Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon [Hardcover]

Bryan Chapell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801025869 | ISBN-13: 978-0801025860 | Publication Date: March 1994

Helpful charts and creative learning exercises teach how expository preaching can reveal the redemptive aims of Scripture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bryan Chapell, (Ph.D. Southern Illinois University), is president and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary. He is much sought after as a speaker in churches and conferences around the country and is the author of several books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801025869
• ISBN-13: 978-0801025860
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #958,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bryan Chapell (PhD, Southern Illinois University) is president and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, where he has served in various capacities since 1984. In addition to his work at Covenant, Chapell is the author of numerous books, including Christ-Centered Preaching and Holiness by Grace.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on preaching I've read yet, December 4, 2003

By 

Brian G Hedges (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon (Hardcover)

While Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Preaching and Preachers is more comprehensive and is unsurpassed in addressing the life of the preacher, this is the best book on the actual preparation and delivery of sermons that I've read yet. Chapell takes preachers step by step through the process of preparing expository sermons which are faithful to the text, redemptive in focus, and application-oriented in style. His emphasis and teaching on finding their fallen redemptive focus of every text will help preachers keep the sermons redemptive and Christ-centered, rather than moralistic, legalistic, and discouraging. The balance Chapell suggests between explanation, illustration, and application is something more expositors need to heed. The book is well-written, well-documented (interacting well with most of the other material out there on preaching), and easy-to-apply. I cannot overstate how helpful this book has been for me. I recommend it very, very highly.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Three strengths make this book a valuable resource., June 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon (Hardcover)

When it comes to books on preaching, it's pretty much all been said before. If you're looking for something new and novel, this is not the book for you. But, if you want a book that will strengthen your preaching in three areas, this book is a valuable resource. First, this book will help you build a bridge from the world of the Bible to today's world by giving you a helpful tool known as the "Fallen Condition Focus" (FCF) of the text. Second, this book contains an excellent chapter offering great insights on illustrating the sermon. Third, this book has probably the best treatment of application in preaching I've ever read. As long as contemporizing the biblical text, helping people see abstract truth in a way that is concrete, pictoral, sensible, and expreiential and driving home the practical significance of the Bible remain significant priorities for you as a preacher, this book will stand the test of time as a significant resource.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Every Preacher, August 14, 2003

By 

Robert Wynkoop (Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon (Hardcover)

This is the most comprehensive book on preaching I have ever read and without a doubt one of the very best. Chapell presents the reader with a thorough analysis of the preparation, development and delivery of expository sermons. Chapell not only tells the reader what to do, he shows him. For instance, the author will not only tell how to write a sermon introduction, he gives several excellent example of good and bad introductions and then explains the strength and weaknesses of both.
Chapell persuasively makes the case that a sermon is much more than imparting biblical information. He succinctly states, "no application, no sermon." I also appreciate that he addresses the issue of pastoral authority. All the sermon preparation in the world will do little good if the pastor does not speak with the authority that God has given him. The author does not try so squeeze the reader into a particular method of sermon preparation, he outlines the necessary steps and then allows the reader to develop his own particular style
So much information was packed into so few pages that I found it very difficult to read this book fast. It took me longer to read it than it id Duduit's Contemporary Preaching that is nearly twice its length. There were two faults I found this book. I was a little confused with the terms. The FCF (Fallen Condition Focus) was a new concept for me. I had trouble separating it my mind from the sermon proposition. Second, his advice on preaching one's doubts needs to be addressed with more clarity. He wants preachers to have a genuine style, but he fails to caution us as H.W. Robinson does on the dangers of preaching your unresolved doubts and conflicts.
This book gave me confidence to develop my sermons first and then look in the commentaries after the message is outlined. It also helped me with the most elementary, but needed advice- that I need to read, read, and reread the text. Nothing will help one develop a sermon more than knowing what the text says. I appreciate his 3:00 a.m. test, that is, if someone woke you up at 3:00 a.m. and asked you what your sermon was about could you respond with a single sentence? How sad it is that for many years I preached sermons with no real focus. Speaking of focus, Chapell explained the difference between biblical preaching and Christ-centered preaching. Sometimes people would complain that I wasn't peach Christ even though I was preaching "biblical sermons." Now I know why. Every sermon on marriage, family, etc. must end at the cross.
Yes, yes, yes. This is truly a great book, one of the few books I feel compelled to read again. It is a treasure chest of practical information for the preparation and delivery of sermons.