Preaching Prof Hershael York wants you to preach the whole Bible—especially those strange Old Testament passages that make most of us preachers break into a sweat. So try preaching on one of these "creepy" looking passages: the rape of the Levite's concubine in Judges 19, Tamar's disguised seduction of her father-in-law in Genesis 38, David's collection of 200 Philistine foreskins in 1 Samuel 18. In this week's skills article, Dr. York argues that you shouldn't preach on them every week, but they're in the Bible for a reason and it's a disservice to completely avoid these tough texts.

This week we're launching a five-week series of sermons based on these puzzling Old Testament narrative passages. We're kicking it off with a brilliant sermon from former PreachingToday.com editor Craig Brian Larson. I wish every preacher would read Brian's brilliant exposition of what looks like just a brutal OT story. Brian doesn't flinch as he repeatedly walks through the text and asks, "Who can stand before this holy God?" The answer: If you're trusting in Christ, you can. This is gutsy, gospel-centered preaching at its best!

This week to help you in your preaching efforts we offer the following:

• Featured Sermon: Who Can Stand Before This Holy God? by Craig Brian Larson
• Featured Illustration: Father and Son Restore a Beautiful Old Car
• Video: A Bone to Pick with Love and Marriage

In Christ,

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

P.S. Next week watch for the next sermon in our new series—"Challenges Ahead: Preaching the Bible's Tough Texts."

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