This past week we lost one of the finest preachers in America—Rev. Gardner C. Taylor, the senior pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York for 42 years. He's been hailed as the "dean" of American preaching and one of our "most eloquent churchmen." Check out one of my favorite PreachingToday.com skills article "The Preacher's Dialogue." Rev. Taylor loved telling the following story: while preaching as a young man, the electricity suddenly failed in the middle of his sermon. The building went pitch black, and Dr. Taylor didn't know what to say. He stumbled around until one of the elderly deacons sitting in the back of the church cried out, "Preach on, preacher! We can still see Jesus in the dark!" My dear preaching brothers and sisters, take his advice: preach on. Preach the Good News of Jesus. Preach a Savior who can save sinners and restore all things. Preach in the darkness of your own circumstances and the darkness of current events. Hold up the Word and the person of Jesus, because he can shine in the dark and your people will see him.

Preaching as romance? Really? Before you dismiss the romance of preaching consider what Dr. Rosalie de Rosset has to say in this week's featured sermon. With her background as a professor of preaching and literature, she says that in every true romance "though there might be hardships the hero will make up for his mistakes and prove true to his [quest]. There is adventure, pageantry, mystery, and above all transcendence." I don't know about you, but I sure hope that describes my preaching. Do you have the romance of preaching? It all starts with the romance of following Christ, which Dr. de Rosset unpacks in this beautifully-crafted message.

Also, check out these new resources:

• Featured Illustration: Research Shows Power Really Does Corrupt Us
• Featured Video: Love: A New Commandment - This mini-movie explores the meaning of the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples and us, a commandment to love as Jesus loved.
• Featured Sermons: "Our Faith: Romance or Business?," by Rosalie de Rosset
• Featured Skills Article: "The Preacher's Dialogue," by Gardner Taylor

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

P.S. Read the Leadership Journal interview with Gardner Taylor reflecting on a lifetime of preaching.

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