Reading, Preaching and Teaching the Word / 1 Timothy 4:13
For those of you standing, do you mind just staying standing, and the rest of you join us? I just want to read something real quick. Stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight. And even those joining us here this weekend on video, why don’t you stand with us too? I just want to read a little bit from the Word, and just let this sink in your mind as we begin our time together. This is out of Psalm 19:
“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
Psalms 19:7-11 (NASB)
The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.
There is great reward. Amen? Amen. Go ahead and grab a seat.
The Misunderstanding of Church
I wanted to start with that because we are going to be talking about the importance of the Word of God in our gatherings together. Now, I don’t know what your church experience was like, but when we do Discovery, there are typically anywhere from 50 to 100 people there, and we just ask what religious backgrounds you have come from. Even in a small room like that, you get all kinds of backgrounds. So I would imagine, both live and even watching via video, if we did that same kind of thing, we would have all kinds of church backgrounds. Some of them are good; some of them have been very expensive because you have had to go to counseling.
Regardless of what the experience has been, we bring to the table expectations or assumptions about what it means to be a church. Interestingly enough, I came to faith with an unchurched background. I never really went to church. Grandma and Grandpa went to this little Nazarene church in Reedley, and I just remember the basement smelled bad. That was about it. We would go to church every once in a while with them, but for the most part, I was unchurched.
Then I came to faith thinking I understood what church was about, which was very similar, at least in my mind, to why I picked the gym I picked, or the sandwich shop I picked. You just find your favorite. Which one do you like? So I started looking around at churches—church shopping, everyone’s favorite thing to do. Well, this one has good worship, and this one has a good message, and this one has a great college group. I was searching for a church based on my preference, and then showing up to church, listening, and taking some notes.
Because I had no understanding of what a church really is, my experience was very individual. It was about me and what I wanted. If the music was something I didn’t connect to, I was gone. I would go find another one. By the way, if you haven’t noticed, there are like a thousand churches in Fresno, most of them up and down the streets. I just figured I would find something I liked. That was my church experience.
Then I became a pastor. You start reading your Bible, and you are like, “Oh gosh, I think I missed it on the whole church thing big time.” I did not understand at all what the church was really about. You start reading in the New Testament, and the word church comes from the word ekklesia. Really, the root of that word is kaleo, which means to call. It is the “called-out ones.”
The Two Sides of Ecclesiology
When we started the church here at The Well in 2002, we said, “Let’s try to help people understand a different view of ecclesiology.” My view of the church had been building, facilities, pastor, music—it was all about that locale. There was this guy’s church, that guy’s church, this church, and that church, but I didn’t understand the church. What God was calling us to be is the people of God who are part of the kingdom of God, not just a little castle. We tend to get really focused on the castles, on this locale.
When we started The Well, we said, “Let’s blow that up. Let’s blow up our ecclesiology and recognize two fundamental things right off the bat from the very nature of what the Bible calls a church.”
One, the church is the people; it is not a building. Let’s not be obsessed with buildings. Let’s not go over the top. Let’s not spend millions, if we can avoid it, on building a monument facility.
Second, let’s recognize that the church is not just the people instead of the building, but it is a believers’ church. That means the church, by biblical definition, is to train and equip believers to be who God has called us to be in our community. We started leaning very heavily into this idea that you have heard a thousand times: Go be the church. Be the church. Be the church.
Matthew 16 is a great passage where Peter gives a confession of faith of who Jesus is. Jesus says, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18 (NASB)
’I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
We saw that and said, “Man, it looks like the church is offensive, not defensive.” Instead of building a religious Camelot, putting a moat with a drawbridge around it, and crying out to a dying world, “You’re all jacked up; come here and we’ll fix you,” we saw a different view. We ought to be going into the dark places of our community, proclaiming Christ, being lights, and being on the offensive.
Now, that is all true. That is a very solid ecclesiology—if you are only looking at one side of the equation. Everything you promote, everything you do, has an unintended consequence. We have been promoting for a long time: Go be the church, be the church, be the church. If you look at what is happening in our community, it is fascinating, because you have got it. There are people in our church who heard that, owned that, relocated, sent their kids into difficult schools, partnered with local non-profits, and launched non-profits. There are people who literally said, “Yes! Let’s go be the church.”
But that is one side of the ecclesiology coin. There is another side. What has happened is that we have promoted going to be the church so much that we have neglected good old-fashioned gathering ecclesiology. You have got to have them both.
The Essential Nature of Gathering
If we are going to talk about what it means to be the church gathered, we need to recognize that the Bible says a ton about what it means for us to assemble together. When I came to faith in Christ, I assumed that my Christianity was a solo sport. Jesus saved me. I came to faith. I found a church. I started to attend. I started to grow. I started to lay aside the old self and put on the new me: I, me, I. I fell right into the narcissistic trap that it was about me, completely forgetting that when you come to faith in Christ, you are now part of the body.
There is a gathering that happens that is absolutely essential. It could be argued, as you have probably heard already, that the most important part of our spiritual life is not what happens alone in a quiet time, but what happens corporately when we gather together.
The author of Hebrews tells us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful, and to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some.
Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging [one another]; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
In a podcast culture, in a content-rich culture where you can Google just about anything you want, including good messages, it would be very easy to disconnect from the body of Christ if content was the goal. But the author of Hebrews is saying, “No, no. We need to not forsake our assembling together.” There is something powerful about this. There is something different about this, where we sing, we encourage each other, and we proclaim the gospel to one another.
I want to frame out what it means to gather. Why do we even do this? When we assemble together, what should we be about? What should be important in our gatherings?
When you look at the flow of Scripture, God has chosen to reveal Himself in community. Seldom, if ever, do you see God fully revealing Himself to a person outside of that person influencing a body of individuals. Even when you read through the Old Testament, there are two words used for this idea of assembly. One is the Hebrew word edah, which literally carries the idea of a congregation. The other is the Hebrew word qahal, which is translated as assembly. God reveals Himself in community, He is best understood in community, and we gather as a people for community.
Take Moses. He leads the people out of Egypt after 430 years, goes up to the mountain to receive the Word of God, and then what does he do? He comes down to communicate the Word of God to the people, so that they might be a distinctive people of the Book. By the revealed Word of God given to Moses and communicated to the people, they now know who God is. They know who they are in light of that. They know how they ought to live based on the revealed Word of God. The Word of God expressed in community was essential.
The Word at the Center of the Assembly
In that, they began to create gathering places. If you know the history of your Old Testament, you know that the Word of God made them a distinct people. God challenged them not to mingle with the nations and learn their ways. Living in obedience to the Word of God helps you live under the authority of God and, therefore, differently from everybody else around you.
They ended up in captivity in Babylon. While they were in captivity, the people of God developed a system to allow them to maintain their cultural and religious identity when surrounded by a pagan culture opposed to the things of God. It was called a house of assembly or a house of meeting—a synagogue. A synagogue was a place where you would assemble together to maintain culture and religious identity, and the key focal point of that entire synagogue expression was the Word of God.
The synagogue service would start with reciting the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” They would get the Torah scrolls out of the closet, and everyone would cheer with an ovation as the Word of God came among the people. There wasn’t an elevated stage like this; there was a small platform in the center of the room. Whoever was reading from the Torah or the prophets would literally stand in the center of the room with the Word of God as the focal point of the community, and they would read the Scriptures. There would be a short message commenting on the bulk of the text that was read, they would pray, and then they were done. The focal point of the gathering was the Word of God.
When you get to the end of the Old Testament, that rich heritage shapes your New Testament. When Jesus comes along, He goes to the synagogue, as was His custom, and makes incredible declarations about the Word of God. He reads from the prophet Isaiah about the blind receiving sight and the captives being set free, rolls up the scroll, and says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” He dropped the mic and amazed everybody.
Luke 4:16-21 (NASB)
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.’ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
When Jesus died and rose again, He gave the Great Commission. Jesus says to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Most of us have quoted that a thousand times, but very seldom do we finish the passage, because He goes on to say, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)
‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
The essential ingredient in this faith community was the Word of God, but it was to be used in the community for a greater purpose. It wasn’t simply to hear it passively. It wasn’t simply to come and receive, but to interact with the Word of God. The Great Commission challenges us to go and teach these things.
You watch that theme all the way through the New Testament. In Acts 2:42, when the New Testament church begins, it says they were continually devoting themselves first and foremost to the apostles’ teaching. The Word of God was in their midst and being taught. Then they launched teaching centers moving out from there, because the gospel was to spread from Jerusalem to the remotest parts of the earth.
Acts 2:42 (NASB)
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
You see them moving from Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria, where the Apostle Paul teaches the believers. It moves from there to Corinth, and you see Paul teaching for a year and a half. It moves from there to Ephesus, where Paul spends three years, starts a training school, and teaches the Word of God. The Word of God continually being taught was essential in the New Testament church.
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
If the Word of God was so important within the church, what role does the Word of God play in our communities today? What should the Bible be doing among us? I think the answer is found in 1 Timothy 4. Look at verse 13.
Timothy is a fascinating study. He came to faith in Christ on Paul’s first missionary journey and was recruited by Paul on his second journey. He had a Greek father and a believing Jewish mother. Paul took him, discipled him, and eventually left him in Ephesus—arguably Paul’s favorite church—to serve as the pastor. This letter is written by the Apostle Paul to a young pastor at one of the most influential churches in the region, a major cultural hub.
In 1 Timothy 4:7 and following, Paul challenges him to avoid worldly fables and silly myths—barbershop gossip and tabloid distractions. Instead, he says, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” Bodily discipline is of some value, but godliness holds promise for all things. He says in verse 11, “Prescribe and teach these things.”
1 Timothy 4:7-11 (NASB)
But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and [also] for the [life] to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things.
Timothy was likely an insecure leader placed in a position of tremendous influence before he felt ready. Paul tells him in verse 12, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”
1 Timothy 4:12 (NASB)
Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but [rather] in speech, conduct, love, faith [and] purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
Age is neither a qualifier nor a disqualifier. I have seen older people who are not qualified to lead, and I have seen young people who are phenomenal spiritual leaders. Paul tells him not to let anyone look down on him, but to be an example. Then, in verse 13, he speaks directly to what a pastor ought to do with the Word of God in the local gathering:
“Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”
1 Timothy 4:13 (NASB)
Until I come, give attention to the [public] reading [of Scripture], to exhortation and teaching.
This gives us a clear picture of how the Word of God was used within the community: reading, exhortation (preaching), and teaching.
Reading the Word
First, the public reading of Scripture. In Exodus 24, Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of all the people. The people responded, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”
Exodus 24:7 (NASB)
Then he took the book of the covenant and read [it] in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!’
Do you see the participation there? He read the Word of God, they heard it, and they responded, “Everything we have heard, we are going to do.” It was read, and they responded.
In Deuteronomy 11, Moses was told to do something unique when they took the land. God instructed them to stand on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in modern-day Samaria, just north of Jerusalem. Down the hill from Mount Gerizim is Shechem, where Jacob’s well is located—the namesake of our church from John 4. Across the valley, about two miles away, is Mount Ebal. God commanded them to divide the tribes between the two mountains and shout the blessings and the curses of the law back and forth across the valley.
In Joshua 8, that is exactly what they did. Joshua marched the people up to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and they recited the Scriptures back and forth across the valley. “Blessed are you if you do this…” and “Cursed are you if you do that…” They read and declared the Word, interacting with the text and responding to it.
Joshua 8:33-35 (NASB)
All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them [stood] in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel. Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
Look at Nehemiah 8. Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. In the midst of rebuilding, they find a copy of the Book of the Law. Chapter 8 describes what happens:
“And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.”
Nehemiah 8:1-3 (NASB)
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who [could] listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
Ezra stood on a wooden podium made for that purpose. He opened the book in the sight of all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up. They stood in reverence. Ezra blessed the Lord, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands, and they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:5-6 (NASB)
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.
That is how you respond to the Word of God. They stood in honor of God revealing Himself, not passively listening, but actively engaging with “Amen!” and raising hands in worship. It was active participation.
In the New Testament, that value did not change. In 1 Thessalonians 5:27, Paul says, “I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.” In Colossians 4:16, he writes, “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.”
Colossians 4:16 (NASB)
When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter [that is coming] from Laodicea.
The Word was meant to be read publicly because all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. When you hear it read, it breathes life, brings joy, convicts of sin, and speaks directly to the soul.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
Exhorting and Teaching the Word
Second, Paul tells Timothy to give attention to exhortation. What is exhortation? It means to urge, encourage, comfort, admonish, and appeal. When a man of God stands in a pulpit preaching the Word, he is appealing to you to respond to the Scriptures. Handling the Word of God is not merely about listening; it is about being stirred to action.
In Acts 2:40, Peter solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” That is why Paul, at the end of his life, writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NASB)
I solemnly charge [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
What a charge: preach the Word! Exhort people in the Scriptures to hear the Word and adjust their lives to it.
In Ephesians 4, Paul says Christ gave some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and mature into the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.
Ephesians 4:11-14 (NASB)
And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces us. When we read it, it should awaken our affections, challenge our sin, and call us to respond.
Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Third, Paul says to give attention to teaching. The early church was committed to teaching doctrine. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
Colossians 1:28 (NASB)
We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
Paul told Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Reclaiming the Authority of Scripture
The early church operated with this mindset—to read, preach, and teach the Word of God as the supreme authority. That continued for centuries until Christianity became state-sanctioned under Constantine. Over the Middle Ages, the authority of the institutional church began to rise, while the authority of Scripture was suppressed. Doctrines that were not biblical crept in, leaving people confused about whether their final authority was the Bible or the church.
The Bible was in Latin, meaning only the educated and priests could read it. The Scriptures were taken out of the lap of the everyday believer and placed solely in the hands of religious experts. People came passively, unable to verify what was being taught.
Then came the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Men like Martin Luther looked at the practices of the day and said, “That’s not even in the Bible! Where did you get that?” They fought to put the Scriptures back into the hands of ordinary people in their own language. Luther wrote that we must become conversant with Scripture, skillful in giving an answer for our faith, and able to teach others. For standing on the authority of Scripture alone—Sola Scriptura—Luther was labeled a heretic and faced death threats. Yet the Reformers recovered the truth of faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and Scripture alone.
Fast-forward to our day. We live in a technological age where you can pull up the Bible on your phone in seconds. That is a blessing, but it can also be a distraction with texts, emails, and notifications competing for our focus. Some churches project all the Scripture on screens. I have intentionally chosen not to do that, even though we have the technology, because if we put everything on the screen, men stop bringing their Bibles. I want our men and women opening their Bibles, highlighting the text, and wrestling with the Word.
We must guard against losing our delight in the Word of God. We cannot treat church like consumers hoping for an entertaining message. We gather to participate and interact under the authority of God’s Word.
The Communal Encounter with Christ
Hebrews 10 reminds us:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Why is the gathering so important? Because the Word of God is proclaimed in the gathering. We read it, preach it, teach it, and respond to it together. This is not a podcast experience where you passively ingest content. When you hear the truth and respond, the person next to you sees that and is encouraged. When someone says “Amen,” it strengthens the faith of others. Together, under the authority of the Word, we spur one another on in a way we simply cannot do alone.
In the second century, Justin Martyr described early Christian worship: believers from town and country would gather on Sunday, the writings of the prophets and apostles were read, and then the leader gave a message exhorting everyone to imitate what was read. The people responded together, saying, “Amen!”
That is a healthy, biblical ecclesiology. Yes, the church is sent into the world. A church that hides behind a moat to the neglect of a dying world is just a social club. We must be on the offensive against the gates of hell. But the church is also called to gather. We need each other. We need this shared experience of hearing, reading, preaching, and teaching the Word of God.
Jesus addressed religious leaders who studied Scripture without seeing its true purpose. He told them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”
John 5:39 (NASB)
’You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
The ultimate purpose of the Word of God is not biblio-idolatry; it is to lead us to Jesus. As we sit under the authority of Scripture together in community, we see our need for Jesus, our need for the cross, and our need for redemption. We see Christ revealed in the text. That is something you cannot replicate online or through a podcast. There is a sacred work that occurs when God’s people assemble together around His Word.
Let’s pray together.
Father in heaven, I am grateful for the mystery of the church—bringing together Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, men and women, all submitted under the lordship of Jesus and the authority of Your Word. May Your Word come alive in our gatherings. May it be read, celebrated, and treasured, because it is pure, true, right, and restorative, pointing us directly to Jesus.
Lord, I pray that our community would respond to Your Word in a fresh and deeper way. Help us leave behind passivity and lean in with anticipation. May we bring our Bibles, open them, underline, take notes, and discuss Your truth with our spouses and our children throughout the week. In this communal gathering, encourage us through one another’s faith as we submit ourselves together to the reading, preaching, and teaching of Your Word.
Awaken Your church to be all that You have called us to be in our city and in our world. Work in our hearts so that we might see Jesus clearly and gladly follow Him together. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.