Are you tired of sermons that preach man’s ideas instead of God’s Word? Believing the Bible to be a means of grace, our sermons are generally expository in nature. That means they derive application from a detailed analysis of a specific Bible passage. This analysis—often verse by verse—observes the details of the passage and then interprets them in context to arrive at the intended meaning of the author (who is ultimately God).
Such analysis is often described, technically speaking, as the grammatical-historical interpretive method. It seeks to understand the language of the text within the historical context in which it was given. The language analysis recognizes various literary features used in the grammar. The historical context includes considering expanding levels of context—starting with the passage and book, extending to the contemporary factors that inform the usage and meaning of the language, and ultimately to the context of the entire canon of Scripture. When done properly, this method aims to uncover the literal meaning of the text. To clarify, such “literal” interpretation does not ignore genre or literary devices that employ figurative language. Rather, recognizing when the author uses figurative speech is part of the overall grammatical-historical method, as it helps us arrive at the author’s intended meaning.
One reason this approach is so important is that it safeguards the preacher from adding ideas to God’s Word. When a pastor faithfully exposits Scripture, they are doing the work of exegesis—drawing out the meaning that is inherently there. The alternative is eisegesis, where the preacher incorrectly reads meaning into the text that is not inherently there. Expository preaching aims for exegesis and seeks to avoid eisegesis.
It is true that other styles of preaching can also be faithful to God’s Word. Some sermons are more systematic or topical in nature and may derive a biblical message through a faithful synthesis of various passages of Scripture. While there is a time and place for such sermon styles, our church especially enjoys expository preaching for its ability to clearly show how a sermon’s message and application are directly taught in the Bible. An added benefit of expository preaching is that it models for the congregation how to faithfully study, interpret, and apply God’s Word for themselves.
