Leadership of the church, 1 Timothy 3: 1-7

As most of you know, we practice verse by verse preaching at this church, rather than trying to approach the scripture from a topical perspective. There are times when I think I would like to preach topically, and perhaps today is one of those days. But for the most part, I feel that the verse by verse, chapter by chapter approach is better for me, because it keeps me in line with God’s priorities, rather than my own, which may vacillate from week to week depending on the circumstances. We have been studying the first letter to Timothy for the

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Women’s role in the church, 1 Timothy 2:9-15

Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. He said you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. He said God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He said to the Father in prayer, your word is truth. We are saved by believing in the truth. We are sanctified by obedience to the truth. Truth matters. Truth is important to God, and truth must be important to us. There is not a truth for you and another truth for me. There is not truth

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The ministry of prayer, 1 Timothy 2:1-8

Paul gives the purpose of this letter in chapter 3 vs 15, “I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” And so to that purpose, Paul has written so far about the establishment of the church, specifically, that the apostles were given to be the foundation of the church and to establish the church. Then he wrote about the ministry of the church, and we said there were many different types of ministers, or servants

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The ministry of the church, 1 Timothy 1:12-20

We are all probably very familiar with the word ministry. It’s often used as a synonym for the church. It’s derived from the root word minister, which often is used as a title or job description for a pastor. But ministry is really just another word for service. Depending upon the translation you use, you will see either ministry or service used in vs twelve. Vs12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, or ministry.” I think I prefer the translation as service. Because ministry is a word

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The establishment of the church, 1 Timothy 1:1-11.

We are beginning a new book today which is 1 Timothy. This book is part of a trilogy, made up of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, which were written to Timothy and Titus by Paul for the establishment of the churches in Ephesus and Crete, and which were to serve as a manual for the operation of all churches among the Gentiles. It’s tempting to disregard these letters as if they are really only pertain to pastors and deacons and not really applicable to the congregation. But in fact, the sound doctrine of the church is the goal of

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God’s judgement against the rich, James 5:1-6

As a general, overarching theme in this epistle, James has been contrasting the wisdom which is from the world, with the wisdom which is from above.  He has shown that contrast in a variety of ways.  For instance, James spent a great deal of time talking about the use of the  tongue, or our speech, as the evidence of which wisdom you follow – whether it’s the wisdom of the world or the wisdom from above.  You can tell by one’s speech. But he really begins this epistle by talking about wisdom. And in those opening verses, we get some

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The evidence of earthly wisdom, James 4:11-17

James has been continuously referring to two dominant themes in his epistle.  Pretty much everything he has said up to this point stems from one or both of these themes.  And I would say that both themes are closely related.  Those themes are wisdom and what he calls our tongue, or to put it in our common vernacular, our speech. Wisdom and speech are related in that our speech is the evidence of wisdom.  Now he has taught us early on in this epistle that wisdom is from God.  Wisdom is the  knowledge and application of spiritual life which comes

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The source of conflict, James 4:1-10

I remember when I was about 27 years old or so, going to France on vacation, alone. I didn’t know the language, didn’t know anyone there, and had no real idea where to go. But being young and foolish, I didn’t see not knowing the language as a big problem. I thought it would be an adventure. It was, I suppose, a great adventure that I still remember. But if I am honest, not knowing the language made the trip a lot more difficult than it should have been. It cost me quite a bit more than it should have

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Earthly vs Heavenly Wisdom, James 3:13-18

At the beginning of a new year, a lot of people come up with a new year’s resolution that they intend to accomplish during the upcoming year.  Most of them don’t stick with it too long. I thought about a new year’s resolution quite a bit.  I plan on starting a new exercise program.  And I’ve already gotten started on my resolution. I’ve watched a lot of video’s about different workout plans.  But to tell you the truth, that’s probably about as far as I want to go with it.  Just watching all those video’s was exhausting. It would be

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Taming the tongue, James 3:1-12

I think that one of the greatest distinguishing features that separates man from the animal kingdom, besides having a soul, is man’s ability to speak, to communicate.  I’ve always been amazed at the inherent desire in people to talk.  I remember very well many years ago I used to work part time in the mornings as a lifeguard for the pool at the YMCA.  And they would have these exercise classes during certain times on certain days when all these old people would put on their floaties and then supposedly start exercising.  But the teacher was pretty lax.  She would

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