10 Questions For Expositors – Matt Chandler (pt 1)

Matt Chandler is the lead pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas.  His church has over 5000 members, and Matt’s main role is bringing the Word of God to them. Enjoy his first batch of answers to our 10 questions.

1. Where do you place the importance of preaching in the grand scheme of church life?

The Spirit of God moving through the preaching of the Word is the driving force at The Village.  Our groups rally around it, our missions flow out of it and our community is built on it.

2. In a paragraph, how did you discover your gifts in preaching?

It was quite by accident.  I began by the invitation of a friend to teach a Sunday School class my freshman year of college.  God did some tremendous things in that class and it led to other opportunities to teach.  I had a bad experience at a small church before I arrived in Abilene and didn’t think I was going to end up in the church.  God continued to grow my influence as a teacher/preacher and about a year later I was preaching in front of about 1000 college students every Thursday night.

3. How long (on average) does it take you to prepare a sermon?

On average 6-10 hours.  It used to take me much longer but the more I have studied and preached the quicker it has started to come.

4. Is it important to you that a sermon contain one major theme or idea? If so, how do you crystallise it?

I think it’s extremely important to tap into a major theme or point so that your hearers walk away knowing what the Word said about whatever the theme or point was.  I know this will sound like an oversimplification but I want to let the text crystallise it.

5. What is the most important aspect of a preacher’s style and what should he avoid?

This is a hard question because I think everything from context to content plays into the answer.  I think a preacher needs to be himself.  To learn from other preachers but not when all is said and done to emulate them.  In a day where you can listen to anyone and watch anyone by simply clicking a button on you phone or computer I think it’s important to find your own voice so the kingdom doesn’t get a carbon copy of someone else.

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