The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have to Preach edited by Bryan Chapell
The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have to Preach: Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times. Edited by Bryan Chapell. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011. 304 pp. $19.99. Purchase at Westminster Books for $12.99.
Introduction
While the names of the contributors are familiar, the subject matter, as is most often the case, is not. Bryan Chapell has edited a wonderful preaching resource for pastors with contributions from seasoned and trusted pastors for preaching sermons during life’s tragedies. Contributors include John Piper, Tim Keller, Michael Horton as well as some lesser known men of the cloth like Mike Khandjian and Wilson Benton.
Summary
Divided into five parts with an appendix, this resource offers theological and practical considerations for preparing a sermon in the midst of a tragedy. Part one is a general four chapter section on responding to tragedies. They include abortion, child abuse, community tragedy, and national tragedy.
Part two focuses in on the tragedy of losing a child – perhaps the most difficult tragedy to have to preach (at least that has been my experience). These seven chapters include the preaching of the death of a special needs child, a miscarriage, and the death of an infant.
Parts three and four look at various funerals. Part three offers consolation for funerals with difficult circumstances like drunk driving, cancer, and murder. Chapter four aids in the preparation for a funeral sermon of a public figure. The fifth part takes a look at preaching after a suicide.
The appendix is extremely helpful in that it will guide you in the choice of scripture passages as well as what you as the pastor should do in times of tragedy. The second appendix gives explicit and general instruction on the pastor’s role in times of tragedy.
Review
This a difficult book to review in that it is a resource book and one that is meant to be a guide for pastoral care. Each “chapter” is introduced by a paragraph or two detailing the situation, the concerns, and the approach. Each chapter in and of itself is the actual sermon preached.
Given the evangelical approach to this resource, the one component that shines through every sermon is the offering of hope in Christ Jesus. While you will not be able to take these sermons and re-preach them, you will definitely have a guide in which you can craft your own.
The examples given to the reader in these sermons are real-life messages that were preached. In other words, they were not crafted in an ivory tower by a guy who has never had to get dirty in the ministry.
Honestly, while the sermons and introductions are the main thrust of this particular book, I found the appendices to be worth the price of the book. To have a trusted guide by an experienced pastor during a tragic time is an unbelievable comfort.
Recommendation
If you are a pastor, I highly recommend you get this resource for your ministry. Let’s face it, we live our lives knowing, but not really believing, that tragedy can and will strike us at any time. Preaching a funeral is difficult by itself–especially if it is a funeral for an infant or one that shocked the congregation. Having this resource at the ready will ultimately be invaluable to the young pastor who has never had to preach a funeral of various tragedies.



























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