Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell is a book about homiletics and hermeneutics. The book is separated into three parts and has a total of 11 chapters. There are also 12 Appendixes. The book is a hefty 400 pages long.
Section 1 covers principles for expository preaching. I found this section extremely helpful. I also found myself reading this section very quickly. One thing that stuck out to me in this section comes from chapter 1. On page 25 the author says “…the goal of preaching is not merely to impart information but to provide the means of transformation ordained by a sovereign God that will affect the lives and destines of eternal souls committed to a preacher’s spiritual care.” Very helpful and powerful.
Section 2 covers preparation of expository sermons. This is the practical nuts and bolts section. I had no problem reading chapter 5 which is the first chapter in this section but I found myself getting bogged down with chapters 6-9 that complete this section. It might have been me but I really did have a hard time reading through this section. The information and explanations were very good but for some reason I slowed and even stalled a few times.
Section 3 covers a theology of Christ centered messages. Here is again where I was able to dive in and read quickly and enjoyed what was written. Again very helpful information and lots of things to think about for example on page 312 the author writes “In Christ-centered preaching, the rules of Christian obedience do not change; the reasons do. Believers are exhorted to serve God in response to his sure mercy rather than in payment for his conditional favor.”
The appendixes cover topics such as “A philosophy of delivery and dress” to “Methods of preparation” and there is even a sample sermon as the last appendix.
This is a wonderful book on preaching and sermon prep well worth reading and rereading. There is also a link below to a site where Mr. Chapell has taught this material and you can download the audio recordings.
Anyone who is a preacher or is preparing to be a full/part time preach really should read this book and listen to the lectures. Highly recommended!!
Audio lectures download
