Southwestern Baptist Tackles Expository Preaching

Earlier this week, the first-ever Expository Preaching Workshop at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ended successfully as more than 300 attendees from 10 states received thorough training in the field of homiletics under many prominent preachers.

Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fl. as the keynote speaker, the conference lasting from Feb. 28-March 1 featured others including David Allen, dean of Southwestern’s theology school and director of Southwestern Center for Expository Preaching, Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern. Additional insights on preaching were offered by Sidney Greidanus, distinguished author and professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich., whose published works have greatly impacted preachers everywhere.

According to David Allen, the conference’s goal was to provide “practical training and help to pastors in the genuine exposition of Scripture.”

Plenary sessions were held at the Center for Leadership Development of the seminary, covering many issues concerning expository preaching: the use of media, building evangelistic church, developing creativity, and using Old Testament narratives. Other sessions focused on “dramatic monologues and exposition and use of argumentation in preaching,” as reported by Baptist Press.

On March 1, Pastor Vines discussed the book of Ecclesiastes in his sermon before the audience of more than 1,100 seminary students and the attendees of the conference.

Vines, who had ministered in churches in Florida, Alabama and Georgia for nearly 50 years, addressed the participants that Ecclesiastes is the only book of philosophy in the Bible, but it can be used as an evangelistic inroad into the postmodern culture. He also added that Solomon’s search for pleasure and his pessimism mirrors that of modern man in many ways.

“There are really only two lessons taught in the Bible. The first one is taught in the Book of Ecclesiastes, that nothing in this world can satisfy the human soul. You have to learn lesson number one before you learn lesson number two, that only Jesus Christ can satisfy the human soul,” Vines said.

Written by “the preacher,” the book is a warning to all of the children of God, Vines said. If ministers are to find any satisfaction in life, they will only find it in Christ, rather than in learning, possessions, luxury or work, Vines said, underscoring it as a message that ministers must carry to the world.

“Solomon gave himself to every imaginable pleasure, every imaginable enjoyment. But down at the end of old ‘pleasure road’ is insanity. It won’t make you happy.... The Bible teaches you that pleasure in and of itself has a law of diminishing returns. It takes stronger and stronger doses to get the same effect,” Vines said.

The positive outcome of the event was evident immediately.

Thomas White, director of the seminary’s Center for Leadership Development, said more such conferences will be scheduled in the future featuring other prominent pastor-teachers who have excelled in the art of preaching, as has Vines.

“With more than 300 attendees from 10 states, we may never know the full impact of this conference,” White said. “We look forward to establishing this as a yearly ‘must attend’ event for every pastor who desires to properly communicate God’s truth.”

Richard Spring, a Southwestern Seminary alumnus and pastor in Santee, Calif., said the conference is one every pastor should attend in the future.

“We should always be looking for ways to hone our skills in the pulpit. What I appreciated most about the conference was that I was reminded of how powerful the Word of God is. PowerPoint presentations and slides are useful, but there really is power in God’s Word. A lot of people tend to forget that, but Jerry Vines in particular showed that power in his sermon,” Spring said.