In order for exposition to occur, it’s not enough to have purpose. I must make sure the purpose of my sermon matches the purpose of the preaching portion. In an earlier post I mentioned reading, Saving Eutychus, while on vacation. One excellent part of the book is the discussion of what it takes to preach to the heart. The author’s answer: “Where God is explaining something, we need to help people understand. Where God is warning us, we need to help people feel the urgency and weight of that. Where God is wooing us, we need to help people feel the pull of his love. Where God is correcting us, we need to show people that they are going the wrong way and to help them get back on track. Where God is comforting his people, we want people to feel the security and warmth of his comfort. And that, in a nutshell, is expository preaching.” (pp. 30-31).
Normally, when we think about expository preaching we often focus on the content of the sermon. Let’s also be sure the purpose of our sermon matches the purpose of the Scripture. This means asking and answering: How does your upcoming, Sunday preaching portion function for the Church?
Thanks Randy; good stuff. When working on my purpose statement, I try to answer the question: What response from the original readers would please the original writer? What might the author SEE happen with his readers that would move him to exclaim, “Yes! They got it.”
Great point about visible evidence that the sermon got through. I guess even attitude transformation (internal change?) shows up in real life.