Minor Prophets focus during annual preaching workshop

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary welcomed pastors and those called to pastor to the annual Effective Preaching Workshop on Oct. 13, when experienced preachers and pastors taught how to preach the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament.

Matthew McKellar, professor of preaching at Southwestern and host of the workshop, pointed out the Minor Prophets are sometimes neglected.

“I believe as pastors and preachers, we are called to preach the whole counsel of God,” McKellar said. “I love Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I love Paul’s letters. But there are 66 books in the Bible, and I fear that too frequently we end up preaching our favorite ‘sugar sticks’ and we neglect some of the rich, rich stuff in Scripture.”

Southwestern President David S. Dockery greeted those attending the workshop, gave an update on the seminary, and asked for continued prayers and support as the institution carries out its mission to equip those called to ministry.

“There is no greater joy we have than partnering with local churches in this area, across the state, across the region,” Dockery said. “It has been at the heartbeat of Southwestern Seminary since 1908 and continues to be so today and will be in the future.”

The first session provided an examination of Jonah led by Aaron Kahler, lead pastor at Hays Hills Baptist Church in Buda, Texas. Kahler explored Jonah’s relationship with prayer and grace throughout the book, from the pagan fishermen praying as Jonah didn’t, to his prayer of anger at God’s mercy on the people of Nineveh.

“You’ll think Jonah understands grace, but he doesn’t understand grace at all,” Kahler emphasized. “He loves grace. It makes him exceedingly glad when grace is given to him; it makes him exceedingly angry when grace is given to others. You think that could be a problem for us at times?”

Concluding his session, he pointed out that just as Jonah only prayed at his lowest points, believers frequently do that today as well, and pastors should encourage the importance of personal prayer as well as valuing grace shown to others rather than being angered by it.

“There are people we rejoice [about] when good things happen to them, and then there are other people where good things happen, then we think, ‘Well, why did that happen to them and not to me?’” Kahler said, recounting a personal experience with this struggle himself. “… And I think the point of Jonah is we ought to celebrate for whomever, whenever God shows grace and compassion.”

The second session was led by Todd Gray (’10, ’17), the senior pastor at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church in Brownwood, Texas, covering the book of Joel. Gray demonstrated how it could be covered over one, two, or three different sermons, all focusing on the overarching theme, the coming “Day of the Lord” and how people should be prepared.

“If you preach the book of Joel and you don’t talk deeply about the Day of the Lord, you’re probably missing something,” Gray explained. “But also, that theme, talking about the day of the Lord, is to lead people to what? The next thing: repentance.”

He elaborated on the vague time period in which Joel writes, yet emphasized the timeless nature that gives the text and its conclusive message, that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” and some disasters and crises can be seen as divine wake-up calls toward repentance.

Gray concluded with a final affirmation to approach all biblical texts, even ones that can be vague and complex like Joel, boldly, sharing them with a congregation just as often as others.

“My closing encouragement to you men who are going to be preaching maybe the book of Joel, don’t skip it,” Gray concluded. “When you don’t skip passages, your people learn to read the Bible better, and they appreciate you more.”

Chris Osborne (’77, ’19), professor of preaching and pastoral ministry at Southwestern and former pastor at Central Baptist Church in Bryan, Texas, for more than 30 years, covered Habakkuk in his session, describing it as a private dialogue between God and the prophet, much akin to Jonah and Job, over the state of Israel.

Osborne unpacked Habakkuk’s struggle with divine justice, why God seemed silent amid Israel’s corruption, and why He would use a nation “more wicked than Judah,” referring to Babylon, as His instrument. Osborne said the book of Habakkuk says the answer is to “live by faith.”

“‘His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith,’” Osborne read from the text. “The real emphasis here, when he says that ‘the just shall live by faith,’ is you’re not going to like what’s coming, but it doesn’t matter. You’re still going to have to trust me in the middle of what you don’t like that’s about to happen.”

He concluded by challenging the listeners to preach Habakkuk not from comfort, but from empathy with those who suffer or see injustice, reminding them that faith often means resting in God’s sovereignty when personal judgment fails.

Matthew Beasley (’07, ’18), lead pastor of Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., led his session on the book of Haggai, focusing largely on tracing the prophet’s historical journey in light of its historical context.

“We begin to think about the historical context,” Beasley said, introducing the book. “I think this is critically important. If we kind of miss this and misunderstand some things that are happening in the book, we misunderstand some things that are key really understanding this.”

Beasley traced Haggai’s journey in detail from the Babylonian exile to the Persian restoration and explained the prophet’s mission to rekindle covenant faithfulness and rebuild the temple after years of the people putting it off. Beasley urged preachers to connect Haggai’s message to today’s spiritually distracted congregations, helping them see that renewal begins when God’s people reorder their lives around His glory.

“I think I would just tell you: revival again begins when we consider our ways and we remember that God’s covenant faithfulness sustains us, not our works,” Beasley concluded.

McKellar covered Malachi in the final session of the workshop, specifically touching on the importance of covering tough topics while working to model the teachings in one’s own life, such as the themes of marriage and tithing found in Malachi.

“The window is smudged with dirt and grime and mud, and when divorce happens, it’s cracked through,” McKellar illustrated. “People today don’t take the living God seriously, when people who declare themselves to be His covenant walk away from the institution of marriage. That’s hard work. Your people need to hear that. Those of us that are in happy marriages need to hear that.”

He then spoke on the importance of tithing, emphasizing how despite it being an Old Testament law rendered moot by the sacrifice of Christ, it still represented a very serious sacrifice that should be volunteered for the Kingdom of God, if not more generously than before in thanks for the Lord’s suffering.

“You see that mindset of the Lord gets the leftovers,” McKellar said. “That’s what’s going on in Malachi. The Lord says, ‘Leftovers will not do. I have given you my best. I have poured out my best upon you, and I want you to give your best to Me.’”

After emphasizing once again the importance of modeling one’s teaching before their own congregation, McKellar concluded by reminding that though all should model themselves in the image of God, all will fall short, sheep or shepherd. However, he also spoke on the mercy the Lord grants with His judgement.

“I think that’s really the message of Malachi in a nutshell: ‘My hands are dirty, my heart is glazed over with this sin and shame, but there is the sovereign God who wraps us around with His favor,” McKellar said. “… God does not spare His one and only Son, but He offers Him up for us all. So, what do you see? There’s judgment and mercy. God doesn’t lay His people off. God doesn’t let His people go.”

Recordings of each session from the 2025 Effective Preaching Workshop can be found on the Equip The Called website.