Omc: Family Chapel

As Paul continues to address the church on how to relate to others in godliness, Paul moves on to speak on how we ought to treat elders in the church. Paul shows the importance of keeping elders accountable in living lives of godliness, for they are responsible for equipping the church to pursue godliness as well. The church is urged to honor good elders, and to discipline those whose lives are marked by unrepentant sin.

Here in our passage, Paul addresses how the local church is to help widows, those who are hurting. The local church, in partnership with the family, should support its hurting members by assessing real needs and godly character, in order to avoid hurting others while trying to help. When we try to help others in the wrong way, we hurt them by enabling ungodly behavior and unfulfilled potential.

We have seen the importance of godliness (and training for godliness) over the past few weeks. And from this point forward, Paul gives instructions on what godliness looks like within the context of the church community. He’s going to show how we are to pursue godliness together as a church. But in the pursuit of godliness, sometimes confrontations are needed. Christians in a local church are to push each other towards godliness by confronting each other’s sins, not by harsh rebuke but by loving encouragement as family members.

We saw last week the importance of godliness and how it is fueled by the Gospel. We will be continuing to look at the topic of godliness, and we will see that in order to build godliness in our lives, we must train ourselves up in it. In order to train ourselves in godliness, Paul calls us to two things, which are to live with integrity and to be committed to God's Word.

Here we see the importance of godliness since we are the church of the living God entrusted with the truth. And we'll see that the key to godly living is the Gospel. Resting in the finished work of Christ is what gives us the strength to live lives of godliness (3:14-16). When we lose the Gospel, we will also distort our lives towards ungodliness (4:1-5). We can pursue a deep godliness by deeply resting in the Gospel.

With this passage, we'll be looking at the role of deacons in the life of the church. And we're going to see that deacons are ministers of mercy who are to meet the practical needs of the people. Given the role of a deacon at a local church, one must have a character of integrity.

With this passage, we'll be looking at the role of elders in the life of the church. And we're going to see that elders are the pastors of the church who are to teach the church, lead the church, and protect the church. Given the role of an elder at a local church, one must have a character that is above reproach since he will be overseeing the household of God and subject to Satan’s temptations.

In our passage this week, Paul addresses Timothy concerning the structure of church leadership, and indicates that the role of teaching and leadership in the church has been entrusted to men. This is not to say that women cannot teach or be leaders within the church, but is speaking specifically in the context of Eldership. Though this may be a controversial passage in our current cultural climate, we will see that this model is God's good design for the protection and flourishing of the church.

With this passage, we'll be looking at Paul's call to prayer for all people. And we're going to see that we should pray for the salvation of all peoples because (1) God’s heart is for all peoples, (2) Christ’s work on the cross was for all peoples, and (3) the Church has been commissioned to reach all peoples.

For Easter Sunday, we'll be seeing how Jesus is the Good Shepherd who provides his people new life by giving up His life. We're so often searching for life in all the wrong places. In Christ, we receive abundant life through his life, death, and resurrection! Hallelujah!

In our passage this week, Paul continues to address Timothy concerning the false teachers in the church, and we see a glimpse of the nature at what these false teachers were teaching: that right standing before God could be attained through the keeping of the law. Paul writes to affirm the message of the gospel, that the law is not to be used that way. According to Paul, the law does two things: 1) reveals our sin (1:8-13a), but 2) highlights the depths of God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus (1:13a-16). This is the teaching that the church is to be built upon, and that we are to guard. This is the gospel, that it is not by the keeping of the law that we are saved, but by the grace, mercy, and perfect patience of Christ Jesus. The ultimate purpose of the Law is to reveal the need for our Savior.

The book of 1 Timothy hones in on what the church is supposed to be like. We want to build the family and in the next few years, we'll be undergoing some pretty big structural changes. So we're hoping to lay a solid foundation and a common understanding for our congregation as we move forward together! With our first sermon, we'll see that the church needs to be aware of the danger of false teachers. The church needs to know the marks of false teachers (teaching devoid of truth; life devoid of love) and rightly respond to them (recognize responsibility, hold on to integrity, and exercise church discipline).

We are wrapping up our short series on Suffering this Sunday. We'll be looking at how we are to walk with others in their suffering. We'll see that the way we walk with others is by showing up (Galatians 6:2), listening (Job 13:5), praying (Philippians 4:6-7), providing practical support (1 John 3:16-18), giving the gift of hope (Hebrews 6:19-20), and waiting (Isaiah 40:30-31). As a family, God calls upon us to walk well with one another in seasons of suffering.

As we continue our series on Suffering, we'll be looking at how we should respond when we are in times of suffering. Though we may understand the biblical framework for suffering and God's purposes in suffering, we often find ourselves not knowing how to respond when suffering hits. Naturally, we tend to deal with suffering by denying it, oversimplifying it, or despairing in it, which ultimately do not work. Rather, we'll see that the Bible gives us a healthier, more robust way to respond to suffering, rooted in the hope we have in Christ.

While suffering is not a good thing, certain good things can only come through suffering. The goal of this sermon is not necessarily so that you can look at the suffering you are going through right now or at suffering that you have gone through in the past and try to pinpoint exactly why God did what He did. (That’s a fool’s errand!) Rather, the goal of this sermon is to give us some general guidelines so that we can trust that God is working for our good and for His glory in the midst of our suffering.

Creation: Suffering was not a part of God's original design Fall: Suffering is a result of sin Redemption: Suffering is ultimately experienced and overcome by God at the cross Restoration: Suffering will be no more one day

We will be wrapping up our short series in Jonah this upcoming Sunday. We'll see the surprising reason why Jonah ran away when God first called him, and that's because He did not want the Ninevites to receive God's mercy! (Jonah was a nationalistic racist!!) While he rejoiced in receiving God's mercy, he could not bear to see others receive God's mercy. From our passage, we'll see that we ought to have God's heart of compassion towards those we see as "others". As we have received mercy, we ought to show others mercy.

As we continue in the book of Jonah, in chapter 3, we'll see God graciously call upon Nineveh to repent. And then we'll see how God graciously responds to Nineveh's repentance with mercy. Repentance, from beginning to end, is an act of grace - the call to repentance, the act of repentance, and the response to repentance are all truly God's gracious gifts to us!

We'll be kicking off a new series (4 weeks) through the book of Jonah. For this Sunday, we'll focus on the call of God. God calls us to obey Him. Oftentimes, it is difficult to obey, but we should obey the call of God placed on our lives because God is the sovereign Lord who is worthy of our obedience and His call will come to pass. Instead of running away, we should obey the call of God by living in the presence of God.