Photographs of recent events can be found on Facebook.
Here’s something that should happen every time the people of God gather for worship: the public reading of Scripture.
Paul commands Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.”
We see the same pattern throughout the Old Testament. When the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the temple (2 Chronicles 34), King Josiah gathered men and women, great and small, and read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant. In Nehemiah 8, Ezra stood on a wooden platform before the assembled people and read from the Torah from early morning until midday while the people listened attentively.
In the first-century synagogues throughout Judea and the Roman world, it was the regular practice every Sabbath to read portions from the Law and the Prophets (see Luke 4:16–17; Acts 13:15, 27; 15:21).
Whenever God’s people gather today, there is certainly prayer, singing, and preaching—but there must also be the public reading of Scripture. And I don’t mean just a verse or two tied to the sermon. That’s like inviting a crowd to a banquet and serving only a spoonful. We need far more than that.
When the church gathers, our ears should be filled with the Word of God. We need substantial sections from both the Old Testament and the New. We should hear as much of God’s Word as is reasonably possible in the time we have together.
These are not ordinary words. This is God himself speaking to us in a living and active voice, the Word that is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), the Word the Holy Spirit uses to create faith, to grant peace, and to assure us of the salvation we have in Christ.
So when we gather as the church, let us always make sure there is a faithful, generous, public reading of the Scriptures.
After all, what could possibly be better for us to hear?
Paul commands Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.”
We see the same pattern throughout the Old Testament. When the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the temple (2 Chronicles 34), King Josiah gathered men and women, great and small, and read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant. In Nehemiah 8, Ezra stood on a wooden platform before the assembled people and read from the Torah from early morning until midday while the people listened attentively.
In the first-century synagogues throughout Judea and the Roman world, it was the regular practice every Sabbath to read portions from the Law and the Prophets (see Luke 4:16–17; Acts 13:15, 27; 15:21).
Whenever God’s people gather today, there is certainly prayer, singing, and preaching—but there must also be the public reading of Scripture. And I don’t mean just a verse or two tied to the sermon. That’s like inviting a crowd to a banquet and serving only a spoonful. We need far more than that.
When the church gathers, our ears should be filled with the Word of God. We need substantial sections from both the Old Testament and the New. We should hear as much of God’s Word as is reasonably possible in the time we have together.
These are not ordinary words. This is God himself speaking to us in a living and active voice, the Word that is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), the Word the Holy Spirit uses to create faith, to grant peace, and to assure us of the salvation we have in Christ.
So when we gather as the church, let us always make sure there is a faithful, generous, public reading of the Scriptures.
After all, what could possibly be better for us to hear?
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers and friends!
It’s time!