Expositors Collective: Expository Preaching, Bible Teaching and Sermon Preparation

What to Preach This Advent: Christmas Sermon Series Ideas from Cody King, Steve Mathewson & More
How do you preach the familiar Christmas story without losing its wonder? In episode 457, five pastors share Advent and Christmas sermon series they have preached, with the biblical texts and pastoral thinking behind them.
Cody King (Reliance Church, Temecula) offers a four-week approach to the hope of Christ’s coming. Bruce Zachary (Calvary Nexus, Camarillo) considers how to honour familiar traditions while preaching with freshness. Miles DeBenedictis (Cross Connection Church, Escondido) shares three ways to plan a series. Steve Mathewson, a teaching pastor and seminary professor, traces a four-part series through Isaiah. Danny Keating (Calvary Waterford, Ireland) closes with “The Songs of Christmas,” drawing on Mary, Zechariah and Simeon in Luke 1–2.
These are ideas to help preachers study, plan and proclaim Christ—not scripts to copy.
MORE FROM THE CONTRIBUTORS (APPLE PODCASTS)
Cody King
Ep 48 — Clear Communication Only Comes Through Critical Thinking
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-48-clear-communication-only-comes-through-critical/id1397572249?i=1000438988712
Ep 65 — Bivocational Ministry
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-65-bivocational-ministry/id1397572249?i=1000450095277
Ep 194 — How to Interpret and Apply the Bible
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-interpret-and-apply-the-bible-cody-king/id1397572249?i=1000540480752
Ep 202 — Bivocational Ministry and Time Management
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bivocational-ministry-and-time-management-cody-king/id1397572249?i=1000546310417
Ep 212 — How Do I Find Someone to Mentor Me? (panel with Cody & Myca King)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-do-i-find-someone-to-mentor-me-panel-discussion-q-a/id1397572249?i=1000553275696
Ep 428 — Inductive Bible Study
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inductive-bible-study-cody-king/id1397572249?i=1000761243966
Ep 449 — Accurate but Incomplete: When a Sermon Needs Jesus
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/accurate-but-incomplete-when-a-sermon-needs-jesus-cody-king/id1397572249?i=1000788408879
Ep 450 — Hard Texts, Personal Stories and Bad Sermons: A Preaching Q&A (with Cody)
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/hard-texts-personal-stories-and-bad-sermons-a-preaching-q-a/id1397572249?i=1000789721859
Bruce Zachary
Ep 16 — Learning Preaching with Trial Attorney Turned Pastor
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-16-learning-preaching-with-trial-attorney/id1397572249?i=1000421463821
Miles DeBenedictis
Ep 70 — Time Management for Busy Preachers (panel)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-70-time-management-for-busy-preachers/id1397572249?i=1000454468734
Ep 448 — AI Ethics, Christian Ministry and Ambient Automation
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-ethics-christian-ministry-and-ambient-automation/id1397572249?i=1000787119197
Steve Mathewson
Ep 338 — Sermon Introductions and Illustrations, Lessons Learned from Haddon Robinson and Preaching the Old Testament
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sermon-introductions-and-illustrations-lessons/id1397572249?i=1000663060264
Danny Keating
Ep 32 — Never Start a Sermon with an Apology
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-32-never-start-a-sermon-with-an-apology/id1397572249?i=1000428709685
Temecula Debrief with Danny Keating: Interview in Terminal Two
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/temecula-debrief-w-danny-keating-interview-in-terminal-two/id1397572249?i=1000769078255
Expositors Collective equips and encourages preachers in their personal study and public proclamation of God’s Word. It is part of Calvary Chapel Cooperative, a family of ministries working together to strengthen churches and support leaders.
https://expositorscollective.org/
https://calvarychapelcooperative.com/

What happens when a church plant in a small Irish town brings together people from many nations, languages and church backgrounds?
In episode 456, Mike Neglia talks with Brian Davis about planting Kilrush Community Church in County Clare and preaching the Bible to a congregation with very different expectations of church. How do you communicate clearly across cultures without losing your commitment to expository preaching?
Brian also shares part of his journey from New Age spirituality to trusting Scripture, and the patient discipleship that helped him along the way. He speaks candidly about prayer, the pressures that compete with sermon preparation, and his hope that Sunday preaching will encourage people to read the Bible for themselves throughout the week.
Brian previously served as a pastor and elder at North Clare Community Church. This is an honest, warm conversation about church planting, Bible teaching and continuing to grow as a preacher.
Resources mentioned
North Clare Community Church sermons, including earlier messages from Brian:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/north-clare-community-church/id1757325592
The Word for Today — Chuck Smith’s Bible-teaching archive:
https://calvarychapel.com/wordfortoday/
Haddon Robinson Audio Archive — sermons, lectures and talks:
https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-preaching/haddon-robinson-archive-signup/
Expositors Collective equips, encourages and mentors the next generation of Christ-centred preachers:
https://expositorscollective.org/
Expositors Collective is part of the Calvary Chapel Cooperative, which strengthens churches and supports ministries serving pastors and leaders:
https://calvarychapelcooperative.com/

What if the greatest danger to a sermon isn’t a weak outline, but an unexamined preacher?In this Expositors Collective session recorded at Reliance Church in Temecula, California, Pastor Ted Leavenworth considers the character of the person who teaches God’s Word. Drawing on 1 Samuel 16, James 3, and Paul’s counsel to Timothy, he asks why Scripture treats Bible teaching as such a serious responsibility—and why a preacher’s life cannot be separated from their doctrine.Ted explores the temptation to become a “professional Christian”: able to speak about prayer, grace, and obedience while neglecting them personally. He also considers why churches sometimes excuse the conduct of gifted leaders, what hypocrisy communicates about God, and the questions every preacher should ask before teaching others.For pastors, preachers, and Bible teachers, this is a searching invitation to handle Scripture faithfully and to live under its authority.Speaker: Ted Leavenworth of Reliance Church, Temecula, California.Scripture passages discussed: 1 Samuel 16:7; James 3:1; 2 Timothy 2:15; Titus 2:7–8; Romans 2:21–23; 1 Timothy 4:16; Acts 5:1–11; Matthew 6:33.Expositors Collective equips, encourages, and mentors the next generation of Christ-centred preachers through training, conversation, and practical resources:https://expositorscollective.org/Expositors Collective is part of the Calvary Chapel Cooperative, a family of ministries working together to strengthen churches and support faithful leaders:https://calvarychapelcooperative.com/

A sermon can be carefully structured, biblically researched—and still fall flat. What gives faithful preaching life?
In this episode of the Expositors Collective podcast, Pilgrim Benham speaks on the art of preaching at our training weekend at Reliance Church in Temecula, California. Drawing from Ecclesiastes 12, he asks preachers to think beyond the mechanics of sermon preparation without neglecting them. How do study and lived obedience give a preacher confidence? What makes biblical truth clear to ordinary listeners? How can a preacher speak courageously while caring for the people in the room?
Pilgrim also presses into the difference between informing a congregation and calling them to respond to God’s Word. His message is a lively, pastoral challenge to prepare diligently, speak plainly, and depend on the Holy Spirit rather than technique alone.
Pilgrim Benham is the Dean of Students at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Bradenton, Florida, where he also teaches on campus and online. He has planted churches and pastored since 2002, serves on the pastoral team at WestChurch, and coaches preachers.
Calvary Chapel Bible College:
https://calvarychapelbiblecollege.com/
Listen to Pilgrim’s earlier Expositors Collective appearances:
How to Help New Preachers Grow in Confidence and Clarity — Pilgrim Benham (on preaching mentorship)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-help-new-preachers-grow-in-confidence-and/id1397572249?i=1000758363921
AI, ChatGPT, and the Ethics of Sermon Preparation — a panel featuring Pilgrim Benham
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-chatgpt-and-the-ethics-of-sermon-preparation/id1397572249?i=1000771816636
Expositors Collective equips, encourages, and mentors the next generation of Christ-centred preachers through training, conversation, and practical resources:
https://expositorscollective.org/
Expositors Collective is part of the Calvary Chapel Cooperative, a family of ministries working together to strengthen churches and support faithful leaders:
https://calvarychapelcooperative.com/

What if a sermon gets the facts right but misses the way God chose to tell the story?
Mike Neglia talks with Grace Campbell about why biblical genre matters for Bible interpretation and expository preaching. Scripture comes to us as narrative, poetry, wisdom, letters, parables and apocalyptic vision—not as interchangeable containers for three-point outlines. How can preachers attend to both what a passage says and what it does, helping listeners encounter the text rather than reducing it to a set of propositions?
The conversation moves from the Good Samaritan and Revelation to Ecclesiastes, where Grace shares how a family crisis changed the way she heard the book’s language of joy, grief and life’s fleetingness. For pastors and Bible teachers, this is an invitation to teach Scripture on its own terms.
About Grace Campbell
Grace serves alongside her husband Tom at Amazing Grace Community Church in West Cork, Ireland, working with children, teenagers and women. They are parents to Perran and Lily. She spent 12 years with the Irish Bible Institute and continues as adjunct faculty, teaching Bible Interpretation. Grace loves helping people engage with the Bible’s varied literary forms and “taste and see” that the Lord is good.
Resources Grace mentioned in the conversation
• Jeffrey D. Arthurs, Preaching with Variety: How to Re-Create the Dynamics of Biblical Genres
https://www.kregel.com/preaching/preaching-with-variety/
• Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
https://zondervanacademic.com/products/how-to-read-the-bible-for-all-its-worth-4th
• William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
https://zondervanacademic.com/products/introduction-to-biblical-interpretation
• Leland Ryken and Tremper Longman III, eds., The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible
https://www.christianbook.com/the-complete-literary-guide-the-bible/leland-ryken/9780310230786/pd/230786
• J. Kent Edwards, Effective First-Person Biblical Preaching: The Steps from Text to Narrative Sermon
https://zondervanacademic.com/products/effective-first-person-biblical-preaching
• Haddon W. Robinson and Torrey W. Robinson, It’s All in How You Tell It: Preaching First-Person Expository Messages
https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9780801091506_its-all-in-how-you-tell-it
• BibleProject
https://bibleproject.com/
Further reading recommended by Grace
• Eugene L. Lowry, The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (expanded edition)
https://www.wjkbooks.com/bookproduct/0664222641-the-homiletical-plot-expanded-edition/
• Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge
https://zondervanacademic.com/products/is-there-a-meaning-in-this-text
• Kevin J. Vanhoozer, “The Semantics of Biblical Literature: Truth and Scripture’s Diverse Literary Forms,” in Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon, ed. D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge
https://wipfandstock.com/9781597521185/hermeneutics-authority-and-canon/