We are in a sermon series called “Discovering Messiah – The Gospel of Matthew”.  Most of you know that I taught this at Crescent Lake Bible Camp (CLBC) over the summer.  Some of you may be wondering why I am doing this series now in the church.  Some who attended CLBC this summer may be thinking they’ve already heard this, or wondering if they will receive anything new from this series.  So I’d like to take a few minutes and explain the vision of this next sermon series to clarify my goals and hopes in preaching through the gospel of Matthew at River of Life Church.

The Goal (Why?)
My goal in preaching through “Discovering Messiah – The Gospel of Matthew” is that you might savor Jesus Christ more, & be found in awestruck wonder seeing this how the original Jewish audience would have for the very first time, as you see with fresh eyes, the long-awaited & now-revealed Savior of the world.

Different Style of Teaching from Our Time at CLBC 
There are some fundamental differences between my teaching at summer camp and the series we are about to embark on starting this Sunday.  The biggest difference is that we will be going through the text more intensely and dissecting it (2 Timothy 2.15) the gospel of Matthew.  This will allow us to get the most out of this rich gospel account and to better comprehend it as it was intended to be understood.  This summer I went through 18 chapters in an overview format. I had 11 sessions of about 45 minutes each to teach through a general overview of Matthew.  Most people who knew me going into the summer teaching were joking with me, wondering if we could possibly get through 18 chapters (18 of the 28 total) in 11 sessions.  The reason they wondered this was because they are used to my default or most comfortable & enjoyed teaching style – expository preaching.  However, during Bible camp, I did not do my normal style of preaching & teaching, but rather taught in overview style as to cover more broader ground in a more limited amount of time.

Expositional vs. Overview
In contrast to my teaching at CLBC, this new series on Sunday mornings, we will go through the book of Matthew expositionally.  Expositional or expository preaching (which is my normal format) means going through the Scripture verse by verse, making the intended meaning of the text the meaning of the sermon.  The benefit of this style of preaching & teaching is that it will give you, the receiver of the message series, a comprehensive knowledge of this gospel, allowing you to embrace & cherish Christ as you grow in wonder of Him.  This is my hope as you will hopefully be taking lots of notes, will treasure your study time after each sermon at home, and especially at Life Groups as you dig deeper in smaller community with your church family.  The gospel of Matthew is full of treasures to reveal more of the excellency of Jesus Christ to His people (Mt. 13.44).  So I am truly looking forward to our new series & I hope you are too, as we “Discover Messiah” through the Gospel of Matthew.

*For more on my definition, description, & the importance of expository preaching, click here.