The Four Sermons

An explanation of sermon styles and their significance

Recently there’s been a theme of conversation amongst a few of my fellow Christian friends, and that has been around the topic of preaching style. No, I’m not talking about fashion, but rather sermon methods. Just like many who are keen to a particular dress, genre, or taste, preaching styles are no different.
There’s four main styles of preaching that we find in the American church today.
These styles are: Expository, Topical, Evangelical and Christ Glorified (to be honest, I’m not sure what the exact agreed upon name for this final style is or if it’s even considered a style, but I will explain what I mean by it).

1. Expository preaching is a style in which the preacher is reading and explaining the meaning, cultural or historical significance, or any necessary contextual details of a passage and what is meant by the text.

2. Topical preaching has a focus on providing a message that either takes a theme, whether that’s current events or a theme within the Bible, then addresses it in a way that helps us apply actions or characteristics from scripture in a way that we can use them today.

3. Evangelical preaching is a form of preaching in which the speaker, addresses the gospel message. Usually speaking about our sins and need for a savior, Christ’s perfect life, His death on the cross and His resurrection, and our eternal salvation found in Christ through faith alone.

4. Christ Glorified preaching, is a sermon shared that speaks of the beauty and nature of God. This style of preaching can be understood in a way, as if a man were to simply speak lovingly about his wife’s beauty and the wonderful characteristics of which she bears. It is a chance to simply preach on the beauty and nature of our Lord and Savior.

The conversations I was having, usually involved one of my friends claiming that there is only one style of preaching that ought to be done from the pulpit, but I would argue that all four forms of preaching have their time and place to be utilized.

Now, let me start by saying this. Most churches, at least the ones that I have had experience with, do tend to lean heavily on one version and does not often times balance itself with all varieties. Most preachers, are often gifted with an affinity and skill set for one particular style, and find the others a bit more challenging or in some cases, not worth pursuing. Once that preacher finds their wheelhouse, they will indeed try and stick to it. For example, most musical artists tend to stick to one genre of music because they know that they will be successful in that area, and most football coaches tend to stick to a special style of play, such as the triple option, because they know that that’s what they’re best at. Though this be the usual case, a preacher ought to always be growing, and be willing to preach from his “non-dominant” side whenever he can in order to strengthen it, and give balance to his preaching. If not that, then he ought to provide room for other ministers to deliver messages that he is not as skillful in.

The reasoning for why I would claim that each style of preaching has its place, is because I grew up in a church that was predominately if not completely expository. Expository preaching now, is certainly my preferred style of preaching today, but this was not always the case. See as a young boy, I did not have the capacity to understand and apply most expository preaching, but rather most all of what was preached from the pulpit seemed like nothing more than spiritual jargon. However, once I left that church to attend a church that preached more so from the topical style, that is when I came to know Christ. You see, topical preaching at that time was what was palatable for me. It was my first taste of milk, while most of my life I had been fed meat just as 1st Corinthians 3:2 states “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.” Now I must also give credit to my expository upbringing, because in an unconscious effort, once things clicked after having experienced topical preaching, I was able to gain a quicker understanding of scripture than most of my peers, admittedly in a sort of Mr. Miyagi training style since. The Bible as a whole, felt so foreign and far away until it was properly explained to me in a more simpler way, but of course, when was the last time any of us read a book that was over 2,000 years old? It had simply been that for years, I had much of the framing of my faith, but I had not yet received the foundation of which it was built upon.

As for evangelical preaching, there is an attributed quote to Martin Luther and sometimes Charles Spurgeon (though there is some debate on how authentic this quote is) that goes “A frustrated parishioner once asked Martin Luther why he preached the gospel of grace every Sunday. Luther replied, “Because every week you forget it.” Though this quote may be a bit exaggerated, it bears a very real truth, and that is that no matter how knowledgeable you are of scripture, or how long you’ve been in the church, we are susceptible to forgetting the core of our faith, the gospel, every day. We are gravely beings with short attentions that are drawn to and fro by the faintest wind of interest, whether we believe so or not. We need to be reminded on regular occasion the state of our souls, if not for Christ, so there is always a place for this message whether new or old to the church.

Now, Christ Glorified preaching is a style in which I can honestly say, that I almost never hear preached. I simply write this style in to be considered for greater importance. Luke 6:45 says “…for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” I have often heard preaching that though is sound in theology, lacks all passion in delivery. More often I have heard believers talk more passionately about their favorite sports teams, than about Christ. For hours they can reminisce on old plays, favorite players, potential recruits, and the sights, sounds, and scents of game day, and yet when speaking of Christ, they more often speak of the theological ideas of former teachers such as Calvin, discuss contrarian ideologies, or historical riddles. So little do they simply bask in the beauty and awe of our Lord and Savior. A preacher of all men ought to be able to speak soundly from the pulpit of the greatness, character, wonder, and love of Christ Jesus. In many ways, we sings hymn of this kind, yet we do not preach of this kind. I would argue that sometimes, it is okay to leave a Sunday morning having not learned any new discovery, but rather simply have sat in awe of preaching the Glory and wonder of God as we have already known Him, just as Moses did and his face shone because of it.

Before I close this message, I would be remiss if I did not mention this last note. Though we grow from milk to solid food, we never fully outgrow milk. Be wary of ever believing that you’ve outgrown simpler messages. Even the most skilled musicians still practice their scales. Though once you’re mature in faith, you cannot survive on milk alone, do not also assume you can only survive on solid food without a drink once in a while.

There’s a time and place for all of these messages, and a healthy church balances them.