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Preaching the Whole Counsel of God: Design and Deliver Gospel-Centered Sermons
Preaching the Whole Counsel of God is a primary textbook on the art and science of preaching for pastors and pastors-in-training that teaches you how to practice expository, Christ-focused hermeneutics, combined with Gospel-centered, audience-transforming homiletics. It will guide you to:
- GenresChristianChristianity
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 19, 2023
This book is a must read for new preachers, and those desiring to preach. Julius Kim does a great job of simplifying the process of preparing many kinds of sermons with helpful manuscripts to see how he puts it together. His chapter on the neuroscience of the brain was the best part for me. It’s not necessarily what you think of when reading a book on preaching, but Julius uses scientific insights to give us language for what we have experienced while preaching, or listening to a sermon.
November 11, 2015
Overall, I thought this was a solid introduction to the art and science of preaching. It is generally very basic, demonstrated by Kim's simplified approach to developing sermons and his need to alliterate and bullet-point all of his concepts. His theological paradigm certainly bends toward the evangelical reformed tradition, one that I am not wholly comfortable with, especially given their penchant for finding Jesus under every jot and tittle of the Old Testament. Reading the entire Bible christologically, in my opinion, misses out on the rich tapestry that is presented in the Hebrew scriptures. Yet, his method is solid and accurately portrays his theological paradigm without delving into Calvinistic doctrine. I am not sure if I would use it as a textbook, however I would certainly recommend it for the novice preacher or for the veteran preacher who is looking for a basic refresher course.
March 5, 2020
Clear, helpful book on preaching sermons that are good, beautiful, and true.
May 8, 2019
Re-read. Probably the best recent single-volume work on preaching.
October 30, 2022
Let me preface this review by pointing out that I am not a preacher; I'm a pastor's wife. So I have enough knowledge of the process of sermon preparation to have a general familiarity, but I also have a unique perspective on this book. Rather than the one presenting the message, I'm one of those sitting in the pew who has to make sense of what the guy on the platform is saying. There's some good content here; however, the book suffers from some fatal flaws. Namely, a pedantic presentation, poor organization, and lack of a clearly-communicated purpose.
The entire book reeks of "preacher-speak." There is a lot of flowery speech and a lot of cutesy phrases, at the expense of clarity. Greek words are frequently used where the English would suffice. In places it's simply unnecessarily verbose. When coupled with the awkward organization, this makes the content extremely difficult to follow. I frequently found myself having to stop and figure out what the author was trying to communicate because he made it into some cute alliterative wordplay instead of just saying it.
The organization is also poor. In particular, it's unreasonably complex. (I outlined the first half of the book in an attempt to make it easier to follow, and found that in some places the outline is six layers deep. For chapters that are only around twenty pages long.) Every individual sub-section has its own new set of alliterative or similar sub-headings, so it feels rather like reading sermons nested in sermons nested in sermons. It's very difficult to follow the main thread of the book.
Moreover, the author has tried to cover too much, resulting in content that is simultaneously too deep and too shallow, and adding to the overall confusion of the organization. His historical theology comes through strongly, influencing the text to a degree that overwhelms its purpose as a preaching text. And it isn't quite clear what the purpose of the book is. It was my understanding going in that it's intended to be a "how to preach" book. As such, it is, in my opinion, a total fail. It simply isn't practical enough. Much of the content at first glance SEEMS actionable, but upon sitting down to do it, one would quickly find oneself asking, "How?"
Instead, Dr. Kim seems to attempt to bring in every possible aspect that might come into play in a preacher's life, rather than honing in on one specific topic and trusting the remainder of the pastor's education to round it out. It isn't possible to tackle systematic theology, methods of hermeneutics by genre, preparation, organization, delivery, etc. all in one brief book and do any of it justice.
The book is especially weak in the one area I understood to be its focus -- the practical preparation and delivery of a sermon. There are some good tips in the ending section, in particular. Ironically, the author failed to integrate any of these practical tips -- brevity, clarity, focus, etc. -- in the book itself. There are no examples of what the action steps look like in practice. The way the idea of the Christ-centered focus is presented, in my opinion (and especially in the absence of examples), is likely to lead to many pastors forcing an interpretation on the text that isn't in keeping with the original intent. And speaking of interpretation, there is far too little time devoted to the study of the passage PRIOR to determining the sermon's focus. Taken as a whole, this has a strong probability of leading to some poorly-written sermons not at all well-rooted in the text.
His method also apparently doesn't work very well. The sample sermons in the book, while not bogged down in extraneous material like the book itself, are not easy to follow. Even in print, I had to go back and reread several times to figure out what connections he was making in his text. There is no way I would have followed that message had I been hearing it out loud on a Sunday morning, where re-reading isn't an option.
The strongest section of the book is the section on preaching from different genres of Scripture (chapters 4 and 5). This is not only excellent content; it also doesn't suffer from the "fluffy" writing found in other sections. I would have liked to see the author focus here, rather than attempting to do it all. An entire book in this vein would have been an edifying addition to a preacher's toolbox.
If you are a new preacher, I would not recommend this as a textbook for learning to preach. ( The 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching is excellent, and abundantly practical.) If you are already an experienced preacher, this may be useful as an adjunct, either to gain a somewhat different perspective, or just to pick up a few new tidbits.
(Vine Voices review for Amazon)
The entire book reeks of "preacher-speak." There is a lot of flowery speech and a lot of cutesy phrases, at the expense of clarity. Greek words are frequently used where the English would suffice. In places it's simply unnecessarily verbose. When coupled with the awkward organization, this makes the content extremely difficult to follow. I frequently found myself having to stop and figure out what the author was trying to communicate because he made it into some cute alliterative wordplay instead of just saying it.
The organization is also poor. In particular, it's unreasonably complex. (I outlined the first half of the book in an attempt to make it easier to follow, and found that in some places the outline is six layers deep. For chapters that are only around twenty pages long.) Every individual sub-section has its own new set of alliterative or similar sub-headings, so it feels rather like reading sermons nested in sermons nested in sermons. It's very difficult to follow the main thread of the book.
Moreover, the author has tried to cover too much, resulting in content that is simultaneously too deep and too shallow, and adding to the overall confusion of the organization. His historical theology comes through strongly, influencing the text to a degree that overwhelms its purpose as a preaching text. And it isn't quite clear what the purpose of the book is. It was my understanding going in that it's intended to be a "how to preach" book. As such, it is, in my opinion, a total fail. It simply isn't practical enough. Much of the content at first glance SEEMS actionable, but upon sitting down to do it, one would quickly find oneself asking, "How?"
Instead, Dr. Kim seems to attempt to bring in every possible aspect that might come into play in a preacher's life, rather than honing in on one specific topic and trusting the remainder of the pastor's education to round it out. It isn't possible to tackle systematic theology, methods of hermeneutics by genre, preparation, organization, delivery, etc. all in one brief book and do any of it justice.
The book is especially weak in the one area I understood to be its focus -- the practical preparation and delivery of a sermon. There are some good tips in the ending section, in particular. Ironically, the author failed to integrate any of these practical tips -- brevity, clarity, focus, etc. -- in the book itself. There are no examples of what the action steps look like in practice. The way the idea of the Christ-centered focus is presented, in my opinion (and especially in the absence of examples), is likely to lead to many pastors forcing an interpretation on the text that isn't in keeping with the original intent. And speaking of interpretation, there is far too little time devoted to the study of the passage PRIOR to determining the sermon's focus. Taken as a whole, this has a strong probability of leading to some poorly-written sermons not at all well-rooted in the text.
His method also apparently doesn't work very well. The sample sermons in the book, while not bogged down in extraneous material like the book itself, are not easy to follow. Even in print, I had to go back and reread several times to figure out what connections he was making in his text. There is no way I would have followed that message had I been hearing it out loud on a Sunday morning, where re-reading isn't an option.
The strongest section of the book is the section on preaching from different genres of Scripture (chapters 4 and 5). This is not only excellent content; it also doesn't suffer from the "fluffy" writing found in other sections. I would have liked to see the author focus here, rather than attempting to do it all. An entire book in this vein would have been an edifying addition to a preacher's toolbox.
If you are a new preacher, I would not recommend this as a textbook for learning to preach. ( The 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching is excellent, and abundantly practical.) If you are already an experienced preacher, this may be useful as an adjunct, either to gain a somewhat different perspective, or just to pick up a few new tidbits.
(Vine Voices review for Amazon)
May 26, 2021
Just terrific.
I have picked up how to outline, plan, and prepare sermons over the years through mentors and through some seminary courses. However, this book took all of that and took it to the next level. I think I ran out of ink underlining and taking notes in the margins.
This provided a solid grip on how to interpret scripture: understanding original intent, as well as seeing Christ in the text. It also focuses on sermon design and delivery, both on the internal structure as well as the external mode of preaching.
Thankful for this resource, and if you are a preacher/teacher of God’s Word, I would highly recommend this resource.
I have picked up how to outline, plan, and prepare sermons over the years through mentors and through some seminary courses. However, this book took all of that and took it to the next level. I think I ran out of ink underlining and taking notes in the margins.
This provided a solid grip on how to interpret scripture: understanding original intent, as well as seeing Christ in the text. It also focuses on sermon design and delivery, both on the internal structure as well as the external mode of preaching.
Thankful for this resource, and if you are a preacher/teacher of God’s Word, I would highly recommend this resource.
June 5, 2023
There are a few things about this book that set it apart from other preaching books. In particular, the things that most stood out to me were the chapters on neuroscience and how it relates to preaching and the two chapters on delivery. Most books include information on delivery, but this one seemed to have a greater focus on it than others. I appreciate his take on sermon design, and his chapter on preaching Christ is good, if not all that unique. I think that there are other introductory texts that I’ve liked better, but in general, I think this feels like a good introduction to preaching that will be helpful to a lot of people.
June 11, 2017
Extremely helpful!
This book will help everyone-students and teachers alike-who desire to grow in their ability both to accurately understand and effectively communicate the gospel of grace.
This book will help everyone-students and teachers alike-who desire to grow in their ability both to accurately understand and effectively communicate the gospel of grace.
November 15, 2022
What a thorough book on preaching! I used this book as a resource when preparing teaching for Women’s Bible Studies. It was an optional reading resource during my Gospel Coalition cohort for Teaching the Bible to Women.
September 17, 2019
Good intro book on preaching. Lots of helpful step by step protocols for writing sermons. Very practical read.
August 31, 2020
This is a great book. But it’s really Bryan Chapell’s book retold. Some great insights, but ultimately you’re better off going to Chapell’s book for the information
January 21, 2023
Best book on preaching I’ve read since starting seminary.
January 9, 2016
The final two chapters of this book offer very practical, usable tools for evaluating how one communicates verbally and nonverbally. Unfortunately, other than a few paragraphs here and there throughout the remaining book, I didn't find many gems in this.
My biggest concerns:
1) The very early development of a "preliminary sermon proposition." In the 2nd chapter, Interpreting the Text, Kim suggests that step three is "formulate a preliminary sermon proposition." He will maintain that positioning throughout the remaining chapters. That, in spite of his efforts to suggest that Bible study, including the needed work with genre, will help you understand the text. Even though Kim suggests that the "proposition" will be honed and tweaked throughout the process, this is simply too early to suggest a preaching theme for a text.
2) Simplistic presentation and argument. E.g., in chapter 7, Blueprints--part 2, he offers two "pitfalls" related to illustrations. Neither is substantive and there are deeper pits than these that deserve attention. Unfortunately, later, in the chapters on presentation, he says we need illustrations for essentially these same two reasons.
3) My problem, to be sure, but the overuse of alliteration. Everything (overstatement on my part) is alliterated. If you have to explain the word used in the alliteration, then you've lost the power of the rhetorical devise. So, in the chapter on delivery elements, he suggests style, sound, speed, signal, and silence. But at the head of 4 of the 5 he puts in parentheses what he means. Signal, by the way, is his "s" word for variation. Just say variation.
At the risk of being too harsh, Kim elevates preaching, encourages study, calls for careful exegesis and presentation. But, given the plethora of good preaching books available, this one will certainly take a back shelf in the rear of the stacks.
My biggest concerns:
1) The very early development of a "preliminary sermon proposition." In the 2nd chapter, Interpreting the Text, Kim suggests that step three is "formulate a preliminary sermon proposition." He will maintain that positioning throughout the remaining chapters. That, in spite of his efforts to suggest that Bible study, including the needed work with genre, will help you understand the text. Even though Kim suggests that the "proposition" will be honed and tweaked throughout the process, this is simply too early to suggest a preaching theme for a text.
2) Simplistic presentation and argument. E.g., in chapter 7, Blueprints--part 2, he offers two "pitfalls" related to illustrations. Neither is substantive and there are deeper pits than these that deserve attention. Unfortunately, later, in the chapters on presentation, he says we need illustrations for essentially these same two reasons.
3) My problem, to be sure, but the overuse of alliteration. Everything (overstatement on my part) is alliterated. If you have to explain the word used in the alliteration, then you've lost the power of the rhetorical devise. So, in the chapter on delivery elements, he suggests style, sound, speed, signal, and silence. But at the head of 4 of the 5 he puts in parentheses what he means. Signal, by the way, is his "s" word for variation. Just say variation.
At the risk of being too harsh, Kim elevates preaching, encourages study, calls for careful exegesis and presentation. But, given the plethora of good preaching books available, this one will certainly take a back shelf in the rear of the stacks.
April 20, 2017
Very good introductory book to preaching. It goes from the more formal and theological aspects of preparing sermons, to the more practical aspects, like sermon delivery, tone, style, etc.
What I like the most is the simplicity in which the author writes, and that he presents a truly Christ centered view of preaching.
At times I thought could have used a bit more illustration to make it a bit less dry, or maybe it was the words used that made it a bit dull at times, but other than that, highly recommended.
What I like the most is the simplicity in which the author writes, and that he presents a truly Christ centered view of preaching.
At times I thought could have used a bit more illustration to make it a bit less dry, or maybe it was the words used that made it a bit dull at times, but other than that, highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews