Renewing Expository Preaching, Part 1: Why Verse-By-Verse Preaching Matters

Expository preaching
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As I often remind the people at my church, the Bible is not written to you, nor is it about you.

If we solely read the Bible devotionally, we can end up under that impression. Instead, the Bible is written for you.

It’s written for you to follow the point, trace the ideas, and apply the truth. Thus, preaching through books of the Bible teaches you to receive the message in that way.

4. It Refers Believers to the Value of Important Contextual Issues in Scripture

The Bible was written in historical settings and contexts that help us to understand God’s message and apply that to our time. Understanding issues of context, customs, and culture amplifies a given passage we are proclaiming.

When I preached on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11), I explained that he did so in the midst of an elaborate situation: Mourners were there, the highway from Bethany to Jericho was in a place that can’t be missed, and thus a place where the Pharisees would see as opportune to turn against Jesus. In discussing these details, listeners learn that when Jesus heals, the specific details often point to other realities. It reminds people the details of the Bible are to be valued because of the very nature of the Bible.

5. It Helps Us Resist Interpreting Scripture Based on our Preferences

We proclaim God’s Word as the standard by which we measure our lives. This means our preferences take a back seat to the revealed truth of Scripture. When we come to the Bible with a preconceived idea or preference, we might apply Scripture out-of-context (“proof texting”). 

Never preach in such a way that if your people dig deeper, they will find you took a verse out of context for your preference or any other reason. Never preach in such a way that when you get to heaven and meet the apostle Paul he says, “That’s not what I meant, and it was obvious from the context.”

My approach to preaching aligns with the late Tim Kellers approach. At Christianity Today, he once said that the majority of preaching in the church should be verse-by-verse, and should be expositional. I would add that it should be specifically verse-by-verse exposition working through books of the Bible, as that’s the best way to teach and shape a congregation.

Having said that, preaching by way of verse-by-verse exposition is not the only way to preach God’s Word faithfully. I will pick that idea up in Part 2. 

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Ed Stetzerhttps://edstetzer.com/
Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is the Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University and Scholar in Residence & Teaching Pastor at Mariners Church. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, is the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. Dr. Stetzer is the host of "The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast," and his national radio show, "Ed Stetzer Live," airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates.

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