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Ten Reasons for Expository Preaching by E.K. Bailey

October 23, 2012 in E.K. Bailey, expository preaching, Preaching with 25 Comments

The late Dr. E.K. Bailey, founding pastor of the Concord Church in Dallas, wrote a booklet, entitled, “Ten Reasons for Expository Preaching.”

In this booklet, Dr. Bailey defines expository preaching:

“An expository sermon is a message that focuses on a portion of scripture so as to clearly establish the precise meaning of the text and to poignantly motivate the hearers to actions or attitudes dictated by that text in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Then Bailey gives ten reasons why the church desperately needs expository preaching:

1. Expository preaching creates a Bible-bringing congregation.

2. Expository preaching creates a Bible loving congregation.

3. Expository preaching a Word-conscious congregation.

4. Expository preaching forces the preacher to proclaim the whole counsel of God.

5. Expository preaching arms the people for spiritual warfare.

6. Expository preaching addresses the needs of people, which never occur to the preacher.

7. Expository preaching engenders tremendous interest in what’s coming next (in the text).

8. Expository preaching challenges the spiritual life of the preacher.

9. Expository preaching allows people to hear God’s word and not the preacher’s thoughts.

10. Expository preaching establishes the absolute authority of God’s Word as opposed to situational ethics.

Amen.

Join the conversation in the comments section. 

2012 E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference Updates

July 18, 2012 in E.K. Bailey with 1 Comment

The 2012 E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference is full swing.

It kicked off Monday evening with Matt. Chandler, who lectured on “the Godness of God.” The message emphasized 5 ways scripture affirms the authority of God: (1) creation, (2) providence, (3) nature, human rule, and (5) Satan. It was powerful.

I spoke after Chandler. I preached a message from Romans 11:33-36 that I called, “God Knows What He’s Doing!”

Tuesday morning, Dr. Steve Lawson preached from Exodus 33:17-34:7: “Show Me Your Glory!” It was typical Lawson: Fantastic!!!

Dr. Steve. Lawson is arguably the best expository preaching in the country. (Buy all of his books!) It had been a great honor to meet him and fellowship with him.

Tuesday afternoon, I taught two sessions of how to prepare biblical messages. I had a great time with the eager attendees, who desire to grow in the preaching. I shared my preparation process and principles. I hope it was helpful.

Last evening, Bryan Loritts richly blessed me with his lecture from 2 Timothy 4:1-5. He discussed what it means to preach the word and why we should do it. It challenge for us to disciple men was stirring. I look forward to getting to know Loritts better.

Dr. A.B. Sutton preached last night on “The Important of the Word” from Ezekiel 37:1-14.

This morning, I will be attending an extended seminar on sermon planning led by several pastors, including Dr. Steve Lawson.

This evening, the services will be held on the Concord Church campus. Dr. Harry Wright will lecture. Dr. Maurice Watson is scheduled to preach. And there will be a “late-night” service at 10 PM, in which Dr. John Adolph will speak.

SPECIAL NOTE: Tonight’s service will be steamed lived through the Concord Church website.

Tomorrow is the closing day.

I am scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion on biblical preaching.

Then there will be the Living Legends luncheon, in which we will honor the lifetime of service of Dr. Harry S. Wright, former Dean/President of Bishop College and former Pastor of the Concord Church in New York.

The meeting will end tomorrow evening with messages by Pastor Claybon Lea and Pastor Marcus Cosby.

Pastor Bryan Carter and his team have done a great job leading the conference this year.

I have been help and challenged and encouraged by all the sessions.

The fellowship has been warm. I have met new friends and spent time with old friends.

I will go home determined to be better Christian, preacher, and pastor. Praise God!

 

Thank God for Dr. E.K. Bailey

July 16, 2012 in E.K. Bailey, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

The year was 1990. It was the week I turned 18. A sermon shaped my future.

I was hosting a revival meeting. One night after service, my guest speaker said he wanted to hear E.K. Bailey preach at Mt. Moriah the next day.

I had heard the name before. But I did not know anything about E.K. Bailey. My guest said, “Shame on you!”

My guest would not answer any of my questions about Dr. Bailey’s minstry. He told me my questions would be answered tomorrow.

They were.

The next, Dr. Bailey preached to almost a full house. At lunchtime!

Bailey preached from Joshua 8. The message was entitled, “Reclaiming Lost Ground.” I will never forget it. In fact, I can probably preach the sermon from memory to this day!

As a sinner, I was both challenged and comforted by the message.

As a preacher, I was blown away! The message was homiletically enticing. Dr. Bailey had a presence about him. His voice was made for preaching. He commanded the room. But what struck me the most was that he simply explained the text.

I left that service determined to do what I had just heard.

By divine conspiracy, I was being turned toward expository preaching.

My father was a textual preacher. As a boy, I was more of a narrative preacher. I just tried to tell the story of the text.

But after my father’s death, the Lord rapidly and repeatedly introduced me to expository preachers through tapes and books.

By the time I heard Dr. Bailey, Pastors Melvin Wade, R.A. Williams, and Kenneth Ulmer – Los Angeles preachers who were expository in their preaching – had already made a strong impression on me.

But hearing Dr. E.K. Bailey sealed the deal for me. I became a student of expository preaching that day.

In the succeeding years, I heard Dr. Bailey preach at every opportunity. I hoarded tapes of his messages from around the country. He became one of my homiletical heroes. He still is.

Then I was exposed to the E.K. Bailey Preaching Conference.

I was only able to attend once. But I sent my associate preachers every year. I sent them for their benefit. I also sent them to bring me back the tapes/CDs!

The year I went was life changing. I sat in classes that were Bible-based, practical, and thorough. It was like drinking from a fire hydrant.

I was impressed that the conference was not built around Dr. Bailey. He spoke several times. I also heard many other respected preachers speak and lecture.

Moreover, I was blessed by the multiracial line-up of speakers. I heard E.K. Bailey, Al Louis Patterson, Jasper Williams, and Myles Jones. But I also heard Warren Wiersbe and Stephen Olford. It was incredible!

During a dinner conversation, a white Christian friend remarked that Dr. E.V. Hill had done more to bridge the gap between white and black Evangelicals in the last 30 years.

I agreed and disagreed. Dr. Hill introduced many white Evangelicals to black church preaching. But Dr. Bailey introduced many African-Americans to a more biblical method of preaching that crossed racial lines.

Though I heard Dr. Bailey in person many times, I really did not know him that well. He was kind to me, because I was a son in the ministry to his longtime friend, Melvin Wade.

But toward the end of life, for some unknown reason, he began to reach out to me and went out of his way to encourage me. It meant the world to me.

One of the last times I heard Bailey preach, I cried. He was giving his opening remarks! I was grateful for the impact he had on my ministry.

I have been influenced my many white expositors. At the same time, I always pray that God would raise up model African-American expositors.

Dr. Bailey was an answer to that prayer!

Even though he is now a blessed memory, Bailey continues to influence preachers – young and old, black and white – to be committed to biblical preaching. The Concord Church continues to grow. And the E.K. Bailey conference is still going strong, under the leadership of Pastor Bryan Carter and the Concord team.

Likewise, the Lord is using Dr. Shelia Bailey around the country to disciple women. And her S.T.A.N.D. Conference, which meets at the same time as the Bailey Conference, is also having a great and positive impact.

Please pray for the 2012 E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference this week.

As you pray, thank God for Dr. E.K. Bailey!

An Invitation to the 2012 E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference

July 5, 2012 in 2012 Speaking Engagements, E.K. Bailey, expository preaching with 0 Comments

Today’s post is a guest post by my friend and brother, Pastor Brian Carter. Brian serves as the Senior-Pastor of the Concord Church in Dallas, one of the great congregations in this country. Brian is also the host and leader of the annual E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference, which will meet in Dallas later this month.

The late Dr. E.K. Bailey is one of my homiletical heroes. Through his example and this conference, the Lord used him to influence many African-American pastors toward expository preaching. Brian and his team are carrying on this great work and taking it to new heights.

The following is a personal invitation to this year’s conference by Pastor Carter.

I want to thank my friend, H.B. for this opportunity to share a guest post on his blog. My name is Bryan Carter and I serve as host for the E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference. H B serves on our advisory council and is a member of our teaching team.

We host a conference with one purpose in mind and that is to assist you in becoming a more effective preacher. We firmly believe preaching is one of the central tenants for life transformation. Effective preaching is the foundation for discipleship and building a healthy church.

Yet in order to be an effective preacher, preachers must develop their skills on an ongoing basis. Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend four hours sharpening my axe.” In the demanding pace in which many of us do ministry, we rarely have time to sharpen our axes for preaching. We preach every Sunday yet rarely find the time to prepare ourselves as preachers rather than preparing sermons.

I want you to strongly consider joining us in Dallas, TX on July 16-19 for four days of investment in your preaching ministry. I can guarantee you that you will walk away as a better preacher. You will be challenged, inspired and trained on enhancing your sermon preparation, development, and delivery.

Our theme this year is “Preaching That Looks Up” based on Exodus 34:4-7. We want to engage this year’s participants to preach with God as the center of their sermons. Preaching today has a tendency to become need driven and pragmatic, yet if we can give our members a greater view of God it will serve them well in every arena of life.

Our presenters include: H B Charles, Matt Chandler, Steve Lawson, Bryan Loritts, Gaylon Clark, Ralph West, Maurice Watson, Robert Smith, Freddie Haynes, Harry S. Wright, Marcus Cosby, A. B. Sutton, Joel Gregory and many others. Our goal is to offer to you a world-class teaching team to assist you throughout the week.

We will offer over 40 classes from the basics of developing a sermon, effective introductions and conclusions, to preaching through a book of the Bible. Additionally we will offer a course on LOGOS, which is the leading Bible software in the world. Between a combination of general sessions, workshops and intensives, you will have an opportunity to go deeper in strengthening your preaching.

As a reader of Pastor Charles blog we are offering a special discounted offer that ends on Monday, July 9 to attend our conference for $285. Space is quickly filling up. Please place the discount HBCharlesJr on your form. You can register at www.concorddallas.org and click on the conferences tab.

Thanks for considering our conference,

Bryan

Speaking @ the E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference 2011

July 12, 2011 in 2011 Speaking Engagements, E.K. Bailey, expository preaching with 0 Comments

The E.K. Bailey International Conference of Expository Preaching is taking place this week in Dallas (July 11-14). It is a great week of study, fellowship, and good preaching!

The conference is named after its founder, the late Dr. E.K. Bailey, founding pastor of the Concord Church in Dallas. Dr. Bailey was a noted African-American expositor. And God used his ministry and this conference to introduce many to the principles, tools, and disciplines needed to preach what the text means by what it says.

I was drawn to expository preaching by divine conspiracy. I was hearing preachers, reading books, and having conversations that were all calling me to it. But hearing Dr. Bailey sealed the deal. I walked out of the service after hearing him for the first time and said, “That’s what I want to do.” I was not talking about his style or delivery or anything like that. I was talking about how he simply explained the meaning of the text.

This preaching conference is now lead by my friend, Pastor Bryan Carter, who now leads the Concord Church. In his capable hands, this conference continues to be a premiere meeting on biblical preaching. At the same time, Dr. Sheila Bailey leads the Stand Women’s Conference, and continues to honor the legacy of her late husband with her love for ministering to the word of God to women.

The conference kicked off last night in a great way. Dr. Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching Magazine, lectured on the conference theme – Preaching Under Pressure. It was a very thoughtful, challenging, and encouraging message. Pastor Jeffery Johnson delivered the evening message.

I am scheduled to teach on expository preaching this afternoon, teach and preach Wednesday evening, and teach and participate on in a panel discussion Thursday, along with other commitments. It will be a long week. But I am looking forward to it. May the Lord give me strength.

Crystal is here! She flew in yesterday from Los Angeles, where she and the kids are spending several weeks with family and friends. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to see her. When she arrived, I shaved for the first time since she left!

Likewise…

My brother, Pastor Kevin Willis and his wife, Linda, are here.

Four of my pastoral staff members – B. Perry, D. Beckwith, A. Robinson, and A. Letson – are here.

My pastor from Los Angeles is here. My adopted dad from Oklahoma City is here.

Several of my closest friends from around the country are here.

There are quite of few preachers from both Los Angeles and Jacksonville here.

And this all up and what you get is very little sleep for H.B. Charles, Jr. this week. But I should be a great time of fellowship.

Please remember this meeting in your prayers.

The 2010 E.K. Bailey International Expository Preaching Conference

July 6, 2010 in E.K. Bailey, Preaching, Speaking Engagements with 2 Comments

I am attending the E.K. Bailey International Expository Preaching Conference in Dallas. Pastor Bryan Carter and the Concord Church host this conference. The theme this year is “Preaching Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5).

The late Dr. E.K. Bailey, the founding pastor of the Concord Church, established this conference. In a recent article by Michael Duduit, Dr. Bailey was listed among the twenty-five most influential preachers of the past twenty-five years. I fully agree. My own commitment to expository preaching was sealed as a result of hearing Dr. Bailey preach. He is one of my homiletical heroes. And his conference has been used by God to introduce and equip many preachers to rightly handle the word of truth.

The conference is already off and running. Last night, Michael Duduit and Maurice Watson brought the opening messages. Wow! That’s all I can say. This morning, Dr. Ramesh Richards and Pastor Bryan Carter will speak in the general sessions. Many other great preaches will be speaking this week. And there are many classes that area available. At the same time, a women’s conference is taking place under the leadership of Dr. Shelia M. Bailey.

I am scheduled to teach a session this afternoon on developing expository sermons. I will bring the message in the general session this evening. Wednesday morning, I am scheduled to participate in an extended session on developing a preaching plan. Then I have two sessions to teach Thursday afternoon, on developing expository sermons and the theology of preaching.

Please pray for the meeting and for the hundreds of Christian ministers who are here to learn, worship, and fellowship. And pray for Pastor Bryan Carter and the Concord Church, as they give leadership to this meeting.

Next year’s conference is scheduled for July 11-14, 2011.