From Story Interpretation to Sermon Crafting

Synopsis:
From Story Interpretation to Sermon Crafting was written by a preacher for preachers who have to deal with the competing demands of pastoral ministry. It takes some of the gains of the last seven decades of the literary approach to Scripture and applies them to a vital aspect of pastoral ministry--preaching. The book presents a text-centered and theological approach to analyzing Old Testament narratives. This approach lays a solid basis for interpreting the narratives, and demonstrates that the movement from examining the text to crafting the sermon is a continuous process. Making use of many examples based on narrative passages from the Old Testament that facilitate grasping the methodology, this approach to sermon crafting is rooted in the text, shaped by the text, and is characterized by sound and controlled exegesis. It provides the pastor with an approach that enables Old Testament historical narrative to speak to Christian believers in contemporary society in a way that addresses the issues, concerns, and struggles faced by the church and Christians. The writer to the Hebrews says of righteous Abel, "though he is dead, he still speaks" (11:4). Similarly, these ancient stories do speak and can still speak today. To make them heard effectively and relevantly is the purpose of the book.

Endorsements:

"This book demonstrates with the help of numerous examples how the authors of narrative texts in the Hebrew Bible used repetition to demarcate main sections in narrative units, thus helping the reader to isolate its theological focus. It then goes on to demonstrate how a literary sensitive reading of the text can help the pastor to craft a sermon which is rooted in the text, but also intellectually engaging and relevant for a modern context. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!"
-Phil J. Botha
Department of Ancient Languages
University of Pretoria, South Africa

"I have had the privilege of hearing Charles Dickson preach sermons based upon the exegesis and sermon-crafting described in this book. These sermons were much more than an academic exercise or proof of sound exegesis; they brought the Bible stories alive to a modern audience as God's words to them. Charles' methodology gives preachers some tools to craft sermons based on the much-neglected narratives from the Old Testament."
-J. Gerhard Venter
Principal
Rosebank Bible College, South Africa

Author Biography:
Charles R. Dickson is Chief Executive of St. Dunstan's Association, part-time Lecturer at Cape Town Baptist Seminary, Editor of the South African Baptist Journal of Theology, and Associate Pastor at Blomvlei Road Baptist Church in Cape Town. He has published in academic Journals primarily in Biblical Studies.