The power of an intriguing story can not only captivate an audience, but when presented in a familiar and personal way, can communicate important truths. With this realization, Steven Mathewson offers here a guide to applying careful expository preaching methods to popular Old Testament stories.Mathewson guides students and preachers through a ten-step process from text selection to sermon delivery. Mathewson then provides sample sermons and iinterviews of from five individuals, inc...

What would happen if believers truly grasped how the resurrection of Jesus changes not just their own standing with God, but that it changes everything? In the spirit of John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Christ Came to Die, Steven D. Mathewson unpacks the New Testament Scriptures that speak of the reasons Jesus was raised from the dead.In fifty brief chapters, he offers readers faith-filled meditations on the primary passages on the resurrection, taking these ancient truths a...

Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book Award (Honorable Mention, Preaching/Ministry/Leadership)A veteran pastor with thirty years of experience guides readers through a ten-step process to preaching Old Testament narratives from text selection to delivery. The first edition received a Christianity Today award of merit and a Preaching magazine Book of the Year award. This edition, now updated and revised throughout for...

Preachers often struggle with preaching Old Testament poetry. They are uncertain how to preach the highly emotive poems in Psalms, the one-liners in Proverbs, the tedious conversations in Job, the esoteric observations about life in Ecclesiastes, and the confusing love poems in the Song of Songs.Here leading pastor theologian Steven Mathewson instructs and inspires preachers to preach some of the most challenging--and some of the richest--material in the Old Testament. This compani...

The gospels hold the key to why pastors get up every Sunday to preach. They are the "good news"--the pinnacle--of the Christian faith. But in order to preach from them with truth, clarity, and confidence, you'll need the right tools.Preaching the Four Gospels with Confidence is a book written for pastors who love Jesus and want to preach the Gospel well. With a compelling voice, Steven D. Mathewson offers sound scriptural advice, provides bibliographic tips for further stu...

Though the United States has been a relatively diverse nation, Americans have historically lived close to those who are ethnically and culturally like them. The unfortunate effects of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, housing discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry have been key reasons for demographic divisions. While divisions remain, communities that were once monoethnic are experiencing changes that are enriching. The challenge for these communities is to work to break down barriers that ...

Most moms with young children struggle to find a little peace and quiet for themselves in the midst of their hectic days, and setting aside time to spend with God can be even harder. They need devotions that fit their busy schedules and meet them where they are. Lorilee Craker's short readings are just right for these moms. She lends her engaging writing style to personal stories that moms will find encouraging, often funny, and oh-so-familiar. Each reflection is related to a biblical trut...

Throughout the centuries, so many traditions have woven themselves into the celebration of Christmas that it's difficult to understand just what the season of Christ's birth is all about. Now beloved writer Warren W. Wiersbe and his son, fellow pastor David W. Wiersbe give adults their very own A to Z Christmas primer, cutting through the wrapping paper and pretty bows to expose and explain the backgrounds and reasons for our various symbols and traditions. From angels and Bethlehem to yul...

Betty Kowalski isn't looking forward to the holidays. She just can't seem to find Christmas in her heart. There's church, of course. But who can she bake for these days? And who would care whether or not she pulled out the Christmas decorations? Her new neighbor just adds to the problem. He's doing home improvements that don't appear to be improving much of anything. These days when Betty looks out the window, she sees a beat-up truck, a pile of junk, lots of blue tarps, and--horror of hor...

An Amish settlement in Ohio has run afoul of a law requiring their children to attend public school. Caleb Bender and his neighbors are arrested for neglect, with the state ordering the children be placed in an institution. Among them are Caleb's teenage daughter, Rachel, and the boy she has her eye on, Jake Weaver. Romance blooms between the two when Rachel helps Jake escape the children's home. Searching for a place to relocate his family where no such laws apply, Caleb learns there's in...

Hannah Gregory is good at many things, but that list doesn't include following rules. So when she is forced to apply for a job as a telephone switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won't be easy. "Hello Girls" must conduct themselves according to strict--and often bewildering--rules. No talking to the other girls. No chatting with callers. No blowing your nose without first raising your hand. And absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training.Meanw...

In post-apocalyptic America, Selah Chavez is crouched in long grass on a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city. It is the day before her eighteenth Born Remembrance, and she is hunting, though many people refuse to eat animal flesh, tainted by radiation during the Time of Sorrows. What Selah's really after are Landers, mysterious people from a land across the big water who survive the delirium-inducing passage in small boats that occasionally crash against the ...