Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God's Word Today (Building Healthy Churches) Hardcover – Illustrated, April 30, 2014

There are several strengths of this book; here are a few: 1. The author does a good job at defining what bad preaching is--sadly, the types of bad preaching he mentions are all too common today. 2. The book then gives good instruction on how to properly understand a biblical text, then craft your study results into an effective sermon. 3. It is vitally important for every sermon to have a clearly stated "big idea," but this concept is not found in much preaching today. 4. It is also vitally important for a sermon to have a clear structure, showing how the sermon points (I find many sermons don't seem to have any clear points!) are derived from the original author's emphasis found in the text. 5. The author also notes the importance of authorial intent when crafting the sermon--this is another principle sadly lacking in many talks that masquerade as biblical preaching these days. Everyone who has the awesome task of preaching God's Word to His people should read and apply this book. The Church would be stronger and healthier if this was true. (BTW--I have not been compensated in any way for this review.)

Studying homiletics, this is one of the best simple little books on preaching I have encountered. While I do not align 100% with Helm, I still found his book to be fantastic. He offers a simple but important method of textual engagement for creating an expositional sermon. Additionally, for how small and short the read is, not only does he pack a lot of helpful material, he also advocates for its importance convincingly. This is perhaps his greatest gift, because he not only gives a good process, but helps the reader see the danger of short-cutting the process.The text concerns itself with the study and interpretation of the text for preaching (helping with the exegetical process), and does not offer anything towards sermon form. This means that the text is compatible with a myriad of preaching forms and therefore can accompany a whole slew of preaching textbooks or be useful to a great number of preachers. It also means that it cannot stand alone as the only text to teach preaching as it will help the preacher develop a sermon idea, but not structure a sermon around that idea.

Here is a helpfully concise book that accomplishes two purposes—to give foundational training in expository preaching and to help faithful expositors to review the way they are handling the biblical text. The four chapters deal with contextualization, exegesis, theological reflection, and contemporary presentation.Helm rightfully, this reviewer believes, warns against starting with what he considers to be a wrong approach to contextualization. He is concerned lest the context warp the text and preaching becomes relevant but the original intent is not foremost in the homiletical process. Helm warns against being swept away by impressionistic preaching, being inebriated by the text, and preaching in such a way that enthusiasm does not stay wedded to biblical authorial intent.In the second chapter entitled “Exegesis” he deals with getting to the real meaning of the text, and rightfully speaks of the importance of seeing both the “literary context and historical context” (45).In the third chapter he sees the importance of balancing both systematic and biblical theology as one works over the exegesis done on the text. However, this reviewer is concerned lest in seeing the centrality of Christ in the whole of Scripture somehow the Old Testament might lose some of its original historical context. Each one must see to what degree this is to be avoided.His fourth chapter describes how to make the work done beforehand fit well the contemporary scene. He uses two expressions that are helpful, “The Need for Clarity” and “The Advantages of Textual Conformity” (97). Helm wisely speaks of the importance of the Holy Spirit’s working as well as prayer.This is both a clear and helpful handbook on expositional preaching. I highly recommend this book and will be using it not only personally but also in seeking to train others in solid preaching with the result that God’s Word is heard today.