Knowing the marks of a healthy church is vital. In this lesson, Dr. Dever covers the first and most important mark of a healthy church: expositional preaching.
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Video Outline:
The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching.
Expositional preaching is the ground on which all other marks of a healthy church take root and flourish by giving the Word of God priority.
Expositional preaching is the basic diet of a local church.
What is expositional preaching?
Scripture shapes expositional preaching.
Expositional preaching is in service to the Word.
Expositional preaching centers on the Word.
God speaks through expositional preaching.
Preaching should be Word centered and Word directed, because God’s Word creates and sustains God’s people.
The Word is the central creative agent in all of Scripture and must be central in preaching because God saves by it alone.
The Word is at the heart of Reformation theology.
Expositional preaching makes and matures Christians.
God’s Word is as essential to our growth as it was to our conversion
God’s Word directs our lives and continually conforms us to Christ’s image.
God’s Word is to be the substance of preaching.
God’s Word is of the utmost priority.
Expositional preaching is what our culture needs.
Expositional preaching is often wrongly considered outdated.
Expositional preaching does not need to be reshaped.
Expositional preaching is not forever.
A day will come when faith will give way to sight.
Expositional preaching is a mark of a healthy church.
The Word must be absolutely central, so that preaching has a particular content and transparency of form.
The Word must be expected, such that church members should encourage, pray for, seek out, and thank God for Word-centered preaching.
The Word is the truth, so preaching must convey that the Word is the only place in which truth can be found.
Discussion Questions
What is the primary characteristic of expositional preaching? Is the preaching at WCRC expositional?
How can we eliminate barriers keeping people from receiving a healthy portion of expositional preaching (children / youth / young adults / middle aged / elderly / shut ins)?
What specific things can we do to ensure that expositional preaching remains "the ground on which all other marks of a healthy church take root and flourish" at WCRC over these next 10 years?
How should we express expositional preaching in articulating an answer as to what it means to be a thriving church in Worthington, MN in the 21st century?
