Expository Preaching in Youth Ministry
Every youth pastor wants their students to hear the Word of God. Honestly, I’ve never met someone who disagrees with this statement. As youth workers, we want teenagers to know God and to understand their Bibles. And yet, many undermine this desire by the way they handle the Scriptures while teaching.
It is my conviction that students hear the gospel most clearly and grow in their faith for the long-term when their youth ministry is committed to expository teaching. That’s a phrase that carries a lot of baggage for some, so let me explain.
What is Expository Preaching?
Expository preaching is an approach to teaching God’s Word in a way that the main point of the text is the main point of your message, and your listeners can clearly see how you arrived at that conclusion.
The purpose of expository preaching isn’t the same as a Bible lecture. We are not professors, but pastors. So our goal is to proclaim God’s revealed Word about Himself in order that students would know, love, and obey God. When the text is aimed at the head, then so do we. And when the passage stirs the heart, then we preach to students’ affections. And of course, we call students to obey the God who loves them and saves them through Jesus Christ.
We do not need to preach through books of the Bible to be expository teachers. But if we never teach through books of the Bible or through larger portions of Scripture (like the Sermon on the Mount, or the life of Joseph, for example), then it’s fair to question whether or not we cherry-pick our passages to say what we want to say, rather than trusting the Bible to set our teaching plan. Invite students to sit in Scripture. To drink in the goodness of the text. Doing this will model for students how to study the Bible when they don’t have you there to teach them.
The big picture of expository teaching is this: make the Bible your foundation, not merely a buttress that holds up your opinions.
An (Imperfect) Example: “What is Hope?” a message from Romans 15:13
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Introduction: Hope is one of the great cries of our soul.
We want to know things can and will get better.
There’s this incredible story about the great pastor and theologian Martin Luther. Some historians believe that Luther suffered from bipolar depression. One day his depression was so deep his wife went and changed into all black, as if she was going to a funeral. When Martin saw her, he asked who died. She replied, “God must’ve died, based off the way you’re acting.”
One of the first things we hear in Romans 15:13 is that God is the “God of hope.”
When you think about God - what’s he like? Is he just “up there” and looking over you?
The Bible consistently shows us a God who is personally and intimately invested in our lives. In the verses before this one, Paul spent time looking at God’s promise to Israel’s forefathers - and then he calls God the “God of hope.” Israel patiently waited for the messiah to come, and his name is Jesus. God keeps his promise!
Just look at Jesus - who could’ve stayed up glory and felt really sympathetic towards us… but he came to us in order to fill us with hope by doing everything necessary for us to become children of God.
God fills us with all joy and peace as we believe in him.
Jesus is why we can have joy and peace in this life. Joy and peace are gifts we receive by faith. They aren’t something we find from external circumstances. God fills us with them as we believe in Jesus, the promised savior who conquered sin and death.
That doesn’t mean God always makes everything easy for us. If he did, then we’d think our joy and peace comes from having easy lives rather than because they’re gifts of God, even in the midst of challenge and pain.
What does God want for us? To be filled with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
God is the God of hope, so he sent Jesus to save us, and he sent the Holy Spirit to refill us with hope every day.
So as we walk with Jesus this week, let’s remember that God is the God of Hope who loves us and has given us the Holy Spirit to fill us with fresh hope every morning.
Practical Help for Getting Started
The most important thing about expository teaching is this: say what God’s Word says. Nothing more. Nothing less. Don’t try to be impressive or wise. Just say what the Bible says and point students to Jesus.
Teach in accordance with your experience and giftedness. If you’re just starting out, then teach shorter messages that are fairly basic. There’s nothing wrong with that. God will still minister to your students through your teaching if you’re teaching the Word of God.
Resources for Developing your Teaching
If you don’t currently teach expository messages, here are a few books and training seminars to consider. More resources are listed on the Resources page here.
Biblical Preaching, by Haddon Robinson. This is a classic preaching textbook in seminaries around the world. It’s a classic for a reason. Robinson gives a solid argument for expository preaching and equips you to be able to do it.
Simeon Trust Workshops. These workshops are offered in various locations around the USA, and in various locations internationally. These three day workshops are intense and will give you a healthy dose of humble-pie - but they’re worth the investment. Simeon Trust also provides their courses as online modules, and they’re quite affordable - so round up a few other youth workers in your area and work through a course together!
Speaking to Teenagers, by Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins. The easy reading style is evidence that Fields and Robbins know how to boil down potentially-complicated topics into a clear and understandable message. If you have hesitations about the seeker-sensitive movement or attractional ministry, put those aside and just read the book. You might find a few things here-and-there to disagree with, but your preaching and teaching will be sharper if you come with a teachable spirit.
