This compilation comprises the twenty-nine years (1962-1991) when Eugene Peterson led Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Harford County, MD. While a good part of the experience is lost when sermons are compiled into a book – the pastor’s voice, the worship, the silent prayer, even the architecture of the sanctuary – the most important part is retained: the message that compels and changes hearts.

After nearly three decades pastoring a local congregation, Peterson pretends to make known to us what his sermons at his church in Bel Air were like in this last work of his, preserving the original message to the best of his ability. There is a noteworthy intention from Peterson in maintaining that idea that we live congruent lives, where the inside is as the outside, where we practice that which we preach.

Sixty years ago, young Eugene was prepared and raised to found a church, yet soon fell in a crisis, a personal conflict between what he preached and what his convictions were as a pastor. He quickly realized that he was not a preacher, but a billboard, in a sense, trying to promote its “product.” It was not enough to put together a church; he had to make it function properly and with harmony.

Aware of this, and willing to effect a change, he saw himself before two events – a lecture he attended and a poem he read – almost simultaneously, whose combination came to reform his entire personal ministry.

Structured in seven groups, each of these with seven sermons, they’re part of the collection “Preaching in the company of…” – dedicated to Moses, David, Isaiah, Solomon, Peter, Paul and John of Patmos; each of these with a distinctive approach included in “the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)