Expositional preaching means that sermons express the actual meaning of a selected passage from Scripture. Good preaching is not just picking a topic to do an inspirational talk and using Scripture to help you. Since meaning depends on the context in which the text was written, the job of a preacher is to illuminate the world in which the Bible was written so the meaning of the passage becomes alive and accessible. Only then are the hearers able to apply the powerful word of God to their lives. Expositional preaching means that the Bible chooses the topic and structure of a sermon rather than bending to any other force.