In this post, Jonathan Dodson explains why it’s important to read along in your own Bible during a sermon. Here’s his first reason:
It allows the Bible to make up your mind about meaning, not you make up your own mind about the meaning. Having a Bible in front of you (electronic or hardcopy), allows you to read and refer to the passage as a complete thought. Reading it in complete allows you to compare the reasoning of the preacher to the reasoning of Scripture. We can follow the argument of Scripture, not just the argument of the preacher. Instead of making up your mind about the Bible, let the Bible make up your mind about the Bible.
Follow the argument of Scripture, not just the argument of the preacher.
Consider the example of the Bereans who thought about Paul’s teachings by “examining the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). They respectfully compared Paul to the OT. Paul himself taught the Roman churches to be “convinced in their own mind” before God regarding interpretation and application of Scripture (Rom 14:5). By reading Scripture during a sermon, we can follow the biblical admonition to be persuaded through our own study, not merely relying on second-hand interpretation, as good as it may be.
(via)