JACKSON, Tenn. — June 1, 2026 — Union University Press has published a new book featuring sermons on stories from the Old Testament, drawn from select Union chapel services during the spring semester of 2025.
Edited by Ray Van Neste and Justin Wainscott, “Great Stories of the Old Testament” includes sermons from Mark Catlin, Dub Oliver, John Oswalt, Andy Pettigrew, Eric Smith, Van Neste and Wainscott.
Van Neste is vice president for university ministries and dean for Union's School of Theology and Missions. Wainscott is associate dean and assistant professor of ministry in the STM.
The book continues a series of chapel-based publications from Union University Press. For several years, certain spring chapel services have been dedicated to working through a specific book of the Bible. In the spring of 2025, however, the series took a different approach.
Rather than focusing on a single biblical book, the spring 2025 series drew from narratives across the Old Testament. Van Neste and Wainscott note that while the great stories of the Old Testament have long played a central role in Christian discipleship and formation, declining biblical literacy has made these stories increasingly unfamiliar.
“The particular appeal and power of story make these biblical stories important resources as we counter the growing biblical illiteracy in our culture,” Van Neste and Wainscott write in the book’s preface. “While these stories are not as widely familiar as they once were, they are powerful ways to reintroduce people to the grand truth of Scripture.”
Clint Pressley, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the book is “part devotional, part commentary and all excellent.”
“The stories are well told by excellent preachers and scholars and filled with Christ-centered theology and gospel goodness,” he said.
The editors said they hope the book serves both general readers and those in ministry.
“Our hope is that this work might encourage other Christians as they learn more about some of the great stories from the Old Testament, the truths they proclaim, and the Savior they exalt,” Van Neste and Wainscott write. “We also hope it will be a resource for other preachers as they consider how to preach different Old Testament narratives.”
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.