• Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Preaching vs Teaching

exscentric

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I am a teacher but have preached about as much as I've taught. My mental make up requires me to type it all out word for word then I go over it a number of times before the presentation. I prepare for both about the same, though with teaching I often add overhead graphics.

When teaching I present info/ask questions and allow discussion. When preaching I have allowed questions and asked question and find that the congregation loves it.

Since everything is down word for word I make it available in digital format so my inability to work from an outline or simple notes has its advantages.
 

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
Isb;t Bible study, such as in a class setting in church/school, suppossed to be more into the full details of the text, while preaching is to highlight the "main issues?"

That has been my experience...although our pastor does go into depth with Scripture the pulpit does not afford the venue for discussion and exploring Scripture in depth as a group.
 

OldRegular

Well-Known Member
A brother made a comment on another thread and suggested that I start a discussion about the topic (he felt it didn't belong on his thread about how to teach a certain book). What came up was the differences in how we treat Scripture if we are preaching compared to an adult Bible study. His comment was that the Bible study is more superficial (a survey) and not as in-depth as a sermon. My experience has been opposite insofar as the depth of study, but regardless of mode it seems that when we approach Scripture we do so on its own terms (which demands study).

What do you consider to be designed for more in-depth study of Scripture….the sermon or an adult Bible study? How does your adult study approach the issue?

It depends. A good preacher preaching expository sermons can probably do a better job than an adult Bible study. This is particularly true if the adult Bible study uses the worthless SBC SS Literature.

Incidentally Mohler in his book He Is Not Silent states, page 49: I believe that the only form of authentic Christian preaching is expository preaching. I agree but how many preachers preach expository sermons? Also how can one really expound on Scripture in a 15 minute Rotary type talk?
 

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
It depends. A good preacher preaching expository sermons can probably do a better job than an adult Bible study. This is particularly true if the adult Bible study uses the worthless SBC SS Literature.

Incidentally Mohler in his book He Is Not Silent states, page 49: I believe that the only form of authentic Christian preaching is expository preaching. I agree but how many preachers preach expository sermons? Also how can one really expound on Scripture in a 15 minute Rotary type talk?

I suppose that I am fortunate in terms of our teaching. Our pastor is an excellent expository preacher but our adult class teacher is also an excellent expository teacher. What I have found is that the adult Bible study has more time to for in depth teaching (we spend several months on an epistle, each class being an hour and 15 minutes). Sermons are typically 45-50 minutes, but they are structured to cover a particular ground and conclude at the end of that time (where as if we only get through two or three verses in the study that is fine).

I have attended classes that have used the “worthless SBC SS Literature” you speak of…and I agree as to their value (for the most part…I have seen a couple of “study guides” that were not awful - but I prefer that the “text book” be the Bible).
 

OldRegular

Well-Known Member
I suppose that I am fortunate in terms of our teaching. Our pastor is an excellent expository preacher but our adult class teacher is also an excellent expository teacher. What I have found is that the adult Bible study has more time to for in depth teaching (we spend several months on an epistle, each class being an hour and 15 minutes). Sermons are typically 45-50 minutes, but they are structured to cover a particular ground and conclude at the end of that time (where as if we only get through two or three verses in the study that is fine).

I have attended classes that have used the “worthless SBC SS Literature” you speak of…and I agree as to their value (for the most part…I have seen a couple of “study guides” that were not awful - but I prefer that the “text book” be the Bible).

I fear you are one of the fortunate few in the SBC.
 
Top