Book Review: Saving Eutychus How to preach God's word and keep people awake

I don’t preach (although my daughter may disagree with that) but I do teach at Church and when I read a bit about this book I thought it may be a good resource.  It was worth more than I expected it to be.  Even if you lead meetings, give lectures or just find yourself in public speaking situations that you are not comfortable in, this would be a great book to read.  Gary Millar and Phil Campbell put together lists of pointers and suggestions that make total sense once you read them and leave you wondering why you aren’t already doing things that way.  The book is written with humility and humor.  I love when I find a book that will teach me and entertain me at the same time, and this one truly does.

In addition to the pointers on creating a sermon that will not leave people nodding off, I learned to look at some things differently.  For example, the Old Testament was written for the people at the time but is still written for us. We can’t ignore the Old Testament and concentrate on the New because the Bible is to be taken as a whole.  Another point that made me think was about Jesus during his time here on earth. “...more often than we sometimes notice, Jesus is aiming his words directly at an Israel at the tail end of their old covenant with God.  It’s pre-cross Israel and pre-Spirit Israel.  Think the words of Jesus through carefully before you apply them directly to 21^st-century Gentiles like us.”  I always tell my daughter to try to see things through others eyes when she doesn’t understand someone’s actions.  I think I need to start reading the Bible with that in mind as well.  Of course we can apply Jesus’ teachings to ourselves, but stepping back and thinking about what His words meant to the people he was speaking to in person may give us a different perspective.

There are two sermons with critiques at the end of the book that tie all their pointers and tips together and both sermons are well worth the read on their own.  I would definitely recommend this book.  Even if you have the gift for preaching, you may read this and realize you could use some of their suggestions.

If you would like to check out their humor, watch the short video. http://youtu.be/cOMI3Ib-CbI

*I received a free copy of this book from Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for writing a fair review.*