Devoted to Formative Bible Teaching
The beginning of a new year invites reflection. It gives us a chance to evaluate what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change. This season naturally calls us toward intentionality—toward living life on purpose.
That’s why we as a church are spending time in Acts 2, looking at the four priorities of the early church. If these priorities were good enough for the church at its very beginning, then they are good enough for the church today.
Acts 2 records the moment the church was born. After Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. Peter preached the gospel—about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—and 3,000 people were saved and baptized in one day. Those 3,000 people became the church.
Luke tells us what immediately marked them:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
The first priority listed is the apostles’ teaching. So what does that mean for us?
There are no more capital-A Apostles. That office has been retired, and the canon of Scripture is closed. But the teaching of the apostles has been preserved for us in the Bible. Which leads us to the main idea:
Devote yourself to formative Bible teaching.
God’s Word not only saves us—it forms us. It shapes us, molds us, and makes us more like Jesus. If we want to apply this priority today, we must intentionally place ourselves under formative Bible teaching. Here are four levels that help us do that.
1. Submit to expository preaching weekly, in person, if you’re physically able.
This is the foundation.
For 2,000 years, the church has gathered on the Lord’s Day to sit under the preaching of God’s Word. Expository preaching explains a biblical text according to the author’s intent and applies it to our lives today. It helps us hear God’s Word and do it.
Jesus himself said the wise man builds his house on the rock by hearing his words and obeying them. Weekly preaching forms us over time—slowly, faithfully, and deeply. As long as you are physically able, devote yourself to being present and submitting to the preaching of Scripture.
2. Interact with a Sunday School class weekly, with others in your stage of life.
If preaching is the foundation, Sunday School is the living room.
This is where the Bible is opened in conversation. It’s where relationships form, accountability grows, and application becomes personal. In Acts 2, believers gathered in homes, breaking bread and applying what they had learned together. Sunday School provides that same rhythm in a consistent and sustainable way.
Come ready to interact—with Scripture and with one another. Growth rarely happens in isolation.
3. Engage in a personal study of the Bible daily, at your own pace.
This is the upstairs bedroom—the quiet, personal space.
The early church went to the temple day by day. We don’t do that—but we do have something they didn’t: our own copy of the Bible.
God wants to be known, and he has made himself known through Scripture. But there’s a catch—you have to actually read it.
Daily Bible reading doesn’t require perfection or speed. It requires consistency. One chapter a day is enough. Start with the Gospel of John if you don’t know where to begin. Read slowly. Look for two truths you can carry with you through the day.
The Bible makes us wise for salvation, helps us fight temptation, renews us, nourishes our soul, and transforms us to become more like Jesus. That sounds relevant because it is.
4. Avoid bad, false, and/or inaccurate teaching being promoted online.
This is the fence.
There is a lot of terrible Bible teaching circulating online. Not all of it is obvious. Some of it sounds convincing. That’s why you must know Scripture well enough to test what you hear.
Acts 17 praises the Bereans because they examined the Scriptures daily to see if what they were taught was true. That should be our posture as well. Test everything—sermons, classes, conversations, and content—by God’s Word.
A strong fence protects what’s inside.
The Gospel Is Caught and Taught
The early church didn’t just hear the gospel once. They lived it together. They created a community where the gospel was applied to daily life—and God added to their number day by day.
God wants to make you more like Jesus so that when you share Jesus, people believe you. He wants to make the church more like Jesus so that when people step into our life together, they sense something different.
Devote yourself to formative Bible teaching—at every level—and watch how God uses it to form you, strengthen the church, and draw others to himself.