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Progress in the Pulpit: How to Grow in Your Preaching
" Progress in the Pulpit is a master class in preaching, written by two most-qualified authors. Dr. Jerry Vines is truly a Prince of the Pulpit.” — Dr. Albert Mohler Jr., from the foreword Like musical instruments, preachers get better over time—unless, of course, they neglect maintenance. Progress in the Pulpit is for seasoned preachers looking to refresh their craft and receive guidance for contemporary challenges to preaching. While most preaching books are geared toward new preachers, Progress in the Pulpit builds on the basics and focuses on what often falls into neglect. You will learn to Drs. Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix, who wrote Power in the Pulpit (a book still used in seminaries today), remain committed to pure expository preaching. Yet they understand that the times change and present new challenges. Here they offer guidance to help preachers stay sharp and grow in the craft of faithfully proclaiming God’s Word.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published June 6, 2017
18 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Vines
48 books8 followersDR. JERRY VINES (B.A., Mercer University; Th.D., Luther Rice Seminary) retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida in 2006, where he served for 24 years. He served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jerry is author of a number of books including Power in the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons, and A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation. He and his wife, Janet, have four adult children and five grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 6, 2017
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Moody Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
As someone who has been speaking from the pulpit off and on for more than a decade now [1], the importance of the progress one makes as a speaker is something I pay a great deal of attention to. It has been my own observation at least that many speakers do not make a great deal of progress over time. There is, towards the beginning of one's education as a speaker, a great deal of time and effort spent in mastering the basics of study and preparation and organization and delivery of messages, but after that a lot of people simply coast by on their laurels and their God-given talents and do not dedicate a great deal of attention to improvement and growth. That is an unfortunate situation and the authors of this book seek to remedy this situation at least in part by encouraging speakers to make progress in the pulpit and grow rather than remain stagnant in one's delivery and speaking. While complacency is a tendency none of us are immune to, the Spirit of God working within us seeks to change us through time into God's image, and that is something that we all need to keep in mind.
This short book of about two hundred pages is divided into three parts and twelve short chapters. The first part of the book defines the sermon, revisiting the roots of expository preaching, discussing what it means to live and preach in the Spirit as a holy man of God, encourage speakers to plan to preach God's revelation, and shepherd people to Christlikeness through preaching. The second part of the book encourages readers to develop the sermon through preaching literature and language, getting to the Cross in every sermon message, and imagining the sermon before one gives it. The third part of the book looks at the challenges of delivering a sermon, including a reflection on changes in culture and communication, extending the invitation (often known as the altar call), the art of objective sermon evaluation, and helping people worship through the sermon. Following a conclusion about the issue of progress there is an appendix that includes a sermon presentation feedback guide to encourage people to grow through receiving feedback.
Admittedly, I spring from a different religious tradition than the authors do, and so there is much in these books that I view from a different perspective. The authors, for example, spend a lot of time giving some unfriendly opinions about the lack of biblical focus among many who consider themselves involved in the work of ministry, and that is certainly not an issue in my own background, where the biblical focus is often very serious and intense. Likewise, the fact that the authors use the language of evangelical Christianity can be a barrier to those who do not have a background coming from people like Darby, Schofield, and Murray, as this book would presuppose. Even so, there is a great deal of worth in this message in encouraging speakers to gain feedback for improvement and also to focus on the life and preparation and larger context in which preaching is to be done. At some point, our messages need to tie back to the larger context of the Kingdom of God that we hope to reach ourselves and lead other people to. And if this book encourages that goal, it is certainly a worthwhile one, even if its perspective is not one I happen to entirely share.
[1] See, for example:
http://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.files.wor...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
As someone who has been speaking from the pulpit off and on for more than a decade now [1], the importance of the progress one makes as a speaker is something I pay a great deal of attention to. It has been my own observation at least that many speakers do not make a great deal of progress over time. There is, towards the beginning of one's education as a speaker, a great deal of time and effort spent in mastering the basics of study and preparation and organization and delivery of messages, but after that a lot of people simply coast by on their laurels and their God-given talents and do not dedicate a great deal of attention to improvement and growth. That is an unfortunate situation and the authors of this book seek to remedy this situation at least in part by encouraging speakers to make progress in the pulpit and grow rather than remain stagnant in one's delivery and speaking. While complacency is a tendency none of us are immune to, the Spirit of God working within us seeks to change us through time into God's image, and that is something that we all need to keep in mind.
This short book of about two hundred pages is divided into three parts and twelve short chapters. The first part of the book defines the sermon, revisiting the roots of expository preaching, discussing what it means to live and preach in the Spirit as a holy man of God, encourage speakers to plan to preach God's revelation, and shepherd people to Christlikeness through preaching. The second part of the book encourages readers to develop the sermon through preaching literature and language, getting to the Cross in every sermon message, and imagining the sermon before one gives it. The third part of the book looks at the challenges of delivering a sermon, including a reflection on changes in culture and communication, extending the invitation (often known as the altar call), the art of objective sermon evaluation, and helping people worship through the sermon. Following a conclusion about the issue of progress there is an appendix that includes a sermon presentation feedback guide to encourage people to grow through receiving feedback.
Admittedly, I spring from a different religious tradition than the authors do, and so there is much in these books that I view from a different perspective. The authors, for example, spend a lot of time giving some unfriendly opinions about the lack of biblical focus among many who consider themselves involved in the work of ministry, and that is certainly not an issue in my own background, where the biblical focus is often very serious and intense. Likewise, the fact that the authors use the language of evangelical Christianity can be a barrier to those who do not have a background coming from people like Darby, Schofield, and Murray, as this book would presuppose. Even so, there is a great deal of worth in this message in encouraging speakers to gain feedback for improvement and also to focus on the life and preparation and larger context in which preaching is to be done. At some point, our messages need to tie back to the larger context of the Kingdom of God that we hope to reach ourselves and lead other people to. And if this book encourages that goal, it is certainly a worthwhile one, even if its perspective is not one I happen to entirely share.
[1] See, for example:
http://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.files.wor...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
September 8, 2017
Progress in the Pulpit by Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix have written a resources that belongs on every preacher's reading list. As one who benefited from their previous work Power in the Pulpit during my college years I was excited to see this work come to print.
This book is comprised of four main sections. The first section defines the task of preaching and the factors that shape it in and out of the pulpit with attention given to the cultivation of godliness, developing a preaching plan, and discipleship in and out of the pulpit. The second section addresses development of the sermon covering issues such as Bible translation, sermon points, word studies, and most importantly how to preach Christ-centered sermons. The third and final section addresses issues regarding delivery such as clarity of communication, giving an invitation, evaluating preaching, and teaching about preaching.
One of the most important chapters in this book is chapter 4 in which Jim Shaddix addresses the relationship between personal discipleship and pulpit discipleship. As Shaddix notes in his introduction to the chapter there is an assumed division between the pulpit and discipleship which in my opinion has probably contributed greatly to unhealthy churches. The last chapter was also particularly helpful in explaining the importance of teaching people the importance of preaching and how preaching is itself and act of worship.
Whether you've been in the pulpit for weeks or for years there is something in this book that will help you make progress in the pulpit.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of the book from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.
This book is comprised of four main sections. The first section defines the task of preaching and the factors that shape it in and out of the pulpit with attention given to the cultivation of godliness, developing a preaching plan, and discipleship in and out of the pulpit. The second section addresses development of the sermon covering issues such as Bible translation, sermon points, word studies, and most importantly how to preach Christ-centered sermons. The third and final section addresses issues regarding delivery such as clarity of communication, giving an invitation, evaluating preaching, and teaching about preaching.
One of the most important chapters in this book is chapter 4 in which Jim Shaddix addresses the relationship between personal discipleship and pulpit discipleship. As Shaddix notes in his introduction to the chapter there is an assumed division between the pulpit and discipleship which in my opinion has probably contributed greatly to unhealthy churches. The last chapter was also particularly helpful in explaining the importance of teaching people the importance of preaching and how preaching is itself and act of worship.
Whether you've been in the pulpit for weeks or for years there is something in this book that will help you make progress in the pulpit.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of the book from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.
June 19, 2017
Very helpful and practical followup to the authors' classic Power in the Pulpit. Appropriate for both experienced and inexperienced preachers. Drawing from their personal ministry and study, each author writes six chapters dealing with the various stages of a sermon, from preparation to delivery. Excellent resource!
August 12, 2023
excellent
I love the two authors challenge to keep on growing no matter how long you have been in the ministry! In this book they cover many areas of the ministry and preaching In order to encourage continual growth. Very helpful and thought provoking resource!
I love the two authors challenge to keep on growing no matter how long you have been in the ministry! In this book they cover many areas of the ministry and preaching In order to encourage continual growth. Very helpful and thought provoking resource!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews