Introducing Jesus/Preface

It is a wise man who has learnt to recognize his own limitations. Long ago I discovered that I was no writer. It is, therefore, with a considerable amount of hesitation that I offer this book to you. In mitigation I can only plead the persuasion of many friends who have insisted that it ought to be published. If I had the necessary gift and time it would have been more satisfactory I am sure to have rewritten this material from scratch as a book. Possessing neither, I can only present you with an edited transcript of thirteen sermons as they were delivered verbatim at Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge in 1984.

All preachers are plagiarists, and often unconsciously so. Inevitably one reads much in preparation for preaching, and in the process of its digestion other people’s material gets woven into the text of the sermon. Where direct quotations from books have been made I have tried to identify the source. But the discerning reader will probably recognize allusions to and dependencies on other authors which pass unacknowledged. May I apologize in advance to any who feel slighted by the omission of their name in the credits. Please take it as a most sincere form of flattery. Thanks are due to a number of folk without whom this book could not have made progress. In particular may I mention Mrs Pat Blake for her tireless work on the tape-recordings and manuscripts; the Publications Committee and the deacons of Eden Baptist Church for a large amount of related administrative work; and to Kingsway Publications for encouraging the venture and offering considerable help in its achievement. The series of sermons from which this book is taken were an example of the kind of expository and evangelistic preaching with which I am most comfortable. My hope is that they may perhaps bring encouragement to the Christian and challenge to the seeking non-Christian. It is often said that preachers are six-feet above contradiction. If so, then authors are even more remote from the criticisms of their audience. It would be helpful therefore to receive constructive comments from those gallant enough to read it.

Roy Clements

Eden Baptist Church,

Cambridge