Review: "Preaching Life-Changing Sermons"

 

Preaching Life-Changing Sermons:  Six Steps to Developing and Delivering Biblical Messages by Jesse L. Nelson was written to help those who don’t have seminary training (as Nelson didn’t when he began preaching at age fourteen), as a text for ministers to discuss, for use in seminaries, etc.  He states that he is writing from and is influences by black preaching tradition.

Nelson’s work is commendable in arguing that a sermon is to be developed through prayer and study, relying on the Holy Spirit, understanding the text in its grammatico-historical context, preaching what the text says, and addressing it with your congregation – its strengths and weakness – in mind.

It is helpful to understand where he is coming from – his influences – and he lists numerous preachers and their works throughout his book.

However, for a number of reasons, I cannot recommend this book:

Nelson argues that there is a lack of illustration and application in sermons – and he often uses stories about himself, his family, and friends. Although he says that the sermon – and applications – must be what the text says, not what the preacher wants it to say – I find todays preachers illustration and application heavy – taking away from the Gospel and the Glory of God.

Nelson conflates preaching though a book with preaching verses or sections of a book and/or a topical series.

And Nelson approvingly cites preachers with questionable doctrinal positions, such as Tony Evans.

For these reasons, it would be best to look to another book on preaching.

I received this book for free from Kregel in exchange for an honest review.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, Kregel.com, and Goodreads.com].