The Story of Preaching is a fresh look at the preacher and preaching from the early days of the Church until today. It is not a history of preaching because there are some obvious gaps in the time line. What I have attempted to do is to describe the preacher and the characteristics of the period in which he or she lived. One of the things which I have tried to do is to show how the preachers handled the issues of their day. One of my objectives in doing this is to help the preachers of my day to address the issues of this era as the preachers of old addressed the issues in their time. The book will show that some who dared to challenge the attitudes of their day faced many challenges, and some even faced death because of their commitment to apply the principles of the gospel to the status quo of their day. However, the book will show that there were those who challenged the mode of their time without facing death or threats of death. They found a way to present their concerns to their constituents in a way that lead to success.

The impulse to publish these sermons came to me after I had successfully published my book, For Our Age of Anxiety, based on the Sermon on the Mount. All of these sermons were first written and preached while I was pastor of the Seven Hills Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky where I served for thirty-four years. As I considered the idea of publishing a follow up book of sermons from the remaining chapters of Matthew, I went to my files and began the process of selecting the sermons to be included. After I had selected these sermons, I began to see that they could be put together under the theme of a portrait of Jesus. This book features sermons that focus on the early days of the ministry of Jesus particularly as they related to the ministry of John the Baptist. They also shed some light on the temptations of Jesus in the desert, on the call of those who would be his first disciples, and what is involved in being a disciple of Jesus then and now. Some of the sermons are based on the miracles of Jesus, thus revealing the compassion of Jesus. These sermons also deal with the idea of the Kingdom of God, showing some of the principles and characteristics of the Kingdom. The last two sermons are about the person of Jesus. It is my hope that these sermons will indeed help the reader to draw his or her own mental and spiritual portrait of Jesus.

The Story of Preaching is a fresh look at the preacher and preaching from the early days of the Church until today. It is not a history of preaching because there are some obvious gaps in the time line. What I have attempted to do is to describe the preacher and the characteristics of the period in which he or she lived. One of the things which I have tried to do is to show how the preachers handled the issues of their day. One of my objectives in doing this is to help the preachers of my day to address the issues of this era as the preachers of old addressed the issues in their time. The book will show that some who dared to challenge the attitudes of their day faced many challenges, and some even faced death because of their commitment to apply the principles of the gospel to the status quo of their day. However, the book will show that there were those who challenged the mode of their time without facing death or threats of death. They found a way to present their concerns to their constituents in a way that lead to success.

The impulse to publish these sermons came to me after I had successfully published my book, For Our Age of Anxiety, based on the Sermon on the Mount. All of these sermons were first written and preached while I was pastor of the Seven Hills Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky where I served for thirty-four years. As I considered the idea of publishing a follow up book of sermons from the remaining chapters of Matthew, I went to my files and began the process of selecting the sermons to be included. After I had selected these sermons, I began to see that they could be put together under the theme of a portrait of Jesus. This book features sermons that focus on the early days of the ministry of Jesus particularly as they related to the ministry of John the Baptist. They also shed some light on the temptations of Jesus in the desert, on the call of those who would be his first disciples, and what is involved in being a disciple of Jesus then and now. Some of the sermons are based on the miracles of Jesus, thus revealing the compassion of Jesus. These sermons also deal with the idea of the Kingdom of God, showing some of the principles and characteristics of the Kingdom. The last two sermons are about the person of Jesus. It is my hope that these sermons will indeed help the reader to draw his or her own mental and spiritual portrait of Jesus.

This is a short and to the point book on pastors and preaching. It is designed for the busy biovocational pastor who may not have the time nor desire to read a larger book on preaching. Much of the material in this book reflects the material in other books on preaching, but this book does contain some ideas that will not be found in any other book on preaching. This book suggests that a pastor who desires to see his people grow spiritually and in Biblical understanding would be well served to develop the practice of preaching through the books of the Bible. It points our some distinct advantages to the preacher and the congregation in this plan of preaching. The last section of the book contains some sermons that were prepared in the manner suggested by the author.