Good News Preaching: Offering the Gospel in Every Sermon

by Gennifer Benjamin Brooks, Ronald J. Allen (Foreword)

This book provides a guide for the development of sermons, but places the emphasis on that element of preaching - the good news.

158 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Isaac Butterworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must confess that Dr. Brooks' book, Good News Preaching, was hard going for me. It reads much like a text book (and may well be used as such) and has the tone of a doctoral dissertation. The book does, however, have its strengths. One of them is its stress on the task of preaching as the announcement of good news. Dr. Brooks writes, "The purpose of preaching is to bring the Word of God and specifically to offer the good news of God's love for and continued relationship with humanity." Another strength is the inclusion of a set of very useful exercises to be employed in "identifying and shaping good news for the sermon." This section of Dr. Brooks' book, developed in the first chapter, makes it worth the price. A third strength is the sampling of sermons that concludes the book. The author not only instructs her readers in what to do but shows us how she does it. Despite these strengths, I cannot recommend this title as a primary manual for preaching. Sections of it provide a helpful supplement to other, more substantial treatments of the topic of preaching, but I do not see this book as a foundational text. Its distinguishing mark, however, is its emphasis on offering the gospel in every sermon, and, for that reason alone, its message is essential for those who do pulpit work.