Leaps of Faith

If you are passionate about participating in the recovery of preaching for the spiritual formation of God's people, then you will want to jump into this lively collection of biblically rigorous, culturally intuitive, grace-drenched sermons. Robert Dean sets the bar very high, even as he throws the gauntlet down, with these remarkable expressions of all that preaching was supposed to be and can still become.

Animated by the conviction that the preached word is the playground of the Living Word, the pages of Leaps of Faith are populated by saints and sinners, pimps and prophets. Unexpectedly and delightfully, Bono works alongside Bonhoeffer, Dr. Phil learns a lesson from the Amish, and a discussion of body odor primes the senses for contemplating the mission of God.

Rooted deeply in the lives of actual worshipping communities, these wonder-laden sermons from the prophetic imagination of an emerging pastor-theologian dare the reader to leap into the continuing story of the Triune God and, in doing so, discover that all of life has been taken up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

""In one of these sermons Robert Dean remarks that the Gospel is simple but not simplistic. That insight also describes these well-wrought sermons. Dean has a gift for helping us see our lives storied by the story of the Bible. It is by no means clear in our time what a sermon should be, but Dean's sermons are clearly examples of what sermons should be--that is, serious but avoiding all forms of sentimentality.""
--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School

""To read Leaps of Faith is to experience the breathtaking sensation of encountering preaching that only makes sense if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Dean dares to proclaim Good News that is not based on human truisms but divine revelation. These are words to live by.""
--Timothy Larsen, Wheaton College

""Dean's sermons are courageous, invigorating leaps of faith that always manage to land us in the arms of a loving God.""
--Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School

""Leaps of Faith will change the way you approach the task of ministering the Word.""
--Gary V. Nelson, President, Tyndale University College and Seminary

""Much North American preaching is anemic--at best. Robert Dean demonstrates that a robust alternative is possible: gospel-shaped, theological, liturgical, pastoral preaching.""
--Michael J. Gorman, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore

""In this collection of finely-crafted and inspiring sermons, Dean powerfully demonstrates how every biblical text affords preachers the opportunity to speak to the heart of the gospel, of the God whose love is demonstrated for all in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.""
--Paul Scott Wilson, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto


Robert J. Dean (ThD, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto) is a Toronto area pastor and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. He is the author of For the Life of the World: Jesus Christ and the Church in the Theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Stanley Hauerwas (2016).