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Question 2
The lesson argues (with Chrysostom) that the apostles’ proclamation of God’s words is “a higher thing than even miracles”; in what ways have you seen modern Christianity invert that priority, and what would it require in a church’s life for “majestic hearing through the Word of God” to become central again?
Another way to ask: How do you see churches today treating miracles or experiences as more important than God’s Word being preached? What would need to change for the church to make hearing and obeying God’s Word the center again?

Direct Answer The transcript teaches that apostolic preaching—God’s own message communicated through His servants—is “higher…than even miracles,” so a church becomes healthy when it treats hearing and receiving God’s Word as central, not secondary. The transcript doesn’t directly list modern examples, but it implies that prioritizing signs over hearing repeats the very Jewish mistake Chrysostom describes.

Support from Transcript:

  • Chrysostom: “The Jews were forever seeking a sign and wanting to see the resurrection with their own eyes.”
  • Paul’s corrective: the prophet “promised no such thing…it was through hearing that we were to believe.”
  • Bercot: Paul “elevates” hearing—“I am not speaking about ordinary hearing…a majestic sort of hearing…through the Word of God.”
  • The apostles “were not proclaiming their own message…they were preaching what they had learned from God.”
  • Bercot: this Word-centered proclamation “is a higher thing than even miracles.”
Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like for a congregation to treat sermons, Scripture reading, and obedience as the main “event”? How can leaders ensure the message is God’s words, not merely their own?

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