I'd say our pastor teaches expository messages about 90% of the time. Topical studies typically happen on special occasions such as holidays, etc... even then, the passage is typically exposited.
Expositional or Topical Teaching?
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I'd say expository >90% of the time, and your topic is a good one, but you know how I am 
. I often wonder whether people know what expository preaching really is (as you joked about with your last choice in the OP), because a man can go "line upon line" yet still be shallow and shoe-horn an (topical, hobby horse) agenda even into that sort of thing.
. I often wonder whether people know what expository preaching really is (as you joked about with your last choice in the OP), because a man can go "line upon line" yet still be shallow and shoe-horn an (topical, hobby horse) agenda even into that sort of thing.
Somehow I knew you would say something like this...I'd say expository >90% of the time, and your topic is a good one, but you know how I am
Even though I was familiar with Johnny Mac's style of teaching, as well as J Vernon McGee, expository teaching wasn't really more than a blip on my radar. As I grew in the faith, I became more aware of it. It wasn't until I had gotten involved with Calvary Chapel that I began to understand the concept. At first, it was something to get used to but now, I can't imagine myself attending a fellowship where expository teaching isn't the norm.
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Rediscovering Expository Preaching: MacArthur, John F., Mayhue, Richard L., Thomas, Robert L.: 9780849909085: Amazon.com: Books
Rediscovering Expository Preaching [MacArthur, John F., Mayhue, Richard L., Thomas, Robert L.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Rediscovering Expository Preaching
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I had to read this in seminary, but had already been taught Expository preaching. It always started with diagramming the sentences in Greek. That was the hardest part.
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Dr. Huk-N-Duck
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I’m not very familiar with the difference, TBH.I'd say expository >90% of the time, and your topic is a good one, but you know how I am
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Somehow I knew you would say something like this...
Even though I was familiar with Johnny Mac's style of teaching, as well as J Vernon McGee, expository teaching wasn't really more than a blip on my radar. As I grew in the faith, I became more aware of it. It wasn't until I had gotten involved with Calvary Chapel that I began to understand the concept. At first, it was something to get used to but now, I can't imagine myself attending a fellowship where expository teaching isn't the norm.
I began slowly realizing after several years of immersion in it, that the pervasive "rip-their-face-off" sermon content of some folk in my early days of fundamentalism was rather shallow, repetitive, biased towards personal preferences. In some cases it was clearly a violation of what Scripture/God was actually saying in His Bible and that was appalling, disturbing, and disgusting (think Schaap's "Divine Intimacy"). In that same timeframe my own teaching/preaching transitioned from children's/youth ministry lessons, where there's generally far less of a necessity for such "hard preaching" content, to an adult-targeted demographic. My spiritual senses, combined with an intellectual honesty and I realized that style of sermon was really devoid of any serious theological content, in turn caused me to seek alternative methods of Bible study and sermon development. That's when I read Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon by Bryan Chapell, and it basically changed my whole outlook (and what I had already intuitively suspected about the shallow nature of the heavily-laden topical style of the Bible Kawledge preacher boys and their mentors). I could not be subjected to that sort of stuff ever again, at least not willingly.
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The short version of analysis is that the sort of topical preaching done in the "fundy" circles that have familiarity with folk of the FFF are often devoid of context, cherry-picked to cause any and every text selected to be about the preacher's favorite subject(s). But both methods can be done right. Here's some content to get you started on the fundamental differences...
The Difference Between Topical and Expository Preaching
Expository Preaching vs Topical Preaching: Which Should You Use?
A most excellent book!
About 50/50.
I like both and think a congregation generally needs both styles.
I have listened to "Through the Bible Radio" with J. Vernon McGee for many years and never seem to tire of it.
Though I disagree with him on doctrine from time to time, I have learned so much about the Bible from his teaching.
I believe J. Vernon McGee was a American ordained Presbyterian minister
I like both and think a congregation generally needs both styles.
I have listened to "Through the Bible Radio" with J. Vernon McGee for many years and never seem to tire of it.
Though I disagree with him on doctrine from time to time, I have learned so much about the Bible from his teaching.
I believe J. Vernon McGee was a American ordained Presbyterian minister
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Expository teaching means going through an extended passage of Scripture (like a book or a significant part of one) and explaining it verse by verse or section by section. The purpose is to understand the meaning of the Scriptures, and whatever topics come up are related to the passage at hand. A good example of an expository preacher is John MacArthur.
Topic preaching means choosing a biblical topic to preach on--e.g. grace, assurance, alcohol, women in the pulpit, etc.--and using selected passages of the Bible to support your points. In my experience, this is the main format of most prominent IFBs, like Jack Hyles. It's also what you'll probably get when you have a guest preacher at your own church, since they're not there more than one week at a time.
There's a third format that wasn't mentioned in the OP: textual preaching. This is preaching on a short section of Scripture, frequently a single verse, in which a main theological idea is extracted, then supported and amplified from other passages in the Bible. It's like expository preaching, but in miniature. Often in denominations with a well-defined liturgy, the text is determined week to week by a lectionary. A good example of a textual preacher is Charles Spurgeon.
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Dr. Huk-N-Duck
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I feel this best describes my pastor’s style, although he occasionally will elaborate on a Greek or Hebrew meaning of a certain word from a verse.