1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
Today, in 4:6-10, the entire tone of the letter changes as Paul shifts his attention from the church to Timothy. He warns and encourages Timothy that if he is to be a good servant of Jesus Christ there are certain things that must be true of him – and us.
1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
Today, in 4:1-6, Paul warns us that “some will depart from the faith” and then helps us to understand some of causes behind that. This is helpful not only for understanding how this happens in the lives of others but also for understanding how it could happen in our life.
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1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
In 1 Tim 3:14-16 we get to the heart of Paul’s letter to Timothy. The entire letter radiates out from the truth contained in this section. Here we see, more clearly and dramatically than anywhere else, what is at stake in Ephesus – and for us in our great city of Seattle. Paul clarifies that he is not merely going for a change of behavior within the church, but a realignment of the church around truth itself – after all it is the pillar and buttress of the truth.
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1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 we see that one of the most significant areas within the Ephesian church that needed to be addressed was the leadership, in particular, pastoral leadership. There was apparently much confusion around pastoral leadership: What is a pastor? What are the qualifications? What should they be primarily concerned with? This is particularly important as Jesus came into world to live, die and rise in order to create the church (Mt 16:18). Revelation tells us that all of human history is marching toward the day when the church will be presented to Jesus as is bride. Therefore, the matter of who leads the church in the interim is of great importance. It is not an exaggeration to say that the health of every local church depends on quality, faithfulness and teaching of its pastors.
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1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
Today we’re looking at the topic of Deacons. Jesus cares deeply about his church, and because of that, He’s given qualifications for leaders so that they can faithfully love and serve the church, as the church has been loved and served by Christ. This morning we’re going to answer 5 Questions: Why is church leadership important? How did we get Deacons? What are the qualifications for Deacons? What do they do? And why be a Deacon?
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1 Timothy, First Timothy: Truth To Thrive By, Media, Sermons
Today we’re going to unpack 1 Timothy 2:11-15. This is one of the most debated sections of all of the Apostle Paul’s writings – even New Testament. Quite literally, the interpretation of every word is debated. But, the good news is that you don’t have to be a New Testament scholar to understand what’s here. Yes, we must pray earnestly, we must think deeply, we must carefully search the Scripture, but in the end, the plain meaning of the text is the plain meaning of the text. This section, in particular, has significant implications on how we understand manhood, womanhood and ministry. For us, as a newly forming church, it is crucial to grasp and apply what God has here. If we love what God loves, want to be what God wants us to be, we must humbly seek to understand God’s design for men, women and the leadership of his people.
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This morning we gather to thank Him for all He has done and ask Him to do even more in the year(s) to come. In light of our birthday, let’s revisit God’s intention and vision for his church, universal and local, from 1 Peter 2:4-10. What do you think of when you think of the local church? What is it? Why does it/we exist? What is God’s purpose for it? Why are we continuing to move ahead in the planting of a new church downtown?
This morning we gather to celebrate Jesus’ physical bodily resurrection from the grave. Jesus’ resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith, but central to it. Without the resurrection there would be no Christianity. Christianity is a resurrection faith. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Apostles and early church were absolutely preoccupied with the resurrection. It is impossible to overstate its importance.
Amidst the mess in Ephesus, the men were not functioning as spiritual leaders, passionately and prayerfully leading out, and the women were using the local church gatherings as immodest fashion shows to flaunt their wealth and bodies. For obvious reasons, these issues were distracting and disrupting the life of the church from matters of central importance. Paul calls angry men and immodest women alike to be transformed by the gospel.
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Many argue that First Timothy is primarily about church order, governance and structure. That is unfortunate. Church order, governance and structure are certainly addressed, but are not Paul’s driving concern. His driving concern for Timothy, the church(es) in Ephesus and us is that we get the gospel right. The context of this section (2:1-7) is prayer, but the content is salvation. A right understanding of the one mediator between God and men, compels us to be mediators before God for men.
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