how NT writers adjust and apply the OT for their focus on the coming of Christ.  Pelton moves us away from a kind of moralistic preaching that involves exegesis and moral exhortation but leaves out Keller’s notion that it is in recognizing our failure to follow through on God’s commands that we can look to Christ for his work and our hope.  Why does this matter?  For one, in our own efforts, by preaching a moralism message, we put the stress of obedience solely upon our shoulders, failing to give our hearers the good news of the gospel each week. 

I think this book would be great in a preaching class or read by those who are preaching on a regular basis to enhance and focus their sermons on the big idea of a text and on the person of Jesus Christ. 


Thanks to Kregel Ministry for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

  The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor morphing with the latest trends.   Carl Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.   Part historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.   The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the pa
Post a Comment
Read more

The Conditioned Mind

The Conditioned Mind: Overcoming the Crippling Effects of Sin and Guilt by Michael J. Mannia Counselor and author Michael J. Mannia knows firsthand how the spiraling of sin and guilt can eat away at life.  His new book, The Conditioned Mind, is a look into how believers can overcome the effects of sin and guilt and live in the freedom that we have in Christ.  Through a careful look into the patterns that we develop and the mindsets that we get ingrained in, Michael is able to offer ways through guilt that bring freedom and healing.  I think this is not only a timely but a book that aims toward bringing real healing to its readers. In the first chapter Michael looks at two needs that we have: our need for love and our need for security.  Love isn’t something optional for the human race, but something it needs at its core.  “Additionally, we need to reciprocate love.  We need to feel loved as much as we need to love others (8).”  Love is a two-way street that inv
Post a Comment
Read more

Passover and Jesus

The Messiah in the Passover , Edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser Why should Christians celebrate and remember the Passover?   This is a striking question that needs to be understood as well as the historical and theological context of the Passover.   However obscure we sometimes view the Old Testament, there is some significant reasons why we should reach back and study the Passover.   Mitch Glaser in the Introduction states, “When Christians celebrate the Passover, they grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, affirm the Jewishness of the Gospel, deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and build community with fellow Christians…” (20).   This book is answer to why celebrate the Passover but even more importantly an answer to what the Passover is and what it signifies to us today.   The various contributors of this book, Messiah in the Passover, bring a wealth of ministry experience in relating the Jewishness of both Jesus and the Old Testament to
Post a Comment
Read more