I bought this book to help me with preaching on the Psalms and have found it very useful. I was also intrigued by the problem of relating the book of Esther, especially the last few chapters, to our Christian lives today.
While I was disappointed to find there was not a single reference to Esther in the book, I have appreciated the way it makes you think through such issues as:
What is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
What is the central message of the bible?
How does each passage relate to the central message about? Christ? What does this mean to us as we seek to preach it?
The book has stimulated my thinking. It is one that would be worth reading a couple of times, and then consulting as you preach on particular biblical passages.
Goldsworthy has some interesting things to say about expository preaching, even sometimes using humour to get his message across.
A couple of the interesting things he says:
It is easy to preach about the exhortations to holy living in such a way that you ignore grace and bind yourself and your congregation with law again!
Preaching from the gospels must be done realising that the message Jesus preached to his first disciples needs to be nuanced in the light of his death, resurrection and ascension.
Goldsworthy explains these things much better than me!
Highly recommended. - Gontroppo