What I'm grateful for today is good, solid Bible teaching.
I've gone to church most of my adult life. We've gone to many different types of churches. Presbyterian, Non-denominational, Non-denominational with a leaning toward charismatic, Baptist, Independent Baptist (yes, there is a difference), Methodist, Charity (this was a Charity style church, but not officially connected with the Charity churches), and Bible churches.
These churches have had a variety of different set ups. Most had some sort of Sunday School class activities before regular church service. All but two had an additional weekday service, usually touted as a bible study, more often resembling a Sunday morning service with less singing. Some had Sunday morning and evening services in addition to the mid-week service. And some had a constant stream of activities: services (minimum of 3 a week), camp meetings, revivals, jubilees, homecomings, ladie's meetings, men's meeting, youth meetings, etc., etc., etc.
Hands down, I feel that I've learned more about the Bible in our current church than all of the others combined. I'm not saying I didn't learn about the Bible during all of those years when I was attending other churches, but most of that learning was done through my own research because of unanswered questions I would have after preaching services, or because I was curious about a particular topic, but wasn't satisfied with the (seemingly pat) answers I was getting. That is all well and good, and exactly what you should do. We should all study the bible on our own and not leave our training exclusively in the hands of our preachers, but it is invaluable to have dedicated elders who are intent on training their congregation. We are supposed to be taught so that we can mature in the knowledge of scripture. Unfortunately, I have heard preachers insist that the congregation look to him for understanding, instead of equipping them to understand it on their own.
Our current church has two preaching/teaching elders who usually lead our services. They use expository teaching, in the truest sense. They've systematically taught through entire books of the Bible, or sometimes through a particular topic, often debating both sides of an argument. They also open the floor after the teaching for questions or comments about the service, allowing input from everyone. If they don't have a ready answer for a question, they encourage answers from the congregation. If they, or no one else has a ready answer, they will research it later and get back to you. I have learned so much, and had so many questions answered.
So, it is wonderful Bible teaching that I am grateful for today.
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