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Text-Driven Preaching: God's Word at the Heart of Every Sermon
Text-Driven Preaching features essays by Daniel L. Akin, Paige Patterson, David Alan Black, Jerry Vines, Hershael York, David L. Allen, Bill Bennett, Ned L. Mathews, Robert Vogel, and Jim Shaddix urging pastors to commit to presenting true expository preaching from the pulpit. Concerned over what some church leaders even consider to be expository preaching today, they agree, “This book rests firmly on the biblical and theological foundation for exposition: God has spoken.”Capturing the urgency and spirit of these writings in the book’s preface, co-editor Allen notes, “The church today is anemic spiritually for many reasons, but one of the major reasons has to be the loss of biblical content in so much of contemporary preaching. Pop psychology substitutes for the Word of God . . . in the headlong rush to be relevant, People magazine and popular television shows have replaced Scripture as sermonic resources.”
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2010
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117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 25, 2024
A hard book to review. Some chapters were awesome, while some didn’t quite hit the mark.
This book is essentially a collection of articles covering the scope of Text-Driven Preaching. Allen defines text-driven preaching as sermons not only based upon a text of Scripture but also actually expound the meaning of that text.
Some of the excellent contributions included: “The Secret of Preaching with Power,” by Bill Bennett which discussed the role of the Holy Spirit in the preaching event; “Preparing a Text-Driven Sermon” by David Allen which was a challenging chapter on technical methodology in study, including diagraming and the role of exegeting the original language; and “Biblical Theology” by James Hamilton, Jr which was a chapter on the role of theology in preaching.
This book is essentially a collection of articles covering the scope of Text-Driven Preaching. Allen defines text-driven preaching as sermons not only based upon a text of Scripture but also actually expound the meaning of that text.
Some of the excellent contributions included: “The Secret of Preaching with Power,” by Bill Bennett which discussed the role of the Holy Spirit in the preaching event; “Preparing a Text-Driven Sermon” by David Allen which was a challenging chapter on technical methodology in study, including diagraming and the role of exegeting the original language; and “Biblical Theology” by James Hamilton, Jr which was a chapter on the role of theology in preaching.
January 4, 2022
Fantastic piece that covers so many aspects of preaching. From utilizing Aristotle’s “Rhetoric” in preaching to how to exegete and prepare a sermon using the original languages, this was useful for myself not as a pastor, but will be even more useful later down the road if I am called to be one who correctly handles the Word to present regularly to a congregation.
January 23, 2015
In a new age where returning to the text seems to be where the hermeneutical pendulum is swinging, we find many options and opinions as to how to properly exposit the Scriptures from the pulpit. Are these opinions merely expository, or are they text-driven? What is the difference? A collection of Southern Baptist pastors and professors have a joint response to the questions that are raised when one delves into text-driven preaching. Featuring articles from Danny Akin, Paige Patterson, David Black, Jerry Vines, Hershael York, David Allen, Bill Bennett, Ned Mathews, Robert Vogel, and Jim Shaddix, Text-Driven Preaching is a compilation of teachings about how to center a sermon around God's heart—His Word. These men collectively bring immense preaching and ministry experience to the reader through this book.
Summary
Similar to many preaching books, Text-Driven Preaching outlines the preacher, the preparation, and the preaching in the introductory sections, and also elaborates into the historical background, basic models, and modern-day practices. Many personal opinions about contemporary preaching are peppered throughout the book, as well, such as David Allen calling out preaching today as being too horizontal when it should be more vertical (meaning it should be more God-centered than man-centered).
Critical Evaluation
As difficult as it is to compile a book from men with such a history for preaching the Word that does not contain personal opinion, it must be more difficult for those men to ward off saying "always" and "never," or "greatest" and "least." Personally, I would have liked to hear Paige Patterson rank his top twenty failures of preaching instead of using the blanketed comment early on in the book, "I can only conclude that the greatest failure in preaching and in books on preaching is the failure to invoke the anointing of God on the preacher and his message" (12). Might there be a greater failure? Perhaps this is outside the scope of the intended audience for the book, but I would venture to say that a preacher who does not have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ might be a somewhat larger failure than neglecting the call or anointing (as important as that is.)
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Bill Bennett quotes, "All Word and no Spirit, you dry up. All Spirit and no Word, you blow up. Combine the Word and the Spirit, you will grow up" (60). This is an interesting quote that highlights the importance of the anointing that Patterson wrote about. Bennett gives an application statement that gives reason to the Spirit and the Word being united equally. Taking it a step further, in a Trinitarian sense, one might say, "Combine the Word (Jesus), the Spirit (the Holy Spirit), and the Father (Abba), you will grow up." I love re-realizing that Jesus is the Word in flesh (John 1:14), and it is important to remember the presence of the Father during a maturing process.
When it comes to the flow of the book, one can only expect there to be some hiccups when combining multiple authors. I will say, though, that there was a rabbit trail placed early on in the collection where Patterson delves into Aristotelian rhetoric that caused me to think the book was more disjoined throughout. Perhaps this section could have been re-worked or placed nearer to the end instead of on page forty-two (in the first ten percent of the book.)
In writing about the art and science of homiletics, David Allen talks about the sermon replicating the same construction and delivery the text of the Scriptures (105). He also states that Scripture should not be reduced to "merely a resource" for the message (106), because it is literally the sermon in itself. This sets up his next argument quite well. Allen says, "The kind of preaching that will best engender biblical knowledge and spiritual growth is preaching that works paragraph by paragraph through books of the Bible in a systematic fashion and not just verse by verse" (107). What he means here is that a verse by verse exposition of the Word of God can get away from the message of the block of text as a whole. If one is zoomed in too far, it may become difficult or completely impossible to discern the contextual meaning or themes of the Word of God. I would add my own opinion here, saying that the same is true for pastors who are unwilling to cross-reference other passages of Scripture where the same key words or phrases are used. Scripture interprets Scripture. Jesus and the Apostle Paul quoted other Scriptures in their recorded words in the New Testament (primarily Psalms, Isaiah, and the books of law—remember Jesus resisting the temptation of Satan in the wilderness). Therefore, we should not shy away from tying in a more holistic delineation of the full council of God (Acts 20:27). Find the most appropriate paragraph of teaching, and support it with proper inter-biblical references.
Conclusion
When an editor attempts the combining of multiple authors—especially strong ones such as the ones listed in this book—there is a trade off of continuity and diversity. There may have been some ups and downs in this book from the perspective of continuity and strength of the writing; but the exchange for diversity (within the spectrum of conservative Southern Baptist ideals) was a win. Text-Driven Preaching is a good volume to have in your collection—especially if you are new to the differentiation between expository and text-driven sermons, or do not currently own any other decent volumes such as this that walk a pastor through the challenges of presenting God's Word at the heart of every sermon.
Summary
Similar to many preaching books, Text-Driven Preaching outlines the preacher, the preparation, and the preaching in the introductory sections, and also elaborates into the historical background, basic models, and modern-day practices. Many personal opinions about contemporary preaching are peppered throughout the book, as well, such as David Allen calling out preaching today as being too horizontal when it should be more vertical (meaning it should be more God-centered than man-centered).
Critical Evaluation
As difficult as it is to compile a book from men with such a history for preaching the Word that does not contain personal opinion, it must be more difficult for those men to ward off saying "always" and "never," or "greatest" and "least." Personally, I would have liked to hear Paige Patterson rank his top twenty failures of preaching instead of using the blanketed comment early on in the book, "I can only conclude that the greatest failure in preaching and in books on preaching is the failure to invoke the anointing of God on the preacher and his message" (12). Might there be a greater failure? Perhaps this is outside the scope of the intended audience for the book, but I would venture to say that a preacher who does not have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ might be a somewhat larger failure than neglecting the call or anointing (as important as that is.)
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Bill Bennett quotes, "All Word and no Spirit, you dry up. All Spirit and no Word, you blow up. Combine the Word and the Spirit, you will grow up" (60). This is an interesting quote that highlights the importance of the anointing that Patterson wrote about. Bennett gives an application statement that gives reason to the Spirit and the Word being united equally. Taking it a step further, in a Trinitarian sense, one might say, "Combine the Word (Jesus), the Spirit (the Holy Spirit), and the Father (Abba), you will grow up." I love re-realizing that Jesus is the Word in flesh (John 1:14), and it is important to remember the presence of the Father during a maturing process.
When it comes to the flow of the book, one can only expect there to be some hiccups when combining multiple authors. I will say, though, that there was a rabbit trail placed early on in the collection where Patterson delves into Aristotelian rhetoric that caused me to think the book was more disjoined throughout. Perhaps this section could have been re-worked or placed nearer to the end instead of on page forty-two (in the first ten percent of the book.)
In writing about the art and science of homiletics, David Allen talks about the sermon replicating the same construction and delivery the text of the Scriptures (105). He also states that Scripture should not be reduced to "merely a resource" for the message (106), because it is literally the sermon in itself. This sets up his next argument quite well. Allen says, "The kind of preaching that will best engender biblical knowledge and spiritual growth is preaching that works paragraph by paragraph through books of the Bible in a systematic fashion and not just verse by verse" (107). What he means here is that a verse by verse exposition of the Word of God can get away from the message of the block of text as a whole. If one is zoomed in too far, it may become difficult or completely impossible to discern the contextual meaning or themes of the Word of God. I would add my own opinion here, saying that the same is true for pastors who are unwilling to cross-reference other passages of Scripture where the same key words or phrases are used. Scripture interprets Scripture. Jesus and the Apostle Paul quoted other Scriptures in their recorded words in the New Testament (primarily Psalms, Isaiah, and the books of law—remember Jesus resisting the temptation of Satan in the wilderness). Therefore, we should not shy away from tying in a more holistic delineation of the full council of God (Acts 20:27). Find the most appropriate paragraph of teaching, and support it with proper inter-biblical references.
Conclusion
When an editor attempts the combining of multiple authors—especially strong ones such as the ones listed in this book—there is a trade off of continuity and diversity. There may have been some ups and downs in this book from the perspective of continuity and strength of the writing; but the exchange for diversity (within the spectrum of conservative Southern Baptist ideals) was a win. Text-Driven Preaching is a good volume to have in your collection—especially if you are new to the differentiation between expository and text-driven sermons, or do not currently own any other decent volumes such as this that walk a pastor through the challenges of presenting God's Word at the heart of every sermon.
February 21, 2020
Text driven preaching is exactly what it sounds like. It is an anthology of great pastoral minds. Some I agree with, some I do not. For example, I hold to a very different view of the atonement than David Allen. It reads similar to dear Timothy from Tom ascol, just with lesser known names. That being said there is some good takeaway in every chapter. And as the conclusion states, the goal is not to have a better method but to better shepherd the flock.
July 17, 2020
This book is a collection of essays addressing the need for expository preaching in the local church. Interestingly enough, there was also several treatments on the logos/ethnos/pathos rhetorical tools.
It was a mixed bag for me. While a lot of it was familiar territory I appreciated some fresh approaches and personal revitalization. A few essays disappointed their treatment of Biblical theology, and preaching with power. A few I need to return to for further consideration.
It was a mixed bag for me. While a lot of it was familiar territory I appreciated some fresh approaches and personal revitalization. A few essays disappointed their treatment of Biblical theology, and preaching with power. A few I need to return to for further consideration.
October 28, 2018
This is an overview of preaching that focuses on the art of properly understanding and communicating the Scriptures. While a helpful resource, there are better books that also overview the subject of exegetical preaching but with more continuity. If you're looking into Biblical exposition, please let Haddon Robinson's "Biblical Preaching" take precedent in your studies.
July 20, 2018
A Must Read!
This book is very helpful in that it covered various components of text driven preaching. I would recommend this book to any preacher who truly desires to honor God’s Word in their preaching as the help their congregations to hear and obey God’s Word.
This book is very helpful in that it covered various components of text driven preaching. I would recommend this book to any preacher who truly desires to honor God’s Word in their preaching as the help their congregations to hear and obey God’s Word.
February 16, 2020
This book is the theoretcal explanation of text-driven preaching which is same as expository preaching. However, the book is no sample sermon for demostrate how the full message written. The good point of the book is about the patho of the preacher.
February 17, 2013
Some very helpful chapters. Really appreciated York and the chapter on Passion in preaching. Found some of the material to be very pedestrian. The final chapter on application is a rehash of a number of other author's material.
Strong emphasis upon what I'd call Biblical or expository preaching. I was hoping for something with a little more pizzazz.
But, could be worth spending some time with if you haven't read anything in homiletics recently.
I was disappointed with some of the pejorative descriptions of those who advocate other models of approaching sermons.
Strong emphasis upon what I'd call Biblical or expository preaching. I was hoping for something with a little more pizzazz.
But, could be worth spending some time with if you haven't read anything in homiletics recently.
I was disappointed with some of the pejorative descriptions of those who advocate other models of approaching sermons.
April 28, 2015
An excellent book that brings expository preaching out of the realm of theory and gives practical application to exposition. I like the term "text driven" over purely expository preaching, because of the many connotations that come with "expository preaching." Whether you preach verse by verse, or approach the sermon from a topical perspective, the sermon should be text driven. This book does a great job of explaining what this looks like.
September 24, 2016
This is a fantastic book on preaching. A few of the chapters are not as good as the others and keep me from giving the book five stars. But most of the chapters are quite excellent. Some of the best material in the book is on the spiritual life of the preacher. I came to see how, in some ways, I've been on cruise control. I'm now being more proactive in my times with the Lord, and that is showing up in my preaching. If you're a pastor, I urge you to get this book and give it a read.
February 13, 2013
I'm being generous with 4 stars, mainly because I don't think the book was made to be read cover to cover at once. Some essays were great (Jim Hamilton's on Biblical Theology in preaching was my favorite) but the more technical ones in the middle section were quite dry when read back to back. And, as is expected, there was a lot of overlap with some essays, primarily in regard to rhetoric.
May 24, 2015
Good book on preaching. Some chapters are better than others. Daniel Akin's chapter on application is great.
July 2, 2015
Book is good. Akin and Hamilton's chapters are the best.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews