Weekly Upwords: The Expository Preaching Edition
Philip Harrelson of Dothan, Alabama and author of BarnabasBlog is doing some great work on preaching, particularly expository preaching. Expository preaching is a preaching method attempting to be thoroughly biblical, focus on what the text actually says, and work through passages of Scripture in sequence. Biblical impetus for this is found in the examples of Ezra in Nehemiah 8:7-9 and Paul in Acts 20:26. This may be foreign to some but it has been the tool of some of the greatest preachers in Christian history. Also, I have been greatly blessed by it as my own pastor often preaches this way through passages of Scripture. He recently finished a series on the Sermon on the Mount and is now working through the book of Ephesians.
So I commend to you Harrelson’s discussion over at BarnabasBlog: How Expository Preaching Changed Me.
Readers, if you have the time I would be interested to know your honest opinion: as a person on the pew do you enjoy a preaching/teaching method that works through passages of Scripture in sequence, in a series?
Bro.,
I have been reading your blog for probably a year now. I really enjoyed your articles on going and meeting Bro. Mangun at POA and on meeting up with Jeff Arnold. Very interesting and helpful.
I really enjoy your perspectives on preaching and teaching the Scriptures. You take the task of preaching very seriously and studiously, attempting to take the Bible on its own terms. We need a lot more of that. I believe that Pentecostal preaching is some of the greatest in the world, but I’m not sure how serious we take the Scriptures week-in and week-out.
I have been familiar for a long time with the concept of expository preaching through such voices as John MacArthur, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and many others. But I had never seen anyone among us discuss this method and style seriously and was thrilled to see you do so. I was also thrilled when my own pastor started doing this last year. It is fantastic!
My home church is the UPC of Highland Village in Bloomington, IN, pastored by Bro. B. Andrew King. He spent about 7-8 months in the Sermon on the Mount on Sunday mornings.
Yo Chris,
Not sure how you found my ramblings but thanks for the link and thanks for your comments.
God Bless,
PH
P.S. — Who is your pastor who preached through the SOM?
Mark,Good leettr. There certainly is a place for the “topical” sermon, but I do believe that by and large we are called to feed our flock from books of the Bible. As a good friend of mine put it to me: “I don’t care what you think. I don’t care what I think. I care what God thinks.”