As a pastor, one of my duties is to preach the ancient word of God to a contemporary society.  How do I do that?  First, I have to remember that the inspired word of God, although spoken long ago, is everlasting and still relevant and authoritative to the church and world today.  Second, I must expose the text of scripture in the context in which it was spoken so that its intended meaning won’t be lost.  This is what we call expository preaching.  I have to dig down into the meaning and intentions that God had for the text–this is the “so what” of preaching.”  The “so what” is the reason that you want to hear what the preacher is saying.  If there is no “so what” you will end up with “who cares.”  The message of the text will always address a problem that the contemporary listener is sensitive to as he/she navigates through life.  In preaching, I must attempt to answer the question, “what did God say then and what is He saying now?”  If the text is exposed correctly, we will come to the same conclusion the original audience came to when they heard it.  Third, after the exposure of the text is complete, I must preach the text in a way that says, “I do believe that what I am saying is of first importance for this time–I am saying that it is imperative that we consider the meaning and implications of this text if we are to understand the mind of God.  Last, but most importantly, I must depend on the Holy Spirit to enable the hearer to believe and obey God.  No matter how well a preacher exposes and preaches a text, the reaction to it must be left to the work of the Spirit.  God bless you and be transformed.