St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

One of the most exciting developments to encourage expository preaching in the Portland area in recent years has been the creation of the Spurgeon Fellowship. This is a gathering of pastors who have a heart for Christ and a love for God's word.

The Spurgeon Fellowship meets at Western Seminary (5511 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland 97215) on four Tuesdays each academic year. Here are details of the next meetings:

September 9, 2008
DR. R. KENT HUGHES “A Prolegomenon To Biblical Exposition”
Introductions . . . Illustrations . . . Transitions . . . Outlines . . . Conclusions. The acquisition of communicative skills seems to dominate present day discussions of preaching. But before a preacher ever seeks to master certain techniques he must be mastered by certain convictions. What are the foundational presuppositions indicative of a biblically informed commitment to preaching?

October 14, 2008
DR. TODD MILES Session 1 “The King Of The Kingdom”
The evangelical church has historically struggled with the tension between the proclamation of the gospel and a call to social action. Recently, the rise of the Emerging Church has shifted attention to the biblical theme of the kingdom of God, often couched in a call to social action and missional living. But can there be a kingdom without the gospel? Can there be a kingdom without a King?

DR. DON CARSON Session 2 “A Pastoral Theology Of Suffering And Evil”
In a world running over with suffering and evils of many kinds, one of the most urgent and yet perennial imperatives of pastors is helping people cope with such awful realities. This is a modest attempt to show how several complementary biblical perspectives must be melded together to forge a coherent pastoral theology, thereby grounding grief counseling in the Word of God and in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

January 13, 2009
DR. SCOTT GILCHRIST “Staying Fresh In The Pastorate”
What is it that contributes to a fresh walk with God over the long haul? Why is it that some shepherds bear much fruit over an extended period of time while others seem to lose their effectiveness and joy? What can we do to ensure that we stay effective and God-honoring in our lives and ministries?

March 17, 2009
DR. ART AZURDIA “Worship: On Earth As It Is In Heaven”
“I prefer seeker-sensitive worship.” “Given our postmodern context emergent worship is the best option.” “Liturgy is the real key to worship.” Is worship content and style a matter of personal preference and taste? Should expressions of worship be defined by our distinct cultural mores? How should the gospel influence our corporate worship?

The Spurgeon Fellowship meets from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Lunch is provided without charge for all participants.

Contact David for more information.

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What is expository preaching? Here is a good explanation:

"Application is necessary in our preaching; of course it is. As J.I. Packer has put it so well: 'Preaching is teaching plus application (invitation, direction, summons); where the plus is lacking, something less than preaching occurs.'

"But it is just as true to say that where the teaching is lacking, and the sermon is mere invitation, or direction, or summons, then something less than preaching occurs. And furthermore, exhortatory or devotional utterances of this kind are inevitably lacking in authority, because the link between the message being given and the Scripture that has been read is far from clear. In reality, the authority rests upon the reputation of the preacher himself, and his own attainment of learning in the eyes of the congregation.

"By contrast, when the application can be seen to flow clearly and unmistakably from the text in front of them, the hearers cannot help but see plainly that this is a word not from man, but from God, and that the authority is not from man, but from God.

"That is why expository preaching, that simply opens up the message that is already there in the text and applies it to the hearer, is so important today. We want people to be saying to themselves not 'what a learned preacher; for I myself can't see anything like that is today's passage', but rather, 'Yes, I see that so clearly now - I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

Dick Lucas and William Philip

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A visitor to a cattle ranch in the Australian outback was intrigued by the seemingly endless miles of land without a fence in sight. So he asked the rancher how he kept his cattle from wandering off. The rancher replied, "Oh, that's no problem. Out here we don't put up fences, we dig wells."