In his famous work, Lectures to My Students, Spurgeon writes, “Don’t you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text of Scripture there is a road to Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now, what is the road to Christ . . . for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it.” What does it mean to “preach Christ” from every text? Are there legitimate “roads to Christ” in the Old Testament?

As Christians we know we are saved by grace. Many of us, however, tend to live our Christian lives out of a performance mentality, relying on our supposedly good works to earn God's daily favor, and on our own will-power to live the Christian life. The "Bookends" will help us learn to rely on Christ's righteousness for our daily favor with God, and on the Holy Spirit for the enabling power to live the Christian life.

Session 1: The church has obscured her identity and, consequently, the reason for her existence. This confusion has compromised the church’s effectiveness in accomplishing the mission of God. What will it take for the Church to remedy this dilemma and thus winsomely and effectively engage the culture with the gospel?

Apart from the empowerment of the Spirit, even our most diligent exegetical efforts fall short of transforming the people to whom we preach. But what does it mean to
preach “in the power of the Spirit?” Is this something to be sought by preachers? Can this experience be defined biblically and objectively, not merely anecdotally? What
role does the Holy Spirit play in the actual proclamation event?

Session 1: Most congregants have a disparaging view of Ecclesiastes, while most preachers tend to avoid this book. But could Ecclesiastes be one of the most timely, significant books for our present culture? If so, how in the world do we preach it?

Session 2: "Ministers who dare to preach doctrinally must always remember that they not only participate in rightly dividing the word of truth before the congregation, but that they are also divided by that same word.” But what happens to the man who, while laboring at preaching, fails to experience the truth being proclaimed? What are the effects of this on the congregation? How can a preacher be touched by the Word he proclaims?

Session 1: "The King Of The Kingdom." The evangelical church has historically struggled with the tension between the proclamation of the gospel and a call to social action. Recently, the rise of the Emerging Church has shifted attention to the biblical theme of the kingdom of God, often couched in a call to social action and missional living. But can there be a kingdom without the gospel? Can there be a kingdom without a King?

Session 2: "A Pastoral Theology Of Suffering And Evil." In a world running over with suffering and evils of many kinds, one of the most urgent and yet perennial imperatives of pastors is helping people cope with such awful realities. This is a modest attempt to show how several complementary biblical perspectives must be melded together to forge a coherent pastoral theology, thereby grounding grief counseling in the Word of God and in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Session 1. “The Household Model.” When we clearly understand the household model in Scripture and how it forms the foundation for leadership roles in the local church, it opens the door for creative thinking and freedom in function and form that helps resolve many misunderstandings and tensions within the body of Christ.


Session 2. “Jonathan Edwards on Conversion”

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Someone has once said: “Great preaching is better caught than taught.” What can we “catch” from a man who faithfully proclaimed the Christian Gospel in Germany during World War II . . . a man executed by the Nazi regime for his stalwart resistance to Hitler?

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Every week the religion section of the local newspaper is filled with sermon titles such as the following: “How To Be Content In Marriage” . . . “Putting An End To Sibling Rivalry” . . . “Sexual Satisfaction Guaranteed.” But are these kinds of
messages in keeping with the Spirit-intended purpose of the biblical text? Is a sermon “Christian” just because it purports to be biblical?

We want our preaching to be effective. This necessitates a commitment to clarity. But unlike written clarity, speakers need a unique set of oral skills for listeners to follow along successfully. What are these oral skills? How are they cultivated? What are the factors that contribute to losing the enthusiastic engagement of the congregation?

Bio: Dr. Sunukjian is Professor of Christian Ministry/Leadership and Chair of Homiletics at Talbot Seminary in Los Angeles, California. He is a contributing author to Bibliotheca Sacra, Biblical Preaching, and conducts pastors’ conferences throughout the United States.

Dispassion and indifference are death to the pastoral task. Yet the demands of ministry frequently exhaust our emotional resources. How do we maintain an ongoing affection for God and people? How do we ensure that our preaching is more than an academic exercise, but a fervent and personal communication of the heart?

Bio: Dr. Jones is pastor of Independent Bible Church in Port Angeles, Washington. He is a frequently sought-after conference speaker for pastors’ groups around the world, and the founder and former president of PAC-RIM Bible College and Seminary.

With the roguish autonomy that distinguishes much of American evangelicalism, a pastor is frequently regarded as unnecessary; a relic from a church era no longer relevant. But what is God’s place and purpose for the pastor of a local church? What is His calling for the man who would occupy this office?

Bio: Dr. Gilchrist is pastor of Southwest Bible Church in Portland, Oregon. He is an active conference speaker in the United States and has taught Christian leaders in Africa, Russia, India, Europe and Japan. His Downtown Bible Class radio program began in 1993 and has expanded to become a worldwide outreach.

We get tired. We feel depressed. Discouragement clouds our ability to see anything of value and fills us with doubt regarding our own calling to ministry. So how do we pastor during seasons of weakness? How do we preach when our heart is breaking? How do we proclaim the good news while enduring the dark night of the soul?

Bio: Dr. Azurdia is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Spirit Empowered Preaching and a contributing author to The Compromised Church and Reforming Pastoral Ministry.