Someone asked me recently if I tend to preach expositionally or if I tend to preach in a way that connects people to the vision of our church. My answer was: "Yes."
I do both. Expository preaching and vision-casting are not mutually exclusive. If every passage in the Bible fits into the overall message of the Bible, and if the vision of the church I serve reflects the overall message of the Bible, then it follows that every Bible passage I preach has something to say about the vision and direction of our church. I'm defining vision as ?a clear and challenging picture of what the future will look like for our church as we accomplish the mission God has given to us.'
In the church I serve, we have organized our vision around three key areas which flow out of a commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ: worship (loving God), community (loving each other), and mission (loving our neighbor ? locally and globally). I'm trying to work at connecting every sermon I preach to one or more of these three areas.
For example, the most recent sermon I preached was on Judges 4. The sermon's big idea was: God accomplishes His mission through people who take bold steps to help Him. By the way, Judges 5 (especially verse 23) reinforces this. My challenge to our congregation was to value having a "role" over a "voice." If you want to make an impact, the greatest opportunity you have is to be a "difference-maker" rather than a "decision-maker." Then, I talked about how Christ-followers advance God's kingdom through their commitment to worship, community, and mission.
In a previous sermon on Judges 3:12-31, the main idea was: God delivers His people from hopeless situations in unexpected ways. The connection to our vision related to the area of worship. Will we love God and remain faithful to Him when we see no way out of discouraging situations. My basic challenge was: "As we try to live out our mission, we're going to keep bumping up against problems and obstacles. Some of these we'll create because of our sinfulness. Others will come because of our commitment to the gospel. But when we face situations that are hopeless, let's not lose hope."
Again, my point is that expository preaching and communicating vision are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, one leads naturally to the other.
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 9:46 AM on March 14, 2008
