Preaching Christ: The Heart of Gospel Ministry

The New Testament leaves us in no doubt that the heart of the preaching of the Apostles and the early church was Christ. Every example of preaching from the apostolic era centres on this same grand theme. Yet so often, in the centuries since, the church has weakened her own witness and effectiveness by veering away from the apostolic example. How did the Apostles preach Christ? What mistakes must preachers today avoid? What is involved in preaching Christ? And what are the essential qualifications of heart and mind for this great work? These are the questions Bishop Charles P. McIlvaine set out to answer in this address to those entering the ministry. The answers are as relevant today as they were in the 1860s when he wrote, and as useful to experienced ministers as to those at the threshold of their ministries.