Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities

by Mark R. Glanville

An Expository Preaching Guidebook for Post-Christian CommunitiesPreaching must connect with its hearers. As the perception of the pastor has changed in recent years, and as congregations battle with increasing doubt, preaching appealing solely to rationality doesn't resonate in the same way as it once did. Post-Christian generations find themselves looking less for a charismatic authority figure and more for healthy leaders who are relationally connected to their neighborhood.Scholar and pastor Mark Glanville provides a fresh look into the art of crafting sermons for post-Christian contexts. In Preaching in a New Key, he teaches the craft of Christ-centered expository preaching from the ground up. Writing for both new and experienced pastors, Glanville recognizes that it is time for us to reset our compasses.Bringing together elements that are too often apart, Preaching in a New Key teaches expository preaching integrated with creativity, cultural discernment, pastoral health, justice, missiology, and more. Filled with helpful resources for seminary students and pastors alike, this book visual aids to help prepare for writing a sermonGuides for how to structure a sermonExamples that show how to implement preaching practicesPreaching in a New Key offers a practical and refreshing vision for crafting sermons that are sustainable for the pastor and resonant with communities.

Genres: Theology, Christianity

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

Dr Mark R Glanville is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, and an Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) scholar. Mark's recent scholarship explores dynamics of kinship and ethics in the Old Testament. Prior to joining Regent, Mark pastored for 14 years in both Canada and Australia. Mark has been bi-vocational, combining reflective (justice-seeking) pastoring with biblical scholarship. He has published in numerous top tier biblical studies journals (including JBL, JSOT, and CBQ). He is an Aussie, and he likes to express his masculinity by snapping a crocodile's neck with two fingers. Mark is also a trained jazz pianist who plays on the Vancouver jazz scene.

Reviews

[Carmen Imes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding guide to sermon preparation and delivery, full of practical tips and fruitful ways of re-framing the process. Dr. Glanville is clearly drawing on decades of experience as a preacher, but his guidance is tailor made for this cultural moment. We learn from his missteps and he deftly guides us to develop better connections with the congregation that will not only inform, but heal and inspire. I'm so thankful for this book and plan to turn to it often!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copy-editing this book for Mark so no thorough review yet, but I can definitely say that this book is going to be a tremendous resource for many in the church. Mark’s preaching course was my favourite course at that seminary, and I am so, so glad I got to start my preaching career under his guidance.

[Martin Augestad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dette er en introduksjonsbok til forkynnelse, som forsøker å «rekontekstualisere» forkynnelse i en moderne, sekulær sammenheng. Likte godt hvordan boken er meget praktisk, med mange konkrete tips jeg kommer til å ta med meg. I tillegg legger forfatteren vekt på at forkynnelse aldri skjer i en nøytral kontekst, vi må alltid søke etter å ha en forkynnelse som er bevisst på hvilken sammenheng man taler til. Andre ting jeg likte var hvordan han var så tydelig på at livet som forkynner ikke bare leves på en talerstol, men at også livene våre ellers er en «tale» i seg selv.

Han fokuserer også en del på å ha empati i møte med tvil, vise Jesu ømhet og skape trygge soner gjennom måten man taler. Selv om det er viktig og riktig, savnet jeg et fokus på det å utfordre fra talerstolen, og hvordan man kan tale på en måte som gjør at folk vil ta imot Jesus.

[Samuel Kassing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The integration of right brain elements and the posture of compassion were encouraging.

[Ben Fair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very good! One I’m going to have to keep close by for sure.

[Xavier Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting approach to homiletics. Being a jazz musician, Glanville draws from his experience as a musician to structure his preparation and thought towards a sermon. The book also analogises to a musician composing/playing music at multiple points, which I found humorous and interesting at multiple points (perhaps this has to do with me being a musician myself (laughs)).

He begins by observing that a preacher must preach out of a "deeper self", rather than out of "defended self" (defined as "the masks we wear to hide our vulnerabilities", preaching from this is less preaching and more offloading trauma). This requires self-awareness and being aware of our brokenness, instead of letting wounds show in preaching (eg. preaching out of frustration with a congregation's lack of prayer or engagement). The preacher should also watch out for his health (physical, emotional, spiritual, and otherwise) (ch 1). Next, Glanville opines that the preacher should take note that Scripture is written to a community (the church), and therefore, much like a jazz band playing well together by listening to each other, the objective of preaching is to listen to and trust one another (p 49). Preachers should be careful to preach about the church's shared life, rather than just the lives of her individual members. This eye towards community starts at exegesis and interpretation, and carries over into focusing on the church's community life in its particular place and context (p 52). For example, in concluding a sermon, rather than offering an application for individual listeners; offering an invitation to the church as a whole.

Glanville also acknowledges that preachers today operate in a very different culture compared to traditional preachers. Rather than assuming that hearers agree on the authority of Scripture, the preacher should strive to display how Scripture (and Christ as He is revealed in them) forms the church into a beloved community, thereby demonstrating Scripture's authority from its capacity to speak into and respond to our lives. By doing so, the wisdom of Christ and the beauty of Scripture is also displayed. For example, a traditional sermon for Col 3:1-17 might end with a challenge to sinful behaviour and a call to something better — but a preacher can go further and consider – what is the purpose of the lists of behaviours to put on and off? It is to live well together as a community raised with Christ – Col 3:1-17 is "nourishing the church to bear witness through our contrastive life", offering an invitation to the church to be the beloved community. Glanville advises: "the key to pastoring in post-Christian contexts is not to read French philosophers on postmodernism; the key is to care—to care about the flourishing of all things. You do not need to be super smart. You need a big heart." (p 74)

The next 4 chapters get more practical. Glanville first highlights: 1) It is valuable to become skilled at verse-by-verse preaching; 2) This method can be used with artistic intuition and emotional intelligence; and 3) This is not the only preaching method (p 80). He then goes into process, beginning at exegesis, and then advising that after exegesis, one should "compose a through line" (this is sometimes called the 'big idea', though Glanville prefers 'through line' as it better reflects the movement within texts). The through line differs from the exegesis in that it is pastoral, and aims "to nourish the contrastive life of our particular church as we live and serve in our particular place." (pp 83-84) Glanville advises discussing the process with a friend to refine the 'through line' before beginning to write. Lastly, Glanville advises finding an "aesthetic note". This can be a song, poem, or a body pose. Even if it does not make it into the sermon, "by leaning into it, you will write and preach more artistically." (p 87)

Next is to structure the sermon and to write it. Glanville puts forward eight "core practices": 1) Commit to being guided by the text; 2) Write the sermon out in full (even if one does not plan to read it word-for-word); 3) Discuss it with another person; 4) Ask 'why will people be listening at this point in the sermon?'; 5) Maximise engagement with the text by telling the hearers to look at the text more than once; 6) Keep the sermon length tight, about 20-25min; 7) Edit and prune with the through line as your guide (pp 97-99). Glanville then suggests eight "licks" (drawing the analogy to playing music once again) to consider to help the sermon "connect with a variety of listeners": 1) A smarts lick (something for people to learn); 2) A heart lick (something for the emotions; "Remember that there is a broken heart on every pew"); 3) A Bible lick (something which helps the hearer understand how does the big story of the Bible fit together); 4) A context lick (explain the context of the passage in a way that illuminates the passage); 5) A participatory lick (a moment of active participation from the congregation); 6) A practical lick (something concrete that people can do in response to the passage); 7) A Jesus lick (speak about Jesus); and 8) An implications lick (show the implications of the passage for our shared life) (pp 99-100).

Glanville then advocates "playing with heart", first becoming aware of one's emotional landscape, then noting how the passage makes you feel (p 113). Then preaching from it, with a view towards "feel[ing] the emotions of Christ as he looks on the world and on our neighborhood." (p 115) Again, I think it is valuable how Glanville constantly draws the sermon-writing process back towards community and communal life, rather than just preaching to individual hearts and minds.
To help the reader grow in their "ability to communicate with words to the whole person", Glanville suggests these five strategies: 1) Writing down the next time a piece of writing catches your attention; 2) Try writing in that style; 3) Find an opportunity to teach the Bible to teens; 4) Deliver a narrative sermon in first person; and 5) Take your time in preparing the sermon. Most importantly, do not use jargon (p 118).

In the next three chapters Glanville goes through the "tradition of preachers" – beginning with an overview of the Biblical story as a story in six acts (Creation, Fall, Israel, Christ, Church, Return & Renewal) (pp 136-139), followed by an overview of the biblical ethic of kinship (pp 139-142), a discussion on what the gospel is (Glanville eschews a narrow view of the gospel being limited to only individual salvation, and submits that it concerns the beginning of God's rule through Christ, and it affects all areas of life (pp 142-147), and lastly, a discussion on the hermeneutical theme of witness (that is, how Scripture moves a community to display the tenderness and hope in Christ) (pp 147-148). Drawing from Bryan Chapell, Glanville then explains what it means to preach Christ: beginning with the "fallen-condition focus" and asking "what were the struggles, concerns, or frailties of the persons to whom the text was originally addressed?", and then the following five aspects of Christ-centered preaching: 1) Preach Christ as he stands in the center of the biblical story; 2) Preach Christ crucified and raised from the dead; 3) Preach Christ, who teaches a way of living; 4) Preach Christ as the power of God for salvation; 5) Preach Christ as the one who has gone before us as our faithful representative (pp 154-158).

The last three chapters are on beauty. Glanville urges preachers to use their creativity, engaging the five senses (eg. by engaging visual arts or tactile engagement like having congregants write on sticky notes or mold small clumps of clay) and imaginative storytelling to help us "fin[d] our communal identity in [the] stories [in the Bible]" (pp 175-180). The preacher's posture also affects how the sermon is received and can affect the congregation's participation. Glanville advises "creating space" by eg. projecting less energy or by leaving space for prayer or prayerful silence (pp 183-189). In the last two chapters Glanville touches on the church and offers six "notes for improvising church", drawing from his previous book Improvising Church: 1) Leader-full communities; 2) Local to the particular neighbourhood or city; 3) Worship in multiple rhythms of Scripture, of our community, of our neighbourhood, and of the wider (historical and global) church; 4) Shared life; 5) Creation (the church should nourish its relationship with creation); and 6) Conversations (churches can seek to dialogue regularly on pressing issues facing the community) (pp 196-204). Lastly, Glanville covers the Old Testament, especially some violent passages, but he seems to approach these in broad strokes and themes with little concrete advice. This was a brief chapter and, in my opinion, felt like it does not belong in an otherwise clearly written and grounded book. I think Glanville may have tried to do too much with this last chapter, which may explain the lack of depth in this area. The penultimate chapter on the church also suffers from something similar – too short to deal with the topic it seeks to engage, yet occupying a chapter in this book, and at the same time offering little concrete and practical advice for the preacher writing and/or preaching their sermon (presumably the target audience of this book).

Overall, I thought this book was a good read, though it may not be the first book I'd recommend or consult on homiletics.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gospel has been proclaimed for thousands of years, but the work of presenting the Gospel in an effective way in any given culture and society is ever new and ever transformative. Resources to help encourage preachers to well preach in their contexts are always appreciated.

Mark Glanville’s Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities (galley received as part of early review program, but full book read) provides a refreshing and important update to the standard collection of books regarding preaching.

The author is a preacher and also a jazz musician, and throughout will use the language and metaphors of jazz to present his exhortations (hence, the “new key”). The author begins by encouraging the preacher to first consider himself and his condition, an appropriate and wise place to begin. He also encourages consideration of what preaching in the church is about in terms of nourishing shared life in community. He would also have the preacher consider the context in which he is preaching, one in which preachers do not have as much intrinsic credibility as in the past, and an environment in which one will have to be more patient and help people work through doubt and other challenges.

He then explored the craft of preaching and the skills involved in composing sermons, how they can be crafted, how the material can be presented, and even the mechanics of sketching out passages and sermons.

The author also considers the great tradition of the faith, and how preachers do well to learn about the tradition, trust it, and exegete according to it. Even if one is not inclined to put a lot of trust in tradition, one should still do well to honor and respect it and remain in conversation with it.

The author encourages the preacher to go beyond the basics and also consider how to preach well and beautifully, to infuse the proclamation of the message with creativity, the tone and posture the preacher should maintain, how to encourage the church to represent a community with contrastive values in well reflecting Jesus to its neighborhood, and how to well uphold justice but also addressing some of the less than pleasant aspects of Scripture. The author also provides appendices with guides to preaching on themes, shorter texts, and encouraging people to see their regular lives as vocations for God.

Some challenges do attend to the work. The author strongly promotes exegetical preaching, as the subheading suggests. There’s certainly nothing wrong with exegetical preaching; I will do it myself often. But it’s not the only form of preaching, and claims to the contrary should always be treated with extreme skepticism and prejudice. At times the author can get (seemingly strangely) rather dogmatic, especially as he would relate to the passages of violence in the Old Testament. Alas, we all have our points of dogmatism, for better and/or for worse.

Nevertheless, this is one of the first preaching resources I have come across which I have felt well addresses the challenges of the modern world in terms of grappling with the self and one’s own issues, being at least somewhat trauma informed, and appropriately culturally sensitive in ways which glorifies God and upholds the authority and integrity of Scripture. To that end I heartily endorse the work for all preachers.

[Eugene Hor · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the story of the Bible is the story of what God is doing to redeem and restore all people and creation in the Lord Jesus, then every part of the Scriptures is part of God’s redemption story pointing us to the Lord Jesus, redeeming us from sin or bringing restoration to our broken lives and world caused by sin, we want our preaching to be both expository and redemptive. Mark’s book doesn’t just have a commitment to expository preaching that redemptive, but also preaching that recognises that the word preached is first to form communities that reflect the grace of the gospel, the church as God’s new community playing its role in God’s redemption story in post-Christian society. I believe Mark’s is probably the first book that brings expository preaching that’s redemptive together with a focus on preaching to form communities that witness to the grace of the gospel in post-Christian culture. As a book for those learning to preach, Mark walk's you through practical steps in teaching you how to 'craft' expository sermons from text to identifying the redemptive note before helpfully applying it firstly to the church as a witnessing community in post-Christian culture. For the seasoned preacher, Mark will get you to rethink the way you craft your sermons with a view to reflecting on God's redeeming word for the witness of the church as God's new community first before it speaks to Christian individuals in post-Christian culture. This is going to be at the top of the reading list for students in my preaching class at Christ College Sydney from this year!

[Douglas Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most useful book on Preaching that I have read, and I have read more than a few! Glanville casts a vision for Preaching, Scripture, the Church, and leadership that is beautiful and immensely helpful. The author begins the book by laying a foundation by discussing preaching, the preacher and our current cultural context. I particularly appreciated that Glanville seeks to realign the preaching task from western preaching hyper-individuality to forming and feeding a community in a specific location. I believe this to be a vital corrective. The author then moves to discuss the building blocks of putting a great message together with exegetical excellence and artistic beauty. Although I am not a musician myself, I loved the jazz theme that is woven throughout this book with notes of love for our tradition and artistic improvisation working in harmony through the preached message.

Glanville's writing and obvious passion for the Church made me want to stand up, clap, cheer and be a better preacher myself. I came away from reading this book encouraged and helped. I will be recommending Preaching in a New Key to every preacher I know and hope it becomes a seminary required text. The book invites discussion and I would love to see it being used in ministry development groups.

[Michael Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Preaching In A New Key" is a great read for developing and preaching expository sermons in today's world. The author provides great suggestions and guidance while covering several topics, including:

- Using proclamation, witness, and teaching when preaching the gospel.

- Preaching from our deeper self, where we rest in God's love for us.

- Strategies for preaching to people who struggle with doubt.

- Suggestions for preparing a sermon outline.

- 8 practices for preparing a meaningful sermon.

- Preparing for a sermon two weeks before the sermon is preached.

- Keeping Jesus Christ in the center when preaching.

- Strategy for exegeting and interpreting a sermon.

- Using creativity and the five senses when preaching.

The title is easy to read and understand, informative, includes a helpful scriptural and general index for further study, a good balance of spiritual and practical insights, and flows smoothly from chapter to chapter. A very handy resource and highly recommended.

I was given a review copy by IVP in exchange for a fair review and appreciate the opportunity.

[Sharon Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Post-Christian and Preaching. Mark is the right expert to take on the challenge of bringing these two together, in such a practical and necessary resource for students and pastors in 2025. He speaks from personal pastoral experience as well as a scholar, professor and jazz musician.
This is a very accessible text that teaches expository preaching integrated with creativity, reading the culture, preaching out of personal emotional and spiritual vitality, justice, and more. His goal isn't merely a well-delivered sermon, but transformation! It's Mark's vision for the church for today and her calling that permeates this text and will inspire those gifted and given the privilege of communicating God's Word. Each chapter includes Reflection Questions and Practical Takeaways.
Part One, "Deeper: preparing ourselves to make art", alone, is worth the price of the book, but you won't be able to stop there!

[Cesar Contreras · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read quite a number of books on preaching and while I appreciate the authors attempt to repackage expository preaching to a post Christian culture, it missed the mark for me. While there were some real nuggets of gold, the book was far less about the art of preaching and more about how to posture yourself as a. preacher in a post Christian world. John Stott’s book on preaching was given to a community of preachers living in a time similar to ours and it captures the winsome nature that this author tried to convey.

[Winsor Boggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

No other books are preparing ministers to preach in the current post Christian moment. How do we preach that God is good to an audience that is hesitant to engage with Scripture?
Glanville answers important questions such as these, as well as many others, in this relatively short work. I appreciate that “Preaching in a New Key” is less prescriptive than other preaching classics, and more of a creative synthesis. I would highly recommend adding this to your shelf if you are looking for fresh, well-researched ideas for your preaching.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reviewing this for the Englewood Review of Books and my review will appear there.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and creative. A bit uneven - I really liked some insights. Nothing paradigm-shifting.

Video review: https://youtu.be/-sTtiX5_9RM

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a book in a modern frame of mind. Progressive Christianity in a dark time of struggling with Christ. Great faith in today and the future of preaching Christianity. Mark takes us on a journey through many times in our life. Excellent writing and style bringing Christianity in todays world.
Read it yourself it is well worth it. It did it for me.