Book Description

How many times have you heard a sermon and walked away wanting more? How many times have you preached a message and wished you could have gone deeper into the text without leaving your audience scratching their heads? In Preaching for Bodybuilding, Joel Breidenbaugh, senior pastor and professor of homiletics, shows how the most faithful preaching begins by developing the preacher, who then proclaims God's message to listeners and helps them build their spiritual bodies into the image of Christ. Just as successful bodybuilders use workouts and planning, successful preachers must study and practice. Breidenbaugh traces doctrinal preaching and exposition through history, provides definitional clarity, surveys biblical examples, offers theological aids, shares practical advice and sample sermons, and reveals the beneficial elements of preparing and delivering doctrinal expository preaching, which can, and should, address the contemporary world while remaining rooted in theology. Recent studies reveal many evangelicals are biblically illiterate and theologically ignorant, which has inevitably been passed down by those occupying the pulpit. Preaching for Bodybuilding shows preachers how to integrate the two disciplines of theology and exposition and return to the Scriptures and its models, strengthening their preaching and helping the spiritual bodies of their audience grow. So, are you ready for a workout?