Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God's Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People

We’ve all heard sermons that sound more like a lecture, filling the head but not the heart. And we’ve all heard sermons tailored to produce an emotional experience, filling the heart but not the head. But biblical preaching both informs minds and engages hearts—giving it the power to transform lives. By the Spirit’s grace, biblical preaching brings truth home from the heart of the preacher to the heart of the hearer.

Joel Beeke—a pastor and professor of preaching with over four decades of experience—explores the fundamental principles of Reformed experiential preaching, examining sermons by preachers from the past and bridging the historical gap by showing pastors what the preaching of God’s life-transforming truth looks like today.

Author:

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) has written over one hundred books. He is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as the editor of Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, the editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books, the president of Inheritance Publishers, and vice president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society.

Endorsements:

“Heart to heart: this is the preaching that ‘cuts us to the quick’ and applies the balm of Gilead. And it is marvelously modeled in this book. Having appreciated every sermon I’ve heard from Joel Beeke, I am sure that you will discern a refreshing connection between doctrine, experience, and life in his writing.”
Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California; Host, White Horse Inn; author, Core Christianity

“Reformed Preaching is unique for its emphasis on learning to preach experientially from the Reformers and their theological successors through the centuries. Joel Beeke convincingly shows that Reformed preaching is doctrinally sound, profoundly personal, and effectively practical. Far from being a contemporary model, this work presents the preaching of the Reformation, which encompasses head, heart, and hands, as the enduring way to proclaim Scripture. This is a very foundational understanding of the Reformation impact on the history of the church.”
John MacArthur, Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California; President, The Master’s Seminary; Chancellor, The Master’s University

“Faithful preaching is intimately bound up with the heartbeat of faithful Christian living. The proof of this is seen throughout the history of the church. Wills, affections, lives, churches, and entire communities have been transformed when the proclamation of God’s Word has reached beyond the mind to the heart. This was true during the Protestant Reformation, was repeated under the influence of the Puritans, and has been witnessed during times of revival. Joel Beeke mines the theology and practice of the great preacher-pastor-theologians of the past in a way that is guaranteed to bless and equip those who carry the baton for the generation they serve in the present and beyond.”
Mark G. Johnston, Minister, Bethel Presbyterian Church, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson
Preface and Acknowledgments

Part One: Reformed Experiential Preaching Defined and Described

1. What Is Reformed Experiential Preaching?
2. Preaching from Head to Heart
3. Major Elements of Reformed Experiential Preaching
4. The Experiential Preacher

Part Two: Reformed Experiential Preaching Illustrated

5. Reformation Preachers: Zwingli, Bullinger, and Oecolampadius
6. Reformation Preachers: Calvin
7. Reformation Preachers: Beza
8. Introduction to Puritan Preaching
9. Puritan Preachers: Perkins
10. Puritan Preachers: Rogers, Sibbes, and Preston
11. The Westminster Directory and Preaching
12. Puritan Preachers: Goodwin and Shepard
13. Puritan Preachers: Bunyan
14. Introduction to the Dutch Further Reformation
15. Dutch Preachers: Teellinck, van Lodenstein, and à Brakel
16. Dutch Reformed Preaching in America: Frelinghuysen
17. Eighteenth-Century Preachers: Halyburton, Edwards, and Davies
18. Nineteenth-Century Preachers: Alexander, M`Cheyne, and Ryle
19. Twentieth-Century Preachers: Wisse and Lloyd-Jones

Part Three: Preaching Experientially Today

20. Preaching with Balance
21. Application Starts with the Preacher
22. Effective Preaching about God and Man
23. Preaching the Gospel to the Heart
24. Preaching for Holiness

Bibliography
General Index
Scripture Index