“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” -2 Timothy 4:2

People in my church know that in January (2024) I am beginning my Doctorate of Ministry in Expository Preaching. My studies will 100% online. I love to learn and so I am excited about sharpening my skills as a preacher. I wanted to take a few moments to share with you the three primary reasons why I decided to continue my education at this point in time.

1- PREACHING THE WORD IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I DO AS A PASTOR

This coming Sunday I will be preaching from John 21:12-17. In this passage you find this conversation between Jesus and Peter:

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

John 20:15-17

There are many different things going on in this passage but one of the main things is that Jesus is telling Peter that he needs to take care of his sheep. When Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep what he means is that Peter is responsible for teaching the Word of God to the church. Jesus is about to ascend into heaven and he wants Peter, and pastors today, to know that the preaching of the Word needs to be paramount in all that they do. Pastors are not CEOs running a business, they are shepherds who love their sheep by feeding them the Word of God.

2-EXPOSITORY PREACHING IS THE BEST WAY TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE

Pastor Mark Dever gives a very precise definition to expository preaching, “Expositional preaching is preaching in which the main point of the biblical text being considered becomes the main point of the sermon being preached.”

Expository preaching is the opposite of jumping around from various passages/verses in different books of the Bible. When a preacher is constantly jumping from one verse to another he runs the tremendous risk of saying what he wants to say and minimizing what the Holy Spirit intended to say.

Expository preaching is also an excellent way to model for people in the church how to study the Word of God on their own. It shows people the importance of rolling up their sleeves, digging into a book of the Bible, and working through it passage by passage.

3-CORRECTLY PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD IS CRITICAL FOR THE SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING OF THE CHURCH

I am deeply troubled by the false teaching that is all around us. I could give you example after example of the rubbish that is being promoted and taught every single day. And I am not talking about false teaching for people outside the church. It is disturbing to learn of all the aberrant theology that people are picking up from preachers, YouTube, Instagram, podcasts, blogs, etc. Almost every week I hear of another person that has been listening to the newest sensation on the internet and they are slowly being led astray by teaching that sounds good but misses the mark as to what the Bible is actually communicating.

In the passage I already shared with you, John 21, Jesus is telling Peter to feed his sheep. One of the things that is true about sheep is that they often times will eat things that will make them sick or kill them. With all this said it is imperative that faithful proclamation of the Bible is at the center of all that the church does. The sheep need a shepherd that will love them enough to feed them the pure Word of God.

God has given me a deep love for the church and for the Word of God and this is the reason why I am pursuing further education at this time.