Sacramental Preaching

"'Happiness and heaven are tied together' and the knot is Christ. This is the essential theme of this imaginative and theologically powerful book. This collection of sermons represents Boersma's mature theology. I highly recommend it to all pastors and laity. It is a treasure."

"The growing body of literature on patristic exegesis and spiritual interpretation has reached a consensus: the modern modes of biblical interpretation, whether historical-critical or historical-grammatical, are inadequate. Which is to say, Sacramental Preaching is exactly what we need! Boersma's performed exegesis in fourteen sermons allows us to think through the challenges of interpretation by way of hands-on immersion. This book will be warmly received by the growing cohort of theology students and pastors who want to transcend the inherent limitations of academic biblical studies."

"Finally, contemporary preaching that honors the church's Scriptures in their Christ-filled breadth and power! Boersma's deeply sensitive immersion in patristic faith and Bible reading, joined with his own living encounter with Christ in the Scriptures, has produced sermons that demonstrate the utter relevance of the church fathers' way of interpreting the Scripture. Treating texts from Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs to the Psalms and Ezekiel, to Hebrews and Revelation, these are rich, profound yet straightforward sermons. Neither antiquarian nor trendy, they direct and embody the listener's ascent through the sacramental text of Scripture to the person of the heavenly Christ. It is a beautiful and necessary journey for Christian disciples, preachers, and hermeneutical specialists all to take."

"This is a remarkable recovery of pre-modern preaching for a truncated, post-modern world, based on reception exegesis. With all the subtle skills of a patristic scholar, Boersma reunites us to 'the communion of the saints' by the fourfold reading of Scripture. This is not 'a collection of sermons' but a challenge to inspire deeper historical perspectives in pastoral preaching in an ahistorical culture."

"Hans Boersma bridges from the church fathers to modern churchgoers with a sure hand and a well-lit vision. The fathers have something to teach us about sermons as a means of grace, and Boersma delivers their goods with great homiletical skill and wisdom. More, he has savvy aplenty for listeners today. Like a concert violinist's tone, Boersma's preaching has both core and sheen--in other words, real beauty. I find it inspiring."

"On Easter afternoon, the Risen Jesus, walking with dejected, not-yet-believing disciples, opens up the Scriptures, showing them how it all points to him. After he does his exegesis, they say, 'Were not our hearts burning within us?' Hans Boersma believes what Jesus claims and has experienced what those disciples experienced. Big time! In this book of powerfully engaging sermons, Hans demonstrates how we who want to preach Jesus and his gospel in our time can preach him from any and every text of the Bible. After reading these pages, you, like me, will know the joy of finding and proclaiming 'the more' that comes from the early church's sacramental understanding of all reality; that Christ is everywhere presented, and most especially in the text we read and preach on the Lord's Day. So life-giving!"