The Homily

“Preach the word…” (2 Tim. 4:2a)

Here is the plain command regarding the proclamation of God’s Word. We ought to expect our preachers to “preach the word.” A Biblical sermon is fundamentally an exposition of God’s Word. This means that a preacher doesn’t start with his own thoughts of what he desires or wishes to say, nor does he invent doctrines from his imaginations. A sermon is powerful and authoritative on the basis of its source, and that of course is God’s Word. A sermon isn’t powerful because of a personal story or illustration, the method of delivery or style of preaching, not even in the raising of one’s voice, per se. Sure these have their proper place in the homiletic process, but they are not the essential element in preaching - much less good preaching. Good preaching is the exposition of God’s Word. Commonly the topical sermon is viewed as the antithesis to expository preaching.  However, a sermon can take the form of a topical message and still be an exposition of God’s Word, if it is done right. The important idea in preaching is that the message must fundamentally be the explication of God’s Word.