Over a decade ago, I sat in a pastors conference that featured three speakers from the UK that I had never heard of before then. As it turns out, I was listening to three of the UK’s most prominent leaders from the last 50 years: Dick Lucas, Eric Alexander, and Derek Prime. It was an amazing gift from Alistair Begg to bring them to his Basics Conference. And afterward I was suddenly on the look out for any books or sermons from these men. That experience made me realize that there are many, many godly men who excel at their calling which I will likely never know about until I meet them before God’s throne. They aren’t headlining conferences or appearing frequently in magazine or blog posts. Nevertheless, they excel at handling God’s word and deserve a wider audience–not for their sake, but the Church’s sake.
Toward that end, I offer here five preachers of God’s Word that you may not know but should be listening to. These are men whom I have found to be consistently excellent in explaining and applying God’s word. These are not meant to be substitutes for your local pastor, but maybe substitutes for your normal podcasts.
David Helm serves as Lead Pastor of Holy Trinity Church’s Hyde Park Congregation. Helm is also the Chairman of The Charles Simeon Trust, which is the American equivalent of the UK’s Proclamation Trust–a ministry devoted to equipping men in expository preaching. Helm first came onto my radar through a talk he gave at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on teaching the Bible to children. After hearing those talks, I realized I’d been reading one of his books to my kids: The Big Picture Story Bible. From there, I sought Helm’s sermon and was greatly encouraged by what I heard. Many of Helm’s sermon can be found on the Holy Trinity Church site. I’d also recommend another of his books which has become a key resource at our church: One to One Bible Reading.
Rico Tice currently serves as the Senior Minister of Evangelism at All Souls, Langham Place. He is another preacher I encountered through Alistair Begg’s Basics Conference. I was not only gripped by his passion and clarity over the text but the way he was able to apply it. The focus of his talks at the Conference where I first heard was evangelism, and I soon discovered that this was Tice’s passion. The creator of Christianity Explored, Tice was known for giving talks on, but more importantly, actually doing evangelism. Tice’s sermons can be found at the All Souls Church website. You can find some others, including some great talks on evangelism, from the Truth for Life archives.
Arturo Azurdia, III is Senior Minister of Word and Worship at Trinity Church. When he’s not serving there, he’s also the Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and the Director of Pastoral Mentoring at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. I first encountered Azurdia through his book, Spirit Empowered Preaching. Based on what he said there, I sought his sermons and wasn’t disappointed. My series was Ruth (as I was preaching on that book at the time) and I’ve been hooked ever since. Azurdia also got a recent shout-out in the Shai Linne song “Expository Preaching” on the album, The Church: Called and Collected. His sermons and conference talks can be found online at his website.
Conrad Mbewe has been called, “the African Spurgeon.” He is the pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia. I’m not sure where I first heard him speak, but I know it was online somewhere. I was immediately drawn in by his Zambia accent and clear, biblical teaching. Despite the strong influence of the prosperity gospel in Africa, Mbewe keeps a faithful stance on the true gospel. He’s recently been featured at The Gospel Coalition conferences and the Cross Convention. He writes some excellent reflection on Christianity and Africa at A Letter from Kabwata. You can find Conrad Mbewe’s sermons at the Kabwata site.
J. Ligon Duncan, III now serves as president of Reformed Theological Seminary, but was just up until a week ago, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. ‘But wait,’ you might think, ‘Ligon is a well-known preacher, why is he on this list?’ Yes, Dr. Duncan is well-known for his association with Dever, Mohler, and Mahaney in the Together for the Gospel conference. He’s also well-known in Presbyterian circles. But what I found is that I rarely see him or his sermons referenced. Yet, after I started reading, then listening, to his sermons, I’ve been amazed that he is not more widely known as an expositor. The mother-load of sermons for Duncan can be found at the FPC Jackson website. You can also find some of his topical talks at the T4G site.
*Edit: I corrected the Shai Linne album reference which I got wrong when I first posted.
MAGNIFY CHRIST 