My Favorite Books on Preaching

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As a follow-up to my message on What I’ve Learned About Preaching, I decided to rummage through my library to find the most helpful books I own regarding preaching. Over the years I’ve read quite a few books on the topic, though not nearly enough to make me any sort of specialist. My standard of evaluation for books on preaching is really quite simple. If I get at least one useful idea from a book, something I can actually use in my own preaching–an idea, a thought, a new approach, a new way of thinking about how to preach, a pithy quote, a new perspective–then the book has been useful to me. 

With that said, these are the most valuable books I’ve read on preaching:

Design for Preaching by Grady Davis. When I took homiletics from Haddon Robinson at Dallas Seminary, he required us to read this book. It’s one of only a few books from my seminary days that I still keep close at hand 35 years later. Davis helps me think clearly about preaching as the development of a central idea.

Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson. He wrote this book based on his many years of teaching seminary students. Later he revised and updated it. Helpful in many ways, not least because Dr. Robinson preaches what he practices.

Preaching With Freshness by Bruce Mawhinney. Easily the most “fun” book on preaching I’ve ever read. That’s a low bar to get over because many books on preaching are dry as dust. Written as a fictional tale, the book shows how a discouraged pastor revives his own ministry by reviving his sermonic skills. 

Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon. Though written in the 1880s, Spurgeon’s wise advice stands up very well in the 21st-century. The chapter on “The Minister’s Fainting Fits” is worth the price of the book.

Walking With the Giants by Warren Wiersbe. Sorry to see that this book is not in print. Some publisher should rectify this because Wiersbe is always worth reading. Here he introduces us to a galaxy of leading evangelical preachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Great stories, well told. 

Between Two Worlds by John Stott. No one does a better job of explaining how the preacher can connect the ancient biblical text with the challenges of the modern world.

Preachers and Preaching by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Here we discover the sermonic technique of a man whose preaching filled a downtown London church for decades. Lloyd-Jones makes you believe all over again in the immense power of preaching to change lives.

Inside the Sermon, edited Richard Allen Bodey. Thirteen noted preachers discuss their methods of preparing messages.  

Many other books deserve mention but these are the ones I keep close at hand. What books would you add to that list? 

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Visitor Comments:

April 28, 2010, 9:41 PM Jeff Brewer says:
	Pastor Ray, I think Warren Wiersbe’s book is still in print and has been retitled “50 People Every Christian Should Know” and is published by Baker Books. Try this ISBN: 978-0-8010-7194-2 and see if it is the same as “Waling With the Giants". Jeff Brewer
April 30, 2010, 8:31 PM Davis Duggins says:
	Andy Stanley’s book “Communicating for a Change” is also good. I got lost in part of the fictional parable, but he has a nice system for organizing ideas.