I think that expository preaching is very important and should be the primary method for preachers to be delivering the Word of God to the church. Do I think it is to be the only method? Not necessarily. I think other methods of preaching are acceptable but they are to be the exception. A friend of mine recently moved to a new city and discovered that it is really difficult to find a church who is committed to expository preaching. Furthermore, it is difficult to find a church that actually do it. There are some that say they do it but far fewer that actually do it. It is a lost art that must be rediscovered by the church in order for it to become healthy again.
By going verse by verse through a book, a preacher is not able to just teach on the topics he wants to cover and he cannot skip Scripture portions he does not like. He ends up preaching the full council of God. The preachers digs into the meaning of each word, each phrase, each sentence, and each verse to completely understand the meaning of the author’s intent of the text.
Skimming the surface is not exposition. Skipping around the Bible to teach on your pet topic is not exposition. A survey of a book is not exposition. If you can cover complete chapters during a single sermon it probably is not exposition. Let’s dig deep into the Word by investigating the meaning of the words which have been preserved for us by God.
So, what do you say. Is your pastor committed to expository preaching? Do you have a preference yourself? Do you see the benefit of expository preaching?
