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Most preachers develop one approach to sermon preparation and use it for everything.

The way they were trained. The style they've always used. The method they admire in someone they respect. And they preach that way every week — regardless of what the passage is, regardless of what the congregation needs, regardless of whether it fits.

That's not versatility. That's a habit.

In this episode, Jonathan McClintock walks through four approaches every preacher should know — textual, expository, topical, and narrative — and makes the case that a skilled preacher doesn't pick one and stay there. They develop all four, and they know when to reach for each one.

The four approaches:

Textual Preaching — Takes a short text, often a single verse or small cluster, and lets that text control the sermon. The strength is focus. The danger is decontextualization — a verse ripped from its context can be made to say things the passage never says.

Expository Preaching — Lets the sermon unfold the flow and argument of a longer passage. The sermon's structure follows the text's structure. The strength is faithfulness. The danger is running commentary — explaining what every verse means without ever landing on what the passage requires of the congregation. Teaching with a Bible open is not preaching.

Topical Preaching — Starts with a topic and gathers multiple passages that address it. The strength is directness — it goes straight at the need and brings the full weight of Scripture to bear on what the congregation is actually facing right now. The danger is opinion dressed up as preaching. Topical preaching without exegetical discipline is not preaching. It is opinion with citations. A note for Apostolic preachers: the strength of our topical tradition depends entirely on textual discipline underneath it.

Narrative Preaching — Lets the story shape of a passage carry the sermon. The strength is engagement — stories hold attention, drive imagination, and reach people in ways propositional preaching cannot. The danger is storytelling without theology. The congregation should walk out changed, not just entertained. The story is never the point. What the story reveals is the point.

These are not competing philosophies. They are different tools. The question before every sermon is not What is my approach? — as if you've already decided. The question is What does this text ask of me? What does this congregation need? What approach serves both?