1 Timothy 03: God's Standards Are High

Curious about what sets a church leader apart? You'll uncover the meticulous qualifications laid out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy, chapter 3. We'll dissect the importance of being above reproach, faithful, self-controlled, and wise, not only for church leaders but also for their families. Discover the likely hymn or mantra that early Christians used, reinforcing that everyone contributes to the Kingdom of God, be it through leadership or supportive family roles.

In our journey towards personal growth, we'll challenge you to reflect on your commitments and seek divine guidance to elevate areas needing improvement. From managing relationships and finances to teaching God's word and practicing gentleness, we cover it all. A heartfelt prayer will guide you in recognizing your potential and taking actionable steps towards a more meaningful life. We'll wrap up with an empowering scripture from 1 Timothy 4:12, urging everyone to lead by example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, regardless of age. Don't miss this enriching opportunity to fortify your spiritual journey!

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The More You Dig. The More You Find.

Chapters

• 0:25 God's High Standards in Ministry
• 7:10 Personal Growth Through Faith and Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:25

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. 1 Timothy, chapter 3, and today's title is God's Standards Are High. God's standards are high and of course they are because what we're doing is important and God is giving us the opportunity to live up to the vision he has for us. We'll get into that in just a moment, but, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure that you are commenting on these videos, and thank you so much for everybody who was patient with us yesterday as we tried to talk through all the things. Make sure you're leaving us your comments, your angry outbursts. I love all of it. It gives us a chance to engage with one another and, as always, gather with us at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find. So, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to 1 Timothy 3. One of the things I love about God's Word is that it tells us the truth. It doesn't sugarcoat it. It tells us exactly what's going on, just like yesterday. It just tells us what's up and then we have an opportunity to work it out together. And now we're going to see the Apostle. Paul is getting into the weeds, he's getting into the practicals of what's going on. He's going to continue to do this because he is mentoring Timothy and he's helping him realize how to live up to God's vision for him and he's teaching us in the process God's vision for us. And what I love about this is he's talking about leaders in church and he's setting this standard so very high because he knows what they're doing is important. So we're going to read this together and we're going to see what God's word would say to us today. You ready?

Speaker 1: 1:59

First, timothy, chapter three, verse one, says this this is a trustworthy saying. If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position. So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise control, live wisely, have a good reputation, he must enjoy having guests in his home and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him, For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? A leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud and the devil could cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be a disgrace and fall into the devil's trap.

Speaker 1: 2:52

In this same way, deacons must be well-respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. Before they are appointed as deacons, they must be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. A deacon must be faithful to his wife and he must manage his children and household well. Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 3:35

I am writing these things to you, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith. Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and was taken to heaven immediately in glory, wow. Well, there's two things that I want to share with you today. Number one is you notice that last piece most likely that was a hymn or a mantra that they would all say to one another, because you got to understand a lot of these people were not necessarily literate, they couldn't read all of these like this, and these were written in a way so that it rhymed, and so in the Greek language it would rhyme and they would be able to remember the story of the gospel, and so they would say these things back and forth. And so they would say Christ was revealed in a body, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, announced to nations believed in it throughout the world, taken in heaven to glory, and they would just say these things over and over again so they could remember the gospel. So it's really interesting kind of statement that they would say, and it may have even been a kind of thing that they would say to open their worship services together or end their services together. Just never know how that was for them, but it was a mantra, they would say.

Speaker 1: 5:01

But what I also love is the standard that God set for people who wanted to lead in church was high. And you notice, it wasn't just them, but it was a standard for the whole family. For the husband who wanted to lead, there was a standard he had to do these things, not do these things, live up to these things. And then it said and for the children the children are in on this too and then for the wives the wives are in on this too, and it was a high standard so that they could serve together. And what I love about that is to realize that when we decide to do ministry, it doesn't just affect us. And remember, as we said in chapter one, everyone has a ministry. God has gifted everyone to do something in the kingdom of God. And ministry is when we do something as an act of worship that serves somebody else. But when we do it we always have to remember who it is we represent. We're representing the Lord and it involves everybody. So I wanna encourage you with this Do you realize that God has a plan for your life, and then do you realize that that plan will require you not to live down to something, but to live up to something.

Speaker 1: 6:12

God has a big idea for you. He sees more in you than you see in yourself. God sees greatness. God sees the ability to overcome obstacles. God sees the ability to use the negative things in your life to do great things in your life.

Speaker 1: 6:27

Notice the things that it was saying that these people needed to do. It wasn't anything like a gift. It was all about integrity. It was all about being faithful, all about having self control, to be wise and have a good reputation all things that were within the ability of somebody to do. That's one of the things I love about God is God never asks us to do something we can't do, but he asks us to do many things that we can do, and most of those things we can do has to do with integrity, with honesty and with leaning on him and everything. And so I want to encourage you today to realize you have a ministry and that ministry is going to require you to live up to something, because God sees something in you and he knows that you can do it.

Speaker 1: 7:10

I want you to kind of your homework, I want you to go back over this chapter and I want you to look at one of those things you know and say, god, help me work on that. If you're, if you're married, maybe it will be to be faithful, be more faithful in my relationship with my spouse, to exercise more control, to live wisely, to be better with money, to be able to teach what God has put in my heart, to not be a heavy drinker, to work on my gentleness or not be violent. I don't know what it is, but what next step do you need to take so that God can use you and partner with you even more to make a difference in your life? Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and you're for us.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Lord, I pray that we will get a glimpse of what you see in us. I'm convinced that most of us do not see nearly as much in us that you do. So, lord, I pray you'll give us a vision for what you want us to do and then you will lead us in the next steps so that we can make the difference you've called us to make. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen and amen. God's word says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 12, don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow at 1 Timothy, chapter 4.