All christian men need a spiritual goal. Whether or not they aspire to serve as elders, every christian man should aspire to be the kind of man described in 1 Timothy 3 – a godly man, a godly husband, a godly father, a godly brother, and a godly neighbor of strangers and outsiders. If all christian men would stretch out and strive for this noble task, the world would be transformed. Just imagine how our marriages, children, families, churches, and communities would thrive if we aspired to live according to the Word of God. Sermon notes on 1 Timothy 3:1-7
Category Archives: church
gender bender
Historically, Christ’s church – apostolic, patristic, catholic, and evangelic – has always held a complimentarian view of the distinctive roles and responsibilities of men and women in the christian family and ministrty. Both receive the same measure of saving grace for they are one in Christ; yet each one receives different measures of serving grace for they are members of one body.
According to apostolic tradition –
The spiritual order of things teaches us that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Also, a husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of his church. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.
The natural order of things supports scripture against culture on this matter. “Man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.”
Just in case anyone wants to be contentious about these things, Paul reminds us of the dangerous consequences of inverting the spiritual and natural order of things. “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” Clearly, Eve was not deceived because she was a woman, nor because she was spiritually, intellectually, or morally inferior to Adam. She was not inferior to Adam, rather she was created to compliment him as a suitable helper. Adam was the first minister of the word in human history, but when he abdicated his authority and responsibility, Eve was deceived by a doctrine of demons and she became the first heretic in human history. Thus sin and death entered paradise and came to wreck the world.
Therefore, one of the far-reaching consequences of Eve’s sin is that women are not permitted to teach the word of God over men nor to exercise authority over men. In contrast to Eve, women are to learn the word of God quietly with humility from godly men. Older women are expected to teach God’s word to younger women. And godly women – mothers and grandmothers — are expected to teach the sacred writings to children. Yet as far as the curse is found there are plenty of women who desire to rule over men, and there are plenty of irresponsible men who desire to be ruled by women.
In contrast to Adam, godly husbands are to lead their wives in the truth of God’s word and godly ministers are to lead the church in the truth of God’s word — not idly stand by as they sin. Of course, if a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church, she will be more willing to respect her husband and submit to him as her spiritual leader. If ministers serve the church as Christ served the church godly women will be more willing to learn — and less desirous to lead. So husbands and ministers must imitate Christ in all things, not lording it over their wives or other women, but leading them in the grace and truth of the gospel.
Egalitarianism to the contrary, the spiritual leadership of the church and the ministry of the word was/is entrusted to godly men by the Lord Jesus Christ. The principle is trans-cultural because it was established by God in creation and re-established by Christ and the apostles in the new creation. Therefore, on the matter of gender roles and responsibilities we must obey God rather than men, and we must obey scripture rather than culture.
Scripture references — 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 1 Timothy 2:11-14; Genesis 2:18-24; 3:1-7
vintage jesus
Starting January 7 New Hope will engage in a basic study of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. The goal is to re-acquaint ourselves and to introduce our friends to the real Jesus.
dvd resource by mark driscoll
To that end we will be asking and seeking answers to the following questions about Jesus from the scriptures.
1. Is Jesus the Only God?
2. How human was Jesus?
3. How did people know Jesus was coming?
4. Why did Jesus come to earth?
5. Why did Jesus’ mom need to be a virgin?
6. What did Jesus accomplish on the cross?
7. Did Jesus rise from death?
8. Where is Jesus today?
9. Why should we worship Jesus?
10. What makes Jesus superior to other saviors?
11. What difference has Jesus made in history?
12. What will Jesus do upon his return?
Come join the conversation – Wednesday nights @ 7 pm.
Learn more about Vintage Jesus here.
a christmas play
The Children of New Hope will perform The Christmas Story, a play about the birth of Jesus.Sunday evening, December 14 @ 6 PM
New Hope Church
Sun Park 131, 2611 N. Beltline Rd
Sunnyvale, TexasReception to Follow. Everyone is welcome. Admission Gratis.
marks of the true church
We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully, by the Word of God, what is the true church– for all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of “the church.” We are not speaking here of the company of hypocrites who are mixed among the good in the church and who nonetheless are not part of it, even though they are physically there. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from all sects that call themselves “the church.”
The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church– and no one ought to be separated from it.
As for those who can belong to the church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians: namely by faith, and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors, without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works. Though great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their lives, appealing constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of the Lord Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins, through faith in him.
As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on men, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry. These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other.
Belgic Confession, Article 29
conversation starters
Reform and Mission: Conversation Starters
1. We must center our lives on the Triune God. Matthew 22:36-38; Deuetronomy 6:4
2. We must recover the Gospel of Grace. Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3
3. We must reform our worship in order to worship God with reverence and awe. John 4:23-24; Hebrews 12:28-29
4. We must feed God’s sheep, not the devil’s goats, dogs, and pigs. John 21:15-17; 2 Peter 2:22; Acts 20:28
5. We must rediscover the eternal covenant of grace. Hebrews 8:10-12; 13:20-21
6. We must develop apostolic tradition and theology. 2 Peter 1:20-21; Romans 8:28-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; James 1:19-23; 2 Timothy 3:16
7. We must recapture a covenantal understanding of marriage and family. Ephesians 5:22-28; 6:1-3
8. We must take up the yoke of Christ, not the yoke of the Church of Christ. Matthew 11:29-30; Acts 15:10-11, 19; Galatians 5:1
9. We must love another as Christ loved us. John 13:34-35; 17:20-21; James 1:27; Matthew 25:35-36
10. We must strive to be a Church like Christ in the Postmodern World. Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24
11. We must find a way to distinguish ourselves from the “Church of Christ” denomination — and other denominations. Luke 16:8-9; Romans 10:1-4; Hebrews 11:13-16; Mark 2:22
12. We must make disciples for Christ, not just converts for our congregation. Matthew 28:18-20; Psalm 78:1-4; Dueteronomy 6:4-9
13. We must become all things to all men, so that by all means some might be saved. 1 Corinthians 9:20-23
14. We must train and equip godly men for spiritual leadership. 2 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Ephesians 4:11-16
15. We must be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16-17, 24
16. We must do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31-33; Colossians 3:17
james 3: a story
lifting holy hands
a few days back i confessed my personal weakness in prayers. (i was preparing myself for a sermon on prayer from ephesians 1 when the Spirit convicted me of my sin.) going into sunday my heart was weary and wounded. slain by the Spirit i really struggled to deliver the message on prayer.
after the sermon we read 1 timothy 2:1-8. first of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. i acknowledged my failure before the church and confessed my sin of not leading the church to pray as ministers are commanded. then i encouraged the congregation to devote themselves to prayers at worship and at home.
we spent the next several moments in quiet prayer. our shepherds moved around the flock and prayed with families and individuals. several people knelt down to their knees, other remained seated and bowed their heads, and some sat down on the floor behind the chairs. the point is that everyone prayed.
that same day—before the sermon—one of our shepherds encouraged us to pray without ceasing, another brother announced a time of fasting and prayer, and rick organized a men’s prayer meeting.
finally, last night ten or so men gathered together for prayer. there was no chit chat or small talk. rick led us in a scripture reading and prayer. one by one the men raised their voices to God in adoration, praise, confession, repentance, and thanksgiving. we lifted holy hands to the throne of grace, and God took hold of them. we were caught up in the Spirit and communed with God.
and my spirit was raised up from the dust and soared on eagles’ wings to celestial realms.
vexing the spirit
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-31
The power of words, speech, and language is an undeniable fact of human experience and relationships. Human speech is a power tool in our mouths that either constructs or deconstructs. We use spoken (and written) words in two basic ways: to build up and to tear down. With that in mind Paul warns the church against deconstructive speech. The reason: it grieves the Holy Spirit who indwells every baptized believer.
The Greek word for grieve is anthropomorphic.
It means to cause sorrow; to distress, annoy, or vex;
and to cause pain.
Scriptures teaches that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to create a community of grace for the glory of Christ. Unfortunately, some of our brothers and sisters are experts at vexing the Spirit, and amateurs at valuing the Spirit’s work. Instead of making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, they cause trouble, division, and conflict in the church.
How do they do this? Not by publicly confronting problems, but by secretly cursing elders, ministers, and other christians for whom Christ died.
There is more than one way to curse. Some people “curse” by using four-letter words, but that is not the kind of cursing Paul has in mind in this text. Nor is it the kind of cursing that concerns me. We are concerned about real cursing, the kind that comes from a sinful heart in the form of rotten, bitter, raging, angry, loud, slanderous, or evil talk. Such language threatens the common-unity of the church. Which is precisely why it grieves the Holy Spirit.
Members of the body should speak the truth in love, but when they spread loveless truths and truthless lies throughout the church, their toxic words injure the whole church body, wound individual members within the body, and distress the Holy Spirit who baptized the various members into one body.
In my life as a christian and a minister, I have witnessed the destructive power of carnal words—even in churches like New Hope. I can think of nothing that demoralizes or devastates a community like christianized cursing—bitching, criticizing, grumbling, murmuring, or slandering—which usually from dissatisfied members of the community.
At stake here is our relationship with the Holy Spirit who seals us for ultimate redemption. Grieving the Spirit contradicts the gracious work of God in the church. For this reason the apostle Paul instructs us to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving towards one another—just as in Christ God forgave us.
So let us season our conversations with grace, not with grief. Let’s build up, not tear down. Let us speak to one another as though we were speaking to the One who indwells our hearts, as to the Holy Spirit and not mere men. Let us not tear apart what the Spirit has joined together.
JMT 