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Matt’s sermons come to us in what is the best of times and the worst of times for preachers. It is the worst of times due to the cultural chaos that consumes us as well as the increasing disregard for–even derision of–Christian faith. Even the very premise of preaching–the act of one person standing up before a group of passive listeners to deliver a monologue prescribing beliefs and behaviors based on ancient texts–seems ludicrous in our technology- and entertainment-driven world. But this is also the best of times for preachers, for few moments in human history have been more desperate for a word from beyond our human capacities than ours. As he demonstrates so well in these sermons, Matt Rich humbly yet confidently steps up to speak such a word. It is a word forged in the crucible of life lived among people seeking to be faithful in a perplexing world. For his own understanding of preaching, Matt claims, as he states in his introduction to this volume, a definition that comes from Marilynne Robinson’s exquisite novel Gilead: trying to say what is true. Indeed, in his life and ministry as well as in his preaching, Matt strives to say what is true. He names grace, as Hilkert would call it, and he speaks the truth. Not a bad definition of preaching, for, in the end, what is preaching but bearing witness to the Word who came to dwell among us, full of grace and truth? And heaven knows we need all the grace and truth we can muster to help us navigate through these challenging days for the church, and we need preachers like Matt Rich to lead us. So read and ponder this good preaching, these sermons that name grace and tell the truth, and be led anew to encounters with the Living Word.
