"Many people feel the Bible is irrelevant for the modern world and unfortunately the sermon can underline that perception in two ways. First if we preach the text but do not apply it to our context, we confirm people’s suspicions that the Bible has nothing to say today. On the other hand if we preach without allowing Scripture to set the core heartbeat of our message but instead rely on holding people’s attention through great story telling or multimedia clips – this again implies that we believe the Bible has nothing to say today."

Krish Kandiah (Evangelical Alliance UK) encourages preachers to adapt their sermons to model how to read the Bible, showing their listeners an appreciation for the Bible that can help increase biblical literacy. He argues that "raising the level of biblical literacy does not mean simply giving people more information about the Bible, or helping them find more time to read the Bible, but imparting skills that will help people enjoy the Bible in its depth and diversity, bridging the ancient text with our contemporary context and inspiring worship for its Author."

This article is part of the Lausanne Global Conversation on Scripture in Mission.