9. The supremacy of God in preaching by John Piper

You know what Piper is going to say, right? Of course. But here he applies his trademark style to preaching, and it is worth it. It's not long. It's easy to read. But it's important stuff. It takes us away from the 'how to' and delivers on the 'why?' Erwin Lutzer says every preacher should read it once a year. Well, I'm British, so I'm less effusive. But it's certainly worth reading more than once! You know what you're going to get – a healthy dose of Jonathan Edwards (taking up last three chapters). The chapter on the work of the Holy Spirit in preaching is biblical, measured and challenging. 

8. Preaching Christ in all of Scripture

I said Ed got two in the list and here's the second. I'm always telling my preaching group to make sure their sermons offend the Rabbi and Iman. That's a rather provocative way of saying that preaching should always be preaching. This book is actually a collection of sermons – worked examples of the principles laid out in the first chapter. Both warming and helpful. And, joy, in print still!

7. The archer and the arrow by Philip Jensen and Paul Grimmond

When The Trellis and the Vine came out, many of us thought 'this is an excellent book, but where is preaching mentioned or championed?' The answer was – if only we knew it – that we were waiting for volume 2. And it was worth the wait. This book is not long, it's essentially a developed and worked illustration of an arrow and target, but it is readable, useful and rewarding. If you are an experienced preacher it may not tell you anything you do not know – but I still think it's worth the read anyway. And buy copies for your leadership team too. Read it with them. Importantly, it stresses the importance of both systematics and biblical theology (a necessary balance which may have been lost in recent years). 

The office is closed today (UK Bank Holiday) so enjoy an extra rest day. We will. 

6. Preaching and preachers by Martyn Lloyd Jones

It used to be that preachers were marked out by whether they liked Stott on preaching or MLJ. No longer, I hope. Both are useful. But sadly, until recently, both were out of print in the UK. That's Hodder for you. Langham have sorted out the Stott book. Who's going to sort out MLJ? It has been reissued in the US and is available in the UK through amazon in a nice hardback with essays from Dever, Duncan, Piper et al. It can be a bit dated at times, being written up, as it was, from lectures given at Westminster Theological Seminary. But the material is still of immense value. Practical and warm too. It's typical Doctor – not a laugh a minute lite, but weighty, thoughtful and useful. A nice present in hardback form and, like Stott, one to go back to regularly. 

5. Preaching and Biblical Theology by Ed Clowney

Ed gets two books in my list. Here is the first. Every preacher knows the importance of biblical theology. But every preaching also knows how it can limit preaching if you're not careful. It can end up sounding like you've only got one Old Testament sermon, for example. Ed sorts that out. This is a masterful addition to Vos' work on biblical theology where Ed expands the implications for preaching. It's not new (1961) and is out of print – but there are cheap second hand copies around (search ebay and abebooks). Worth hunting down. 

4. The priority of preaching by Christopher Ash

Short. Pithy. Pastoral. To the point. A book written for ordinary preachers in ordinary churches. A book which simply says "it is worth it." Every pastor needs this book and needs to re-read it from time to time. Nuff said. 

3. Expository preaching by Haddon Robinson

There are lots of "how to" books on preaching. These make me a little nervous because they give the impression that the spiritual work of preaching can be reduced to a classroom exercise. People (except those who have actually come) say the same about Cornhill. For the record, it is hardly unspiritual to think carefully about a text and aim to convey its message faithfully! That does not deny the Spirit's work, nor say that there is nothing spiritual needed when one preaches!

Haddon Robinson's book (called Biblical Preaching in the US) is the masterly introduction to prepaing expository messages. It covers many of the same things we would cover on Cornhill, perhaps a little more rigidly. As such it is really very useful to someone starting out in preaching. In fact, as I write, I am prompted to send a copy to someone I know who needs some help – it's that kind of book.

2. The glory of preaching by Darrell Johnson

Here's a book you may not have come across (unless you've asked me about books on preaching). Johnson works at Regent College Vancouver and this is a book of two halves. I say, buy it and read it for the first half. I think it is one of the best modern defences of preaching I have read. The second half is more pedestrian as Johnson does some more mechanical stuff, but the first half is gold. His analysis of Ezekiel 37 is really good and his argument for expository preaching thorough and convincing. 

There are SO many books on preaching. Many have lots of merit, and it seems almost churlish to single out some over others. But over the summer, I've put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and produced a list of ten musts. These are all single authored (perhaps another time I'll pen something on multi-author preaching books) and I'm not even sure they're the best ten – but they're ten books that preachers or aspiring preachers would do well to have in that they represent a variety which covers lots of bases. So here goes, in no particular order:

1. I believe in preaching by John Stott

My colleague, Sir Richard Lucas (I'm anticipating his knighthood any day now), says this is a 'magnificent book' and he's not wrong. It was out of print in the UK for some time, but has been reissued by Langham. Good. It's a majestic introduction to the whole subject of preaching matching both a theological framework for preaching alongside help in how to preach. A good gift for any new preacher and still fresh for those with lots of experience, even after all these years (it was first published in the early 1980s).