Expository Preaching

Expository Preaching

Let me invite you into the preacher's head so that I can share with you my basic approach to preaching.

My first preference in preaching is to do what are called "expository" sermons. This kind of lesson "exposes" or reveals the teachings of a certain text of Scripture. It uses as its basis one particular passage of Scripture, develops the ideas that are presented in the passage, and applies those ideas to our daily lives.

The main alternative to expository preaching is topical preaching. A topical sermon begins with an idea or topic (for example: "Love", or "How to Be a Better Christian", or "Things Young People Should Avoid") and then finds several verses throughout Scripture that provide ideas related to the topic.

The advantages of expository preaching are many. For one, it presents the teachings of Scripture the way they were written: in context, presenting the ideas as the inspired writers presented them. Although I might add stories, illustrations, and applications, I try to present the main idea that is presented in Scripture. I enjoy preaching through books of the Bible because, again, I am presenting the Word of God the way God presented it to us. Dealing with the Scriptures this way also forces us to consider the difficult passages, maybe the ones we would rather not think about or have always had questions about. Studying them in context often helps us find the answers we need.

Expository preaching also helps me avoid my weaknesses in preaching only topically. If I preach on topics, I find that I wind up pounding the same drum over and over - the drum of my favorite topic, you see. If I just do topics, I might pull a verse out of context to try to make my point, and that isn't a good way to study Scripture. Also, I can easily just deal with the "hot topics" and not get beyond the "current issues" to deal with the more central matters. Expository preaching gets to the issues, but it does so in the context of how those issues are addressed in Scripture. Topical preaching also tends to start out with man's thinking ("What topic can I come up with?" "What topic do I think people need to hear about?), whereas expository preaching starts out with God's thinking ("What has God revealed to us in this passage or book?").

I certainly preach topically on many occasions. For one thing, people think topically. We usually don't wonder "What does Matthew 21 say?" but we want to know, "What does the Bible say about this or that topic?" In addition, the Bible is sometimes written topically. Paul sometimes gathers up several passages to prove the point he is making. But as we today try to get across the message of Scripture accurately, we need to think of books and passages and contexts. That will give us a good grasp of the Scriptures so that we can understand what the Bible says about the topics we want to know about.

Articles:

The Crisis in Expository Preaching Today
By Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.