Donald Sunukjian

There is nothing like great preaching. A gifted man expounding the riches of God's Word and applying God's truth to our everyday lives is something every Christian needs. Good preaching breeds good preachers, and what better way to learn how to preach than by listening to a master of the craft preach and studying how he does it.

"Invitation to Philippians" is a demonstration of effective preaching. Now reading a sermon is not the same as experiencing one, but the warmth and conversational tone that pervades this book make it the next best thing. The book includes eleven sermons through the book of Philippians along with a brief introduction. Each sermon is situated with an introduction that draws the reader in, and then chuck full of poignant application and a clear explanation of the main thrust of the passage at hand.

Donald Sunukjian is a master preacher, and has written a widely used text on preaching: "Invitation to Biblical Preaching: Proclaiming Trugh with Clarity and Relevance" (Kregel). His comments on the text are relevant and timely, and illustrate well both how to emphasize the point of the text and also how to capture and maintain the attention of one's audience.

Occasionally he builds in dramatic effect, such as using a step-stool to illustrate Christ's coming down to our level. His sermons are very engaging and interesting -- almost to a fault. The only critique I would have would be that the text and arguments of the text could be emphasized more and greater attention could be paid to parallels and other Scriptures which support the preacher's point.

This book is easy reading and would serve as a touchstone for planning a sermon or teaching series on Philippians. I know it has challenged me to spend more time thinking about how I present my sermons and what engaging illustrations and poignant applications I can offer. Spending time to work on this side of preaching more promises to bless readers and help ensure the main point of the text is caught not just taught. I recommend this work and trust that other titles in the "Biblical Preaching for the Contemporary Church" series will be as helpful for pastors, teachers and eager students of God's Word.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.… (lisätietoja)