4 Kinds of Expositional Preaching

Written by Ed Stetzer

This following article is an excerpt from chapter 23 (Preaching in the New Church) of the new book Planting Missional Churches: Planting a Church That's Biblically Sound and Reaching People in Culture by Ed Stetzer.

You may also download chapter 23 in it's entirety Preaching in the New Church (86 KB PDF).

Four Kinds of Expositional Preaching

Planting Missional Churches

There are many different kinds of expositional preaching. The four most common are: verse-by-verse, thematic, narrative, and topical.

Verse-by-Verse Preaching
Verse-by-verse preaching is the systematic reading and explanation of a biblical text. In involves a unified book of Scripture and its piece-by-piece analysis. Mars Hill Church in Seattle is a well-known church that is effectively reaching postmoderns. The church Web site explains, “The beginning, the end, and everything in between. The Bible defines Mars Hill.”* The site lists recent messages from Pastor Mark Driscoll and other teaching pastors including text and MP3 files of each message. Recent messages include studies of Song of Solomon, Romans, Jonah, and other Scripture texts.

Thematic Expository (or Doctrinal) Preaching
Thematic preaching is an excellent form for preaching Bible doctrine. The speaker can focus on everyday topics by expounding a specific biblical text. The pastor can focus on Bible sayings on any relevant subject by a careful study and exposition of relevant biblical passages.

Thematic expository preaching generally appears in a sermon series over several weeks and introduces many Scriptures focused on the same theme. Thematic messages may include as many as ten or twelve Scripture passages in each sermon. Since the Bible tends to provide teachings on themes dispersed through different books, this form of preaching is a good way to preach the “whole counsel of God.” This method also introduces new believers or unschooled unbelievers to general themes and patterns that appear throughout the Bible.

Narrative Expository Preaching
Narrative preaching presents the biblical text in the form of story and follows that story to completion. A narrative sermon functions as a lengthy illustration that uses a biblical text as its beginning and end.

When using this form, the speaker shares a story from the gospel such as that found in the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4). In telling the story, the preacher asks the listener to join in the narrative. As a result, the listener sees the fullness of Jesus’ words and teachings. This type of expository preaching can be highly effective in postmodern North American culture, which has rejected most of our traditional approaches.

Some time ago, I discovered the value of narrative preaching during a church-starting crusade in West Africa. Although I believed I had preached a great message on the first night of a crusade, I found that the nationals had not connected with my verse-by-verse exposition of Luke 14.

On the second night, I adapted my style to use narrative exposition of the Nicodemus story from John 3. Those in attendance responded to the unfolding story with enthusiastic applause at key points. Their excitement grew. When I told of Nicodemus’s presence at the foot of Jesus’ cross, the crowd exploded with joy. Many responded to the gospel invitation that night. Over one hundred attended the first service of the new church.

Narrative preaching will grow more popular in the coming years. This is good news as long as the narratives remain consistent with biblical texts. Jesus demonstrated the value of narrative preaching by his use of parables.

Topical Expository Preaching
Of the four forms of exposition, I recommend this form the least. Its weakness grows out of the limits of time and the speaker’s inability to include enough biblical text about the topic in one sermon. Although I discourage this form, it is helpful at times.

Topical exposition generally revolves around one passage, centering on one theme. It is topical because it is usually a single message on a single subject. It is expository because it uses the biblical text as its source.

Most preachers use this form on special occasions such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Easter, but topical preaching does not provide adequate time to address the whole counsel of God as other methods do. Topical preaching limits opportunities for presenting proper understandings of the context as opposed to verse-by-verse preaching. In addition, the topical approach does not offer the opportunity to use the graphic and powerful images of narrative preaching. The church planter will probably use topical exposition, but it should be used sparingly.

This article is an excerpt from chapter 23 (Preaching in the New Church) of the new book Planting Missional Churches: Planting a Church That's Biblically Sound and Reaching People in Culture by Ed Stetzer.

You may also download chapter 23 in it's entirety Preaching in the New Church (86 KB PDF - Right click the link and choose "Save Target As").

Ed Stetzer has served churches for 20 years, served as a seminary professor, and now is senior director of the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission Board where he researchers churches and culture for more effective ministry.

He holds two masters and two doctoral degrees and has written dozens of articles and books including Breaking the Missional Code and Comeback Churches.

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