High Expectations: Study God’s Word
Sermon begins at 23:39
2 Timothy 3:15-17 – “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV
In our ongoing sermon series called High Expectations we have learned that the early church practiced six things in response to the resurrection. The early church worshipped together, prayed together, and served one another. This week we are going to learn that they did a fourth activity, they studied God’s Word together. In fact, our series text from Acts chapter 2 says they devoted themselves to God’s Word.
What does it mean to devote oneself to God’s Word? One thing it is not, it is not simply knowing more of God’s Word. In my first parish I had a group of people who came and joined my church as a whole group. They called themselves the Dirty Dozen, because they were six couples plus the mother of one of the couples. She said to me that she didn’t want to leave the church they were at but only came along because that is where her ride was going!
Among these twelve people, all of whom were retired, were two parochial school teachers. They were well versed in God’s Word but it soon became apparent that the knowledge they possessed in their heads had not traveled the eighteen inches to their hearts. From working with the “dirty dozen” I learned that head knowledge does not equate to heart knowledge.
As taught in the bible passage for this lesson, we study God’s Word with the intent that it will teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in righteousness so that we will be equipped for every good work! Join us Sunday as we study the fourth example of the early church…devoting ourselves to the Word of God.
-Pastor Ken