My blog will be moving to www.kimberleyfellowship.com. A link to Pastor's Blog is found easily on the main page. I have been posting for the last several months on both of these places and have decided to shut this one down for several reasons. 1. I would like to keep responses in one location. 2. I want to keep the blog associated with our church. 3. I would like to own my blog and have the posts saved on my computer, not with blogger. 4. People will more easily come in contact with our church website, so it makes sense to leave it on there. 5. It takes a lot more time posting on both sites.
You can still RSS feed from the other location, or if you like, you can join a list that received an e-mail when the blog is updated. Just send me an e-mail asking for that.
Check out my new post "How should you have responded to Sunday" here: 'http://www.kimberleyfellowship.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2009/11/10_how_should_you_have_responded_to_sunday%E2%80%99s_preaching.html
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Expository Preaching (part two)
One of the problems that I have found at Kimberley Fellowship teaching expositionally is that we often look at a book of the bible one chapter at a time. When we do this we can fail to see the broader themes that are going on over multiple chapters or the whole book. For example, last week we looked at 1 Corinthians 8 and Paul’s encouragement to place our love for each other over what we consider to be our ethical freedoms. Next Sunday, in chapter 9 we will look at Paul’s treatment of himself as a minister of the gospel. It would be a mistake for us to separate the chapters since 9 is a personal example of the principle Paul was setting up in 8.
Things like inconsistent attendance, poor memories, weeks where guests preach, etc all make it difficult to fully realize the momentum of book. But as a listener there are are things you can do to more fully participate in preaching the Word. You are encouraged to be reading personally the book that is being taught on Sunday mornings. It is a very helpful practice to read from the beginning of the book being studied all the way till the end of the chapter to be preached on that Sunday. Note taking can also be helpful as it gives us some summaries to look back on and refresh our memories. Consistent attendance is obviously my desire, yet I am also well aware that inconsistency in not always do to apathetic hearts. We we are sick or away for even one week consider discussing the passage with someone who was in attendance. I am considering proving notes in a blog post each week that summarizes what was discussed.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Things like inconsistent attendance, poor memories, weeks where guests preach, etc all make it difficult to fully realize the momentum of book. But as a listener there are are things you can do to more fully participate in preaching the Word. You are encouraged to be reading personally the book that is being taught on Sunday mornings. It is a very helpful practice to read from the beginning of the book being studied all the way till the end of the chapter to be preached on that Sunday. Note taking can also be helpful as it gives us some summaries to look back on and refresh our memories. Consistent attendance is obviously my desire, yet I am also well aware that inconsistency in not always do to apathetic hearts. We we are sick or away for even one week consider discussing the passage with someone who was in attendance. I am considering proving notes in a blog post each week that summarizes what was discussed.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Expository Preaching (part one)
Preaching in churches can look a number of different ways as you’ve probably noticed. The experience you’ll have in our church is teaching through a book of the Bible one section at a time and applying the message of those verses to our lives. It is a practice as old as Jesus and the apostle Paul (see Matthew 13:14-17 and Acts 28:23-28 for examples). Many of the most influential preachers in church history have used the messages of scripture as the basis for their content. D Martyn Lloyd-Jones spent 7 years preaching through Romans taking only a verse or two each Sunday. Charles Spurgeon, John Stott, John MacArthur, and Mark Driscoll also teach expositionally.
Alternatives to expository preaching are far outweighing it in recent days. Preachers are more often using personal stories and anecdotes to teach moral lessons. Topical preachers take an issue people have questions about and find verses that help advise. The unfortunate result of such preaching is that the message is limited to the preachers understanding and opinion.
An expository preacher spends hours each week studying what the scripture has to say. If his purpose is to listen to the text and apply it, God’s voice will be heard as the preacher hears it afresh each week. The choice of topics are also governed by God as the books of scripture set this schedule.
I personally began preaching expositionally as a pastor to high school students and found it to be effective. As a college student my pastor (and now father-law) told me that if I preach out of my own experiences and understanding I will exhaust them and have nothing left to say, but I will never be able to exhaust what is in the Bible. It has also come from my personal spiritual life. Christ began regenerating me when reading the epistles in high school. Since then I have read through books of the Bible applying their truths to my life.
The experience of the listener ought to focus on the text and then the heart. Working through the verses with the pastor is the listeners work. This involves shifting from weighing whether he or she agrees with the pastor to studying the verses to discover what God says. Once we have discovered this, open up your heart to apply this message to your life. Since preaching is done to a group, the application will be directed in a general sense. It is the listeners responsibility to deeply apply this application into their whole being.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” Hebrews 4:12
Alternatives to expository preaching are far outweighing it in recent days. Preachers are more often using personal stories and anecdotes to teach moral lessons. Topical preachers take an issue people have questions about and find verses that help advise. The unfortunate result of such preaching is that the message is limited to the preachers understanding and opinion.
An expository preacher spends hours each week studying what the scripture has to say. If his purpose is to listen to the text and apply it, God’s voice will be heard as the preacher hears it afresh each week. The choice of topics are also governed by God as the books of scripture set this schedule.
I personally began preaching expositionally as a pastor to high school students and found it to be effective. As a college student my pastor (and now father-law) told me that if I preach out of my own experiences and understanding I will exhaust them and have nothing left to say, but I will never be able to exhaust what is in the Bible. It has also come from my personal spiritual life. Christ began regenerating me when reading the epistles in high school. Since then I have read through books of the Bible applying their truths to my life.
The experience of the listener ought to focus on the text and then the heart. Working through the verses with the pastor is the listeners work. This involves shifting from weighing whether he or she agrees with the pastor to studying the verses to discover what God says. Once we have discovered this, open up your heart to apply this message to your life. Since preaching is done to a group, the application will be directed in a general sense. It is the listeners responsibility to deeply apply this application into their whole being.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” Hebrews 4:12
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