I’ve been exposed to Robinson's "Biblical Preaching" multiple times within my study of homiletics. I loved it the first time, and like a movie you see a second time there is more to pick up you didn't get the first time. But you can't go by that alone- I'm just enamored with the subject matter. Like watching a Spiderman movie, I didn't care that it was remade with different franchises within 2 decades. Spiderman is the best superhero imo so I say "Take my money!"(insert Futurama gif here). The same is true when talking about preaching, especially specifically expository preaching. The style I liken to gravitate towards could be labeled narrative expository, so a book like this is not just a text book but a guilty pleasure.
I usually consult my wife (she's a PhD candidate for Biblical Interpretation with an emphasis on Old Testament Theology) just to make sure I'm treating a certain text with proper hermeneutics and not teaching heresy. Remember folks its exegesis not eisegesis. The art and construction of the sermon is like magic to me. So even a book on the basics like Robinson's is exciting. Boiling a message down to its simplest point like Robinson touches on in chapter 2, or creating a pathway from the biblical text to the message you're writing for hearers in chapter 4, or the different shapes sermons take = all fantastic! I could sip a nonfat latte for hours and talk this over with an equally interested human.
But the part that really tickles my fancy is the final chapter "How to Preach So People Will Listen". To me, this is where the real magic lies. Content is important- very important. But having the right answers doesn't mean anything if you're not getting through to people's heart. The right info doesn't always equal life change. If that were the case every surgeon's warning on a pack of cancer sticks would be enough for everyone to immediately stop smoking. No, delivery often has everything to do with someone's inclination or their portal to be open for a time that's ripe for life change. Now, the Holy Spirit certainly does His job and can use anything- and does again and again. But that should be no excuse for us not to use our creativity and be expectantly ready. Everything from how you're dressed, to your facial expressions, to gestures, to vocal delivery, even down to your breathing. Also, whether or not you've allowed the passage to change your heart and life because people can smell that stuff a mile away you know. People can tell if you're not smoking what you're selling.
I love that he ends with the fact that we never arrive. All of us need all the help we can get (from God and others) - lifelong students becoming better and better.
You will never arrive.
There
is
always
more.