On Jun 26–28, 2025, The MacArthur Center for Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary hosted its first Preaching Workshop at North Creek Church in Walnut Creek, California. The event, which was sold out, brought nearly 80 men to North Creek for two and a half days of teaching, small group interactions, and fellowship designed to help them improve as preachers and teachers of God’s Word.
Austin Duncan, the director of The MacArthur Center, said the workshop was designed to serve any men invested in teaching God’s Word. It helped inexperienced preachers and teachers of God’s Word improve while also providing invaluable feedback for experienced pastors—men who have preached hundreds or even thousands of sermons.
“The workshop was like spring training for baseball,” Kent Dresdow said. Kent is the senior pastor at North Creek. He and Austin led the workshop, walking men through the process of exegeting (studying) the text, then expositing (preaching) it. “Whether you’re a veteran and all-star player, or you’re in the minors, you need to review the basics of baseball. Same is true in preaching. Everyone, no matter their experience or skill, can use a refresher on the craft of preaching.”
In the weeks leading up to the workshop, attendees were assigned a passage from the book of Titus. They also had to fill out a worksheet where they walked through the exegetical and expositional process with their passage. During the workshop, they presented their work to a small group, which then asked questions and helped them evaluate their preparation and improve their study process and how they organize the sermon. The small groups truly were a highlight of the workshop. At most conferences, men sit and listen to a series of sermons. Rarely do they get to participate in the work itself. That happened at this workshop.
Also during the conference, Kent and Austin preached messages from the book of Titus, both to encourage the men and to model for them what an expositional sermon looks like.
“It was a wonderful, rich time,” Austin said. “Motivated me to preach through the book of Titus. I think it did the same for a lot of the pastors that came, but also gave invaluable tools to many of the men who have less experience preaching.”
Several TMS alumni attended the workshop, including Vlad Burlaka, who leads City Bible Church in Sacramento and Chris Gee, pastor of City Light Bible Church in Santa Clara, California. Both brought other leaders with them, as well as younger men who wanted to learn more about the art and science of expository preaching.
“The majority of our group were young men and laymen who lead small groups, our college ministry, and young adult ministry,” Chris said. “This workshop gave them the tools to shave precious time off their preparation process. In the small groups, experienced preachers and teachers gave us feedback on our work that we simply aren’t able to get from our congregation.”
Though this was the first preaching workshop from The MacArthur Center, it certainly won’t be the last. The Master’s Seminary exists to serve the church by training the next generation of expositors. These MacArthur Center workshops are designed to help men interested in the craft better understand how to produce a sermon that is both faithful to the text and clear and powerful to the audience.
“We’ve seen a lot of interest in these workshops,” Austin Duncan said. “So, if you missed the first one, stay tuned. There might be one in your area in the near future.”