We can’t neglect the clear expositional teaching of God’s Word

Hopefully your involvement at New Life has created a deeper passion for the Bible. As a pastor it is always encouraging to watch you on Sunday mornings as we focus attention to God’s Word. I have often received questions about the Psalm reading that we do each week. Generally out of curiosity, people will question the purpose for the placement of the weekly passage. The reason we begin each service with a Psalm passage is because I want to emphasize the importance of scripture. Therefore we stand before the congregation and issue a call to worship.

Another way that I try to stress the importance of the Bible is through expository preaching. Simply stated, expository preaching is achieved when the point of the passage is the point of the sermon. We have all listened to messages where the pastor reads a text and then begins preaching and his message has nothing to do with passage he just read. Expository preaching takes into consideration that the initial recipients received a specific message from God and that message is very important for
our church as well. I particularly enjoy working our way through a book of the Bible. This is also helpful in that the message each week is dependent on the text before the congregation. This ensures that the teaching ministry at New Life does not avoid specific topics. The entire council of God is made available to the people of God and we respond accordingly. I believe expository preaching is healthy and it is a practice we should not avoid. Here are 4 reasons we should not avoid expository preaching.
Expository preaching reminds us that:

1. 1. The Bible is our authority. If we desire to be a healthy congregation we must believe that the Bible is the authority for our lives as individuals as well as a body of believers. It is not a book of friendly suggestions or available options. The Bible is God’s Word to His people and therefore we must be quick to hear and quick to respond.
   
   
2. The Bible is the word of God. The reason the Bible is our authority is because it has been given to us by God. The things that God has revealed are the things that we need to know. The Bible does not intend to answer all of life’s questions. God used a variety of people to give us the message He intended to communicate. 1 Timothy 3:16-17 states that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
   
   
3. This method is modeled in the Bible. I remember someone trying to convince me that expository preaching is not found in scripture. A great example of this method is found in Luke 24:27: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27).” Jesus is the Master Expositor. A longer, lengthier description is found in Nehemiah 8 and reveals where many of our practices in preaching come from today.
   
   
4. We are students of scripture. Expository preaching is explaining the mind of God to the people of God using the word of God. The development of an expository sermon involves discovering the meaning of the passage and making application of it to our lives today. Since God communicated to be understood, we are to understand and obey. The ultimate aim of expository preaching is the spiritual maturity and growth of the listener.

Pastor Billy