Calvary Chapel Casa Grande Sunday

Last week, as we moved into this section of 1 Timothy, we laid a lot of foundation as the need and the understanding of the position of leadership, at least within the First Century Church. As the Church continued to grow, there was that need to bring things into an orderly structure and direction. The other issue Paul dealt directly with in Ephesus and Crete were the influx of false teachers. Paul deals with that not only in the letters to these pastors, but we can see a hint of it within the requirements Paul sets forward for those who would be placed in the areas of leadership.

As the growth of the Church moved beyond simply being a segment of the Jewish religion coming to know their true Messiah; as more and more pagans were being brought into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ; the appearance, actions and administration of the Church began to take form. Even in her earliest years the Church needed to have recognized leadership within the individual Fellowships. In some cases that took the form of a single pastor, while in other cases there was a plurality of leadership; with two, three or more men joining together in the areas of responsibilities.

Dr. Ross is the new Administrator at Logos Christian Academy.

All common things, the above are instruments that God has used in the Bible to empower people to accomplish His will. What gifts and abilities has the Lord given you to accomplish His work? And are you using them? Brad Jensen was the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Coolidge, AZ.

In today’s message we are going to simply cover 15 verses found in the second chapter of 1 Timothy. I say a “simply cover” in a very tongue and cheek sort of way. For you see, within these short 15 verses we will hit upon at least two controversial subjects within the Christian Church of today. 1.The whole issue of predestination and election 2.The issue of women staying silent within the Church.

The Apostle Paul had started this epistle off by giving Timothy instructions and encouragement to tackle the situations that were present in Ephesus. Now he exhorts Timothy to guard against a "shipwreck" of his faith, as had happened to some.

In the Early Church, the Believers came out of either a Jewish background (born as a Jew or as a proselyte to Judaism) or simply out of a pagan background. The fables Paul speaks of is very possibly an attempt of the pagan converts to bring into Christianity a bit of their old lifestyle and beliefs.

It never ceases to amaze me how quick the Gospel message can be twisted, convoluted and perverted – making it no Gospel at all, but only the teachings of man. Paul understood that this charge or instruction given to Timothy would be an ongoing battle. The battle against false doctrine and "feel good" teaching never ends and it comes out in all areas, even from the Church in general.

Today we begin our journey through the Pastoral Epistles: Paul’s letters of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Can you imagine being discipled by the guy that was the major one responsible for the spreading of Christianity and the birth of so many churches in the First Century?

We’ve finally come to the end of it all… well, the end of Luke’s Gospel account anyway. But that truly is the beginning of the move of the Gospel, the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the preparation of the birth of the Church.