More Than a Sermon: The Purpose and Practice of Christian Preaching

by Douglas D. Webster

Preach with compassion and conviction In More than a Sermon , Douglas D. Webster highlights the prophetic and pastoral challenge of preaching today. The task is both harder and easier than we imagine, as we are called to proclaim the biblical text in a way that convicts a hostile world while encouraging our congregations to rest in Christ’s love. We need preaching that both swings the hammer that breaks hard hearts yet does not break the bruised reeds in our care. Offering practical insights and examples, Webster explores what it means to preach the gospel in different seasons such  
More than a Sermon is a valuable resource for both new pastors and veteran preachers who want to proclaim the whole counsel of God with power and wisdom.

344 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2024

About the author

Douglas D. Webster is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

Reviews

[Kristjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just completed a homiletics course, I was very interested in another book on preaching; however, from the beginning, it was very clear that as a catholic clergy, I was not the target audience here. To begin with, catholic homilies are generally tied to the readings for the day, so I really don’t have much flexibility in picking the scripture text that I want to use … it is given to me. Additionally, the order of service (aka liturgical rubrics) and also fairly strict as well … so I was down to mostly looking for tips and ideas on how to preach better. For the most part, I didn’t get that much as most of what I did get was very generic or straight appeals to emotion/motivation … the you must have a solid relationship with God/Jesus and live a spiritual and moral life … which comes across more like a “just do it” speech … in other words, I didn’t find as much of the practical advice that I was looking for … it was still decent and I did pick up concepts and ideas from the examples in the second half that should help, but a lot of it didn’t really work for me.

The chapters and sections in this work are

Prayers for Discernment
Scripture to Sermon: Ten Steps

Part I: The Purpose of Preaching
1. More than a Sermon
2. Harder & Easier that We Imagine
3. Compelling, Not Manipulative
4. The Whole Counsel of God
5. A Lifelong Commitment
6. Life-on-Life Discipleship

Part II: The Practice of Preaching
7. Preaching Advent & Christmas Sermons
8. Preaching Lenten Sermons
9. Easter Sermons
10. Memorial Meditations
11. Wedding Meditations
12. Preaching Crisis Sermons
13. Preaching with Social Impact

Seven These on Good Preaching

Some of the other points that really got my attention are:

What is true for teachers is true for preachers. The word of God ought to be heard, as authentic speech, voiced out of the integrity of the disciple, stripped of religious jargon and free of cliché. It is a message that issues from the preacher’s heart, mind, and soul.

Exegesis without exposition results in knowledge without wisdom, and exposition without Christ produces religion without faith. Alcántara advises pastors to “avoid the common tendency to preach a sermon that sounds like it is a running commentary on the text. People might learn a lot about the text in its context, they might acquire new information or new understanding, but they will not hear the proclamation of the good news. If you preach the text without preaching the gospel, then you have failed at both tasks.”

His sardonic quest to make life harder was directed to those who wanted to blend Christianity with the world and make it easy. The proponents of cultural Christianity sought to remove the offense of the gospel and the stigma of the cross. They wanted “to be Christians only up to a certain point.”

Either sermonic formula, whether the existential subtext sermon or the heavy-laden informational sermon, leads to the same familiar and pedantic conclusion. Come Monday morning or as early as Sunday afternoon, whatever hint of impact that was felt is conveniently forgotten as Christians go about their secular lives.

Repeated exposure to religious jargon renders the hearer impenitent and callous: “One hears and yet does not hear. One receives and yet is not helped. God’s forgiveness is not accepted but the person learns how to deal with himself gracefully. Forgiveness is taken into one’s own hands.”

Martin Luther likened the Old Testament to Christ’s swaddling clothes and the manger in which Christ was laid. […] All the work that went into Israel’s postexilic period was God’s way of building a cradle for his ultimate revelation.

Christian hope is anchored in four gospel realities: 1. the parousia—Jesus’s final coming; 2. the Paraclete—Jesus’s gift of the Holy Spirit; 3. the passion—Jesus’s death and resurrection; 4. the presence—Jesus’s abiding fellowship.

Our reluctance to weigh in on important social issues such as pandemics and racial reconciliation suggests that preaching is focused mainly on individualistic spiritual concerns. Apart from a few notably important issues such as abortion and gay marriage, pastors seem to practice self-censorship. Pastors are silent on many issues that affect their congregations, such as public health, economics, poverty, politics, creation care, climate change, and guns.

Many sincere Christians fear that they are losing their country, but I am afraid they will eventually realize that their power tactics and shrewd efforts have caused serious harm to the Christian witness.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#MoreThanASermon #NetGalley

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does God use preaching to shape his people? In More Than a Sermon, Douglas D. Webster writes on the purpose and practice of Christian preaching.


Reaching Hearts

The first half of the book tackles the purpose of preaching, and Webster relays that preaching is harder and easier than we imagine. He considers the spiritual, intellectual, social, ethical, and pastoral dimensions of preaching. But preaching is a good kind of hard - one where you can find your labor to not be in vain.

I was most moved to read how preaching is tethered to a lifelong commitment and partnered with life-on-life discipleship. I thought about how my own preaching has impacted my personal life and how reaching hearts with the Word of God is not restricted to the pulpit. Webster sees preaching clearly as a way of life - being utterly devoted to the primacy and sufficiency of Scripture.


Renewing Minds

The second half of book focuses on the practice of preaching. Different seasons of preaching are presented, including preaching Advent/Christmas sermons, Easter sermons, weddings, and memorials. I was most interested to read on preaching crisis sermons and preaching with social impact. While I might not be called upon to preach in these special circumstances, I can still prepare my congregation with biblical conviction.

The book concludes with seven theses on good preaching, beginning with the fact that good preaching is dependent in every way on the Bible – and ending with good preaching helps believers think for themselves so that they are no longer “conformed to this world” but “transformed by the renewal of [their] mind” (Romans 12:2). I am challenged to proclaim Christ with power, and moved to speak with practical wisdom from the Word.


I received a media copy of More Than a Sermon and this is my honest review.

[Rocky Woolery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully easy read, but not unchallenging. It is nicely divided into two halves. The first half consists of the necessity and challenges of preaching. As a seasoned preacher I found that at times Webster was challenging my views of what it means to preach or why I am a preacher. Each of the chapters deals with an aspect of the call or necessity of preaching. I can say that it would be a great book for a new preacher or someone who was training to be a preacher.

The second half of the book addresses seven situations that a preacher will be called to speak on. The first three deal with situations that are dictated by the Church calendar: Advent, Lent and Easter. The remaining deal with situations that will be dealt with on an occasional manner: Memorials (Funerals), Weddings, Crisis Situations (personal, congregational, national or world wide). While each of these must be addressed by the minister/preacher in a case by case and congregation by congregation manner, the way Webster approaches the situations can give an understanding of how to handle them or if needed maybe even a starting point (especially for a new minister).

All in all this book would be a great means of sharpening the preacher in his or her calling. For both the seasoned minister who might need some refining of the edge or the new minister who might need the edge defined so that it can cut correctly and effectively.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

First part was an excellent review of essential perspectives in preaching. After 50 years of preaching there were many encouraging confirmations, as well as plenty of things I wish I had done better.

The second section gives examples of different types of sermons and liturgical seasons. It was delightful to see different approaches. It all made me wish I could un-retire.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book as much as I did his work on pastoral theology. While his call to balance prophetic preaching with compassionate care in preaching is important, the way it was stated did not resonate with me as much as the work on pastoral theology.