Having looked at false teaching within the church in chapter 1, in chapters 2-3 we are now looking at conduct within the church. In verses 1 Timothy 2:1-8 we’ve seen the priority of corporate prayer, then in verses 1 Timothy 2:9-15 we looked at biblical womanhood in the context of the local church.  As we come to chapter 3, Paul is now providing the qualifications of leaders within the church. Today, we will be looking at the biblical qualifications that are required for a man who is functioning as a pastor-elder or who is considering this responsibility within the local church. The biblical qualifications for church leaders are overlooked in many churches today, which results in much dysfunction and spiritual carnage in the lives of others. Functioning as a pastor-elder comes with heavy demands, along with resulting in life-altering implications in the lives of others, for the better or for the worse. For the spiritual health of the church, it’s essential that men functioning as pastor-elders are biblically qualified. In the week ahead, read the passage and discuss with your family why each of the various biblical qualifications are necessary, along with what can happen when they are overlooked or not heeded.

Having looked at false teaching within the church in chapter 1, we are now looking at con duct within the church in chapter 2. In 1 Timothy 2:1-8 we saw the priority of corporate prayer, and now in verses 1 Timothy 2:9-15 we look at biblical womanhood in the context of the local church.  The main content of these verses, revolves around principles of appropriate and non-appropriate clothing for women, and principles of appropriate and non-appropriate conversation for women—all within the context of the local church. This passage has the potential to be (as it has been many times!) a very controversial section of Scripture. In light of this, we will be looking very carefully at why Paul wrote these things, to whom Paul wrote them, and when they are applicable or not. We will be addressing the many misunderstandings of this passage, including what God hasn't said, and yet will also be encouraging believers to embrace and apply what God has said. Look at this passage with your family, and discuss with your family what you think the main principles are within the passage.

In chapter 1 of our study through 1 Timothy, we have considered Paul’s instruction concerning false teaching in the church. As we move onto chapters 2-3, Paul now shifts his focus to instruction concerning conduct in the church.  As Paul prepares to instruct on a variety of matters concerning conduct within the church, the first thing that comes to his mind is public prayer, which is the focus of this week’s passage. Paul begins by giving an exhortation to pray in various ways for all people in general (1 Timothy 2:1). He then encourages prayer for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:2), while identifying the goal of praying for all men - that they would be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Paul follows on by explaining how all men must be saved (1 Timothy 2:5-7), and concludes with the role of men in leading prayer when the church gathers together (1 Timothy 2:8).  Read the passage & discuss with your family the importance of prayer, the priority of prayer, the power of prayer, and hindrances to prayer when the church gathers & also in our personal lives.

So far in our study through 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul has instructed about the importance of confronting those who teach false doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3-11), along with the transformation that true doctrine produces in a person’s life (1 Timothy 1:12-17).  In this week’s passage, Paul now turns his attention to reminding Timothy of the reality of spiritual warfare in the work he is pursuing. Not only does Paul remind Timothy that he is in a spiritual battle, he also encourages to fight the good fight within that battle as one who was entrusted with a commission to fulfill (1 Timothy 1:18). Paul reminds Timothy of the tools that are necessary for the battle which are identified as faith (doctrinal purity) and a good conscience (personal purity), of which others had strayed from (1 Timothy 1:19). And Paul finally identifies two men whose characteristics he described in 1 Timothy 1:3-11, and the need for them to be put out of the church as an act of corrective discipline (1 Timothy 1:20).

In this passage, we see a beautiful example of God’s saving and restoring grace, in the way he saved the Apostle Paul, and called him into the ministry. Paul saw himself as a sinner saved by grace, and completely unworthy in and of himself to be a servant of God. However, Paul also recognized that because of God’s grace and saving work, he could be used to bring the message of the gospel to others, and therefore bring God much glory with his life.  In the life of the Apostle Paul, we see a pattern that repeats itself in many other lives—God calls a sinner to salvation, through repentance and faith, God gives that sinner a new heart, and new desires, and God then calls that sinner to represent Him in bringing the message of the gospel to others. If God did this for Paul, who formerly was a God-hater, He can do it for anyone.  Discuss with your family this week the concept of ability vs availability, in regard to how we can and should live the Christian life in a way that brings God much glory.

This coming Sunday, we will be commencing a new book study through Paul’s letter of 1 Timothy. The book of 1 Timothy along with 2 Timothy & Titus are commonly known as the “pastoral epistles” because of the instruction that Paul gives throughout on a church leadership level.  Although these pastoral epistles are incredibly helpful to those in positions of church leadership, they are also vitally important for a whole church fellowship so that they can understand how a Biblically-functioning church should look & function. When both church leaders & church members are on the same page about how a local church should function according to God’s Word, it promotes greater unity & strength from within, which results in a greater witness to the world.  In this study, we will begin with a brief introduction to the book of 1 Timothy to better understand the context, and then we will continue studying through the first 11 verses of chapter 1 which deals with the importance of confronting false teaching within the church. In the week ahead, read through the passage and discuss with your family why it is necessary for people to be confronted if their teaching distracts from the main truths.

We began our study through the book of 1 John fourteen weeks ago with the desire to better understand what it means to be in a fellowship-relationship with God. Over this time, we have considered the conditions of relationship, the cautions to relationship, and the characteristics of relationship.  Today, we come to our final study in 1 John where we will be looking at four marks of a true child of God - for things that a true born-again believer will experience as they abide in fellowship with God. Firstly, they will experience victory over the world (1 John 5:4-5). Secondly, they will experience assurance of their salvation (1 John 5:6-13). Thirdly, they will experience guidance from God through prayer (1 John 5:14-17). And fourthly, they will experience freedom from habitual sin (1 John 5:18-21).  Read the passage individually & with your family and discuss the ways that you have experienced these wonderful blessings from God as a child of God.

By now most of us have realized that the subject of love is pretty consistent in John’s 1st epistle. So far we have looked at the importance of loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, we have also looked at the importance of loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, and today in these verses we will be looking at.....the importance of loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ!.  The repetition of this theme of love provides us with a great opportunity to prayerfully adjust our thoughts and actions so that we can actually experience this characteristic in our lives. In this study we will review the exhortation to love one another, and remind ourselves that True love begins with God, True love is demonstrated at the cross, True love is evidence of being born-again, True love comes from abiding in Christ, True love has victory over all fear, True love is demonstrated by obedience, and True love is not a burden to practice. Once again, it’s all about love!

In this study of 1 John, we are given a 4th characteristic of those who are actively abiding in fellowship with God, and that 4th characteristic is spiritual discernment between truth & error.  In this passage, John reminds us of the fact that there are false prophets and so there is a need to test the spirits (1 John 4:1), along with knowing how to know when a false prophet speaks (1 John 4:2-3). But although falsehood is all around us, we as believers can find confidence in the fact that as children of God, we are protected by God and can therefore overcome the error that comes our way (1 John 4:4). To help us better understand these things, John concludes this thought by contrasting between those in the world and those who are of God (1 John 4:5-6).  Because of the fact that falsehood is a very present reality, it should motivate us to press into an abiding fellowship-relationship with God with more urgency, knowing that He is our only hope from being spared from what is false.

As we continue in chapter 3 of 1 John, we again find ourselves dealing with the subject of “love”. Our temptation at this point could be to tune out, thinking that we have already covered love in previous chapters. Well guess what—there is more love to come in later chapters of 1 John too so God obviously wants us to be well versed in our concept and practice of Biblical Love!!! The Scriptures are God-breathed, and nothing is there by mistake, or by man’s design. Therefore, ALL Scripture is necessary for us, no matter how it is structured, and when we accept that, we open our hearts to rich treasures from God’s Word. We cannot separate genuine belief in God, from sincere love of others. Looking back to the true story of Cain and Abel, we are reminded that hatred can lead to even murder when left untreated. Love is paramount for the Christian, and in these verses of chapter 3 John again gives us an opportunity to evaluate the condition of our hearts in regard to love, and to realign our practice with His Word.