Preaching today all too often tragically misses the point.
We’ve all heard sermons that sound more like a lecture, filling the head but not the heart. And we’ve all heard sermons tailored to produce an emotional experience, filling the heart but not the head. But biblical preaching both informs minds and engages hearts—giving it the power to transform lives. By the Spirit’s grace, biblical preaching brings truth home from the heart of the preacher to the heart of the hearer.
Joel Beeke—a pastor and professor of preaching with over four decades of experience—explores the fundamental principles of Reformed experiential preaching, examining sermons by preachers from the past and bridging the historical gap by showing pastors what the preaching of God’s life-transforming truth looks like today.
“In this latest book, Joel Beeke warmly welcomes us into his pulpit, his study, and even the place of his private prayers. To accept his invitation is to discover what it means for a sermon to offer both light and heat, and to learn how to preach the gospel as food for the hungry rather than as dessert for the deserving. In Reformed Preaching, Beeke introduces favorite figures from church history to form a composite picture of the experiential expositor. Even experienced expositors will find much to learn in this book from both the author and his friends.”
--- Chad Van Dixhoorn, Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary
“Reformed Preaching is unique for its emphasis on learning to preach experientially from the Reformers and their theological successors through the centuries. Joel Beeke convincingly shows that Reformed preaching is doctrinally sound, profoundly personal, and effectively practical. Far from being a contemporary model, this work presents the preaching of the Reformation, which encompasses head, heart, and hands, as the enduring way to proclaim Scripture. This is a very foundational understanding of the Reformation impact on the history of the church.”
--- John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California; President, The Master's University and Seminary
Table of Contents:
Foreword (Sinclair B. Ferguson)
Part One: Reformed Experiential Preaching Defined and Described
What Is Reformed Experiential Preaching?
Preaching from Head to Heart
Major Elements of Reformed Experiential Preaching
The Experiential Preacher
Part Two: Reformed Experiential Preaching Illustrated
Reformation Preachers: Zwingli, Bullinger, and Oecolampadius
Reformation Preachers: Calvin
Reformation Preachers: Beza
Introduction to Puritan Preaching
Puritan Preachers: Perkins
Puritan Preachers: Rogers, Sibbes, and Preston
The Westminster Directory and Preaching
Puritan Preachers: Goodwin and Shepard
Puritan Preachers: Bunyan
Introduction to the Dutch Further Reformation
Dutch Preachers: Teellinck, Lodenstein, and à Brakel
Dutch Reformed Preaching in America: Frelinghuysen
Eighteenth-Century Preachers: Halyburton, Edwards, and Davies
Nineteenth-Century Preachers: Alexander, M`Cheyne, and Ryle
Twentieth-Century Preachers: Wisse and Lloyd-Jones