We are excited to announce a new series of resources coming to FTC.co—For the Church Preaching Guides.
Our desire here at FTC.co is to equip local churches with gospel-centered resources. We aim to aid our readers in treasuring Jesus and cherishing his gospel. We believe a major way Christians are conformed into the image of Christ is through taking in the regular preaching of God’s word. So, it is important to us to promote healthy, biblical preaching.
That is the motivation behind the new For the Church Preaching Guides, simply to aid local church pastors and leaders in navigating their way through books of the Bible. Each Preaching Guide will cover one book of the Bible at a time and will assist preachers and teachers in pulling important information and resources together.
Each Preaching Guide will contain the following:
1. Preaching Outlines
In this section, we will provide a number of different homiletical outlines from trusted pastors. The outlines will show different strategies preachers and teachers can use when walking through the book. They will differ in length and emphasis, showing a number of faithful ways to traverse the biblical data.
2. Problem Passages
In the second section, each Preaching Outline will walk through a few “problem passages” that preachers and teachers should be aware of when considering going through a book. This section will identify the most difficult passages to interpret in a particular book and give a bit of guidance on where to find answers.
3. Key Themes and Motifs
Each book of the Bible has key themes and motifs that run throughout it. Moreover, every biblical book has themes and motifs that connect it to the larger canon of Scripture. These are important elements to keep in mind in doing justice to teaching the material of each biblical book. This section will identify and explain each book’s major themes.
4. Commentaries and Resources
A question many pastors and teachers have when considering a series through a new biblical book concerns what commentaries and resources they should be consulting along the way. We answer that very question here with a number of recommended resources and commentaries.
5. How to Preach Christ From This Book
As Christian preachers and teachers, we want our material to be thoroughly Christ-centered, regardless of what book of the Bible we are teaching. This section will bring out the Christological focus and emphasis of each book and will connect it to the larger redemptive framework running throughout the Scriptures.
6. Conclusion: Why You Should Preach This Book
Each Preaching Guide will conclude with a brief conclusion on why this particular biblical book is worthy of your time as a preacher and teacher. The conclusions will focus on how your people, and you as a preacher or teacher, will benefit from extended time in each book. The hope is to aid Christian leaders in processing the biblical material and in making informed decisions about how to best shepherd and lead those God has entrusted to them.
The first For the Church Preaching Guide will be released on August 18th. That guide will cover the book of Jude in the format mentioned above. We have a number of trusted authors working on future Preaching Guides and plan to release them regularly.
We sincerely pray these resources will bless you as you faithfully proclaim God’s Word. The Scriptures tell us that we do not live by bread alone, but on the Word of the Lord. We are people of the book. May all our energy and effort in unpacking God’s word be fruitful and may he use it to glorify himself.