What is an expositional sermon?

An expositional sermon is a sermon that takes the main point of a passage of Scripture, makes it the main point of the sermon, and applies it to life today. In other words, an expositional sermon exposes the meaning of a passage of Scripture and shows its relevance to the lives of ones hearers. Thats it. This means that an expositional sermon does NOT 1. Need to focus on just a verse or two. 2. Need to present complex exegetical arguments or endless historical background. 3. Need to be dry, lifeless, or removed from peoples lives. 4. Confuse the primary point of a passage with any legitimate application of that passage (that is, use a verse to say what you want to say). Rather, it should take a small, medium, or large passage of Scripture and show how dramatically important the primary meaning of a passage is for the world today.

What do people wrongly assume expositional preaching is?

Many people wrongly assume that an expositional sermon is 1. A boring exegetical lecture. An expositional sermon is not a dry, academic lecture. It should be informed by careful exegesis, yes, but it generally should not present the minute details of that exegesis. Rather, an expositional sermon should clearly communicate the point of the passage in a way that will instruct, edify, and convict its hearers. 2. Any sermon in which the Bible is opened. Opening the Bible is no guarantee that the meaning of a text of Scripture will be clearly communicated. A preacher can stand up, share his thoughts, and use a Bible verse or two to make his point, whether or not its the primary meaning of the passage. But expositional preaching requires the preacher to discern the meaning of the text and then preach that point, applying it to his hearers. See the example below. 3. Any sermon that takes a text of Scripture as its starting point. While such a textual sermon may say true things about the text, the fact that a sermon begins from a text of Scripture is no guarantee that its an expositional sermon. A sermon that begins with a text of Scripture may wind up being an in-depth doctrinal exploration, a stirring call to action, a

springboard to an inspirational story, or any number of other things. But if the sermon does not explain and apply the main point of the text as the main point of the sermon its not an expositional sermon. Example: A sermon about Jesus feeding the five thousand could be used to say God will provide for your needs. But that would not be an expositional sermon, because thats not the primary point of the passage. Rather, the point of the passage concerns who Jesus is: Jesus is someone with the authority of God himself, the authority to create and provide for his people. One application of this text is that Jesus will provide for his people, but the text is most fundamentally about Jesus and who he is. Therefore, an expositional sermon on this passage will make the question of who Jesus is its primary point.

How do you prepare to preach an expositional sermon? What steps are involved?
Different preachers will develop slightly different ways of preparing sermons, which is fine. Do what works for you. That said, here are some steps that should be involved in the preparation of any expositional sermon. 1. Meditate on the text deeply. Spend time reading the passage youre going to preach on over and over again. Pray through the passage. Ask God to illumine your understanding of the text and to bring your life into conformity with the meaning of the text. 2. Study the text closely. Examine the text in great detail. Discover the literary structure. Trace the flow of the argument. Look up the meaning of difficult words or phrases. Consult commentaries and other resources after spending serious time thinking about the text on your own. 3. Outline the text exegetically. Summarize what each part of the text contributes to the whole by writing a detailed exegetical outline. 4. Identify the main point of the text. Once youve done all this work with the text, identify and summarize the main point of the text. If you cant summarize it in one sentence, youve still got work to do. 5. Come up with a sermon outline that communicates the main point of the text. Based on the exegetical work youve done and the main point youve identified, find a way to structure your sermon that communicates this main point in a simple and memorable way. Your sermon outline should give your congregation something to hang their hats on, a way to easily understand the point of the text and easily follow the sermon.

6. Think carefully about application. Think about how the different points of the sermon apply to people in different spiritual states: Christians and non-Christians, the complacent and the hungry, the legalistic and the hedonistic. Think about how your sermon applies to people in different stages of life, like parents, children, students, and seniors. And think about how the points of the sermon apply to different spheres of life: the church, the home, the workplace, and public life. 7. Write out the body of the sermon, whether notes or a manuscript. Write out the content of the sermon in whatever form works for you. That way you will give specific thought beforehand to what youre actually going to say. 8. Dress it up: add illustrations, an introduction, and a conclusion. While the meat of your sermon is far more important, introductions, conclusions, and illustrations help your hearers see how the texts point intersects with their lives.

How do you do expositional preaching poorly?

1. Do no application. Expositional preaching is preaching that takes the main point of a scriptural text, makes it the main point of the sermon, and applies it to life today. Good expositional preaching will apply the text specifically: to different kinds of people in different spiritual states and different situations in life. 2. Use no illustrations or stories. Expositional preaching that has little human interest will be dry and flat. Expositional preachers should judiciously use illustrations and anecdotes that illumine the text. This helps people understand a text more easily and relate it to their lives. 3. Give excessive exegetical detail. Sermons that discourse on genitive absolutes and passive participles will feel academic and lifeless. An expositional sermon should explain the text, but it shouldnt seek to be an exhaustive, scholarly commentary. 4. Fail to set the text in its canonical horizon. Poor expositional preaching will attempt to explain a passage of Scripture without explaining where the text lies within the whole scope of Scripture and redemptive history. In order to truly explain a text you must explain how it relates to the rest of the Bibles storyline. 5. Fail to connect the text to the gospel. The most important aspect of connecting a text to the rest of Scripture is connecting it to the gospel. All of Scripture points toward and explains the saving work of Christ (John 5:39). Fail to preach the gospel as it arises from the text and youve failed to communicate the point of that passage. Also, your sermon will quickly veer toward moralism.

6. Fail to preach the text with appropriate urgency and weight. Gods Word urges us to renounce our sin, warns us of coming judgment, calls us to trust in Christ, and demands our joyful obedience. Expositional preaching that doesnt have appropriate urgency and weight detracts from the authority of Gods Word.

Why should expositional preaching include biblical theology?

1. Biblical theology is necessary in order to understand the text. We can truly understand a text of Scripture only by situating it within the overall narrative of redemptive history. 2. Biblical theology is necessary in order to apply the text. In order to understand how passages from Leviticus or the Psalms or Amos or Acts apply to Christians today, we need to understand the continuities and discontinuities between the texts place in redemptive history and ours. For instance, if youre preaching from Leviticus, you need to teach your people that Christs death on the cross fulfilled the entire Levitical system and rendered it obsolete (see Hebrews 8-10) in order for them to understand how a passage from that book applies to their lives. 3. Biblical theology enables you to preach the gospel from every passage of Scripture. One biblically sound way to preach the gospel in every sermon is to relate the text to the overall narrative of Scripture, the center of which is the saving death and resurrection of Christ. 4. Biblical theology is necessary in order to explain how the Bible fits together. By showing how different portions of the Bible relate to the others, biblical theology enables Christians to understand the Bible as a coherent whole. 5. Biblical theology strengthens Christians confidence in the unity and truthfulness of Scripture. By demonstrating how God keeps his promises, how prophesies have been fulfilled, and how all the Old Testament points forward to the work of Christ, biblical theology strengthens Christians confidence in the unity and truthfulness of Scripture. 6. Biblical theology inspires and encourages Christians. When Christians understand the sweeping grandeur of Gods saving purposes they will be inspired to worship God and encouraged to persevere in faith.

Why should expositional preaching include systematic theology?

1. Systematic theology is necessary in order to understand the text. When a text refers to God, or man, or sin, or Christ, or the church, or faith, you are in grave danger of distorting the meaning of those concepts unless you know what the whole Bible teaches about them unless you know the Bibles systematic theology. Also, without systematic theology you lack a crucial tool for defending against false interpretations of texts. In order to rightly interpret a verse in light of all of Scripture and defend a true interpretation against false ones you need systematic theology. Does Matthew 16 declare Peter to be the first pope? Well, that chapter does not say exactly. How you put together the rest of Scripture will affect how you then read Matthew 16 and answer that question. 2. Systematic theology is necessary in order to preach the gospel. Every expositional sermon should include the gospel because no text has been fully expounded unless it has been related to the gospel (through biblical theology). Yet in order to preach the full gospel you must preach what the Bible teaches about Gods holiness, our sin, Christs atoning death and resurrection, and our need to repent of sin and trust in Christ. Apart from a biblical summary of each of those thingsthat is, apart fromsystematic theologynone of those things make sense. Systematic theology is necessary in order to preach the gospel. 3. Systematic theology is necessary for spiritual growth. In order to grow in trusting God, a Christian needs to know what God is like. In order to grow in holiness, a Christian needs to understand the nature and offense of sin, as well as what God has done to save us from sin by sending Christ to die. This doesnt mean that every Christian has to pore over thousandpage books, or even that every Christian has to understand the technical vocabulary of systematic theology. But it does mean that in order to grow spiritually every Christian needs to grow in his understanding of what the Bible teaches about God, sin, Christ, faith, and the duties of the Christian life. This comes through reading Scripture, synthesizing it, and applying it to our lives.

How does expositional preaching differ from other kinds of preaching?

1. Topical Preaching: Topical preaching is preaching in which the preacher picks a topic he wants to address and then finds biblical material to fit that topic. Topical preaching is driven by the preachers agendawhat he wants to talk about. Expositional preaching, on the other hand, begins with the Bible. A preacher does not decide what to preach and then look at Scripture; rather, he looks at a text of Scripture and allows Scripture to determine what he preaches. 2. Exegetical lecture: Expositional preaching is not simply an exegetical lecture on the meaning or structure of a text. Rather, it applies the text to the personal details of a

congregations lives. This wont result in dry, dusty lectures because expositional preaching calls people to repent of their sin and trust in Christ and worship and obey God. 3. Story-driven inspirational speaking: Expositional preaching unfolds the meaning of a biblical text and applies it to life today. This means that a preacher should primarily explain the text and its relevance, not tell inspiring stories. 4. Narrative preaching: People today claim that preachinghas to tell a story in order to reach postmoderns, since people today like stories. Of course, people have always liked stories. And stories can be useful insofar as they explain the text and call attention to the text, not just the story! The point is, sinners who are separated from God need to hear from God. They need to understand his words, and what hes saying to them. So however its done, a preacher should teach and apply the main point of a scriptural text to the lives of his hearers. 5. Dialogical preaching: Postmoderns dont like monologueexcept when theyre giving one! So people today say that preaching must be dialogical. It should invite others perspectives and contributions through dialogue. But expositional preaching is fundamentally monological. One man stands up and declares the mind of God from Gods Word to the people.

Is expositional preaching the only kind of preaching a pastor should do?

No, expostional preaching is not the only kind of preaching a pastor should do. But 1. A pastors regular, week by week preaching should be primarily expositional. Only by explaining and applying the meaning of successive biblical texts can a preacher let Gods agenda lead the congregation, rather than his own. 2. A pastors regular preaching should be expositional because Gods Word is what gives life to dead sinners and sanctifies struggling saints (1 Pet. 1:23; Jn. 17:17). Gods Word is what convicts, converts, sanctifies, and builds up his church. A regular diet of anything other than expositional preaching actually hinders the work of Gods Word because it fails to tell the church what God has said, all that he has said, and only what he has said. 3. A pastors regular preaching should be expositional because only by preaching sermons in which the point of a biblical text is explained and applied can a pastor teach his flock how to read the Bible and profit from it themselves. 4. A pastors regular preaching should be expositional because a preacher will grow most in his knowledge of God and his Word by diligently studying Gods Word each week in order to understand it and apply it to his congregation. Other kinds of preaching essentially allow a preacher to preach what he already knows and pick Bible verses to back it up. Expositional preaching requires the preacher to wrestle with a different text every single week, which will sharpen and challenge him in ways that would never happen otherwise.

How do we get from any given text to the gospel?

1. Set the text within the context of the whole book its in. The unique themes of the book will point the way to Christ. The themes of creation and promise in Genesis, redemption in Exodus, holiness and sacrifice in Leviticus, and so on, all ultimately point to Christ, and individual passages within those books generally highlight those themes in some way. 2. Point out how the theological themes of a passage relate to gospel themes. Does the passage have anything to do with sin, righteousness, judgment, law, sacrifice, redemption, faith? Tie any of these theological themes to the gospel as their explanation and culmination. 3. Point out where the passage occurs in the overall storyline of redemptive history and tie the passage to the gospel along salvation-historical lines. Creation is the paradigm for salvation. The fall and its effects are the reason we need for salvation. The history of Israel is a preparation for the coming of Christ and a foreshadowing and prototype of Gods saving kingdom. The exile demonstrates Gods judgment on sin and our need for a Savior. And we live in between the first coming of Christ (which the New Testament records and interprets) and the second coming of Christ (which it predicts). By situating a text within the grand history of redemption you can point out how it relates to the gospel, and you can then preach the gospel. (This material has been adapted from D.A. Carsons chapter Biblical-Theological Ruminations on Psalm 1 inResurrection and Eschatology: Theology in Service of the Church, edited by Lane G. Tipton and Jeffrey C. Waddington, [Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2008] pages 120134)

How can a preacher apply a text to the church as a whole?

1. Look for ways to teach and affirm biblical commands about what the church does when it gathers. 2. Look for opportunities to teach the congregation about their individual responsibilities to one another in daily Christian living. 3. Look for ways to promote trust in the churchs leadership. This doesnt require you to wait for texts that explicitly address those topics. For example, any text encouraging Christians towards humility can be legitimately applied by exhorting church members to submit to their leaders and one another.

In conclusion, a preacher should develop an eye for perceiving the Christian life through a congregational lens such that he can see how any biblical command will look when its applied to the life of the whole church. One practical way to do this is for the preacher to take the application points in a sermon hes going to preach and ask, How would this look if it was applied to our church as a whole? How does this point relate to the corporate life of our entire church?

What should a pastor do whose people dont like expositional preaching?

1. Spend more time preparing excellent sermons. Spend more time studying the text, meditating on it, praying over it, making sure you understand it. Spend more time praying for the members of your congregation by name, asking God how the text might apply to them. Sacrifice other items in your weekly calendar so that you can prayerfully prepare excellent sermons. 2. Preach excellent expositional sermons. Clearly unfold the meaning of each passage each week and carefully apply it to your peoples lives. If theyre not used to long sermons, dont preach long sermons. If theyre not used to complicated sermons, dont preach complicated sermons. If theyre not very biblically literate, be careful to explain the basics. Your preaching has to set the standard for their spiritual lives, not the other way around. So preach expositionally in order that your people would begin to understand the Bible and develop a growing desire to hear it preached. 3. Teach your people why you preach expositionally. Explicitly teach your church what expositional preaching is, why its faithful to Scripture, and how they can get the most out of it. Teach this in sermons, Sunday Schools, church newsletters, and wherever else you have the chance. 4. Be patient. It will take time for your people to develop an appetite for substantial biblical preaching. So patiently instruct and encourage your people. Bear with them. Fruit doesnt grow overnight. 5. Pray for them. Pray that God would work in them by the power of his Spirit, through his Word, so that their lives would be transformed by the preaching of his Word. As God works in them by his Word, the church will, by Gods grace, develop a deep hunger for his Word because theyve tasted its power. So pray that your people would hunger for, delight in, and obey Gods Word.

LIFE APPLICATION
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