Topical Preaching

Last month, I introduced the concept of expository preaching, an issue which can no longer be restricted to discussions between preachers, or reserved for Seminaries and Bible College classrooms. Today, exposition has become an identity marker by which to evaluate churches. In his book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever lists expositional preaching as mark number one. Dever believes it is the most important characteristic of a spiritually healthy church, the foundation upon which the other eight marks are built.

If you think the subject of “preaching” is for preachers only, you would be mistaken. With the reformation taking place in American churches today, there has been a new emphasis upon expository preaching. Many “laymen” now consider expositional preaching one of the marks of a healthy church, and those who have been exposed to it are often reluctant to return to topical preaching again.