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Paul had deep concern for the wellbeing of the churches. His concern flowed from the fact that God has entrusted churches with the task of proclaiming and protecting the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). The Bible, God’s Word, is this truth. Thus, the biblical message is the business of the church. In the sermon text for this Lord’s Day, Paul summarized the core content of this truth (1 Timothy 3:16). He distilled it into six statements about Christ that form an ancient confession. It is the truth we confess, protect, and proclaim.

This Lord’s Day it is our privilege to have Michael and Julie Carlyle with us, our long-time ministry partners and friends. Michael serves as the director of the Scripture Engagement department of Bible International. He will preach in the morning service and give a ministry update during the Family Bible Hour. They will also be with us for the Fellowship luncheon and the prayer meeting that follows.

In 1 Timothy 3:14, Paul adds a personal note in the letter he wrote to Timothy. It gives insight into his purpose for writing. He hoped to visit Timothy in Ephesus to do in-person teaching. Anticipating a delay in his travel plans, Paul wrote this letter to guide the Ephesian Christians regarding their behavior. He showed that church members are obliged to live consistently as part of God’s household. The church must take this seriously because the Lord has charged us to proclaim and protect the truth.

Protect the gospel by strengthening the church. That is a summary of the point of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The third chapter contains a list of qualifications churches should look for in their leaders. Choosing the right men helps strengthen the church—the wrong men will weaken it. We have explored the list of pastoral qualifications (3:1-7) over a period of several Sundays. This Lord’s Day we will consider the qualifications for the office of deacon (3:8-13).

This Lord’s Day we will look at Joshua 23 where Joshua gives the first of two last addresses to Israel. In this particular one, as he anticipates his own leadership coming to an end, he exhorts the remaining leaders to maintain fidelity to the Lord by strongly obeying His Words. He motivates them to this by reminding them of how they personally experienced God’s faithfulness to fight for them, just as He promised, when they obeyed Him by going in to conquer the land.

This Lord’s Day we will conclude our focus on 1 Timothy 3:1-7. In verses 4-7, Paul lists three essential characteristics for the right kind of pastor: domestic consistency, experienced maturity, and a good reputation outside the church. Maturity manifests the qualities described in vv. 2-3. The places where these must be displayed are the church, the home, and the community.

This Lord’s Day, we will take our fourth look at the list of qualifications church must require of its pastoral leaders. Verse 3 lists four disqualifying characteristics. It is important for us to remember that this list describes basic behavior Christ requires of all who follow him.

This Lord’s Day we continue our examination of the qualifications Paul lists for he office of overseer (pastor). The list contains only one qualification of a vocational nature—everything else addresses character. The vocational qualification is, he must be “able to teach” (v. 2). We will look deeply into this essential requirement for the church’s leaders.

First Timothy 3:1-7 lists qualifications for pastors. These are not exclusive to pastors. As demonstrated in last week’s sermon, the list presents characteristics of basic Christian behavior. Christ, the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), gives to the church under-shepherds (pastors, see Ephesians 4:11) to lead the congregation in Christ-like behavior (Hebrews 13:7).

Protect the gospel by strengthening the church. That is a summary of the point of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The third chapter contains a list of qualifications churches should look for in their leaders. Choosing the right men helps strengthen the church—the wrong men will weaken it. We will explore this list over the next few Sundays.