Expository Sermon

As the name implies, it is delivering a sermon by Bible exposition. N.M. Van Cleave in his book
Handbook of Preaching defined Expository sermon:

“Expository sermon not only takes a subject and main divisions from the text, but all the
subdivisions as well. It is usually based on a longer passage than the topical or textual sermon.
Often the text is a whole paragraph, whole chapter, or even a whole book. No idea can be
introduced into the expository sermon which does not come from the passage of Scripture upon
which it is based. It is an exposition of the given passage and that only.”

There are several advantages of expository sermon.

 It is easier for a preacher to create a sermon series in one single context.

 Apostles seems to be using the same mode of preaching.
 It promotes solid Biblical foundation in one single context.
 It protects the preacher to be accused of preaching to individuals and using the pulpit for
personal attacks or retaliation especially when conflict inside the church arises.
 It promotes solid exegesis because the message is just within the given passage.

Topical Sermon
Topical Sermon focuses mainly on a particular topic, or a topic within the text. Points does not
necessarily come from one single text and are usually invented by the preacher guided by the
rhetorical possibilities of the subject in accordance with the Bible and the preacher’s knowledge
concerning the topic.

N.M. Van Cleave gave 2 advantages for this kind of sermon.

 It allows the preacher to have a liberty in composition and full treatment of any subject.
 It helps the preacher to be more creative and opens a wider door for rhetorical eloquence.

But there are some dangers in using this type of sermon more often.

 The content of the sermon is basically at the mercy of the preacher instead of what the
Scripture is saying.
 More often it is too general in scope while the portion being presented is only a small part
of the main idea.
 There are lots of possibilities that the preacher can abuse the exegetical rules in order to
fit it in his sermon, especially that text passages from different points have different
settings and context.
 There is a tendency for the topical sermon to be too secular in form.
 There is a tendency that the preacher will be presenting his own personal views and
prejudices rather than what was the Bible really says.
  Topical is only good for preachers who does not preach frequently, but is not too helpful
for regular preachers since it is more difficult to think for more topics rather than allow
the word of God speaks to us.

Textual Sermon
N.M. Van Cleave defined Textual Sermon:

“The textual sermon tales from, the text and subject and the main divisions. The main points of
the sermon are only those stated or clearly inferred by the passage of Scripture upon which the
sermon is based. However, the subdivisions are invented in the same way that all the divisions
are invented in the topical sermon.”

This means that the main difference between the topical sermon and the textual sermon is that
topics did not just came out of the idea of the preacher but to what the passage is saying. And
that the points though added or invented, are clearly a part of one passage.

In addtion, among the three kinds of sermons; expository, topical and textual, I would say that
textual is half expository and half topical.

Textual Sermon also posseses some advantages

 It is more scriptural in design in comparison to Topical Sermon.

 The points are predictable since the sermon points can be found in the text.
 It also permits a variety of construction and selection of the preacher.
 Your hearers will not be left hanging since all the divisions and points can be found in the
text. Meaning, it can be as good as a finished discourse.
 Most likely to be remembered more than the topical sermon especially if the hearers
carefully followed the sermon. This is because, there will be a “memory connection”
between the passage and the sermon at the back of the mind of the hearers.