Sermon Notes & Slides 1.10.2016
Sermon Notes
A People After God’s Own Heart
1 Timothy 5:9-16
Pastor John Sloan
Introduction: To a troubled and distracted church, the Apostle Paul issues a command regarding the care and support of the helpless and abandoned: Honor those who are widowed. Yet, only certain people will qualify for ongoing assistance. So what does the erstwhile “enrollment criteria” for widows’ aid for an ancient assembly of believers have to do with the mission of the church in the 21st century?
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Questions for Discussion & Discovery
1. Why does the Apostle Paul deem it necessary to provide specific criteria for determining which widows would receive support?
2. Does the Apostle Paul regard remarriage as wrong? How do we know?
3. In what ways do “idlers” and “gossips and busybodies” (verse13) bring harm to the church and the name of Christ? How do you avoid engaging in such activity?
4. Based on God’s revelation of Himself in Scripture, what are some things that “break His heart”?
5. Read Philippians 2:1-10. What does it mean to say that Jesus “emptied himself” (i.e., set aside all His divine prerogatives? What does this tells us about the depth of Jesus’ love for us?
Sermon Slides
1. Read 1 Timothy 5:9-16
2. “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” – Psalm 68:5
3. “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.” – Exodus 22:22-24
4. “Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.” – Deuteronomy 27:19
5. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” – James 1:27
6. 01. What deeply concerns God should be most concerning to us, as well.
7. Read verses 11-13.
8. Read verse 15.
9. 02. Our commitment to Christ and his Kingdom must trump every other commitment.
10. “The reason they incurred condemnation was not that they had a sexual impulse, or even that they remarried, but that they broke their promise to Christ.” – Philip Ryken
11. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. – 1 Timothy 2:5
12. 03. Jesus’ unyielding commitment to the Father’s will, perfect obedience even unto death, means that our failed commitments to Him need not condemn us.