Serving the Word

This book and the essays contained within are dedicated to Dr. Chuck Sackett in recognition of his thirty-two years of teaching at Lincoln Christian University. He currently serves as Professor at Large but has held a variety of roles and titles during his thirty-two years there.

These essays are written by current colleagues and former students who have had the privilege of studying hermeneutics, homiletics, and ministry with Dr. Sackett. Each essay covers a topic of scholarly or contemporary interest in the fields of hermeneutics or homiletics.

Hermeneutics and homiletics remain topics of discussion in the academy and the church. These essays continue that discussion. The essays overlap the two fields. Some essays focus heavily on hermeneutical issues with an eye towards proclamation, while others start with homiletics and hermeneutical issues are echoed in the background.

The essays found in this book offer unique perspectives and approaches to interpretation and preaching. Though homiletics and hermeneutics are the fields of the study, the church remains the arena where the fruit of each discipline is observed most clearly, as Dr. Sackett instructed his students throughout his years of teaching.


Eddy Sanders (DMin, Talbot School of Theology) is Professor of Biblical Studies and Ministry at Saint Louis Christian College. He has written several articles on preaching and ministry for the Christian Standard and is a contributor to Deuteronomy, The Prophets, and the Life of the Church (2013).

Frank Dicken (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Lincoln Christian University. He is the author of Herod as a Composite Character in Luke-Acts (2014), and is a contributor to The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception and Lexham Bible Dictionary.