The Bible is not only the foundation of all our preaching, but it must permeate all aspects of church life. Congregations, as well as preachers, must move on from paying lip-service to the importance of Scripture, to actually demonstrating it.
Of course, church leaders have a major role to play here; if they are obviously getting their sermons from the Bible, using its teaching as the basis for church decisions and for planning their own lives, the congregation is likely to follow their lead. So how can we release the Bible from being trapped in Mark Twain's definition of a classic: 'A book everyone wants to have read and no-one wants to read!'? Here are some ideas.
Encourage private use
All Christians must be encouraged to read, study, meditate on and memorise the Bible. You may be able to stimulate interest by having people give public testimony to their own growth through their own private meditation on the Bible, or through writing an article for the church magazine or running a seminar on 'How to get the best out of your Bible'.
