David G Peterson

Out now: a new book on corporate worship

IVP UK has just published my new book Encountering God Together: Biblical Patterns for Ministry and Worship. Later in the year, it will be published by Presbyterian and Reformed in the USA. This paperback was written to help everyone involved in planning and leading church services think more biblically and creatively about this important ministry. Questions for review and reflection at the end of each chapter make it possible to use the book as a basis for group discussion. Pastors could especially consider using it as a training resource for those who share in the leadership of services.

The book begins by applying the biblical theology I outlined in Engaging with God to what we do when we gather as Christians. So there are chapters on The Gathering of God, Worshipping God, Edifying the Church and Patterns of Service. Then, there are chapters exploring specific issues such as Listening to God, Praying Together, Praising God, Singing Together, Baptism and The Lord’s Supper.

My prayer is that a better interaction with biblical teaching will cause those who lead congregational worship to reflect and plan and contribute more effectively. Our aim should be to honour and glorify God, as we take our part in the edification of his church. But we cannot do this unless we engage more honestly and holistically with what he has revealed to us in Scripture, considering also the way Christians throughout history have responded to its challenges.

Commendations

Almost fifteen years ago, David Peterson’s book Engaging with God rocked my world. I had never read a book that so effectively combined faithful biblical scholarship with a passion for the gospel and linked both of them to what we call “worship.” It remains my number one book to recommend on the theology of worship. His new book, Encountering God Together, is a long-awaited follow-up, providing biblical, practical, and insightful guidelines for thinking through how God wants us to meet with him as we meet with each other. He covers a broad range of topics including prayer, Scripture reading, preaching, bodily expression, liturgy, evangelism, and emotions. And as you’d expect, the beauty and power of Christ’s atoning work shine throughout. Tight in all the right places and encouraging biblically informed freedom everywhere else, Encountering God Together should be read by anyone involved in planning or leading gatherings of the church.’   

Bob Kauflin, Sovereign Grace Ministries, USA

‘David Peterson has done an excellent job in applying the theological framework of his earlier book, Engaging with God, to the practical realities of corporate worship within the life of the church. This book is fair-minded and generous, full of biblical insight and practical wisdom. Leaders of churches, congregations, preachers and musicians alike will all benefit from it.’

John Risbridger, Minister and Team Leader, Above Bar Church, Southampton; Chair of Keswick Ministries

‘What a breath of fresh air for our meeting with God and one another! David brings his theological insights and his pastoral longings together to help us reflect on how we do church in community. This is a wonderfully healthy and practical guide and challenge for those who lead and speak in Christian gatherings, but also for all of us who participate. To know better what we are doing and why will help us to make the very most of these times.’

Paul Perkin, St Mark’s Battersea Rise, London

The Perfect Saviour: Key Themes in Hebrews

Jonathan Griffiths has edited an important new paperback called The Perfect Saviour (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity, 2012). Eight biblical scholars have combined to write a chapter each on key themes in Hebrews: Peter O’Brien (The new covenant and its perfect mediator); Jonathan Griffiths (The word of God: perfectly spoken in the Son); Richard B. Gaffin Jr. (The priesthood of Christ: a servant in the sanctuary); David Gooding (The tabernacle: no museum piece); Thomas R, Schreiner (Warning and assurance: run the race to the end); Peter Walker (Access and arrival: metaphors of movement to motivate); David Peterson (Perfection: achieved and expressed); Bruce Winter (Suffering with the Saviour: the reality, the reasons and the reward).

The motivation for this volume is the desire to bridge the gap between the work of evangelical scholars in universities and colleges and the world of the busy preacher and Bible teacher. Specifically, it offers a theological introduction to the Book of Hebrews, by way of a set of expositions of some significant themes and difficult questions. For me it was a delightful opportunity to write a summary of the work I had done on the theme of perfection (Hebrews and Perfection [Cambridge University Press, 1982]) and to interact with some who have engaged with this topic since then.

Transformed by God

 Transformed by God: New Covenant Life and Ministry has now been published by IVP in the UK and by InterVarsity Press in the US. This book is intended to be a sequel to Possessed by God.

Graham Cole, Anglican Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School, has kindly made this comment in reviewing the book:

David Peterson’s study is a careful, highly competent, biblically faithful and pastorally astute treatment of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and its resonances in the New Testament, with the latter illuminatingly identified as New Covenant literature. A fine example of scholarship that serves the church in general and pastors in particular. Highly recommended!

To read about the contents of the book click here.

Gifts and Ministries

Moore College faculty contribute to an annual School of Theology, attended by graduates of the College and others. The pattern in recent years has been to focus on the interpretation of a particular biblical book in one year and to develop a biblical or theological topic in the next year. In 2010, Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians was examined and the papers have been published recently as The Wisdom of the Cross. Exploring 1 Corinthians Today, edited by Brian Rosner (Nottingham, Apollos, 2011). 1 Corinthians is often regarded as his makeshift response to random problems in a messy church. This stimulating volume argues for, and undertakes, a more coherent reading of the letter, in the hope of providing a more compelling and theologically rich interpretation and a clearer apprehension of its relevance to the church today. My own contribution is entitled ‘Enriched in every way’: Gifts and Ministries in 1 Corinthians.

Prophetic Preaching

I recently had the opportunity to contribute a chapter to a new book on preaching called Serving God’s Words. Windows on Preaching and Ministry, edited by Paul A. Barker, Richard J. Condie, Andrew S. Malone (Nottingham, IVP, 2011) This stimulating volume was commissioned in honour of Dr. Peter Adam, who has just retired as Principal of Ridley College Melbourne. The book offers perspectives on preaching and ministry from selected biblical texts and reflections on theological and devotional issues. Two concluding studies examine significant examples from church history. My own contribution is a development and extension of work done over the years on the subject of Prophetic Preaching and the Book of Acts. Some of my preliminary work on this topic can be found on this website (Prophecy and Preaching in Acts).