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[ # ] What style of preaching is best?
Posted by Eric Stillman on April 13th, 2010 under NewLife, PreachingPrint This Post  Print This Post

For this week’s post, I wanted to turn things around on you and ask your opinion on something:

What do you think of topical sermons?

Over the past three and a half years at NewLife, I have tried different approaches to preaching.  For some series, I preach through a book of the Bible (e.g. Colossians) or the life of an important person (e.g. The Life of David).  For other series, I stay more topical (e.g. Death and the Life after that, Why Believe?).  My current sermon series, which I have called “Practical Christianity,” falls more on the topical side, in that each week deals with a specific topic (love life, parenting, work, money, etc.), but I am coming at it from the perspective of how to work out the implications of the gospel into each realm of your life (as Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13 – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose).

I am interested in your answer to this question because there are some churches that preach almost entirely topical sermons.  In these kind of churches, for example, there will be a series on what the Bible has to say about money, followed by a series on parenting, followed by a series on conquering your fears, and then one on love, sex, and marriage.  On the other hand, there are other churches that preach entirely verse-by-verse, going through one book of the Bible after another until you understand what it means and how it applies to your life today. 

I see strengths and weaknesses in both approaches, but I am curious to hear what you think.  Consider the following questions:

1) Is one approach more “right” or “Biblical” than another?
2) Has one approach helped you more in your spiritual growth than the other?
3) What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of preaching topically vs. preaching verse-by-verse?

If you’ve got an opinion, please share your comment below.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:13-14)

Read the Comments

[ # 24515 ] Comment from Brandi [April 14, 2010, 3:53 pm]

Eric I have to say that I really enjoy the topical style sermons, they really speak to me personally. It helps for me to see how to live my life for God and build my life around Him not the other way around. I also really enjoying, for example, when you taught the love, sex, and marriage sermon series, when you sent us home with a question of the week to think about and discuss. We would talk about it on the way home in the car and that week. It really brought our faith to a whole new level when it was easy to understand and relate to, learning how to center God where he should be in our lives; first and foremost!

Either way its great, keep up the wonderful work! Thanks

[ # 24520 ] Comment from Tammy [April 14, 2010, 10:52 pm]

One weakness of topical Bible studies is that they are more subjective and more prone to presenting the view of the teacher. This is because it is easier to take verses out of context to make them fit the teacher’s position on the topic, which is dangerous if the teacher’s position is not Scriptural. Another weakness is that some topics may seem more relevant to some people more than others. This may cause some people to feel the sermon didn’t really apply to them. This can be avoided by choosing topics that are relevant to everyone, regardless of age, gender, marital status, etc. When you do that, though, you run the risk of making the teaching sound too generic. The strength of teaching this way is that folks may find it more relevant to their current lives.

One weakness of preaching book-by-book and verse-by-verse is that some folks may find it tedious and/or irrelevant to their own lives if the pastor doesn’t go out of his way to make it interesting and relevant to today. The strength of teaching this way is that there is a lesser chance of taking Scripture out of context, and there is greater opportunity for more in-depth study of God’s Word.

I don’t know that I think either method is more Scriptural than the other, but I do think churches that only do topical studies need to be very, very careful about not twisting God’s Word. I think either method is fine ~ as long as the teacher watches out for the pitfalls to that study method; as long as the teacher doesn’t twist God’s Word to try and make it say something it doesn’t say; and as long as the teacher engages the Bible students in the study (by making it relevant to their lives today) and by challenging them to dig into God’s Word for themselves (rather than letting the teacher do all the work for them).

Personally, I have studied God’s Word both ways and have thoroughly enjoyed and grown from both methods. I also really enjoy your teachings, Eric. Perhaps alternating each series between the two methods would be something to consider doing.

[ # 24543 ] Comment from Reginald Gabel [April 16, 2010, 9:27 am]

For me is use topical on Sunday mornings and expository/verse by verse mainly on Sunday nights. I agree that using topical you must make sure that it is not just your thoughts but what the people need. If pastors will truly seek the Holy Spirits guidance, the topic sermon will reach those whose heart is open to the Word. Each church needs are different and the pastor needs to allow the Holy Spirit to guide him. To often preacher will here a sermon he likes and will preach it for that reason only. A PASTOR will know his folk and will be lead to deliver messages that will help build the church. I believe that we should plan ahead our messages. It helps make sure that we are bringing the whole gospel to the flock but we should always be ready to allow the Holy Spirit lead us to a message that the church needs. My prayers are with you as you seek our Lords direction for your church.

[ # 24545 ] Comment from Eric Stillman [April 16, 2010, 2:09 pm]

Thank you for your comments, Brandi, Tammy & Reginald. I have found with topical sermons that you are more likely to find concrete ways to apply it to your faith and life, as you said Brandi. The challenge as I see it is to not preach in a way that is indistinguishable from other self-help experts. For example, I have been in churches that preached on a Biblical approach to money where a whole sermon was on getting out of debt or investing your money. They were helpful and relevant, but I couldn’t really see Jesus speaking to the people of his day on those topics. He was more likely to warn them about saving up for the future or about the dangers of greed (see Luke 12:15-21).

[ # 28291 ] Comment from Geoff [November 21, 2010, 10:28 pm]

It really all depends up what the Holy spirit is leading you to do. God works in you to do His will and as long as the motives of your heart and sermons are focused on people getting saved and growing spiritually then God will honor that and do the rest. Both approaches have helped me grow in my walk, and God always knows what the congregation needs to hear. It’s our job just to pray hard and listen.

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