Equipping Lay Leaders in Expository Preaching at Four Points Baptist Church in Centreville, Alabama

Abstract

This project was designed to equip elder-qualified men in expository preaching at Four Points Baptist Church in Centreville, Alabama. Chapter 1 provides the context, rationale, purpose, goals, and research methodology of this project. Chapter 2 provides the biblical and theological basis for the project. Ezra 7:6–10 is used to describe the disposition a preacher needs prior to delivering a sermon. Passages from 2 Timothy demonstrate that Paul trained elder-qualified men to preach and expected Timothy to do the same. Chapter 3 provides the historical basis of the project by examining the lives and preaching ministries of John Calvin and Charles Spurgeon. Chapter 4 explains the preparation and implementation of the project, as well as provides a summary of the sessions that were taught. Chapter 5 is an evaluation of the project, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. The statistics presented in Chapter 5 demonstrated that there were moderate improvements in participants’ perceptions but no improvements met the standard of statistical significance. In both pre-session and post-session surveys, participants were asked to state whether they could interpret the Bible accurately. The post-session survey revealed that all the men agreed or strongly agreed they could interpret the Bible accurately, which was an improvement of 16%. However, when analyzing the data of the pre-session survey and post-session survey through the t-test the results showed there was no significant statistical change between the pre-session survey and post-session survey scores: t(4)= -0.57, p= 0.60. Chapter 5 concludes with personal and theological reflections, along with future changes.