Get Preaching: Application

Get Preaching

by Gwilym Davies

This book is all about application and the big message is that better listening is the key to clearer, more faithful, sharper and more penetrating application. Application is not something to think about after exposition, but something that flows from the exposition itself as the Bible already comes pre-applied.

In this very practical book you will be continually exhorted to keep on listening which will be a great blessing to you, your preaching and your congregation.

Genres: Christian

112 pages, Paperback

Published July 3, 2020

About the author

Gwilym is a part-time Tutor on the Cornhill Training Course, spending the rest of his time at St Helen’s Bishopsgate, training ministry associates and working with international students.

Reviews

[Ben Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah. Lit.

[Tim Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very grateful for the clear message of this little book (and it's worth saying, it is little!). I would struggle to say it better than one of the reviewers on the cover: this made me want to listen more carefully to the Bible so that I can serve God's people better. In fact, it kept making me think of things I want to change about the sermon I'm currently preparing! But it is at heart a perspective shift on the very nature of application. If you're looking for help on how to do a better job of reading culture, this book won't help you (or, more accurately, it will, but not in the way you expect!) - and that's by design. If God's word already comes "pre-applied" - if there's already an application that the text itself demands - then the very best thing I can do when I'm thinking about application is listen to the Bible more carefully.

I think the book is written to people who already believe in expository preaching. Sure, there's some really helpful examples to *prove* that Bible authors have a purpose that forms the aim of our teaching (I feel like I know Revelation and Malachi better already!), but it assumes, for example, that "we" are already expository preachers - and if you're not convinced, I take it there are other books in the series that would help a lot. Nonetheless, it demonstrates that even those of us who believe in it might be failing to put it into practice as we should. And I'm deeply grateful for the way that I think this book will help me to do it better.

The first 3 of its 4 chapters would be very helpful even if you're not a regular preacher; I plan to recommend it to Bible study leaders in our church, and certainly anyone involved in giving talks.

And, just in case Gwilym is reading this review - thanks brother! This book is a gem.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It helped me explain to my beginning preaching students why inductive Bible study is so very important before even attempting to formulate a sermon. Davies says that in order to arrive at application, we have to first be good listeners of the Word. We must pay close attention to context, words, and what the message is saying to the original hearers. When we understand these things we already have our application because the Word was written for application! It comes to us "pre-applied", as Davies calls it. Our work is to discover what that application was. Tying a sermon to the original application was helpful in explaining to my students that the Scripture can never, I mean never, mean to us what it never meant to the first hearers. We aren't free to make-up our own application. We aren't free to spiritualize or typologize because that was not the original intent. If we do, we are ignoring the historical context and undercutting the authority of Scripture. Davies' commitment to the authority of Scripture was refreshing. True, there are situations we face that may seem different from the original recipients of the message, but the underlying principle remains the same. This book was way more than just about application, it offered a wonderful basis for preparing biblical sermons.

[Heath Whiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. It challenged a lot of my previous learning and practices including a number of things that I was beginning to suspect could be done much better. I found it challenged me as both a Christian individual who reads the Bible regularly (for myself) and as a Christian pastor who preaches it regularly to others. I believe I have personally grown as a result of this book and pray that others also will as a result of [hopefully] a clearer, simpler, and sharper preaching of the Bible by myself to those I serve. At only 100 pages this can be read in a single afternoon and deserves a place alongside other short / potent books on preaching such as John Piper's 'The Sovereignty of God in Preaching.' Very highly recommended and incredibly practical.

[Peter Howrth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Persuasive and full of good examples of applying well. Central thesis is that excellent application of the Bible comes from listening to the Bible very carefully (at the same time as dismissing alternatives with nuance convincingly and graciously). Having been persuaded of the central thesis, a follow-up is evidently required for preachers and lay people alike: what does listening very carefully look like and what resources are best to help us in that job? To attain the standard of application proposed by this book, the church needs far more help than it currently has at the moment. The church would benefit from that book.

[Toby Irvine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. God’s word is a message for us, calling for a response, deeply relevant to our lives - so let’s listen carefully.

Slightly biased reader having heard Gwilym trying to explain this idea over two years at Cornhill (during which I became thoroughly persuaded), but nonetheless a very helpful book that encouraged me to persevere with listening carefully to the Bible for real change to come to me and to others.

Only slight gripe is that the content felt repetitive, but this was probably helpful for the average reader that hasn’t heard him repeat these things a lot already.

Thanks for the encouragement - will be returning to these principles for years to come.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have read before, but read again for class. Helpful, clear, and an uncommon thesis. Lots of good! Achieves what it sets out to do too: application happens through listening first.

As an improvement, there are some other ways this thesis could be extended. For instance, tone—does the tone of my application match that of the passage. Or method—am I achieving the application by the same means of the passage i.e. through the genre, such as song, narrative, prose, or through the rhetoric such as a question, a promise or a condition. A second edition might consider some practical ways of matching the them then to us now.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree entirely with what Gwilym is saying in this book and reading it gave me a real hunger and excitement to be reading and listening to God’s word with care and patience. The worked examples were helpful to see how good listening can really sharpen what we want to say. In each chapter I agreed with the main point and conclusion, though there were a few instances where I felt the explanation was a bit overly complicated… though maybe that was because I was already fully onboard with the point(s) being made!

[Alistair Chalmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is part of the Get Preaching series, however it is slightly different from the rest. I found this one to be a bit ‘teachy’ and more formal than the rest of the series. The main message of the book is that preachers need to listen to the Bible for how it would apply a specific passage. The book is helpful because it shows the importance of letting God’s Word do the talking. However, I don’t think that it helpfully brings to the surface what application is and how exactly one can grow in applying the Bible.

[Karen Soole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful and thought provoking. If you teach regularly you will find this a good challenge to lazy applications. Read it graciously and you will discover that God's word has much to say to us- more than we often stop to listen to.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a provocative little book on sermon application. You may not agree with all the implications, but it's worth reading if you preach regularly.