The Elements of Preaching [Mass Market Paperback]

Warren Wiersbe (Author), David Wiersbe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 1986

In a practical, no-nonsense approach, this book spells out the basic preaching principles as well as the prohibitions that will help sharpen and focus the skills of every pastor and pulpit speaker.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 109 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (February 14, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0842307575
• ISBN-13: 978-0842307574
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Clergy > Preaching
  • #47 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Ritual
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Clergy > Ministry

More About the Author

Warren W. Wiersbe is best known as a Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He has ministered in churches and conferences in Canada, Central and South America, Europe, and the United States. He has published more than 150 books and was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful Primer on the Basics of Preaching, January 18, 2012

By 

David P. Craig "Life Coach 4 God" (Tustin, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elements of Preaching (Mass Market Paperback)

This helpful handbook by father and son preaching veterans - Warren and David Wiersbe is divided into two sections. There are twenty-six preaching principles and fourteen preaching prohibitions that are developed. Each chapter is only one to two pages in length. They really pack this book in with great quotes, wisdom, and the type of advice that you can only get from preachers that have put a lot of mileage in the pulpit.

In the preaching principles section the Wiersbe's remind us "Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, Principles never do." Here are just ten of the twenty-six topics they develop:

Preaching is the communicating of God's truth by God's servant to meet the needs of people.

The Preacher is a part of the message.

Preaching is an act of worship.

A sermon must have both intent and content if it is to be effective.

The sermon should be based on the essentials of the text and not the accidentals of the translation you are using.

Build your outline on the unique features of the text.

Keep your preaching within the bounds of what the text says and what the people can receive.

Preach to express, not to impress.

Sermons preached as part of a series must be independent and yet related.

Speak the truth in love.

Never be satisfied with your preaching.

At the end of the book they include a very helpful checklist for "Taking Inventory of the Message:"

1. Is the message solidly based on Scripture?
2. Does it exalt the Person and work of Jesus Christ?
3. Will it meet the needs of the people?
4. Is the theme a timeless truth worth talking about?
5. Is the message organized so that I can preach it clearly and the people understand it easily? Is there a concise and clear statement of purpose? Is there a clear plan of development? Is there practical application that makes the message personal?
6. Are all Scripture references and historical facts accurate?
7. Is the message real to me personally so that I may make it real to others?
8. Does the message fit into the total "preaching plan" for this church and into the context of the church's ministry at this time?
9. Does the message fit into the ministry of the Church at large and Christ's concern to save a lost world?
10. Is the message worth preaching again?

I have used this little book (approximately 100 pages) as a refresher, idea generator, and kick-starter for years. It's well worth having for beginning, intermediate and experienced preachers of the Word. Perhaps the most important asset of this book is the encouragement it will give you from two men who have been faithfully delivering God-centered sermons in the trenches for years.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth your Time and your Money, October 2, 2007

By 

Thomas C. Black "tcblack" (Moweaqua, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elements of Preaching (Mass Market Paperback)

Quite some time ago one my my accidental mentors, John Koessler (God Our Father) told a classroom full of future pastors to read at least one preaching book every year.
Having found this one, I took it's format as a sort of modified devotional and powered through it in just a few weeks. I could have read it in one afternoon but I found it pithy enough to cause some genuine reflection on my own preaching.
True to it's name, the layout of the book is not a well developed or convoluted argument. Rather it is a collection of 42 brief (1 paragraph to one page) preaching aphorisms. Here are a few very brief sentences culled out for my own benefit.
* The pulpit is no place for borrowed blessings.
* "You can never make a sermon what it ought to be," said Phillips Brooks, "if you consider it alone. The service that accompanies it, the prayer and praise, must have their influence upon it"
* When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind; and when the preacher does not know what he is trying to accomplish in his message, no service is a good service.
* Are you preaching because you have to say something, or because you have something to say?

Some books which read this quickly are like soup broth - they might taste good but they won't fill you up at all. This one rates as a wonderfully balanced stew. It's a quick read and yet it's definitely got a fair bit of meat in it. This one will end up on my reading list more than once.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple yet profound, April 5, 2001

By 

jeff weddle (Rhinelander, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Elements of Preaching (Mass Market Paperback)

THis is an excellent book to give to a new pastor to read. It is also an excellent book for veteran pastors to review over and over. Wiersbe keeps the focus of the pastor on the essentials of good, solid Biblical preaching. Easy to read and full of good reminders and advice.