Bible Teaching Still Matters — Even in a TikTok Generation

by Pastor Gene McIntyre

Why Verse-by-Verse Teaching Still Matters Today

Imagine you receive a letter in the mail. It is a 3-page letter from your best friend. You grab the envelope, excited, and unfold the letter. You go to a random place in the text and read a few lines. You put the letter back into the envelope and say to yourself, “What a great letter!”

Makes no sense. Right? Then why do we read God’s letter that way?

Why, in the age of TikTok, do we still study the Bible? And why verse by verse? This type of teaching is known as Expository Bible teaching and it is the way we do it at The Altar Fellowship. Why? Because we don’t use the Bible to prop up our opinions. We open Scripture and let God speak for Himself. That’s why our church is committed to expository teaching—walking through the text in its historical, cultural, and literary context, and letting the Author’s intent shape our message and our lives.
As a Bible teaching church, we take this commitment seriously.

At our amazing church in Sarasota, we don’t cherry-pick verses to fit a pre-decided agenda, motivational talk, or avoid hard passages. As inconvenient as it may be to go over certain portions of the Bible, we trust that God knows what He’s doing and saying. And, man! Is it unbelievably exciting to study the Word of God that way! See, at our Fellowship, we sit together and allow our discussions and readings to draw the message out of the text, book by book and passage by passage, honoring context, genre, and the storyline of Scripture.

How Context Protects Us From Misinterpretation

Why does context matter? Great question! Because if I pull a friend out of her house by her hair as she screams hysterically, out of context, you may think I’m a horrible person. But if I add the context by telling you her house was on fire and she was a few minutes away from losing consciousness and potentially her life, all of a sudden, I am a hero. Do I have your attention? Yes?

Here are those types of context we are talking about:

Historical: We ask, Who wrote this? To whom? When? What was happening in their world? Understanding the original audience helps us understand what God is saying to us now.

Cultural: Customs, idioms, and social realities matter. We bridge the gap between the ancient world and today so we don’t misread the text.

Literary: Poetry isn’t read like history. Parables aren’t laws. We honor genre, structure, keywords, and themes so the meaning emerges as the author intended.

Canonical: Each passage fits within the big story—from creation and covenant to Christ and the Church. We read every text in light of Jesus and the gospel.

The expository teaching of the Word of God is not only a good idea; it actually protects us from being deceived. It prevents us from pulling isolated verses to prove a point that God is not trying to make. Sometimes we tend to hold God accountable for not fulfilling “His” promises. But…did He really promise it? And if He did, what was the context of that promise?

Another aspect of teaching this way that I personally love as a teacher is that teaching the Bible verse by verse protects the congregation from a personality-driven teaching. We should come to church to hear from God and not from another human being. Centering on a communicator’s opinions instead of God’s Word is NEVER a good idea. This is why we value being a thoroughly Bible-based church—anchored in Scripture, not trends.

And don’t you get tired of this world where what’s up today is down tomorrow? The lack of stability? The changing messages? At our amazing non-denominational church in Sarasota, you never have to worry about someone bending Scripture to match the cultural moment rather than letting Scripture discipline us in every moment.

This is why we’re proud to be committed to expository teaching in Sarasota—steady, consistent, and rooted in God’s truth.

Why Expository Teaching Creates Strong, Healthy Believers

Expository Bible teaching also prevents us from skipping hard or controversial passages. Exposition makes us face the whole counsel of God. Receiving the whole counsel of God makes us healthier believers and a healthier church where:

• People grow roots, not just feelings. Faith becomes resilient on Monday, not just inspired on Sunday.

• There’s unity around truth: We gather around Scripture, not our individual preferences. The Word, and not a human being, sets our agenda.

• We each learn to read the Bible for ourselves with curiosity and humility. We become self-sufficient, independent students of the Word of God, with the help of His precious Holy Spirit.

So, join us, and study through full books of the Bible. These series may take weeks or months because we value full context, but who’s in a hurry when you are learning so much? Come and be ready for your questions to be welcome. Honest wrestling and thoughtful dialogue are part of discipleship. Together, we find a way to apply Scripture to our lives clearly. We ask ourselves, in light of authorial intent, how should we think, live, and love differently?

Are you excited yet? Grab your notebook or phone so you can take great notes and come ready to participate in the most exciting Bible studies you’ve ever been a part of. Get ready to grow, get to know God like never before, and be anchored in God’s Word as you grow into His likeness and share His good news with your friends and neighbors.

Our simple promise: We will not twist verses to fit our preferences. We will open God’s Word, honor its context, preach Christ, and invite real-life obedience. Not our agenda. His voice. His timing. His truth.

Now, more than ever, this world needs verse-by-verse preaching and teaching of the Word of God. At The Altar Fellowship, we are not afraid of allowing the Word of God to transform lives in a countercultural and powerful way. If you’re hungry for a faith rooted in Scripture, come journey with us. Let’s listen for God together and let His Word speak the way it was meant to.