Preaching Techniques Resources

maintained by Peter F. Whyte (additional suggestions welcome)
As this page is always changing you will find a chronological list of additions to the preaching resources section of the site on the recent additions page.

Items on this page are identified by the following symbols: audio recordings, articles, blog entries, books, downloads, and podcasts.

How to ...

Colin Adams [info]
Don Carson on Sermon Preparation, Unashamed Workman, 20 July 2009.

——, ‘How I Prepare Sermons’, Unashamed Workman, 9 Apr 2008.

——, ‘Surviving (and Thriving) In Sermon Writing’, Unashamed Workman, 9 May 2008.

Mark Dever [info]
‘On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons’, interview by C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Blog, 23 Sep 2008.

Kevin DeYoung [info]
‘How Do You Put Your Sermon Together’, The Gospel Coalition: DeYoung, Restless and Reformed, part 1 (19 Jan 2010), part 2 (20 Jan 2010)

Steve Mathewson[info]
‘Struggling Through Sermon Block’, Preaching Today Blog, 7 Mar 2008.

Joe McKeever [info]
"Before the Sermon Preparation Begins", blog, 30 Aug 2009
HT: Colin Adams, Unashamed Workman

Peter Mead [info]
"Dealing With Personal Inadequacies in Preaching" Biblical Preaching, 23 Dec 2008.

——, "Ten Commandments for Clarity", Biblical Preaching, 14 Oct 2009.

——, "Tool of Inestimable Value", Biblical Preaching, 24 Sep 2009.

Matthew R. Perry [info]
‘Personal Method and Model for Expository Preaching’, Expositionalogistix, 7 Feb 2008.

——, ‘Spurgeon on Extemporaneous Preaching — Are You Kidding Me?’, Expositionalogistix (11 Feb 2008)
To whet your appetite, Perry says, “Preachers should be the most well-read individuals on the planet — with the Scriptures being the first in line, of course.”

——, ‘To Whom Do We Look First When Preparing Our Sermons?’, Expositionalogistix, Part I (9 Jan 2008)

John Piper [info]
‘Pornography, the Heart, and Sermon Prep’, interview by C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Blog, 15 Oct 2008.

John Stott [info]
"Preparing a Sermon", notes by David Luke

Tim White, "7 Steps To Preparing A Sermon" blog, May 2009, index by Colin Adams, Unashamed Workman, 6 Oct 2009.

Appeals

Tullian Tchividjia[info] ‘A Caution To Preachers’ (10 Jan 2008)

Application

Colin Adams [info]
‘Four Application Questions’, on Unashamed Workman, 26 Sep 2007

R. Scott Clarke [info]
Preaching and Application at Westminster Seminary California, Heidelblog, 14 Aug 2008.
[Don't be put off by the title, thinking it is merely about WSC. There is a good deal of general material here that is most helpful in thinking through sermon application.]

Kevin DeYoung [info]
"The Danger of Ending Every Sermon with Application", DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed, 25 Sep 2009

Steve Mathewson[info]
‘A Mandate For Application’, Preaching Today Blog, 26 Jan 2009.

Conclusions

Colin Adams [info]
‘Concluding Like Calvin’, on Unashamed Workman, 17 Aug 2007

Evangelistic Preaching

David P. Murray [info]
Evangelistic Preaching, series of blog postings from Head Heart Hand, 1 May 2010 (pdf collection)

Exegesis

Jay E. Adams [info]
“Exegete It” (Instutute for Nouthetic Studies blog, 23 Dec 2009)

Don A. Carson [info], Exegetical Fallacies
[reviews: Matt Harmon]

Matt Waymeyer, 'How to Recognize Symbolic Language', Expository Thoughts, 11 May 2009.

Peter Grainger[info],
‘Digging into the Text’ part 1 and part 2, 21 Feb 2008 (via Unashamed Workman)

John D. Grassmick,
Principles and Practice of Greek Exegesis: A Classroom Manual (1976)

Walter Kaiser,
Toward an Exegetical Theology

John Piper[info]
‘Guidelines for Writing a Research Paper in New Testament Exegesis’, Desiring God, 1 Jan 1995

Hard Texts

Peter Mead [info]
‘Complicated Passage, Clear Preaching’, Biblical Preaching, 8 Jul 2008

Matthew R. Perry [info]
How Preaching the Hard Texts Can Endear You To Your People
[quotes: Expositionalogistix, 23 May 2008]

Humour

David P. Murray [info]
Serious Preaching in a Comedy Culture, Head Heart Hand, 19 Apr 2010, with attached pdf.

Illustrations

Colin Adams [info]
"Illustrations: the 2nd Mile", Unashamed Workman, 17 Nov 2009. Comments on the preaching of Hugh Palmer and Voddie Baucham at the Northern Ireland Ministry Assembly. You can download the messages for free and hear just what he's talking about for yourself.

Bryan Chapell [info]
Using Illustrations To Preach With Power
[quotes: Justin Buzzard]

Peter Mead [info]
Biblical Preaching, Illustration Saturation (16 June 2009)
‘Illustrations of Relevance?’ (1 Nov 2007)
Intersecting "Life Experiences", part 1 (18 June 2009), part 2 (19 June 2009), part 3 (20 Jun 2009)
“Movie Illustrations - A Risky Business”, Biblical Preaching, 25 Nov 2009

Introductions

Notes

Con Campbell [info]
, ‘Preaching without notes’ (Read Better, Preach Better, 8 Jan 2010), ‘Preaching without notes: Method I’ (Read Better, Preach Better, 11 May 2010)

Josh Harris, Preaching Notes: a series of blog posts with examples of notes from well-known preachers.

Craig Brian Larson, "Preaching on My Feet: Could I speak for 35 minutes without ever writing notes?", Preaching Today: Preaching Skills

Jerrold Lewis, ‘Preaching Without Notes’, Head Heart Hand, 13 Jul 2010.

Steve Mathewson [info]
‘Notes or Not?’, PreachingToday Blog, 22 Jan 2008

Peter Mead [info]
Biblical Preaching, “Notes or no notes?” Part 1: why? (12 June), Part 2: how? (13 June), Part 3: manuscripts (17 June 2007)

Points & Titles, etc

Steve Mathewson [info]
‘Slow Turns’, PreachingToday Blog, 18 Jan 2008

Peter Mead [info]
Biblical Preaching:
‘Sermon Titles: Tricky Little Things’, 18 Jun 2007. Some useful comments on this posting.
‘Pointers for Points’, 20 Jul 2007.

David P. Murray [info]
‘Investing in sermon titles’, Head Heart Hand, 15 Jan 2010

Preparation

Tim Keller [info],
'Tim Keller on Writing a Sermon'
video:

Summary by Colin Adams, Unashamed Workman, 5 Jun 2009.

David P. Murray [info]
‘A Preacher Who Dreads Sermon Prep?’, Gospel Coalition Blog, 18 Feb 2010

——, ‘Curator or creator?’, Head Heart Hand, 24 May 2010.

——, How Sermons Work: An Introduction to Sermon Preparation, Free e-book download.

The Reading

Colin Adams [info]
‘Giving the Word Prominence’, Unashamed Workman (3 Oct 2007).

Max McLean & Warren Bird
Unleashing the Word: Rediscovering the Public Reading of Scripture (Zondervan, 2009) [reviews: Tim Challies (Challies.com, 3 Nov 2009)]

Peter Mead [info]
‘Where to place the reading’ part 1 (10 Sep), part 2 (11 Sep 2007). Biblical Preaching.

Reg Grant, ‘How to read Effectively from the Pulpit’, also called ‘Reading Scripture to Change Lives’

Series

Peter Mead [info]
‘Planning a Selective Series’, Biblical Preaching, 27 Jan 2010

Special Occasions

Brian Croft, ‘Funeral Service Essentials’, The Gospel Coalition blog, 26 Jun 2010.
‘How do I apply the most important elements to a funeral?’, Practical Shepherding, 30 Jun 2010.

David Cook, How to Speak at Special Events, (Christian Focus Publications, 2008), ISBN-13: 9781845502775, 192pp.
[recommended by Colin Adams]

Martin Downes [info]
, "The great escape: Matthew 2 as the remake of a classic story" (Evangelical Magazine, Evangelical Movement of Wales, 4 Dec 2009)

Mark Driscoll, "How to Prepare a Christmas Sermon" Resurgence, n.d.

Scott M. Gibson
Preaching for Special Services
[reviews: Peter Mead (4 Jan 2009)]

Peter Grainger, ‘Challenges In Christmas Preaching”, Unashamed Workman, 2 Dec 2009, with supporting video sessions and other downloadable media (2 Timothy 4 Trust)

Peter Mead [info]
“Future Christmas Sermons”, Biblical Preaching, 18 Dec 2009

Matthew R. Perry [info]
‘Practical Tips for Preaching a Funeral’, Expositionalogistix, 23 Jan 2008

—— ‘Preaching a Funeral For An Unbeliever’, Expositionalogistix, 21 Nov 2008

—— ‘Scriptures I Use For Funeral Services’, Expositionalogistix, 13 Feb 2008

Rich Ryan
‘The Peril of Systematic Expository Preaching on Special Occasions’, Expository Thoughts, 14 May 2008.

Mark Strauss, “Verbrugge on the "Dark Side of Christmas"”, Koinonia blog, 1 Dec 2009)

Study & Commentaries

Colin Adams [info]
‘Four Fruitful Questions’, Unashamed Workman, part 1 (7 Nov) & part 2 (14 Nov 2007).

——, Hit the Books, And Give Me 20!, Unashamed Workman, 13 Jan 2009.

Steve Mathewson [info]
‘Using Commentaries in Sermon Preparation’ Preaching Today blog, 29 June 2007.

——, ‘When the Bible Contradicts Your Idea for a Sermon’, Preaching Today blog, 15 Jan 2008.

Peter Mead [info]
Biblical Preaching:
‘A Life of Study’ part 1 (14 Sep), part 2 (15 Sep 2007). Some helpful reflections on some of Fred Cradock's suggestions for cultivating and guarding a life of study.
I found Peter's comments on using small units of time profitably most helpful. I've found this invaluable over the past year or so. It also helps me to retain what I've read, and reflect more profitably on it. I also found his suggestion of reading works of literature interesting. I've always done this, so hadn't noticed the connection that he makes between using one's imagination in preaching and the type of book that one reads: heavy/technical theology versus good works of literary fiction or poetry. [Peter]

——, ‘Weighing Interpretation Options’, Preaching Today blog, 27 Oct 2008.

Benjamin B. Warfield
"The Religious Life of Theological Students", The Master's Seminary Journal, Fall 1995, vol 6.2, pp. 181-195.

Topical Preaching

Peter Mead [info]
‘What about Topical Preaching?’ part 1 (12 Sep), part 2 (13 Sep 2007), Biblical Preaching.

What to preach on

Choosing a passage to preach on can be more of a problem for the occasional preacher than the regular pastor. Hopefully some of these resources will be of particular help to those (who like the compiler) only preach occasionally.

Colin Adams [info]
"Yes, to Preaching Bigger Sections", Unashamed Workman, 5 Oct 2009.

Peter Mead, “Double Sermon Experiment: Lessons Learned”, Biblical Preaching, 21 Jan 2009.

——, “Points on Picking Passages”: Part 1 & Part 2, Biblical Preaching, 22/23 Jan 2009.