From Genesis and Exodus through Job, Jonah, and Daniel, the Old Testament contains major portions of historical narrative. Developing a sermon from these lengthy, sometimes complicated stories can be daunting. A preacher may be tempted to simplify the story to three abstract points or use it as a springboard for a more appealing topic. Proclaiming God's Stories is designed to give you confidence in preaching Old Testament narratives. Joe Linares shows the significance, structure, and sermon potential of the Bible's historical narrative sections.

Linares outlines the literary elements of Scripture and their role in handling narrative passages properly. He gives practical advice for preserving the arc of a narrative and describes how to incorporate the point of view in homiletics; how to transpose the plot into the sermon; and how to handle characters, setting, and dialogue. Four models of sermonic structure--inductive-deductive, conflict-resolution, inductive-narrative, and propositional--provide a framework for preaching narratives with confidence.

In applying the propositional method to Genesis 3, Linares demonstrates how to separate the narrative into scenes, identify the characters, and plumb the depths of the passage through careful analysis of the action and dialogue. The resulting sermon, rich with high-interest exposition and heart-probing application, demonstrates the eternal value of preaching Old Testament narrative.