What is an Expository Sermon?

An expository sermon is one that makes the main point of the sermon a passage of Scripture. The point of the expositional preaching is to expose the meaning of a passage of Scripture.

This type of preaching differs from topical preaching because expository sermons start with a specific verse or passage and then draw their topics from the text, while topical preaching starts with a topic and then finds verses to support that topic.

Expositional sermons do not need to:

  • Need to focus on just a verse or two.
  • Need to present complex exegetical arguments or endless historical background.
  • Need to be dry, lifeless, or removed from people’s lives.
  • 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.

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We believe in expository preaching because we believe that God works through his word. God acts by speaking. God created the Heavens and the Earth by his word:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

God also recreates us by his word:

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:5-6)

As a body, we are also committed to preaching expositionally through entire books of the Bible.