This week we have two fantastic new resources—what I'd call back-to-back home runs of preaching resources. First, Dr. Joel Gregory preaches to preachers in his sermon—It's Good to Get Out Alive—based on the little-known Bible character Baruch. "The peril for us in the ministry," warns Dr. Gregory "is that we become like chefs who cook food we never taste or transcribers of music we never listen to. We can become like the security guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Louvre, eyes glazed over in the midst of all those masterpieces they never look at."

Second, Dr. Robert Smith Jr. has some profound insights about preaching every sermon in light of our ultimate hope in Christ. It's the third interview in our series titled "The Big Idea: What Preaching Profs Want You to Know." Dr. Smith shares movingly about the murder of his 34-year-old son and then says, "The resurrection is not a luxury for me; it's a necessity." But Dr. Smith urges us to make resurrection hope in the Eschaton part of every sermon.

This week we also feature:

• Illustration: Nevada Hospital Ships Out Mentally Ill Patients
• Sermon: It's Good to Get Out Alive by Joel C. Gregory
• Skills Article: The Big Idea: Preach in Light of the Eschaton, an interview with Robert Smith, Jr.
• Video: A Bone to Pick with Love and Marriage

In Christ,

Matt Woodley
Managing Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

P.S. Next week we launch our new sermon series called "The Hot Zone: Preaching Today's Tough Topics." We have an impressive lineup of sermons on some of today's most challenging social issues, including racism, divorce, homosexuality, sex trafficking, social justice, God and government, sexual immorality, and celibacy.

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.