SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone, I'm Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_00: I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Each week we go into God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
SPEAKER_00: And we are here to build a kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_00: So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.
SPEAKER_00: Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.
SPEAKER_01: Last week we opened in 1 Timothy, and the study is The Way of the Steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to be going through the first and second books of Timothy as a teaching team while Pastor Steve and Liz are getting some much-needed rest and on a sabbatical.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to recap last week real quick for those of us that missed it.
SPEAKER_01: Where are we at?
SPEAKER_01: What's happening?
SPEAKER_01: So Timothy is now on assignment by Paul to the Church of Ephesus to bring necessary correction to their bad theology.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to be encouraged to realign the church with sound doctrine in prayer and leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Specifically, he's mentioning those areas of restructure and recalibrating what's happening there.
SPEAKER_01: He also outlines in the undertones is like the negative influence of Greek culture and their pagan theology, specifically around the order of creation, women first and then men, and what that has led to, and some of the issues that we see there, and the usurping of primary leadership roles.
SPEAKER_01: Paul also emphasizes that the church should be a place of grace and mercy, and that everyone could experience salvation and complete forgiveness through the cross of Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He's reminding us that God's desire would be that none should perish, that hell was not created for humanity.
SPEAKER_01: Hell was created for the devil and his demonic angels that fell.
SPEAKER_01: And his desire is that all of his beloved creation would spend eternity with him.
SPEAKER_01: That's the heart of a father.
SPEAKER_01: That is what Paul is trying to communicate and bring back into the central focus of the Church of Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: And if you had Timothy's rookie card, you probably would also understand that there's something else going on in his genealogy.
SPEAKER_01: So his mom was a Hebrew woman, and his dad was of Greek origin.
SPEAKER_01: And so Timothy's actually in this perfect place to set up and serve the Church of Ephesus in this way.
SPEAKER_01: He has knowledge of the Greek culture, and he has the training and deep theology through his mom in the Hebrew and what the gospel says.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul has treated him like a son, and Timothy would be viewing Paul as a second father to him, and they have a very close, proximate relationship.
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of where we were at last week, and this is where we're in today.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the good news we only have to cover one chapter today.
SPEAKER_01: So we don't have to bust through two.
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to take our time and kind of dig through this.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to be looking at the qualifications as the way Paul is outlining for healthy church leadership.
SPEAKER_01: So with that, God, we just bless your word.
SPEAKER_01: Again, we thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And right now, we just sent out a blessing of this church body right now that our prayers would find ministry with your kingdom and your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Go with ministry to Pastor Steve and Liz today.
SPEAKER_01: We bless them in this time away that they would be getting deep ministry and walking in the vineyard of the full fruits of your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Go forth and we bless this service today, and we give you all the praise and glory in your name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So we're picking up in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and Paul is writing now.
SPEAKER_01: And basically what he's saying is he's like, Timothy, gonna start to give you some structure, some organization, and we're gonna understand why he's saying that.
SPEAKER_01: What's the ultimate goal?
SPEAKER_01: Where are we going with this?
SPEAKER_01: What's the need?
SPEAKER_01: And it's gonna seem a somewhat sterile.
SPEAKER_01: Um, he's gonna read out some characteristic traits needed for leadership.
SPEAKER_01: All of those are appropriate, they're needed, and we're gonna figure out why at the end of this chapter, what it's it all about.
SPEAKER_01: But don't turn there yet, don't read ahead.
SPEAKER_01: You'll spoil the surprise.
SPEAKER_01: So just wait for it.
SPEAKER_01: It's good.
SPEAKER_01: Verse one this is a faithful saying.
SPEAKER_01: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
SPEAKER_01: So breaking down here what he's saying, bishop in the Greek, episcopos would translate to an overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others, done rightly, any curator, a guardian or superintendent, one who looks at over intently, i.e.
SPEAKER_01: the church, or a superintendent, elder, or overseer of the Christian church.
SPEAKER_01: So we'll interchange bishop with pastor for our purposes today.
SPEAKER_01: Again, modern-day structure, modern day language, and we'll kind of talk briefly too, just about kind of road structure and how we operate and what that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: But we're gonna go through here in just a minute from verses two through seven a list of characters that Paul is giving out to Timothy to say, listen, as you're looking for people, as you're looking to set up structure and organize this thing, these are gonna be qualities that you're gonna need to look through.
SPEAKER_01: And he's gonna outline 15 of them.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're not gonna pause on everyone because some of them are, I think, self-explanatory, but we're gonna kind of dig into a few here and figure out what he's saying.
SPEAKER_01: So, verse 2 a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.
SPEAKER_01: For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of God's church?
SPEAKER_01: Not a novice, new to the faith, lest he be puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: So here we are.
SPEAKER_01: Again, Paul's laying out 15 qualifications for the position of bishop, pastor in these first seven verses.
SPEAKER_01: And there is overlap, right?
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see some of the things that Paul talks about in Galatians 5.22, mentioned last week, fruits of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And again, this list, this list is a great structure for us all to live by.
SPEAKER_01: If we were to take this and lay it out and map it out for ourselves, one could do a lot worse in living out the Christian lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01: But what he's saying here is actually, these are actually required for those called into the leadership role of the pastor for a church.
SPEAKER_01: But it is a good list for all character traits of character traits for all Christians to strive for.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, again, he's talking about being above reproach, having a good reputation in the community, husband of one wife.
SPEAKER_01: So this on its face is actually very direct.
SPEAKER_01: Not saying that a pastor is required to be married, but that if he is married, he is faithful to one wife.
SPEAKER_01: So there's two things happening here.
SPEAKER_01: Um, one, we're talking about monogamy, but there's also a nod here to polygamy.
SPEAKER_01: And there was polygamy happening in this time in the Greek culture.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul is saying, like, if you're gonna hold this position in the church, you need one wife, and that is what's required.
SPEAKER_01: We're going back to the original structure, the original design of Eden.
SPEAKER_01: Adam had Eve, and not twelve others, right?
SPEAKER_01: So he's saying, let's bring it back into the order and structure of God's church, and this is what it needs to look like.
SPEAKER_01: So, as you know, too, even for us at the road church, we have pastors on staff who are single.
SPEAKER_01: So again, he's not saying you have to be married, but if you are, these would be the things you need to do.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have two very highly eligible bachelors on staff.
SPEAKER_01: Um, inquire at the welcome desk, and we'll get you their rookie cards, okay?
SPEAKER_01: See their list of accomplishments.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God, hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, amen.
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, it's and it's and it's fun to run with those guys.
SPEAKER_01: So, um moving into the third qualification, being temperate.
SPEAKER_01: This is being moderate, right?
SPEAKER_01: We're even killed.
SPEAKER_01: We're not quickly swayed from one area to the next.
SPEAKER_01: Our spirit is steady, self-controlled, respectable.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be hospital, meaning that we're welcoming people into our homes and that we're doing community with you.
SPEAKER_01: That's the goal.
SPEAKER_01: Able to teach, highlight that or underscore that.
SPEAKER_01: We'll come back to that because of the 15, this one is kind of set apart specifically for this office.
SPEAKER_01: Number eight, not given to drunkenness.
SPEAKER_01: I'll just pause on that.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, basically what we're saying here is that, again, if we were to look at the role of the pastorate in the area of bishop and put it in the Old Testament, the tribe of Levi, the Levites were called to total and complete sobriety, that wine would not touch their lips.
SPEAKER_01: In the New Testament, Jesus is with his disciples, and he's saying at the Last Supper, I will not drink with you, with the fruit of the vine again, until we're in eternity at the Great Supper, at the Great Banquet, the wedding supper, feast of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So there is a call to sobriety in that.
SPEAKER_01: And that would extend beyond.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's writing about wine in his day and age, but in today's faculty, in today's resources, we have far more things that are grasps.
SPEAKER_01: And so I would include in that not just alcohol, but we would talk about abuse of pharmaceutical things, illegal drugs, etc., and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: So, sober-mindedness as it relates to how we control the taste and the desire for alcohol, specifically in the pastorate.
SPEAKER_01: What's interesting is in the next section, he's going to talk about being deacons, and we'll kind of break that down too, because there's a little more grace for deacons, and it's kind of funny.
SPEAKER_01: Number nine, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome or argumentative.
SPEAKER_01: So, some of you, depending on where you've been and what church cultures you have, I mean, it's sad.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've been in places and I've had other churches where I've been a part of where I felt like there was not the open door, there was a kind of spirit over a pastor where he sensed argumentative, especially if you just brought an opportunity to talk about or have a question about something, it was kind of quickly shut down.
SPEAKER_01: And so the ability to have self-control and operate in the Holy Spirit is huge here.
SPEAKER_01: We are not to be quarrelsome and argumentative, not to be lovers of money.
SPEAKER_01: Money is a tool.
SPEAKER_01: Money in and of itself is a neutral thing.
SPEAKER_01: We need it to operate and do things, but our pursuit and where it takes the place in our hearts from God, from other things, and it becomes an idol, he's saying, That is not good.
SPEAKER_01: You can't have that space.
SPEAKER_01: And then 12, 12 and 13 go together for me.
SPEAKER_01: These would be 12 and 13 points in the list of 15.
SPEAKER_01: Manages his own family well, sees that his children obey him.
SPEAKER_01: So family comes first.
SPEAKER_01: We say here that your home, your house, is your first church.
SPEAKER_01: It's your first mission field.
SPEAKER_01: We as parents are to steward that space to raise up godly men and women for the kingdom of God to go out forth.
SPEAKER_01: And so a pastor's first ministry is to his family.
SPEAKER_01: It's his first church.
SPEAKER_01: And if we lose our family, we lose our ministry.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to invest in our marriage, our second most important decision in this life, besides our choice to choose Christ for our throne of our hearts and our God in our sonship and his salvation in our lives, the second most important decision we'll make is our brides and how we walk with them and what God is doing.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to unpack that in a little bit more detail in a later verse.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to steward our families well.
SPEAKER_01: We're called to do that.
SPEAKER_01: Because what he's saying here, as we go into the next verse, if we can't do that, how can we then, with good stewardship, call to manage God's house, his family, the church body?
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, or second to last, Paul is saying, not a recent convert.
SPEAKER_01: So what he's saying here is Paul is suggesting there needs to be a few seasons of seasoning, right?
SPEAKER_01: Getting some spiritual life experience.
SPEAKER_01: Go through a few storms.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith needs a few harvest cycles of being tested and grown before you should be in a position of leadership.
SPEAKER_01: So, quick backstory on me.
SPEAKER_01: I grew up in the church.
SPEAKER_01: Joke about like my mom was the bookkeeper, my grandma did the bookstore receptionist, um, dad, uncle, grandfather would have been what we call deacons at that church.
SPEAKER_01: We would call them elders at our church here at the road.
SPEAKER_01: And so, uh, twice on Sundays, once during the week, and then um we had a Christian school, so I was there all during the week.
SPEAKER_01: So I grew up in and around the Christian lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01: Knowledge was up here, and I had to find Jesus for myself as we see God laying out in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: We go to the Old Testament, every generation of Israel had to find God for themselves.
SPEAKER_01: And you see, like, this king did worse than his dad before him, and this guy blew it even bigger than the last guy, and so forth, and it gets kind of like heavy, right?
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, but every generation finds its way back to the kingdom of God, and they have to find the Lord for their own lives.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm I'm being taught this, and I'm learning up and I'm growing, but I too, just like them, just like all of us, had to find the living God and anchor in the Word of God, the living, breathing Word of God in my own life.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we started the road 11 years ago, almost 12 now, actually.
SPEAKER_01: I think probably we have an anniversary this month.
SPEAKER_01: 12, I think.
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: Last year was 10?
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: And they let me and they let me do the counting.
SPEAKER_01: It's not good.
SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
SPEAKER_01: So we're somewhere in there.
SPEAKER_01: All good.
SPEAKER_01: I actually didn't have that in my notes, but my point is came on board with the early set of stewards and elders, and I wasn't in the pastorate yet, but I had had a lot of seasoning in my life.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we look at pastors and we bring them on, and we have an awesome group of men, I would just say Pastor and Steve and I are just honored to run with the quality and the caliber of pastors on our team.
SPEAKER_01: They are men of integrity, they are men of character, they take this seriously.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we get together on a weekly basis and we allow God to search our hearts to know us that we're operating in humility and not by our own understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Are we human?
SPEAKER_01: 100% like everybody else, but this group of pastors that is leading and serving here, they're amazing men.
SPEAKER_01: And again, Pastor Steve and I are just honored to run with them and be called to this ministry of the road for such a time and place as this.
SPEAKER_01: 15, the last point here says good reputation in the community outside the church body.
SPEAKER_01: Not that we're going out and looking and being a part of and participating with the world, but that we have good relationships and we're building bridges in our communities.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's important for us, it's important for the road to build bridges with other churches in the community that we understand and are aligned with that.
SPEAKER_01: We're also partnering with other ministries and mission works around specifically the pro-life movement here, Life Network, Save the Storks, and so on and so on.
SPEAKER_01: And on our website actually shows so much of our local partnerships that are important for us.
SPEAKER_01: Like we need to foster healthy relationships outside of the four walls of the road.
SPEAKER_01: Or in this case, we have so many octagonal walls in this place.
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the 16 walls of the road as you walk around this place.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're new here, find somebody to show you where the restroom is.
SPEAKER_01: I apologize, but it's just it's a weird layout.
SPEAKER_01: But we'll help you get there.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here we go.
SPEAKER_01: I want to jump back in of the 15 characteristics that are noted, 14 of them are just primarily dealing with character.
SPEAKER_01: The one position, the one thing that's noted is the gift of teaching.
SPEAKER_01: And it is a gift and it's not a character trait.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is the one thing, one of the few things that sets this apart from the next list that we're gonna get into in deacons and deaconesses.
SPEAKER_01: And so, what is he saying here?
SPEAKER_01: Paul's saying the ability to teach is the one requirement of this list, not necessarily required of all believers.
SPEAKER_01: It is also not required of deacons, but it is reserved for the position of a bishop, in this case, pastor.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to flip over uh Titus is the next book right after Timothy, 2 Timothy.
SPEAKER_01: So if you want to flip there, Titus 1.9.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is writing at the same time almost parallel to Titus, who's also in the process of bringing structure and order to another church.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul is coaching uh Timothy and Titus in this way.
SPEAKER_01: So we go to Titus 1.9, and he says this holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
SPEAKER_01: So he's saying, use the word to separate fact from fiction here.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna give sound doctrine, and he's saying that this is a teaching gift.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna read the weight here in a minute, because there's weight to this gift.
SPEAKER_01: There's a higher standard that is held for a teacher, and we see the responsibility outlined in James 3.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be on the screen here in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I'll read it to you.
SPEAKER_01: My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
SPEAKER_01: So, what's happening here?
SPEAKER_01: There we're not let off the hook as Christians.
SPEAKER_01: All of us should be reading, studying, and discerning God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: That's our call.
SPEAKER_01: Man, woman alike, and we'll see the value of that here again in the second space as he's talking about deacons and their spouses.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just for the men in the room, it's for men and women that we would study and know God's word.
SPEAKER_01: So many of you are deep theologians, you're heavy, you're critical thinkers.
SPEAKER_01: We love that.
SPEAKER_01: I think that that is a thing that we foster as a pillar here at the road, that you would go out here and you would be fruit testers.
SPEAKER_01: You'd be able to test the fruit of what's being shown to you, given to you, and that you don't just take it by the spoonful.
SPEAKER_01: But what he's saying here is that if you're called into a teaching position, you will be held to a higher standard because of the weight.
SPEAKER_01: That to give public instruction, to give public understanding, God is saying if you move beyond the boundaries of what is scripturally accurate, the living, breathing word, the infallible word of God, there will be judgment for you.
SPEAKER_01: And God has started cleaning his house.
SPEAKER_01: The narrative around COVID of 2020 was if my people will repent from their wicked ways, turn to me, I will restore them, I will heal their land, right?
SPEAKER_01: And then we saw in the wake of that, in the last five years, God has been cleaning his church across the country and in heartbreaking ways.
SPEAKER_01: And teachers, pastors who have not taken that call seriously, sincerely, or have gotten off the way, he is dealing with them.
SPEAKER_01: And it's heavy, and it breaks our hearts, and we pray for them.
SPEAKER_01: Something we take very seriously here at the road.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to be careful to discern spoken errors.
SPEAKER_01: This is where you're called to be students.
SPEAKER_01: Discern spoken errors of God's gospel that are wrapped in some truth.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you can't untangle the error from the truth, it will be harmful to you spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: And those men that are doing that, men and women, will be held accountable for that.
SPEAKER_01: These verses do not give a job description for the pastor, however, they do describe the character required to serve this position or office well.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna move quickly here through deacons, qualifications of deacons.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word for deacon is diaconos, deacon or deaconess.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't reserved specifically for guys only.
SPEAKER_01: Women could be deacons, and we learned last week that in Romans 16, Paul denotes Phoebe.
SPEAKER_01: She wasn't just a male carrier or courier, she actually held a position of leadership as a deaconess, one who executes the commands of another, of a master, a servant, an attendant, a minister or servant in the church, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor.
SPEAKER_01: As we go through here, picking up in verse eight shortly, we're gonna see the qualifications for deacons are very similar to the list above, and there's only a few differences between the two that we need to note or take note of.
SPEAKER_01: So picking up in verse eight, likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to too much wine.
SPEAKER_01: So again, here we go.
SPEAKER_01: You can be two sheets to the wind, but not three.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_01: But there is a little more grace given to deacons.
SPEAKER_01: Um there seems to just be a higher calling on the standard of bishop, given the office that they're holding.
SPEAKER_01: So, not greedy for money, similar here, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, meaning discerning and being a student of God's scripture.
SPEAKER_01: But let these also be first tested.
SPEAKER_01: Again, not somebody new in their faith, even in this role.
SPEAKER_01: We need somebody who's got some life experience.
SPEAKER_01: Then let them serve as a deacon, being found blameless, moral, upright.
SPEAKER_01: These would be the men and women who serve as elder teams and spouses at the road.
SPEAKER_01: Likewise, and this is 11, this is good, their wives must be reverent, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in all things.
SPEAKER_01: I want to highlight four things here for the women in the room that are called to a similar standard as their husbands in serving in this role.
SPEAKER_01: Reverent, so worthy of respect, spiritually like minded with their spouse.
SPEAKER_01: You guys believe in sound doctrine.
SPEAKER_01: Are studying sound doctrine together, not slanderers, which means we're not going to give in to gossip.
SPEAKER_01: I've heard it said that, you know, one way to say this is that she could undermine the confidence the body has in church leadership team if gossip is taking place at that level of leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Temperate, temperate, so same good reputation, trustworthiness, and self-control, able to give godly counsel to her husband in making righteous decisions when he has a shortcoming.
SPEAKER_01: So I will just say this is that when you look at the Genesis version, the Genesis word for helpmeet, when God gives Adam to Eve, or gives Eve to Adam, there's this helpmeet word.
SPEAKER_01: And it's actually a military style kind of guidance, support.
SPEAKER_01: And again, last week we talked on Proverbs, Lady of Wisdom, the female gender being denoted to the character of wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: So where there's discernment, where there's intuition, I will say that my wife has been a huge support when I've pressed in and asked for her counsel.
SPEAKER_01: She's been able to discern with me, hey, land mine, watch that.
SPEAKER_01: That could be an issue.
SPEAKER_01: And she's been able to bring different perspectives, help me see blind spots.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Paul's saying here.
SPEAKER_01: Like, there is a huge opportunity when operating with a godly spouse in this position or office or role.
SPEAKER_01: And how she can come along and support and give military-style aid in the battle.
SPEAKER_01: Number four, faithful in all things, having a firm understanding in the tenets of Christianity, serves as her husband's closest confidant cheerleader, and walking in the faith with him.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 18 22 says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing and receives favor from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And young men that I've coached and counseled, when they come in and they're looking for a spouse, they start to think that they've arrived and now it's time to make that next decision.
SPEAKER_01: And we go to this scripture, we're saying, What are the five, maybe what are the five essential things that you're looking for in a bride?
SPEAKER_01: Because this is the second most important decision you'll ever make in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And when you find a great wife, when God brings you the spouse you're supposed to have, you're going to have his favor in that union.
SPEAKER_01: And you're going to need her wisdom, her counsel, and her godliness in how you operate.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12, it says, Let deacons be the husband of one wife.
SPEAKER_01: Again, back this call to monogamy, not polygamy, ruling their children and their own house well.
SPEAKER_01: For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So what I want to do right now is, and we're going to be doing more of this just so there's more awareness, but um, any of my elders, any of our elders in the room, if I could just, uh you could stand, be recognized, want to recognize you and your brides and who we have.
SPEAKER_01: Yep, Eric, Leo, who else?
SPEAKER_01: Anyone in this service?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Neilin.
SPEAKER_01: They're also pulling double duty on life safety.
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01: So these are our elders.
SPEAKER_01: These are only a few.
SPEAKER_01: We have a list of them on the website.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for these men and women and their in their homes, in their marriages as you think about the pastors here.
SPEAKER_01: Also pray for your elders.
SPEAKER_01: These are godly men and women.
SPEAKER_01: They need wisdom, they need courage, and they serve right alongside of us.
SPEAKER_01: Every pastor has an elder assigned to them for spiritual care and connection and checking in with us.
SPEAKER_01: And they do they do a lot of work.
SPEAKER_01: They serve beyond their day job, this church, this body, to take care of your pastors.
SPEAKER_01: So cover them in that.
SPEAKER_01: The great mystery as we close in, what does this all mean?
SPEAKER_01: Why do we get this direction of character traits for both sets of leadership in the church?
SPEAKER_01: What is the goal?
SPEAKER_01: What's the purpose?
SPEAKER_01: And this is where Paul drives it home.
SPEAKER_01: These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know, highlight underscore know, how you ought to conduct yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: What's the value of knowing?
SPEAKER_01: He says, in the house of God, conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is stressing how crucial it is to conduct ourselves in the church.
SPEAKER_01: The church is God's family, it's his household.
SPEAKER_01: He draws the parallel earlier in this chapter about man and his family.
SPEAKER_01: Stewarding that process is a quality needed to oversee the ministry of the church.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is laying out the stewardship process, a structure or system by which to operate serving in holiness and ministering to the body.
SPEAKER_01: We are identified as the church, the ecclesia, the people or family of the living God.
SPEAKER_01: And our God, the one true God, is alive, completely thriving.
SPEAKER_01: God's house is to be a pillar, holding up the knowledge of the truth and built on the truth, which is the living, breathing word of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is what it all means, church.
SPEAKER_01: If the church collapses, the people, the truth does not fall.
SPEAKER_01: Only the knowledge, connecting this back to knowing, the knowledge, only the knowledge of his truth, is lost to the people.
SPEAKER_01: God remains.
SPEAKER_01: His truth and kingdom are everlasting and eternal.
SPEAKER_01: The knowledge of God's truth is what saves and sanctifies us, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Timothy 2, 3 through 4, last week's passage, God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: God is giving us knowledge of his mystery of his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: It's been released, it's been unveiled, the veil is torn.
SPEAKER_01: We now step in because we now know the person of Jesus as the Son of God, the work, the perfect work of Calvary.
SPEAKER_01: Titus 1:1, Paul writes, Paul, a servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness in the hope of eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: We model, we protect, we steward with our knowledge to bring the truth to our lives, to the world beyond the four walls, the gospel of Christ that goes beyond the road, that goes beyond Radiant Rock Family Church, Springs Church, the ministry that's happening simultaneously right now, that we as sons and daughters would carry the light of his kingdom into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Pick it up in verse 16, and this is where he lays it out God, Jesus, Christ the man, our son, our savior, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
SPEAKER_01: Meaning, without confusion, debate, or argument, there is no debate about this.
SPEAKER_01: God was manifest in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, the incarnation of God, born to Mary in the flesh, and walked among us.
SPEAKER_01: Justified in the Spirit, we know that the dove descended on him at his baptism, and God declares him his son and publicly at those around at that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Seen by angels, we read how angels minister to Jesus both in the wilderness and in the garden before his crucifixion.
SPEAKER_01: Preached among the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: We are preaching Christ and Christ crucified, still to this very day, to this day, at the road, right now, spreading the good news of his gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Believed on in the world, the Christian church, fully and completely acknowledging that he is the Son of God who bore our sins and was raised to life on the third day.
SPEAKER_01: And then he was received up in glory.
SPEAKER_01: Christ ascended to heaven and is now seated in the place of honor at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf, his beloved sons and daughters, his saints.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we anchor to.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we walk out the high calling and the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ and his gospel.
SPEAKER_01: I want to close us with this prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, you rose victorious.
SPEAKER_01: You accomplished the total redemption of your beloved through the perfect and complete work of the cross.
SPEAKER_01: You paid for our sin and you conquered and defeated death.
SPEAKER_01: And we, by invitation, who have accepted that sweetness of the truth, we live in your light and we receive the ministry of your life in ours.
SPEAKER_01: That we would have unity and union in our hearts and souls today, that we would have one mind with you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And we thank you, Jesus, for the ministry of your gospel, for what you're calling us to do, to live in the light of your kingdom and to live attached to the vine.
SPEAKER_01: That we would be healthy branches producing fruit for you.
SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you, and we receive all the things that you want to give and say to us today, where our cups are not full.
SPEAKER_01: God, that you would top us off today, fill us, overflowing, and brimming.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_01: That's therode.org.