“Your Generosity is Changing Lives”
THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE
Preaching is central to the ministry of Bethel.
The Apostle Paul wrote that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16). In other words, God has given us everything we need to know about salvation and our purpose in life in the Bible.
The pastor has been given a mandate by God to preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Tim 4:2). At Bethel, we believe that the best way to learn the Word of God is to study it the way it was written, one verse at time. At Bethel we teach/preach the Word of God verse by verse and book by book. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4 NIV).
For over 2,000 years the Christian Church was built upon this dependence upon Scripture! We believe that this same practice should be continued today. There are a lot of Bible believing churches today but few Bible teaching churches. At Bethel, our goal is to preach/teach the Word of God as it was given to us one book at a time.
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.
Expository preaching grounds the message in the text so that all the sermon points are the points in the text, and it majors in the text major ideas. It aligns the interpretation of the text with the doctrinal truths of the rest of the Bible. The unfolding (exposition) of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple Psalm 119:130 (ESV).
10 Reasons for Expository Preaching: