Expositional

Expositional preaching means the point of the sermon is the point of the passage. The preacher doesn't pick a topic and hunt for verses to support it; he takes the next passage in the book and explains what it says, what it meant to the people who first heard it, and what it means for us. Over time, the church works through whole books of the Bible — Genesis to Revelation, in sections, in order.

This is what Ezra's men did in Nehemiah 8: "They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read." It's what Paul charged Timothy to do: "Preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). Not preach about the word. Preach it.

Because it keeps the preacher honest. When you preach through a book, you cover the parts you might not have chosen — the hard commands, the uncomfortable passages, the ones that don't fit the mood of the moment. The text sets the agenda.

Because it feeds people. All Scripture is inspired and profitable, and a congregation deserves all of it, not just the pastor's favorite topics. Working through the whole Bible over years gives people the whole counsel of God.

And because it teaches people to read the Bible themselves. When you watch a passage get opened up week after week, you learn how to open one up. Expositional preaching is discipleship in how to read.

It looks like a sermon with a Bible open in front of it, and a congregation with Bibles open in front of them. It looks like knowing what's coming next week, because it's the next passage. It looks like the preacher being corrected by the text as often as the congregation is.

It also looks like the gospel every week. Every book of the Bible is about Jesus, and preaching through them means arriving at Him every time — not by forcing it, but because that's where the Bible goes.