Order, Words, & Voices
08.06.23, Wearing Good, I Timothy 2:8-15
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Lynn/Linda/Segun
We Will Glorify
King of My Heart
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading I Timothy 2:8-15 Linda
Songs Lynn/Linda/Segun
Great is thy faithfulness
This is holy ground
Message Wearing Good Rick
Music Heart of Worship Lynn/Linda/Segun
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music
Music (slides) – Lynn/Linda/Segun
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We will glorify the King of kings
We will glorify the Lamb
We will glorify the Lord of lords
Who is the great I Am
Lord Jehovah reigns in majesty
We will bow before His throne
We will worship Him in righteousness
We will worship Him alone
He is Lord of heaven Lord of earth
He is Lord of all who live
He is Lord above the universe
All praise to Him we give
Hallelujah to the King of kings
Hallelujah to the Lamb
Hallelujah to the Lord of lords
Who is the great I Am
Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh He is my song
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
Let the King of my heart
Be the wind inside my sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the fire inside my veins
The echo of my days
Oh He is my song
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
You are good good oh
You’re never gonna let
Never gonna let me down
You’re never gonna let
Never gonna let me down
When the night is holding on to me
God is holding on
When the night is holding on to me
God is holding on
Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick
Leader: Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Response: I will praise the Lord all my life.
Leader: I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Response: May I not put my trust in princes or any human beings for they cannot save.
Leader: Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob.
Response: Blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Leader: God is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
Response: God remains faithful forever.
Leader: God upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, and lifts up those who are lowly.
Response: The Lord loves the righteous.
Leader: The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow.
Response: God frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Leader: The Lord reigns forever.
Response: Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life.
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’ – Rick
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading Linda
Therefore, I want men to pray everywhere by lifting up hands that are holy, without anger or argument. In the same way, I want women to enhance their appearance with clothing that is modest and sensible, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive clothes.
They should make themselves attractive by doing good, which is appropriate for women who claim to honor God. A wife should learn quietly with complete submission.
I don’t allow a wife to teach or to control her husband. Instead, she should be a quiet listener.
Adam was formed first, and then Eve. Adam wasn’t deceived, but rather his wife became the one who stepped over the line because she was completely deceived.
But a wife will be brought safely through childbirth, if they both continue in faith, love, and holiness, together with self-control.
I Timothy 2:8-15, CEB
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow
Of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning
New mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me
Summer and winter
And springtime and harvest
Sun moon and stars
In their courses above
Join with all nature
In manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness
Mercy and love
Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow
Of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be
Pardon for sin
And a peace that endureth
Thy own dear presence
To cheer and to guide
Strength for today
And bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine
With ten thousand beside
Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow
Of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be
We are standing on holy ground
And I know that there
Are angels all around
Let us praise Jesus now
We are standing in His presence
(On holy ground)
Message (Slides) ‘Wearing Good’, Rick
The prophet Joel prophesied, a prophecy that was referenced at Pentecost when the Spirit descended upon the apostles…
[Slide – leave screen share on until prompted to leave screen share] “It will come about after this that God will pour His My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants God will pour out His Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29/Acts 2:17-18)
Let’s meet some of those daughters who did prophesy…
[Slide] Prophetess, Judge, Military Leader/Warrior/Hero – Deborah (Judges 5:7). Delivers words from God and leadership, direction, and guidance to all Hebrews. Referred to as Lappidoth meaning torch – Fiery Woman. Leaders and Armies refused to fight in battle unless Deborah was there to lead and fight with them. [NT and OT “prophets” in the biblical sense, are a truth-teller delivering God’s message to the world — in other words, a preacher. More descriptively, a preacher who packs a punch.]
[Slide] Bible Scholar/Teacher – Huldah (2 Kings 22:11-20; 2 Chronicles 34:14-33).
When the Book of the Law was found and brought to King Josiah, he request several men to interpret, including the high priest – these men sought out the expertise of Huldah for interpretation. ‘No sooner had the messengers brought the answer from the prophetess Huldah to the king than he immediately sent for the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem and ordered them to summon the entire nation—“small and great”—to the Beit Hamikdash. Standing on a platform, the king read to the people the solemn words of the Torah from the scroll that was found in the Beit Hamikdash—the divine warning followed by the covenant that Moses and all the Jews had made with G‑d. Now the king renewed this covenant for the entire nation—“To walk in the way of G‑d, to keep His mitzvot, commandments and laws with all their heart and soul.” The whole nation solemnly accepted the renewed covenant and undertook to carry it out fully.
Under the personal leadership of the king, and with the help of the high priest Hilkiah, the nation began to clean up the land of all idolatry with its abominable customs. A spirit of repentance, holiness and purity filled the entire nation.’ (chabad.org)
[Slide] Prophet – Anna (Luke 2:36)
[Slide] Prophets – The four daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9)
[Slide] Prophets – Phoebe – who was a deacon (Romans 16:1)
[Slide] Prophets – Junia – ‘Outstanding of all apostles’ (Romans 16:7)
[Slide] Leader/Teacher of Men Priscilla – “co-worker” with Paul, taught Apollos, a “learned man, with a thorough knowledge of scripture.”- explained “the way of God more adequately” to Apollos, gender did not hinder him from learning. Usually mentioned before her husband’s in a culture that usually placed husband’s names first, suggesting Priscilla, rather than Aquila, was the leader in the marriage.
[Slide] First Preachers of Resurrection – Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9-10 and John 20:17-18), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Matthew 28:8-10), or Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and others (Luke 24:9-10).
[Slide] Evangelist to many Samaritans who believed in Jesus after her message – Unnamed Woman at the Well (John 4:28, 39). Longest recorded theological conversation Jesus has with another person – preparation for preaching.
[Slide] “The fact that any women at all were leaders, disciples, prophets, preachers, and deacons in the midst of a patriarchal society that didn’t value women as equal contributors is proof that God’s call on women could not be deterred even by a culture that didn’t readily accept women’s gifts.”
(Kyndall Rae Rothaus, author and preacher)
[Slide] Jarena Lee (1783-1864) – Preacher. first African-American woman authorized to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She beseeched her pastor when he finally allowed her to preach, “If the man may preach, because the Savior died for him, why not the woman, seeing he died for her also? Is he not a whole Savior, instead of half of one?” Faced opposition because of color and gender.
[Slide] Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree) (1797-1883) – Preacher. became a devout Christian and co-founded Kingston Methodist Church. In 1843, she took the name Sojourner Truth to signify her calling from God to travel and preach, telling her friends: “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” Truth also spoke prophetically on the abolition of slavery.
[Slide] Phoebe Palmer (1807-1875) – Preacher. Organized and preached at camp meetings, where approximately 25,000 people converted to Christianity. Influential in the founding of the Church of the Nazarene, The Salvation Army, The Church of God, and The Pentecostal Holiness Church.
[Slide] Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921) – Preacher. Began preaching in her Congregational church at the age of nine. Graduated from Oberlin College, but her theology degree was withheld from her for several years due to discrimination against women in ministry. Blackwell was a prolific writer and charismatic preacher. She eventually became the first woman to be ordained by a major American Protestant denomination in 1853. Preached until she was 89 years old. Blackwell was also an abolitionist and early feminist.
[Slide] Agnes White Diffee (1886-1970) – Preacher. “I tried to be excused from answering the call to the ministry because I was a woman. I would not have minded if I had been a man, but to be called a ‘woman preacher’ was more than I could bear.” Pastored First Nazarene in Little Rock for twenty years (35 years total as a preacher), her congregation grew from under 300 to over 1,000.“I urge young women to keep an ear turned to Heaven for the call of God to preach the gospel.”
[Slide] Charlotte Digges “Lottie” Moon (1840 – 1912) – Missionary/Preacher/Evangelist. Following her older sister Edmonia, who was the first single woman sent as a SBC missionary (1872) accepting a call to go to North China, Lottie, a year later, felt called to follow her sister to China. Lottie spent nearly 40 years living and working in China. As a teacher and evangelist she laid a foundation for traditionally solid support for missions among Southern Baptists
[Slide] Ann Graham Lotz (1948 to present) – Evangelist.
‘Billy Graham said his daughter is the greatest preacher he had ever heard.’
Rev Wayne Keely, pastor Faith baptist Church in Claremore, OK, 1992 – youth evangelism conference, and 1993 Evangelism conference – Ann Graham Lotz speaker. Complained that she was given 45 minutes to peak which ‘left the door opened to her preaching and teaching to men.’ Was okay with her at youth conference giving her testimony until she opened the Bible and shared scripture, got up, and led he 12-18 year olds out of the auditorium.
[Slide] Beth Moore (1957-present) – Bible Teacher & Preacher. Moore spoke to millions of evangelical Christian women in stadium-style events and even more women and me have taken part in her Bible studies where Moore delves deeply into biblical passages. ‘Speaking about Moore in 2015, SBC Leader, Thomas Rainer said, “Moore has been a stalwart for the Word of God, never compromising, and when all is said and done, the impact of Beth Moore can only be measured in eternity’s grasp.” Considered a model of a modern SBC woman for over 3 decades, evangelical power brokers, who believed only men should preach, were increasingly uncomfortable with Moore’s outsized influence. It was Moore’s criticism of the 45th president’s abusive behavior toward women and her advocacy for sexual abuse victims that turned her from a beloved icon to a pariah in the denomination she loved all her life. Because of her opposition to Trump and her outspokenness in confronting sexism and nationalism in the evangelical world, Moore is now labeled as liberal and “woke, and even as a heretic for giving a message during a Sunday morning church service. Recently, Moore officially left the SBC saying that she was still a Baptist but no longer a Souther Baptist. Church Historian Kate Bowler said “Moore’s departure is a significant loss for the Southern Baptist Convention. Moore is one of the denomination’s few stand-alone women leaders, whose platform was based on her own charisma, leadership and incredible work ethic and not to a marriage to a famed pastor. (Moore’s husband is a plumber by trade.)”’ (Religion News Service, 2021)
[Slide] The apostle Paul said,
“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
[Slide] The Apostle Paul said,
“If a woman who prophesies/preaches with her head unveiled she shames her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.” (Romans 11:5)
[Slide] The Apostle Paul said,
I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer. But women will be preserved through childbirth—if they continue in faith, love, and sanctity, with moderation.” (I Timothy 2:9-15)
[End Screen share]
Sometimes what we see in scripture and how we interpret what we see in scripture – and then, as we attempt to interpret that scriptural understanding through our reality, leaves us confused, overwhelmed, and eventually in a state of despair and eventually dejected and hopeless. Sometimes we find ourselves at the conjuncture of hostility, love, and peace.
Sometimes we only see a portion of truth and are left in panic and isolation.
Illustration of Brian’s voice on mom’s phone.
Paul, just like many today, uses the story of Adam and Eve’s sin to justify their literal interpretation of the subjugation of women – the story of the sin of the serpent, the woman, and the man. To the woman God says, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” But to the man and the serpent, God declared a curse on both of them – we do not see the word, or a reference to the idea of, a curse on the woman. Furthermore, we eventually see that if the woman was cursed, such a curse would have been broken at the cross (Galatians 3:13). But the biggest issue is that, it was Eve who became the first one who recognizes and proclaims the work of God as she, following the birth of her son Seth, as she says, “God has given me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.”
In addition to 1 Timothy, Paul, speaks in various other letters of a similar denial of women’s voices, however, here in this letter, which is addressed to Timothy, the pastor of the church at Ephesus instead of to the Church at Ephesus Paul uses the specific first person pronoun as he speaks to Timothy not the church. “I desire that women do not speak, I desire….” Elsewhere, his word is more directly attributed to God. Furthermore, when Paul did write earlier (before Timothy was the pastor of the Ephesus’ church) Paul’s instruction was for women and men to live out an illustration of Jesus and the Church through their marriage.
While I am not going to give the argument for or against women preachers, prophets, teachers, & leaders – I do encourage each of us to seek truth rather than to just accept interpretations of this, and other passages. Instructions that are easily contradicted when stacked up against other passages, reality, and the life and words of Jesus.
Basically,
[Screen share for the following 4 slides]
- [Slide] When the life and words of Jesus do not match up with our literal interpretation we need to take a new look at our interpretation in light of the life and words of Jesus.
- [Slide] When the other words of scripture do not match up with our literal interpretation we need to take a new look at our interpretation in light of the life and words of Jesus.
- [Slide] When the struggles of those God loves and created do not match up with our literal translation we need to take a new look at our translation in light of life and words of Jesus.
- [Slide] When we find that our interpretation and our efforts to understand do not give a quick answer, or, do not verify or dispute the interpretation of another, then, we trust God to give us understanding when needed, and while we wait, we continue to live by the things we do know for sure – Love God, Love Others as we love ourself.
[End Screen Share]
I have struggled with this message this week. Do I spend my time trying to influence you from a theological perspective? Do I go with the contradictions and the meaning of the Greek words? Do I recognize that we are all influenced by those to whom we have already given the power to determine our opinions and beliefs? Or, do I listen to, and support, those who have risked everything to follow the calling of God….even when that calling is risky and opens them up to ridicule and misery? God led me to go with those who have been willing to take the risks to follow God, even though following God sets them up to be the target of those they are meant to lead. To believe the proven calling on those who are told not to follow God, told not to believe they can be called, to believe that God’s call is to all of creation.
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
When the music fades all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You all about You Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You all about You Jesus
King of endless worth no one could express
How much You deserve
Though I’m weak and poor all I have is Yours
Ev’ry single breath
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You all about You Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You all about You Jesus
Community (Slides) Rick
- Next Sunday, Hating Good, I Timothy 3
- Summer Bible Study – James, Wednesday Nights @ 6:30pm for 4 weeks. August 9-30.
- Next Book Discussion Luncheon, ‘Making Sense of the Bible’, Some Books available in entry was -$15, or link on web page will take you to Amazon order page, luncheon will take place in October (date – TBA)
- Fall Message Series beginning September 11 ‘Overwhelmed (Rescue to Redemption/Flood to Sacrifice)
Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we leave this place we walk in a world that is not perfect but nonetheless a world that God has proclaimed is good. We continue because the breath of God still inflates our lungs and because God’s life sustaining gift continues to course through our veins.
Regardless of our gender, or any other label we wear, we are all called to live lives that preach and pastor the good news of Jesus to all of creation. A call to allow Jesus to be seen in every situation every time. To forgive others and to forgive ourselves. To love God and to love others as we also love ourselves.
May we continually choose to grow in our own understanding of the resurrection hope which carries us in peace while giving us the mercy, compassion, and grace to live confidently in God who loves us and calls us to life.
Closing Peace Rick
Leader: May the Peace and Hope of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord.
Order, Words, & Voices 