Feed My Sheep

A Great Preacher Writes on Great Preaching

"I have been impressed with two things. The first is that everything that could be said about preaching has already been said, and said better than I could say it. The second is that I know very little about the subject and feel that I have failed in almost every point to be a real preacher and a strong preacher, much less a great preacher."

With that warning, H.M.S. Richards, the "preacher's preacher," went on to deliver an exceptional series of lectures to preachers and seminarians in 1957 that, in published form, soon became a classic. Brimming with anecdotal gems from his vast experience in evangelism and gleaned from his wide reading, Feed My Sheep has become a treasured manual on preaching for several generations of pastors. The counsel seems strikingly contemporary ("The smaller the pulpit, the better"; "Vital preaching is almost always conversational"; "Preach without notes"), while the stories seem timeless.

Most of all, Pastor Richards argues that the only preaching that changes lives is that which centers upon the incomparable Christ, "He of the pierced hands." Few books offer more information-and inspiration-per paragraph; few will light such a lively fire in the soul.