1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,840 We are in First Timothy. We've been studying this book of 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,280 the Bible since the beginning of the year and we are now entering 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:13,080 into the 5th chapter in a series in First Timothy that we're 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,800 calling trustworthy. And I just I love that one 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,920 simple word to give us a constant reminder of why this 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:25,680 book is so good and necessary to know because it it is God's 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,840 design for in some ways the church to have an instruction 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,240 manual, a blueprint. How would the whole operation 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,960 should work so that it is a place where you can come and 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,160 find the trustworthy God faithful for all our lives 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,480 represented in a trustworthy gathering. 12 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:48,200 And so as we enter into this new chapter, and as you think about 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,800 everything we've we've looked at and studied so far, it's almost 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,640 as if if the study stopped now, we, we just about have 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,560 everything that we would need as we've studied and looked at the 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,280 word to, to see a vision of a trustworthy and healthy church 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,080 in the 1st 4 chapters of this letter. 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,000 If, if a church executes and really takes seriously 19 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,360 everything we've looked at so far, they, they'd be so close to 20 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,400 being a healthy and good church. And so just think about what 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,640 we've already talked about. The, the, the, the letter starts 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,160 by Paul writing to young Timothy, his mentor or his his 23 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,400 disciple in the faith. You got to have sound doctrine. 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,120 You got to stand on the truth. You can't get, you can't get 25 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,120 sidetracked by arguing over fables and mythology. 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,600 It's like have sound doctrine and a church that does that 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,280 teaches the truth has a really important part of being a good 28 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,320 church. And there's a huge emphasis. 29 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,280 As we've read this time and time again, Paul is saying wherever 30 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,720 you find bickering and arguing, turn it into a reason to pray. 31 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,800 A church that's praying is going to be a solid church. 32 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,400 We went through and looked at all of the important 33 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,240 qualifications and characteristics of having a 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:12,480 healthy, trustworthy leadership and having elders and overseers 35 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:17,120 in place that have the, the right characteristics and the 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,880 right marks of a good leader and, and having that as a 37 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:21,320 church. And you're close, you're getting 38 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:23,920 really close to being a healthy church. 39 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,680 And then we talked about being a church that has qualified 40 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,840 servants that are serving, washing the, the, the church 41 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,000 representing the hands and feet of Jesus. 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,880 Again, all of these beautiful blueprints. 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:38,880 And we're so close just in these 4 chapters. 44 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,120 And yet there is something that we now still have yet to cover 45 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,800 that if you don't have this, none of it matters. 46 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:53,800 And it's it's, it's almost so obvious that you can miss it. 47 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,880 It's like losing the forest for the trees. 48 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,840 And sometimes that's how it is. The most obvious thing is the 49 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:00,800 thing. You forget it. 50 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,520 I'm mindful of that several years ago as my wife and I 51 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,480 welcomed in our third child to the family. 52 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,040 And by by child #3 you've got, you know, your training wheels 53 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,200 are off in a sense, you're ready for the mission. 54 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,040 And I'll never forget our very first time doing our family 55 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,880 outing as a family of five. So we've got oldest daughter 56 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:28,800 now, middle daughter now and youngest daughter. 57 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,640 And we were ready to kind of step out in faith, do our first 58 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,360 excursion, run a couple errands, come back and, and see how it 59 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,480 went. And we just had the order of 60 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,440 operation down. You know, my wife has got the 61 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,600 diaper bag locked, loaded, ready to go. 62 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,800 We're ready for anything. It's like, you know, you got a 63 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,240 diaper bags. Sometimes you feel like, you 64 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,600 know, you're about to go on a Mount Everest hike. 65 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,880 You got everything. We've got the older kids fed 66 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:55,480 ready. They've got some entertainment. 67 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,040 We've got them buckled into the car. 68 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:58,800 They're ready to go. They're they're excited. 69 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,760 Take our first excursion. We've got some places on the 70 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:06,640 list of errands that we're going to run and we get to our very 71 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:12,120 first stop and I go to get our newborn baby out of the back and 72 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,360 I realized I'd left her at home. Forgot the baby 100%. 73 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,600 You know you got everything on the checklist and none of it 74 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,560 matters if you don't have the baby. 75 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,640 And I've learned to finish stories by the way. 76 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,200 We went home and grabbed her and she's fine. 77 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,200 She's part of the family and she's with us. 78 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 But parenting is a lot like pastoring. 79 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,120 There are a lot of lessons I have learned that go both ways 80 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,880 in pastoring for parenting and for parenting for pastoring. 81 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,720 And the story I just described is like reading First Timothy 82 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:58,440 one through 4 and closing the book and saying I got it because 83 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:04,400 what Paul is about to say to Timothy is starting with this 84 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,480 chapter and towards the end of the letter, now focus on the 85 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,680 people. You've got the procedures and 86 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,200 the policies and you've got how to preach and how to raise up 87 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,560 leaders and how to care for the church. 88 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:22,560 But if you don't put the whole thing around serving and caring 89 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,880 for the people, you'll lose it. And, and I know I'm blessed for 90 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,640 that refreshment and that reminder because sometimes in 91 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,320 the pursuit of God in the congregation of a church, in 92 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,320 leadership, you can put the policies and the calendar of 93 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,760 events and the budgets and the building and all of the things 94 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,720 that we do to gather can sometimes take precedent over 95 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:49,000 the actual people. I know it's true of all of our 96 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:50,800 lives. Sometimes the, the planning 97 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,240 takes precedent over the parenting over the, the, the 98 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:56,960 people that we're planning around. 99 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,920 And, and now we, we cannot miss this. 100 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,440 And, and if this chapter kind of was a mini series within our 101 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,000 series, it would be called pastor the people. 102 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,440 It's going to be an entire chapter of ways that Paul's 103 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,000 going to say with everything in mind about a healthy operation 104 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,760 of a church. Now you have to have a healthy 105 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,440 pastor and a people, and so we won't get to all of it. 106 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:21,600 Today. We're actually only going to 107 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,000 cover 2 verses, but for the chapter that we're studying, 108 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,600 which will resume after this Sunday, after Easter, there 109 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:34,160 there is a clear emphasis on the importance of a good and healthy 110 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:40,200 church caring for primarily and as utmost of importance, the 111 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:45,080 people of the church. Verses 1 and 2 is Paul telling 112 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,920 Timothy how to care for all the people of the church. 113 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,320 When we resume after Easter, we're going to look at verses 3 114 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,720 through 16 that that is all about how to care for those who 115 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,040 are in the most need. The people who have desperate 116 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,720 needs of a church care for them in, in the context of this 117 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,440 letter, it's the widows, but it's the, the idea is how do you 118 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,640 care for people that need care the most? 119 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,840 Then we'll look at 17 through 19. 120 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,200 It's all about the the elders. Once again, a word for the 121 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,440 overseers and leaders. Make sure that you're overseeing 122 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,320 with a heart for people. And then as we look at the last 123 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,000 part of this chapter, it will be verses 21 through 25. 124 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,680 And it is really practical people skills for a pastor. 125 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,600 How do you just interact with the church and make sure the 126 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,720 preaching is good, but the pastoring is sound. 127 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,520 You want sound doctrine and sound pastoring. 128 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,080 And so with that in mind, we're going to look today, pass 129 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,600 through the people and specifically the categories of 130 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,800 old and young men and women. And we'll look at that in the 131 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,800 1st 2 verses. And just if you take nothing 132 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,640 else from this, just know that the whole emphasis now is the 133 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,000 importance of the people of the gathering. 134 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,400 Starting in verse 1 of chapter 5, he says do not rebuke an 135 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:08,600 older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers 136 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:14,600 and older women as mothers, younger women as sisters with 137 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,520 all purity. And This is why this headline is 138 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,920 how to pass through the people with all categories in mind. 139 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,280 You got old men and young men and here's your here's your 140 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,640 pastoral duty to serve them and categorically different. 141 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,880 And then you've got older women and younger women and here's how 142 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,039 you handle them. And so we're going to just look 143 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:36,400 at those 4 sections that we just read in these two verses. 144 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:41,080 But we before we do, we we have to catch the vision once again 145 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,000 that Paul is encouraging Timothy to have for the church. 146 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:50,640 And it is very simply a family that is multi generational. 147 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,720 This is clearly working under the assumption that Timothy is 148 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,680 going to be pastoring using a reference points for family, 149 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:00,320 fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. 150 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,120 And also there's going to be old and there's going to be young. 151 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:06,720 So when we think of when we look for a vision of a healthy church 152 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,040 body, when we look at this and study this and and measure our 153 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,560 own church against the the New Testament writing, we have to 154 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:21,320 acknowledge and celebrate that the church is supposed to be old 155 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:26,840 and young, multi generational. It is not healthy for a church 156 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:31,640 to emphasize a movement towards youth at the expense of the 157 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,760 older generation. And it's also not healthy for 158 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,440 the church to defend traditions of the older generation at the 159 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,000 expense of welcoming new people in. 160 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,360 And I think that our church from season to season needs to hear 161 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,160 that. But no doubt all churches feel 162 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,960 this tension. Last week we looked at the 163 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,000 advice that Paul had to Timothy. He said, listen, Timothy, you're 164 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,320 going to be a little bit younger than some of the people in your 165 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,600 church. Let no one despise your youth. 166 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,440 And churches need to hear that as young leaders are being 167 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,640 raised up, they're, they're going to do their best. 168 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,640 And as long as they're acting in maturity, don't despise them 169 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,000 just because they're young. It's good to have young people 170 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,120 at the church. It's good to have young leaders. 171 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:16,880 And now the counterweight of that is it's also good to have 172 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,400 older people in the church and throughout time, different 173 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,240 cultures emphasize their age preferences. 174 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,480 In Ephesus, it was actually much more honor honorable to be old 175 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:30,840 people. They lived in a culture not 176 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,720 unlike other cultures in our world where old people had a 177 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,160 certain honor as patriarch or matriarch of the community. 178 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,280 Our culture is the exact opposite. 179 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:45,040 Our culture emphasizes the youthful spirit. 180 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,760 And I think sometimes that creeps into the church and 181 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,520 sometimes the church feels like it's doing everything to be hip 182 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,840 and attractive to young people. And sometimes, and I know I felt 183 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,160 this for our own congregation, sometimes the the older 184 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,360 generation is like, hey, are we still noticed, recognized and 185 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,240 valuable? And so the answer is, according 186 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:11,960 to the Word of God, absolutely yes, the church must honor the 187 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:17,960 young generation coming and honor with respect and value the 188 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,520 generation that is part of the church now. 189 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,520 And so that is the vision that you will find all throughout the 190 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,400 New Testament. And that's also as an extension 191 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,360 of our church practicing this. That is the vision that that we 192 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,680 have for our house church Calvary communities, that when 193 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:39,800 you go into the smaller communities of our church, we 194 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,640 want to reject the idea that those should be, you know, 195 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,360 pockets of friends getting together and sharing a meal, 196 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:46,960 young with young and old with old. 197 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,760 And that's why we encourage all of the communities to come into 198 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,760 houses, not based off their age, but based off their location so 199 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,760 that you will be in a community of believers opening the word 200 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,600 and eating together. And the older and wise can pour 201 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,600 into the young and the young can be encouraged and also support 202 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,880 the older people. So if you're part of the Calvary 203 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,160 community, that is the vision. And we celebrate those that are 204 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,080 multigenerational because this is giving a vision for the 205 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,480 family to represent old and young because that's what the 206 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,840 family does represent. And so now let's look at the 207 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,480 categories. He said in verse one, do not 208 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,760 rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father. 209 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,560 So now we have our first category, the older men of the 210 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:34,360 church. So we we think of the context of 211 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,400 what Timothy is going through through Paul's encouragement. 212 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,200 He's got some pastoring to do in this church. 213 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,840 There's all sorts of things that are happening by inference in 214 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,280 this church that Paul has chosen to correct through the 215 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,320 leadership of Timothy, and that's going to include older 216 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,200 men as well. So the older men of the church 217 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,560 need to be pastored. And there's a way that Paul 218 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:59,480 wants the older men to be pastored that's going to look 219 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,200 different than Timothy's peers and younger. 220 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:05,400 And so the, the question that maybe all of you are asking is 221 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,360 where is the line of old and young? 222 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,880 You know, I've got to apologize because last week I put my cat 223 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:11,600 myself in the category of older pastor. 224 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,040 And some people came up to me and said, you're not old yet. 225 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,640 You're not old until you get the discounts at the, at the early 226 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,280 bird specials. I said, well, I guess I'm not 227 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,480 old in that sense, but I'm definitely older than a lot of 228 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,120 people in our church. And so here's the line for all 229 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,440 of us to use as the lens of this sermon so that we can do what 230 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,560 it's calling us to do for the older and the younger people 231 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,880 among us. The line is not an age or a 232 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,280 median age. It's not as though Timothy is 233 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,360 being said like, hey, you know, the average age of Ephesus is 234 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:42,480 this, and here's where the line is. 235 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,120 The line in this context is Timothy himself. 236 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,600 The line is Timothy. You're going to be pastoring As 237 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,880 you pastor men and that are older and, and more experienced 238 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,040 than you, then you're going to do it this way. 239 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,720 And as you pastor men that are younger, do it this way. 240 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,960 And so the line is you. And that's a beautiful way to 241 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,560 look at how to show honor and respect to older and younger, 242 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,240 because that line is going to follow you wherever you go. 243 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,800 And you're always going to have people. 244 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,840 Every person in this church has someone that is older than them 245 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,440 that they need to listen to this and say, OK, how can I care for 246 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,040 this person? Of course, except for one 247 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:19,560 person. I don't know who the oldest 248 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,720 person in the church is, but we got somebody who's the oldest. 249 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,520 This message is, you know, just respect all the young people for 250 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,280 you. But that everybody else, you got 251 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,640 somebody who's older than you. And there's somebody that's 252 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,600 younger than you. And that line follows you for 253 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,680 the rest of your life. And here's what we're supposed 254 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:38,120 to do. Pastoring, caring for people in 255 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,320 a church. And as you take this message and 256 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,680 apply it to the community that you're a part of requires 257 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,000 relationship. It's not a policy. 258 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,400 It's not a number that you just find it. 259 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,960 It requires you to treat older people different than you treat 260 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,560 younger people. So as I read this as a pastor, 261 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,520 what it's telling me is when I have to go through those moments 262 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,160 of correction, when I have to stand before you as the the 263 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,320 leader of the church teaching the word correcting sometimes 264 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,600 for the older men in our church, I'm not just supposed to rebuke 265 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,720 them. I'm not supposed to put men in 266 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,360 their place and say, you know, I'm sick of you guys not getting 267 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,280 this. There is an honor and a respect 268 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,440 that is due to all of the men of this church that I'm pastoring 269 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,040 that have gone before me. And when we look at this word 270 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,680 rebuke, it's saying don't just sharply criticize. 271 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,120 Well, of course rebuke is good. But in this context, Paul is 272 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,160 saying don't treat older men as you would treat a younger 273 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,040 person. You treat them with honor, 274 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,480 respect. So he says, rather than just 275 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,200 sharply criticize their mistake or need for correction, you 276 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,800 encourage them. You exhort them in a category. 277 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:50,240 You honor and respect all of the older people in your gatherings. 278 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,920 And, and I will say I want to grow in this and I want to do 279 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,000 this well because I think it accomplishes 2 things. 280 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,040 One, for just the outside world culture. 281 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:06,000 As stated, we live in a culture where sadly, we have lost the 282 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,320 respect young people pay to old people, older people. 283 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,400 We, we have lost the respect that you can just see in 284 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:17,240 children obeying their parents. There is, it's seemingly a chaos 285 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,520 happening in a in the homes of the culture we live in where 286 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,200 young people just do not care or respect older people. 287 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,960 And I would love to be wholly and set apart because God's word 288 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:30,560 has washed us from that cultural problem. 289 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,880 I would love to be a group of people that look for opportunity 290 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,440 to honor and respect and to have relationships with older people 291 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:43,480 that are caring and kind. And I, I would, I would love to 292 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,400 do it in the context right now of the church culture as well, 293 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,440 because I do think that the, the, the culture of our world 294 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,960 creeps into the church and, and old people sometimes feel out of 295 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:59,000 place as the church, you know, tries to become more relevant. 296 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,160 And let me just say to those of you who are older, who have been 297 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:08,440 faithful members of our church, who have come and just prayed 298 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,440 and cared for the younger people of our church who have joined 299 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,640 Calvary communities, and you're supporting the younger, the 300 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,160 younger members. I am so glad that you're part of 301 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,160 our church. I'm so grateful that you're 302 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,560 willing to be pastored and to sit under the teaching of 303 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,400 someone who's younger than you and in some ways less 304 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,200 experienced, less wisdom than you. 305 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,200 I think that shows such great maturity on your part that you'd 306 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,680 be willing to be part of our church. 307 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,840 And it blesses this church to have you among us. 308 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,800 And there's no small thing because no doubt there are 309 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,200 pastors who have to read this passage of Scripture and think, 310 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:47,200 wow, maybe we should try to get some older people to join our 311 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,880 fellowship. Maybe we shouldn't have 312 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,400 emphasized so much to the college and youth movement at 313 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,040 the expense of all of the older people. 314 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,440 So I just thank you guys for your grace sticking with a young 315 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:02,440 pastor who's doing his best to grow and and I appreciate all 316 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,640 that you do to make our church multi generational. 317 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,640 So please be honored, be respected and and I will do my 318 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,720 best to where where I can bring any kind of exhortation into 319 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,120 your life. I want to do it with honor and 320 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:19,320 and respect for you. And so we pass through the 321 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,040 people differently because now the word says to Paul, to 322 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:28,080 Timothy, where you're dealing with the younger men, I want you 323 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:32,320 to treat them as you treat a brother, you know, so the honor 324 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,200 and the respect and the the going out of your way to to 325 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,800 really encourage the older. He says, now you're going to do 326 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,080 that differently with people that are your own age or 327 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,440 younger. And he says for the younger man 328 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,800 in the second-half of verse one, you treat them as brothers. 329 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,240 Now, for me, I never had a brother growing up. 330 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,720 I always wanted a brother. I love my sisters. 331 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,360 I'm the middle child of an older sister and a younger sister. 332 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,040 So for years I would ask for my Christmas present to be a 333 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,080 brother. And I gave up on that. 334 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,960 And I'm sure my parents were grateful because that would have 335 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:05,360 required a lot of work on their part. 336 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,840 But, you know, I was under the impression as a young kid that 337 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,560 brothers were just always best friends, you know, that brothers 338 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,120 would just always play together and they would share their toys 339 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,720 with one another. And eventually they'd grow up to 340 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,960 start a business together or a band and tour the world. 341 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,640 And it was just like brothers, you know? 342 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:32,240 And now I know that so often the Bible is referencing a position 343 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,320 or an office that God designed that the world broke. 344 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,560 So often in scripture, brothers are actually used for Jesus as 345 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,360 teaching moments. Here's a couple examples. 346 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:44,560 Luke chapter 12. You'll remember the the parable 347 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,840 of the rich fool where Jesus is teaching about how fleeting 348 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:52,040 riches are is actually Jesus trying to teach two brothers 349 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,480 that were arguing over their inheritance. 350 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,080 They were divided. They were more concerned with 351 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,240 stuff than a relationship with one another. 352 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,440 Couple chapters later, Luke chapter 15, we get one of the 353 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,960 great stories, One of the great parables of the Bible is the 354 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:08,040 prodigal son. A great time to be reading and 355 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,600 thinking about an Easter because there's someone who is so dead 356 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,480 and lost in his rebellion that the father who sees him coming 357 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,240 from afar says, this is my son. He was lost and now he's found. 358 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,840 He was dead and now he's alive. Let's throw a feast for my lost 359 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,240 son. And of course, it's actually a 360 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,440 story about brothers. Because the older brother sees 361 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,960 him come to the feast and this, this younger brother who wasted 362 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,080 the money and disrespected the father gets a party. 363 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,960 The older brother goes, I hate this guy and I hate that you 364 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,400 love him and I hate that you have grace for him. 365 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,400 And brothers can despise one another. 366 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,800 They can. They can be the opposite of what 367 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,560 we're supposed to represent as a a loving family in the household 368 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,200 of God. And honestly, that journey goes 369 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,040 all the way back to the unraveling of humanity. 370 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:58,040 It starts with brothers hating each other or one brother hating 371 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,200 the other. Genesis chapter 4, verse 8. 372 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,560 This is the very beginning. The man has just been cast out 373 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,320 from the good perfect paradise that God created, and it wasn't 374 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,560 long before brothers represent the downfall of humanity. 375 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,720 Chapter 4, verse 8. Now Cain talked with Abel, his 376 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,000 brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that 377 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,640 Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him. 378 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,960 First murder of the Bible is a brother who's despised the other 379 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,400 and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 380 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:32,920 where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. 381 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,240 Am I my brother's keeper? Doesn't matter where my brother 382 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,480 is, I don't care. I'm going to live my life. 383 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,280 I'm not going to concern myself with his affairs. 384 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:48,240 And I'll never forget teaching this years ago as we went 385 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,040 through Genesis as a as a church. 386 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,120 The next week after I taught on this passage of Scripture, Gage 387 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:56,760 Duke, faithful friend, just being part of our church 388 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:58,720 forever. He came up to me at church and 389 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,640 he gave me a little plaque that he had made. 390 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,960 And all it said was I am my brother's keeper. 391 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,240 And he says, if you never need anything, just know that I'm 392 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,560 here for you. I'm praying for you and I love 393 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,960 you. He reversed the entire curse by 394 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:16,040 the Spirit of God making him my brother in Christ in my 395 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,960 brother's keeper. And that is what Paul is getting 396 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,280 at to Timothy. He says listen, the the brothers 397 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,280 in the in the the men, the younger men, you are their 398 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,000 keeper. Concern yourself with their 399 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,320 affairs. Think about their lives. 400 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,800 Figure out how you can help them, how you can love them, how 401 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,520 you can do anything you can to lay down your life to help them. 402 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:44,840 And that is the family of God. Younger men, I am my brother's 403 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,800 keeper when I share the word and I and I exhort it and I 404 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,680 encourage you and, and I hope give you some sort of vision 405 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,680 that God has for his perfect will for your life. 406 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,200 It's because I desire you to have that life more abundant 407 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,120 that God has planned for you. And I am receiving this as the 408 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:06,080 pastor and I share this as you brothers and sisters one 409 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,280 another. You're your brother and sisters 410 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:13,000 keeper, honor the older men, care for the younger men as 411 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,560 though they were your brothers and you are reversing the 412 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:20,200 brokenness of the sin of this world by caring and not 413 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,800 despising each other. And so then we go on and now we 414 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:28,280 come to verse 2, which is our category for women, the older 415 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,360 women and the younger women. Not lost on me, this verse, 416 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,720 perfect verse as such an encouragement, a vision for the 417 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,400 women of our church at an imperfect weekend because the 418 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,760 the the women ministry has just gone and off to a retreat. 419 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,160 So I picked a bad time to honor the women of our church. 420 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,560 It would also have been great a couple weeks later if we could 421 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,600 have done it on Mother's Day. Also not perfect. 422 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,120 So I'm hoping that wherever we are on Mother's Day, mothers of 423 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,960 the church, women of the church, just just remember this sermon, 424 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,800 OK, we'll do something else. But this is a preview of 425 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,120 Mother's Day, first Timothy, first Timothy chapter 5 verse 426 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:10,720 two older women as mothers, younger women as sisters with 427 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,040 all purity. So once again, Paul is writing 428 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,040 to Timothy. He's going to be pastoring in a 429 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,080 congregation that is multi generational and he's going to 430 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:26,480 have to care for, encourage at times, correct exhort and pastor 431 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,960 older women of the congregation. And he says for that, have a 432 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:38,160 vision for caring for a woman as though a son cares for a mother. 433 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:44,640 And once again, this is just a moment to say to those of you 434 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:50,160 who call Calvary Chapel Boise your church family and you are 435 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,000 willing to be pastored by a young man who is younger than 436 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:59,240 you and you are an older woman. I am so grateful for the culture 437 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,600 that you have brought to this Church of the, the, the love and 438 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,000 the care. You know, I'm grateful for the 439 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,960 reference points God has given me for what it looks like to 440 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,200 have a relationship with a mom that are so healthy. 441 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:15,400 And when I think of the role a mom plays, my mom and my life, 442 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:19,160 and then, you know, the motherly spiritual moms of a church, 443 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,280 there's too many things to name. So I'll just share 3 very quick 444 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,160 meditations, let's say, of encouragement that I have 445 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:33,040 thinking about treating the older women as mothers, women of 446 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,520 the church. Three things amongst a million. 447 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:42,760 They are so good at bringing favor to the church, at giving 448 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:47,600 in in ways only a mother could feedback to the leadership of 449 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:52,320 the church and in ways that I welcome more of. 450 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,720 I love the food that is brought in. 451 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,680 I feel so cared for just in that practical calorie Chapel kind of 452 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,920 way. I am so blessed through all the 453 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,680 food and, and, and I will say they all kind of work together 454 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,520 as one. My mom of course, raised me and 455 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,360 she she gave me food and she was very patient with a picky eater. 456 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,120 Food is a great way to just encourage the pastoral team and 457 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,160 just each other. I love the the idea of the 458 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:20,920 Calvary community is breaking bread together. 459 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,920 It's a beautiful picture of the family. 460 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,040 A meal is really important for families to have that time 461 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,320 together. And you know, food goes really 462 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,800 well with feedback. Mothers are so good at giving 463 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,160 that feedback that only a mother could do. 464 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,120 And my mom is an example when she come to church and she just 465 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,640 gives the most motherly feedback, she'll say, hey, great 466 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,960 time in church today. I think you're due for a 467 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:46,560 haircut. And I'm like, oh, thank you, 468 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:47,520 mom. I do. 469 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,720 I'm going to do better. I'm going to do better. 470 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,560 There was a stain on your shirt. I'm like, I'm so sorry, mom. 471 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,920 And you know, I, I love my mom for that. 472 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,600 And I'll say this, I love the older women, older than me, 473 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,320 women of the church, because you guys give feedback and only a 474 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:03,800 way mother could. It's so good. 475 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,680 A pastoral team needs feedback. We are not free from error or 476 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,720 correction ourselves. And I love the just a little 477 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,760 comment in grace the, the, the things we can work on. 478 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,000 I'll never forget when I first became a pastor, it was actually 479 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:23,400 a group of women that were older than me and they had feedback. 480 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,960 And of course, I gave so many good opportunity for feedback 481 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,680 and I still do, but especially when I first started, I'm like 482 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,600 trying things and learning on the fly. 483 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,120 And I had a lot to learn. And, and, and I had this, these, 484 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,400 this group of women, they invited me into one of their 485 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:42,040 houses and they had just just a, just a list to go through with 486 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:43,880 things that we could do better as a church. 487 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,600 Love it. And you know, you've got to, 488 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:49,280 you've got to be willing to receive that. 489 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,040 And, but the beautiful thing about it was it seems as though 490 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,920 their list perfectly aligned with all of the, the things on 491 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,960 the cheese board. So I'm just getting the feedback 492 00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:59,640 and just getting the cheese and crackers. 493 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,000 And it's like, you know, the sounds a little loud and the 494 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,040 lights are a little dim. Your pants are a little skinny, 495 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:05,480 but here's some cheese and crackers. 496 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,400 You know, I'm like you guys, it's got to go together. 497 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,600 And so to this day, please continue. 498 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,440 Men give feedback as well, but but maybe channel it through 499 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,040 your wives or you know, the the women give such great feedback. 500 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,440 To this day. The woman that had me to her 501 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,640 house, if she ever has a comment, if she ever has 502 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,800 feedback to give me, she always does it with cheese and 503 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,800 crackers. And I'm like, this is great. 504 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,400 I love this relationship and I want I want us to have a good, 505 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:37,640 healthy culture of loving anyone who's older than you the way you 506 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,600 would your mom, because they give such amazing blessing to 507 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,320 the church. And and that is the third 508 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,280 category that I'm so grateful for. 509 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,920 Moms, spiritual moms, the the women of any church gathering 510 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:50,400 from the New Testament. Just read it. 511 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,440 You see it all over the place. They bring such confident faith 512 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,480 that turns into favor. And I probably don't share my 513 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,920 testimony enough. I was not, you know, a pastor in 514 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,000 my teenage years or most of my 20s. 515 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:09,120 And I had, like anyone, a, a story of coming to Jesus and 516 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,440 wayward turns. And the consistent part of my 517 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:17,240 story is that I had a mother who prayed and she submitted prayers 518 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:21,000 and she joined prayer groups. And, and I just want to say as 519 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,760 we honor the mothers and we, I'm so thankful for the mother. 520 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,640 I would not be here, no doubt, if I didn't have a praying 521 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,880 mother and I'm I wonder how many people can say that about their 522 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,800 lives if they just had those people that never stopped 523 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:39,160 praying. Older women of our church, you 524 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,040 guys are so faithful. The Lord has blessed our church 525 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:47,560 because you are so faithful in prayer and commitment as you 526 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,640 open the Word and study it. And our campus, if you just come 527 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,440 to our campus the other week, you're going to see all of these 528 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,280 faithful women caring for the needs of our body through the 529 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,800 power of prayer and the confidence they haven't got. 530 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,560 And for that, it's like, that's our culture. 531 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,800 I receive this, I get reminded and refreshed as a pastor, but 532 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:12,160 please, this is the message for the culture of the people of God 533 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,000 that you as younger people would see these women who have gone 534 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,360 before you, these men who have gone before you as wise and 535 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,000 caring and integral parts of your story. 536 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,880 And if you don't know those people, this is a great reminder 537 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,000 of things we've already mentioned. 538 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,560 Join a Calvary community house church gathering because you're 539 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,480 going to find the food you're going to find the the the favor 540 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,880 in those people that are willing to walk with you in your 541 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:42,680 Christian life. And so we we care for the older 542 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:47,240 women as mothers and then it says younger women as sisters 543 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,560 with all purity. You know, we'll go back again to 544 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,600 the reminder of what this series is all about to be a trustworthy 545 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:01,400 and healthy church gathering with strong, healthy leadership 546 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,360 with a vision for the church that is in line with God's word. 547 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,840 And I'll just say that that this should just be underlined in 548 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:16,240 everyone's Bible as to one of those sound just just guards of 549 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,160 a church that the younger women of the church should be so 550 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,120 protected and cared for. And specifically talking to to 551 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,160 leadership, talking to any interactions that that someone 552 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,960 like Timothy would have with a a a young woman in a gathering. 553 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,040 You know, Paul was so wise in writing this. 554 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,640 Timothy was a single guy in a sinful city. 555 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,640 And Paul in in all of his encouragement in all the 556 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,040 categories we've already looked at said now now when the young 557 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:50,320 women come in, Timothy, remember and and be an example for 558 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,280 generations to come. And anyone who would read this 559 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:53,720 encouragement to Timothy, listen up. 560 00:31:54,160 --> 00:32:00,080 These women are your sisters and that's why he attached with all 561 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,440 purity. This is not a place to just act 562 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,600 like you're at the the, the social hour at the bar. 563 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,720 And now by God's grace, he's going to bring together man and 564 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,280 woman in his perfect timing, in his perfect pure way. 565 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,120 But in the meantime, how healthy would the church age we live in 566 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,520 if more people just memorized that verse in leadership? 567 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,080 Care for the women. They're your sisters. 568 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,320 Protect them as such. Care for them. 569 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:26,520 Don't RIP them off. Don't take advantage of them. 570 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,040 Don't give anyone a reason to walk into church hoping to meet 571 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,400 God and leaving church heartbroken. 572 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,800 Care for the younger women as sisters. 573 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:42,160 And so we'll just put it all together as almost a, a 574 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,440 benediction as a, as a cultural creed kind of moment. 575 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,480 This is the church family that God wants to represent to the 576 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,000 world. You know, every category we 577 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,840 looked at, I could have prefaced by saying, of course, when we 578 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,360 talk about fathers, when we talk about brothers, when we talk 579 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:02,280 about mothers, when we talk about sisters, some of you have 580 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,480 some real hurt and some pain and some open, open wounds with 581 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,720 those categories. And I, I probably don't even 582 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,760 have to say some of you, all of you have been part of earthly 583 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,120 families that have hurt you and broken your heart and have been 584 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,160 less than ideal at times. We all feel it. 585 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,200 And what God wants to do is to redeem the design. 586 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,400 There's somewhere that's continually trying and by God's 587 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,080 grace, glorifying him in the way that we operate as his design 588 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,360 family. And so let's just put it all 589 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,880 together. Older men, you need to be 590 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:44,600 honored and respected. The older men of this gathering 591 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,800 of this church should have such honor and respect that we just 592 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:54,040 look different than the world. Younger men of the church should 593 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,400 be part of a brotherhood where men are caring for men and 594 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,360 praying for men, and they're not in competition. 595 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,080 They're in community of love and grace and support. 596 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,680 The older women of the church should be celebrated as these 597 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:12,600 amazing gifts, like a son would celebrate a mother. 598 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,320 And the younger women of the church should be protected and 599 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:23,159 cared for as sisters with purity that no one would be ripped off 600 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:28,800 when they come. And so we're going to, I pray, 601 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:30,600 be refreshed and renewed for that. 602 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,520 I pray that we would be known as a culture of a multi 603 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,960 generational family of God that loves one another, that respects 604 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,960 one another, that cares for one another, that protects one 605 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,280 another. And we're going to remember how 606 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,199 it all started. Every time we gather we we 607 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:51,000 remember the the body and the blood of Christ and so 608 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,360 beautifully. Whatever I'm preaching on, it 609 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,960 always takes us back to remembering Jesus. 610 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:02,880 There is no family of God apart from the Father sending His Son 611 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:06,720 that whosoever believed in him would be part of the family. 612 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,880 We're not a family that can love each other like father, mother, 613 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,840 brother and sister because of the building we come to on 614 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,520 Sunday morning. We are not a family because we 615 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:20,000 we all, you know, have the same little church calendar and try 616 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,200 our best to fall under the same teaching schedule. 617 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,320 We are a family for those of you who have given your life to God, 618 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,280 accepted the free gift of His love to redeem you, to give you 619 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,320 newness of life, and to take you from darkness to light and put 620 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,440 you in the family of God. We're a family because Jesus 621 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,760 died on the cross and he gave us a new citizenship and we have to 622 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,280 remember what makes us a family every time we gather. 623 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:47,960 This is why we're a family because God so loved us that he 624 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,120 sent his son. And today specifically, I'll 625 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,560 I'll tell all of you that take communion regularly to remember 626 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,720 that we're a family and it's because of Jesus dying. 627 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:02,920 And for those of you who don't consider yourself part of the 628 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,600 family of God, this is the day that you should join. 629 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:13,800 Everyone apart from the grace of God redeeming your story and 630 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,280 giving you newness of life comes from a broken family. 631 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,240 At some point or another, your family's going to break down. 632 00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:23,120 And we would love for you to join the family of God and call 633 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,120 this little corner of His Kingdom your living room with 634 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,040 us. And all you have to do is to 635 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,960 believe that the Father in heaven so loved the world that 636 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,640 He sent His Son to die on the cross to forgive your sin and 637 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:36,320 welcome you into the family of God. 638 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,320 And if you want to join the family of God, you just take 639 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,280 that communion and say, I accept this free gift that your body 640 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,760 and your blood were given to make me part of the family of 641 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,040 God. So if you're a long time member, 642 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,880 celebrate, remember that this is not just, you know, a your name 643 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,200 is stamped in heaven, which it is. 644 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:59,000 But God has got you set aside in His family to show the world 645 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,120 what a family looks like.