Watsonville Christian Church
We meet at the Watsonville Woman's Club building, 12 Brennan St., Watsonville.
Website: watcc.org Phone: 784-1429 E-mail: watcc@att.net.
We are a Christ-centered, Bible-teaching, Christian church. We're open by 9 a.m. Sundays for setting-up and fellowship. We have a pre-worship service prayer meeting for anyone desiring to attend, offer prayers, make prayer requests, or just sit-in. Our Worship Service begins at 10 a.m. and includes beautiful music and life-changing teachings from the Bible. Our teachings are expository, meaning we go through the Bible verse-by-verse explaining how to apply it to our lives. A Bible is given to anyone desiring to use during services and to keep. We stay and fellowship after the Worship Service. Our mission is to teach everyone to live unconditionally surrendered to Jesus Christ. You're invited!


From GotQuestions.org:

Question: What is expository preaching?"

Answer:
Expository preaching involves the exposition, or comprehensive explanation, of the Scripture; that is, expository preaching presents the meaning and intent of a biblical text, providing commentary and examples to make the passage clear and understandable. The word exposition is related to the word expose -- the expository preacher's goal is simply to expose the meaning of the Bible, verse by verse.

As a method, expository preaching differs from topical preaching and textual preaching. To prepare a topical sermon, the preacher starts with a topic and then finds a passage in the Bible that addresses that topic. For example, for the chosen topic of "Laziness," the preacher might refer to

Proverbs 15:19The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
   but the path of the upright is a highway.
and
18:9One who is slack in his work
   is brother to one who destroys.
and touch on
Romans 12:11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
and
2 Thessalonians 3:10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."
. None of the passages is studied in depth; instead, each is used to support the theme of laziness.

In a textual sermon, the preacher uses a particular text to make a point without examining the original intent of that text. For example, someone could use
Isaiah 66:7-137  "Before she goes into labor,
    she gives birth;
   before the pains come upon her,
    she delivers a son.
8   Who has ever heard of such things?
    Who has ever seen things like this?
   Can a country be born in a day
     or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
   Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
    than she gives birth to her children.
9  Do I bring to the moment of birth
   and not give delivery?" says the Lord.
  "Do I close up the womb
   when I bring to delivery?" says your God.
10   "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
     all you who love her;
    rejoice greatly with her,
     all you who mourn over her.
11  For you will nurse and be satisfied
    at her comforting breasts;
   you will drink deeply
    and delight in her overflowing abundance.

12   For this is what the LORD says:

   "I will extend peace to her like a river,
     and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
   you will nurse and be carried on her arm
     and dandled on her knees.
13  As a mother comforts her child,
     so will I comfort you;
   and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
to preach on motherhood, although motherhood is only peripheral in that text, being merely an illustration of the true theme, which is the restoration of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom.

In both topical and textual sermons, the Bible passage is used as support material for the topic. In expository sermons, the Bible passage is the topic, and support materials are used to explain and clarify it.

To prepare an expository sermon, the preacher starts with a passage of Scripture and then studies the grammar, the context, and the historical setting of that passage in order to understand the author's intent. In other words, the expositor is also an exegete--one who analyzes the text carefully and objectively. (See our article "What is the difference between exegesis and eisegesis?") Once the preacher understands the meaning of the passage, he then crafts a sermon to explain and apply it. The result is expository preaching.

G. Campbell Morgan, pastor of London's Westminster Chapel and known as "the prince of expositors," taught that a sermon is limited by the text it is covering. Every word from the pulpit should amplify, elaborate on, or illustrate the text at hand, with a view towards clarity. He wrote, "The sermon is the text repeated more fully." A sermon's primary function is to present the text.

While exposition is not the only valid mode of preaching, it is the best for teaching the plain sense of the Bible. Expositors usually approach Scripture with these assumptions:

1) The Bible is God's Word. If every word of God is pure and true (
Psalm 12:6And the words of the Lord are flawless,
  like silver purified in a crucible,
  like gold refined seven times.
;
19:9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
  enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
  and all of them are righteous.
;
119:140Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
  and your servant loves them.
), then every word deserves to be examined and understood.
2) Men need divine wisdom in order to understand the Word (
1 Corinthians 2:12-16 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

  "Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?"

But we have the mind of Christ.
).
3) The preacher is subject to the text, not the other way around. Scripture is the authority, and its message must be presented honestly, apart from personal bias.
4) The preacher's job is to clarify the text and call for a corresponding response from his hearers.

An expositor cares little if his audience says, "What a great sermon" or "What an entertaining speaker." What he truly wants them to say is, "Now I know what that passage means," or "I better understand who God is and what He requires of me."








Scriptures on this website are from the NIV-1984, 2011 or GNT.
Articles were written by Pastor John unless otherwise noted.

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