Good News Preaching

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Good News Preaching: Offering the Gospel in Every Sermon by Gennifer B. Brooks presents the challenge of presenting “good news” in every sermon. Brooks emphatically begins the book with the statement that the sermon is good news. This statement of sermonic good news brought to memory messages that I have heard that seemed to be void of good news on any level. I was as well mindful that since accepting God’s call to preach five years ago, I have often been reminded and encouraged to preach Jesus, to preach good news. Brooks’ easy to read and understand discussion of the importance of naming good news in the sermon is immensely helpful. According to Brooks, good news preaching is intentional. This intentionality is through the interpretative reading of the text and moves through homiletical exegesis. In a practical manner, Brooks provides the method that will enable preachers to offer the gospel (good news) in every sermon. I found the practical sections of this book to be extremely helpful. For instance, when Brooks explains the benefit of asking the “so what” question of the good news text, I was motivated to look at a few of my sermons that had already been preached and ask the “so what” question of the text. Brooks is clear that the Bible is the foundation of preaching. This statement as she points out may seem to be one that there is agreement with among preachers, however as is pointed out there are those who believe that good news may come from other sources. It has been my experience in hearing sermons that the Bible is the source of the good news that is proclaimed. I totally agree with Brooks’ point that preaching is the proclamation of the Word of God; the Bible is God’s Word and the Biblical text is the foundation of the sermon. Brooks presents three sets of questions to promote homiletical exegesis for the preaching of good news sermons.
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