This sermon returns back to 1 Timothy 6:11-16 to dwell on the importance of a high view of God in local church ministry.

Every church needs to experience ongoing reformation until Jesus returns. In 1 Timothy 6:11-16, we'll begin to explore 6 ways Christians can faithfully bring needed reformation to the local church.

Continuing our line-by-line study of the letter of 1 Timothy, we'll consider the four marks of unfaithful teachers given in 1 Timothy 6:2b-10. Do you know how to spot an unfaithful spiritual leader? Paul's instructions in these verses are very helpful for learning how to do so.

This Resurrection Sunday our Scripture text is 1 Corinthians 15:35-49. We'll dig into this passage together and consider how Paul uses the relationship of seeds to crops and of Adam to Christ to address the skepticism of those who believe the resurrection of all believers to be impossible. God's work in nature and in redemption both testify to the fact that in God's world, death precedes life.

The book of 1 Peter has much to say about Christian identity and how Christians are to respond to trials, suffering, and the alienation that comes from our allegiance to Jesus Christ. In this week's passage, we'll look at 1 Peter 1:13-21 to see the different ways Christians are encouraged to live out their faith and respond to the grace of God in hope, holiness, and reverent worship.

In this sermon, we will tackle the difficult words of 1 Timothy 6:1-2, where God instructs slaves to show respect and work hard for their earthly masters for the sake of the Gospel. There is no downplaying the difficulty of obeying teaching like this, nor of situations like that which it addresses. But God calls us to faithfulness even in the hardest of situations, as we'll hear in these two verses.

In 1 Timothy 5:22-25, Paul urges Timothy to proceed with caution when appointing new pastors in the Ephesian church. As we look to this passage together, we'll consider the importance of patience and slowness in our ministry as a church.

Continuing in our line by line study of 1 Timothy, we'll wrestle with Paul's instruction in 1 Timothy 5:19-21 which teaches us what to do when a pastor becomes morally disqualified from serving as a pastor. Hard situations like this require clear and direct instructions, like what God gives us in this text. This passage will help us see that doing what's right in the church is far better than simply doing what's easy. May Christ be honored as we hear and respond to his Word again on Sunday.

This week's exposition of Scripture will be focused on the command to give generous material support to faithful pastors in 1 Timothy 5:17-18. What does it mean to give pastors "double honor" (v. 17) and why is it important to do so? It may not be the text you've been longing to hear preached, but with God's help we will see the goodness in it and why it's an important part of building a faithful church.

In today’s sermon, Paul walks us through the definition of Christian contentment and how we can apply that in our daily lives. The definition of Christian contentment we will be looking at today is taken from The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs. “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

In this sermon we'll look at Paul's instructions in 1 Timothy 5:9-16 regarding how the church ought to care for widows, and see what it has to teach us today about caring for people in need.

In 1 Timothy 5:3-16, Paul teaches Timothy and the Ephesian church about the proper care of widows in and around their congregation. This instruction is important and holds wide application to our relationships with the members of our earthly families. In this sermon, we'll look at verses 3-8 of the passage, and think through what our relationships with the members of our families have to do with our profession of faith in Christ.

In this sermon, we will start to dig into Paul's instruction about how to love people in our spiritual and earthly families; our fellow church members and our 'blood' relatives.

The passage that is next up in our verse by verse study of 1 Timothy is 1 Timothy 4:11-16, where Paul shows Timothy how to be truly effective in ministry as he carries out his responsibilities of guarding the church against error and teaching the church sound doctrine. What does Timothy have to do to be a blessing to the church as he guards and teaches them? And what does it all have to do with us? We'll dig into those things in this sermon.

Getting back to our study of 1 Timothy, we will look next to 1 Timothy 4:6-10, where Paul helps Timothy stay focused on his primary duties as a leader and pastor in the local church. What ought every church leader focus on in ministry? We'll find some answers to that question and see how they apply to our lives in this important and timely passage.

To prepare us to share testimonies with one another of the faithfulness of God over the past year, we'll spend a little time in Psalm 103; a call to give praise to God for his good dealings with his people.

One aspect of the Christian life that's been negatively affected by the events of the last year has been that of our fellowship with one another. In this end-of-year sermon, we will look to God's Word to see if there may be a need to renew our commitment to Christian fellowship.

In our fourth "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll trace the passage to the root of the hope extended in it. How will all the glorious promises of this prophecy be fulfilled? The answer lies in the coming of a specific Person to the world.

In our third "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll spend some time reflecting on what this prophecy reveals about God. Who is the God of light? We'll see four of our God's glorious excellencies in this passage.

In our second "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll explore how the promises of this passage function to sustain our faith while we wait for God to fulfill them completely. We'll look at the specific promises of the passage and consider how and why they should encourage us today.