Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scripture for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  1 Timothy 3:1-13

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

--  the scripture for today outlines Paul's requirements for being a leader in the church, and, not surprisingly, they are very similar to the ideas that Paul has for Christian living for every believer.  The primary difference in this case I believe is that Paul is saying that a church leader needs to be meeting his expectations for Christian living in order to be a leader, and needs to have met them over a period of time.

 

-- Paul recognizes in his requirements the great power of a living example in encouraging others in their Christian walk.  Even when we are not church leaders, our example of the Christian life that is being actively pursued can be great encouragment to other Christians and a compelling invitation to those who are still seeking something in their lives.  On the other hand, we all have recognized how damaging and discouraging it can be when a Christian leader doesn't met Paul's expectations, and they lose their way and fall into some kind of sinful behavior that is found out.

 

-- Paul's standards are not meant to be discouraging, and in one sense, they are not any higher than anything Paul has written about his expectations for the average Christian.  I think that Paul's writing simply indicates that leaders of the church should simply be further down the road in their Christian walk, that, as a result they have moved "closer to perfection".  I think that the takeaway for us is that any of us can be leaders in the church (if that is the gift we are given), as long as we are actively and successfully pursuing and living out our faith.

 

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- easy question -- can you note a time where the church lost standing because of a leader who, in Paul's words, fell into disgrace?   What did you hear from those who weren't believers in those cases?  Did they use the stumble of that leader to justify their own unbelief?

 

Today's prayer request:   Saundra Aaron

 

Saundra is Valerie's brother's mother-in-law, and she is getting treatment for breast cancer, which was very recently discovered.  She needs our prayers as does the rest of her family. 

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Jay Waters

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay