Expos vs. Topical?

There has been a thought coming up a lot in my head and heart. It is more of a question than anything else.

The question is this: what is better for students: expository preaching or topical preaching?

I have asked this question to a few people and I have gotten a few interesting answers.

We talked about it in my community group and even though we got confused in a long conversation, the final outcome was why wait and not teach the power of the gospel?

I think it is a valid point. Because whether we think about it or not, the power of the gospel is the same. I look at many different churches, youth groups, preaching and it seems like the more growth I see, the more the gospel is prevalent in teaching.

Now I dont want to say that topical preaching is not a bad thing, because I think there is a lot of power in topical preaching. However, isn’t there a story in the bible about any sort of topic that you can think of? I mean when you talk about money you can think of the rich young ruler. When you talk about sex you can talk about Song of Solomon or David and Bathsheba. There seems to be a story for everything.

Should that be the way we teach students? Should we let the power of the Gospel be the dominant thought no matter what is be taught?

There is a common thread amongst friends that I have in youth ministry: preach the gospel and you can see God work through the words HE wrote.

So why does it seem so hard too get stories into preaching?