the ability to function.”2 That is also a test of thoughtful expository preaching and thoughtful Christians. Still another way in which an expository sermon reflects the biblical text is in its mood. Every passage has a mood. Some texts bubble with joy; others rumble with warning, a few croon like a passionate love song. There are passages brimming with hope and others alive with assurance. Oral interpreters of literature know that to read a passage with meaning the
Page 92