Being Deep in the Word

What are the marks of a healthy church? There are many, but I’d like to highlight five in particular over the coming weeks. And I’ll introduce the staff members especially responsible for helping us grow in these areas.

The first of these is to be a church deep in the Word of God.

Way back when God introduced Himself to His people in the wilderness, He revealed Himself as a God to be known through His words. "Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice” (Deuteronomy 4:12). At the heart of the tabernacle/temple there was no idol or image, just a box containing the ten commandments. That was powerfully symbolic. Israel were to live and grow in obedience to God’s word.

Jesus Himself loved the Scriptures. He treated every single word as God’s word (Matthew 5:18). And His own teaching is seen as essential for us to grow as disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). So the early leaders of the church made it a priority to teach the word (Acts 2:42; 6:4).

We see this pattern throughout the letters of the New Testament. Teaching the word of Christ remained at the heart of congregational life (Colossians 3:16). This is how the church grows up to maturity - "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ." (Colossians 1:28-29). This is how the church is equipped for life and ministry (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

At DAC we are all responsible to urge each other to grow deep in the word. However, Craig McCorkindale will take a particular responsibility for this ministry area as our Maturity Minister.

Grace and Peace,
Mark