Blog Archives

Character Counts - Part 2

3/26/2017

It's often said that everything rises and falls on leadership. As go the leaders, so go the followers. That can be said about many things in life, including church life. As we pick up our study in 1 Timothy 3 today, we find Paul providing objective standards for those with subjective desires to be leaders (elders) in the local church. Apart from preaching the gospel, nothing Timothy did for the Christians in Ephesus was more important than helping them affirm the right leadership. In today's message, we consider 14 character traits that help qualify a man for the office of elder.

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Character Counts

3/19/2017

Our study of church polity has brought us full circle back to 1 Timothy 3 where Paul provides prerequisites for those who would be elders and deacons in the local church. Though the prerequisites are similar, the differences between the two offices are worth noting.

Generally speaking, the very presence of character qualifications reveal the need to attach concrete benchmarks for those aspiring to be elders and deacons. In other words, Paul teaches there must be objective qualifications for subjective desires. Desires by themselves do not qualify us for positions of leadership or service in the local church. Desires must be accompanied by godly character and lifestyle choices. When it comes to spiritual effectiveness, our desires are the beginning point but must not be the ending point. 1 Timothy 3:1-7

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Obey Your Elders

3/12/2017

Somebody once said that if everybody in the world read their Bible at the same time it would be the biggest dust storm in history. Dr. Michael Vlach, Professor of Theology at The Master's Seminary, has said, “There is a crisis of Biblical knowledge in the American Church today.” He said that because the most widely known Bible verse among adults and teenagers is, “God helps those who help themselves”. Not only is that not in the Bible, its premise contradicts what the Bible clearly teaches about our dependency upon God. Better things are meant for us brothers and sisters. Because the church is the pillar and support of truth, we want to give ourselves to the study of God’s Word not only for our own spiritual health but so that we might also know how to organize and govern ourselves for the sake of the Gospel’s witness through us. Organizing and governing ourselves is called church polity and it is a subject we have been studying in recent weeks. Today we pick up with part 2 of a message from Hebrews 13:17.

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Godly Followers

3/5/2017

Leading and following are woven into the fabric of human life. There is not a place on the planet that does not reveal examples of leaders and followers. In recent decades, much attention and research have been given to the pursuit of one side of that equation; the leadership side. The need to develop godly leadership in the church cannot be denied. But what about the practical principles related to being a good follower? In today's message from Hebrews 13, Pastor Darrell continues to explore the topic of becoming an elder-led church and how godly followers are just as important as godly leaders.

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Character Counts - Part 2

Character Counts

Obey Your Elders

Godly Followers

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