The Barnabas Blog

I continue this series of blog articles on expository preaching. In Part 1 , I explained some of my earlier interests in expository preaching and some antics in the topical sermon routes that I took. In Part 2 , I explained the importance and necessity of verse-by-verse exposition and the needed commitment to preach through lengthy passages of Scripture. In this third part, I want to give you some thoughts and ideas on beginning your own series of expository messages. 1. Begin with your interests. The first thing about beginning in the verse-by-verse exposition, you should work with a passage that you are keenly interested in. In fact, if you have a “candy-stick” this might be a very good place to start. If you have certain interests in biblical characters, you might work through a passage in the Gospels that lists the disciples. While this would be a series that is more biographical in nature, you are still grasping the concept that discipline is required to work on to the nex...

In a previous blog , I tried to introduce the idea of planned preaching and mentioned some of my own foibles in my “rookie” days of preaching. In this post, I want to try and at least attempt to put into your mind the merits of planned preaching. I also know that in Pentecostal circles that this concept can be met with some incredulity because there is that question about preaching “what the Spirit lays on your heart.” I’ve come to understand that when a minister says he is going to preach something that God has “laid on my heart” that it is either a) going to be very good or b) he is terribly unprepared and you are in for a long night. 1. Paul Encouraged It. So what about the idea of planned or expository preaching? My greatest defense of it is what Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. He informed them that he had preached the whole counsel of God. This passage literally infers to us that he had preached his entire way through the OT and had used the Epistles to do so. A...

On an e-mail group to which I am a member a question was recently posed by a pastor who had been serving his church for 3 years and was heading into his fourth year. He asked the question, “Can anyone suggest to me a plan for preaching that will cater to spiritual growth?” I believe the question to be a very valuable one and it was more than just a pastor looking for a nifty little sermon series that would appeal to the senses but never really settle the soul. Good Pentecostal preaching has always been high energy and high octane. Strong doses of encouragement and conviction could come in one message. There have been other times that I have heard messages that were geared toward a single focus that worked well. True Pentecostal preaching is more than just content, it is full of passion and anointing that will generally call for an immediate response in an altar at the conclusion of the message. This is healthy and it is a necessity. Increasingly there are s...