Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Why I love Expository Preaching

A story is told of a church who bought an old jewelry store building to be their church building.  The story goes that as they went in to the newly acquired building and began to clean it up someone noticed a gold shimmer in the floor sweepings pile.  They wisely collected the pile and had it appraised and sure enough it was gold dust left over from the jeweler’s work.  They took the dust to a refinery and were able to have the dust and debris burned away so that the gold could then be sold. Upon returning to the church building with the great discovery the members had the idea to take up the carpets and clean out the air ducts and take what was collected to the refiner as well.  They did so and the refiner found even more gold dust that was contained within.  It was enough money to fully pay for the building they had just purchased and then some!  They thought they had a great find in just the building alone, but diligent work yielded even more than they could have hoped for!

I see expository preaching that way!  That’s why it is no secret that I love it so much.  As I prepare for each sermon expositorally it is the process of mining the text.  Not just taking an over-view of what it says and gleaning maybe a beautiful picture of Christ salted with pragmatic suggestions for your life improvement, but looking in every crevice, nook, and cranny to find the truth there!  Doing this not only shows me A beautiful picture of Christ; it shows me multiple breath-taking, awe-inspiring, joy filling views of my Lord and Savior!  I see Him and know more about who He is and I see God’s plan to redeem me unfolding across the canvas of time.  Expository preaching yields for me the same result as that church, I go to the text knowing that in it there is a value, but find even more worth and value and treasures than I could have ever thought possible.  The Apostle Paul said that “all Scripture is God breathed”, all of it is “profitable” so that every Christian may be “complete” being “fully equipped” for every good work that our Lord calls us to! I find that studying and preaching in expository fashion best yields this fruit.  It is simply the process of opening up the Scriptures and trusting the Word of God to do its work trusting that His Word will never return void, it will always accomplish that which He sends it forth to do (Isaiah 55:11).  I love seeing the Word of God doing its work in your life and I rejoice seeing your passion for Christ increased as you come to know Him more.  I pray that we always maintain that view on our first love, Christ, and that we never tire of capturing views of Him from Scripture!  I love being on this journey alongside each of you and am honored to be your Pastor.

Four quick reasons I preach expositorally:
1.) It gives the best view of Christ and explanation of His Word (John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
2.) It helps keep my focus on Christ and His exaltation and off of me. (1 Corinthians 2:2)
3.) It provides a plan for delivering the whole counsel of God to the church. (Acts 20:27)
4.) It best leads God’s people to hearts that burn with passion for Jesus Christ! (Luke 24:32)

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