The Old Testament gets short shrift. And it is not just from those who say outrageous things like the Christian faith ought to be unhitched from the Old Testament or “when people struggle to believe, the Old Testament is usually the culprit.”[1] It is also manifest in how infrequently the Old Testament is preached in a systematic manner in “solid churches” dedicated to expository preaching.

I recently finished up the first part of a two part preface to a planned verse by verse exposition of the Gospel of John and this past Sunday, I started on part two. I don’t think that is so unusual, especially among churches where preaching and teaching is taken seriously. In churches devoted to expository preaching introductory messages are often preached before a new sermon series. What is unusual is that part one of this preface was a verse by verse exposition of all of the Servant songs of Isaiah and part two will be an exposition of all of the songs of ascent, Psalms 120-134.  I began this preface in mid-August and Lord willing it will wrap up some time around the beginning of April. And it is all Old Testament. Why? Because our faith should be rooted in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament gets short shrift. And it is not just from those who say outrageous things like the Christian faith ought to be unhitched from the Old Testament or “when people struggle to believe, the Old Testament is usually the culprit.”[1] It is also manifest in how infrequently the Old Testament is preached in a systematic manner in “solid churches” dedicated to expository preaching. Sure the occasional Psalm is preached and sometimes a series on creation is preached, but very seldom is a truly expository series in the Old Testament preached. Even when a series is preached on the Old Testament in expository preaching churches, too often the series is actually topical or theological (not that there is anything inherently wrong with a topical or theological sermon) where the Old Testament text is used primarily as a jumping off point rather than forming the backbone of the series. (And yes, I know, I’m broad brushing.)

I don’t think it is intentional or malicious, but I think a disservice is done to the church by not preaching the Old Testament. All Scripture is God breathed and profitable as 2 Tim 3:16 says; and when those words were penned Paul had the Old Testament in mind. To illustrate how rooting our faith in the Old Testament is profitable,let me explain how these Old Testament series will inform the upcoming series in the Gospel of John.

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