Though we believe there are times and needs for topical teaching, our main method of preaching/teaching is expository, where we would move through books of the bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter exponding on them, and allow it to apply to our lives. This is not an exhaustive list, but here are several reasons why we see this as most glorifying to God:
The Reasons for Expository Preaching:
1. It keeps the speaker chained to the text, allowing the Word to dictate the message.
2. It teaches us to value the authority of the scripture, not just the messenger.
3. It underscores the priesthood of the believer, that everyone can read, understand and learn the application of scripture.
4. It forces the church to deal with the “hard texts” of scripture.
5. It unveils the complete metanarrative – the overarching story of the Bible.
6. Likewise, it reveals the cohesion and totality of scripture found in the message of the Gospel.
7. It prevents the preacher from deriving his message from personal experience alone or current personal problems.
8. It demands a deeper scholarship of the preacher, having to rightly discern the message and intent of the text.
9. Instead of prooftexting, It forces us to deal with scripture inside the bounds of context.
10. It trains up good “Bereans”, reminding the believer to consider the whole counsel of God’s word.
11. It promotes maturity by removing the desire and propensity for a “new” revelation or instruction.
12. It allows for revelatory momentum of the message of scripture – building “line upon line, precept upon precept”.
"It is my contention that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching. Of course, if by an "expository" sermon is meant a verse-by-verse explanation of a lengthy passage of Scripture, then indeed it is only one possible way of preaching, but this would be a misuse of the word. Properly speaking, "exposition" has a much broader meaning. It refers to the content of the sermon (biblical truth) rather than its style (a running commentary). To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view.
The expositor pries open what appears to be closed, makes plain what is obscure, unravels what is knotted and unfolds what is tightly packed. The opposite of exposition is "imposition", which is to impose on the text what is not there. But the "text" in question could be a verse, or a sentence, or even a single word. It could equally be a paragraph, or a chapter, or a whole book. The size of the text is immaterial, so long as it is biblical. What matters is what we do with it. Whether it is long or short, our responsibility as expositors is to open it up in such a way that it speaks its message clearly, plainly, accurately, relevantly. . . " (Between Two Worlds)
John Stott, theologian/author.
GLORIFYING GOD THROUGH