Just a quick note to remind you that 50% off “National Expositional Preaching Month” sale ends today!

So if you want to save 50% on sermon series like:

Colossians, Esther, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Judges, 2 Timothy,
Revelation, Ephesians, or the 10 Commandments.

All of our downloadable sermon series are 50% off by using the coupon code preaching50.

So mosey on over to churchstrategies.com and you’ll be able to celebrate National Expositional Preaching Month with us!

P.S. Lots of people have registered for our FREE “Creating a Leadership Pipeline” webinar. If you haven’t, click here to be part of it. 

Here is my relationship with every message I teach:

Wednesday: I love it, I can’t wait to teach it

Thursday: Anticipation building. This is going to be awesome!

Friday: I can’t look at it anymore! I hate it. I wouldn’t teach this message at gunpoint!

Saturday: It might not be as bad as I originally thought. This might actually be preach-able. (By Saturday night, I can’t wait to preach it!)

Sunday: I think it went pretty well. I don’t know how, but God used it. I wish I would just say what I wrote

Monday: I’m never preaching again! (I’m staring at a blank page

Tuesday: I’m thinking about preaching again because I have to start my message for this Sunday

If you’re interested, over at churchstrategies.com we celebrating National Expository Preaching Month, so all of our sermon resources are 50% off. Simply use the code preaching50 at check out. You can check it out by clicking here. (P.S. the sale ends on Wednesday at Midnight, so if you snooze, you lose.)

I thought today I’d answer some of the most common myths associated with Expositional Preaching and Teaching:

Myth #1 – “Teaching expositionally is boring.” – No. Boring is boring. In fact, I find expositional teaching to be the most exciting style of teaching there is. I love hearing a great Bible teacher build his case by working through a section of Scripture.

Myth #2 – “Expositional teaching is too deep for unchurched people.” – We need to stop thinking that unchurched people aren’t smart or can’t handle anything other than basic truths. Unchurched people can handle any truth from the Scriptures as long as we communicate in an understanding way.

Myth #3 – “Book studies are too long and people will get bored.” – In my experience, I’ve found that it’s Pastors who get bored, not people. People want to learn and grow. So let’s not push our feelings on them.

Myth #4 – “Only Christians like expository preaching.” – Again not true. People like great preaching, whether expository or topical. The key is to engage people and communicate in a way that’s understandable and relatable.

Myth #5 – “Only topical preaching can adequately deal with felt need issues.” – Again, I disagree. While I agree that come subjects are best dealt with in a topical manner, expository preaching deals with felt needs quite well. Next tim you want to do a marriage series, work your way through Psalm 127 or Ephesians 5. Want to teach on loneliness? Psalm 142 is a great text to work your way through. Want to talk about money? Timothy 6 is a good place.

My point is, don’t believe the things you’re heard about expositional teaching. I still believe it’s the best way to disciple a congregation and give them the whole counsel of God.

If you’re interested, over at churchstrategies.com we celebrating National Expository Preaching Month, so all of our sermon resources are 50% off. Simply use the code preaching50 at check out. You can check it out by clicking here. 

This is a great question! While I believe you should teach whatever the Lord leads you to teach, if you’re looking for suggestions on what books of the Bible to preach first as you begin teaching expositionally, here’s a few:

1. Colossians – 4 chapters. Tons of application. Great theology to stretch your hearers.

2. James – Off the charts practical. Great topics to cover that the church always needs to hear.

3. Habakkuk – Short book. Not overwhelming. Great Application

4. Ruth – Beautiful story. Great opportunity to stretch your hearers with some Old Testament history and great application about God’s faithfulness throughout the book

Here’s a couple of books that helped me over the years become a better expositor: 

1. Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson

2. Rediscovering Expository Preaching by John MacArthur

If you’re interested, over at churchstrategies.com we celebrating National Expository Preaching Month, so all of our sermon resources are 50% off. Simply use the code preaching50 at check out. You can check it out by clicking here. 

“Bob, can you talk about how you teach expositionally and still reach unchurched people?”

I get this question pretty regularly. The reason is, many guys who teach the Bible verse by verse don’t seem to reach people far from God with this style of teaching. On the other hand, a majority of the Pastors who take evangelism seriously primarily teach topically and believe this is the best way to reach unchurched people.

This question hits on 2 things that are very important to me:

1. Preaching verse by verse through the Bible

2. Reaching people far from God

By answering this question I have to deal with a misconception: that expositional preaching is primarily a tool to reach believers and topical/ felt need preaching is what reaches unchurched people.

I don’t buy this idea at all. I am thankful to the Lord that we’ve seen close to 1,000 new believers at Calvary in the last year and the whole time we’ve seen preaching through books of the Bible (including Romans, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Obadiah – yes you read that correctly).

The key to teaching expositionally that connects with unchurched people is to teach with a point. Working through a section of Scripture, explaining the meaning and giving relevant application.

I believe expositional teachers have an advantage over primarily topical teachers: unchurched people sit and watch us work through a chunk of Scripture and they say, “That’s what the Bible says.”

The purely topical teacher hops around and pulls a random verse here and there and the unchurched person wonders if that’s what those verses really mean because they aren’t in context.

Obviously, I’m making generalities but the point is that teaching through a chapter or paragraph of Scripture assures the listener that there’s no “funny business” happening with the text as it’s being preached.

Once again, I know there’s guys who live and die by topical preaching and to them I say, “God bless you. Do what God has led you to do.”

For me, I am sold on teaching the Scriptures verse by verse (although I believe there are topics that are better handled in a topical manner) because it’s the best way to disciple a congregation. Plus, it’s a great way to reach unchurched people who are skeptical about the Bible.

If you’re interested, over at churchstrategies.com we celebrating National Expository Preaching Month, so all of our sermon resources are 50% off. Simply use the code preaching50 at check out. You can check it out by clicking here.