I preach the Word of God. The style I use is called expositional exegetical. I draw the meaning out of the Scripture and explain it. I believe this is the only approved type of preaching. To preach events out of the newspaper or the latest psychology fad does nothing to edify the saints or glorify God and certainly it does not contain the power to save.
The context for my preaching is that I preach through books of the Bible. Most recently I have been preaching through the gospel of John. I started in John 1:1 and last Sunday I preached through John 21:15-17. Charles Spurgeon preached through the entire Bible, but did not take the verses in order. He bounced around, and got through the entire Bible.
One of the most popular styles of preaching in large churches or churches that want to be large is a style called “topical.” Traditionally topical preaching takes a topic that is from the news or something that the pastor is reading. For example, I have known churches that go through 6 weeks of “God’s view of marriage.” I read of one church that did a 4 week series on “how to have more friends.” What usually happens is that people pick a topic then use a concordance or topical Bible or, as one pastor I know does, use a Google search to find Scripture that supports their point of view. This is called Proof Texting and is a sin. Most reformed pastors do not consider topical preaching a proper way to preach, all the time. I will preach topically around Christmas and Easter, Mothers Day and Father’s Day. Our church set aside October of this year to be a prayer emphasis. So I found 4 passages on prayer in the Bible and I preached one each Sunday. The fifth Sunday was Reformation Sunday so I preached through that event. So strategically using topical preaching is necessary.
Proper preaching is opening the Word of God to a passage. The passage can be a single verse, an entire chapter or an entire book. The preacher then tells the people what it means. Explains what it is saying, which might include illustrations, modernizing stories, explanations of ancient customs and the like. The preacher then explains how it fits with todays Christian life. In other words, what do people do with this passage and how to the apply it.
Since we know that the Word of God is living and active, a preacher can preach through James, for example, then ten years later preach through James again and it will be different sermons. A pastor once asked me this: “If you only preach the Bible,” he said, “won’t you run out of material very quickly?” That is just silly. People have been preaching through the Word of God for 2,000 years and there is still much more to be said. God's word can never be exhausted by people. That is because the context of our lives is always changing. People do not change and God never changes but our culture changes. We have issues of marriage that would never have been imagines 50 years ago. So preaching what the Bible says, not what a google search says, on marriage is vital for today.
The context for my preaching is that I preach through books of the Bible. Most recently I have been preaching through the gospel of John. I started in John 1:1 and last Sunday I preached through John 21:15-17. Charles Spurgeon preached through the entire Bible, but did not take the verses in order. He bounced around, and got through the entire Bible.
One of the most popular styles of preaching in large churches or churches that want to be large is a style called “topical.” Traditionally topical preaching takes a topic that is from the news or something that the pastor is reading. For example, I have known churches that go through 6 weeks of “God’s view of marriage.” I read of one church that did a 4 week series on “how to have more friends.” What usually happens is that people pick a topic then use a concordance or topical Bible or, as one pastor I know does, use a Google search to find Scripture that supports their point of view. This is called Proof Texting and is a sin. Most reformed pastors do not consider topical preaching a proper way to preach, all the time. I will preach topically around Christmas and Easter, Mothers Day and Father’s Day. Our church set aside October of this year to be a prayer emphasis. So I found 4 passages on prayer in the Bible and I preached one each Sunday. The fifth Sunday was Reformation Sunday so I preached through that event. So strategically using topical preaching is necessary.
Proper preaching is opening the Word of God to a passage. The passage can be a single verse, an entire chapter or an entire book. The preacher then tells the people what it means. Explains what it is saying, which might include illustrations, modernizing stories, explanations of ancient customs and the like. The preacher then explains how it fits with todays Christian life. In other words, what do people do with this passage and how to the apply it. Since we know that the Word of God is living and active, a preacher can preach through James, for example, then ten years later preach through James again and it will be different sermons. A pastor once asked me this: “If you only preach the Bible,” he said, “won’t you run out of material very quickly?” That is just silly. People have been preaching through the Word of God for 2,000 years and there is still much more to be said. God's word can never be exhausted by people. That is because the context of our lives is always changing. People do not change and God never changes but our culture changes. We have issues of marriage that would never have been imagines 50 years ago. So preaching what the Bible says, not what a google search says, on marriage is vital for today.
Romans 1:16, 17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
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