Order, Words, & Voices
08.13.23, Wearing Good, II Timothy 3
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Lynn/Linda/Segun
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
He Leadeth Me
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading II Timothy 3 Martha
Songs Lynn/Linda/Segun
You Are God Alone
Give me the Heart of a Servant
Message Hating Good Rick
Music How Great is Our God Lynn/Linda/Segun
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music
Music (slides) – Lynn/Linda/Segun
Praise to the Lord
The Almighty the King of creation
O my soul praise Him
For He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear
Now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration
Praise to the Lord
Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
Yea so gently sustaineth
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth
Hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah
Praise to the Lord
Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee
Surely His goodness and mercy
Here daily attend thee
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee
Praise to the Lord
O let all that is in me adore Him
All that hath life and breath
Come now with praises before Him
Let the Amen sound from His people again
Gladly fore’er we adore Him
He leadeth me O blessed thought
O words with heavenly comfort fraught
Whate’er I do where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me He leadeth me
By His own hand He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be
For by His hand He leadeth me
Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom
By water’s calm o’er troubled sea
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me He leadeth me
By His own hand He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be
For by His hand He leadeth me
Call to Worship (Slides) – Rick
Leader: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. Make known to me your ways.
Response: O Lord, make your paths known to us; teach us your ways.
Leader: Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
Response: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Leader: Good and upright is the Lord, good and upright is God’s way.
Response: God guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble his way.
Leader: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. You are merciful toward those who keep your covenant and your decrees.
Response: God is with those who fear him and his covenant is for our instruction.
Leader: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. Make known to me your ways.
Response: O Lord, make your paths known to us; teach us your ways.
Leader: God, may I be an avenue for your will to be done on earth.
Response: God, may we be an avenue of your will on earth.
Leader: To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Response: To you, O Lord, we lift our praise.
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 Martha
Understand that the last days will be dangerous times. People will be selfish and love money. They will be the kind of people who brag and who are proud.
They will slander others, and they will be disobedient to their parents. They will be ungrateful, unholy, unloving, contrary, and critical. They will be without self-control and brutal, and they won’t love what is good.
They will be people who are disloyal, reckless, and conceited. They will love pleasure instead of loving God. They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this.
Some will slither into households and control immature women who are burdened with sins and driven by all kinds of desires. These women are always learning, but they can never arrive at an understanding of the truth.
These people oppose the truth in the same way that Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. Their minds are corrupt and their faith is counterfeit. But they won’t get very far. Their foolishness will become obvious to everyone like those others.
But you have paid attention to my teaching, conduct, purpose, faithfulness, patience, love, and endurance. You have seen me experience physical abuse and ordeals in places such as Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.
I put up with all sorts of abuse, and the Lord rescued me from it all! In fact, anyone who wants to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will be harassed.
But evil people and swindlers will grow even worse, as they deceive others while being deceived themselves. But you must continue with the things you have learned and found convincing. You know who taught you.
Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.
I Timothy 3, CEB
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
You are not a god created
By human hands
You are not a god dependent
On any mortal man
You are not a god in need of
Anything we can give
By Your plan
That’s just the way it is
You are God alone from before time began
You were on Your throne You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on Your throne You are God alone
You’re the only God whose power
None can contend
You’re the only God whose name and
Praise will never end
You’re the only God who’s worthy
Of ev’rything we can give
You are God
That’s just the way it is
You are God alone from before time began
You were on Your throne You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on Your throne You are God alone
You’re unchangeable You’re unshakable
You’re unstoppable that’s what You are
You’re unchangeable You’re unshakable
You’re unstoppable that’s what You are
You are God alone from before time began
You were on Your throne You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on Your throne You are God alone
Give me the heart of a servant Tender and faithful and true
Fill me with love and use me, O Lord So that the world can see You.
Message (Slides) ‘Hating Good’, Rick
Opening Illustration – grocery store conversation about the state of the world, problems and different views on solutions.
Illustration – Taylor Swift Tickets, proof that they were seen and heard.
When we navigate problems and trials we often faile to recognize the difficulty judging and belittling it and then, we fail to account for God in the midst of the trial.
Around five years after his initial letter to Timothy, the pastor of the church at Ephesus, Paul is addressing the reality of the world. Whereas, we saw, in I Timothy, Paul offering advise to the young pastor, now, Paul is naming the problems that are surely to come at him from inside and outside of the church. Problems that can not only destroy faith of the members of the church, but potentially may also destroy Timothy’s faith.
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[Slide] “People are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God.
[Slide] They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of the unstable and insecure in their belief and take advantage of them.” (II Timothy 3:2-7, MSG)
Paul then brings it home to Timothy, naming the real problems he himself has faced inside and outside of the church doors,
[Slide] “You’ve been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, my direction, my faith, my steadiness, all with love and patience taking on my troubles and sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with. You are a witness to the truth that, more than once, God rescued me!
[Slide] Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it. Unscrupulous religious con men will continue to exploit the faith. They’re as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse.” (II Timothy 3:10-13, MSG)
Paul wraps up this section by saying, “But don’t let it faze you.”
[Slide] “People are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals.”
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Sound familiar? This behavior doesn’t really seem that odd, it sounds a constant in our reality, sadly, it sounds a frequent occurrence even in our own motivations and behaviors. We experience it, or hear from the experiences of others, almost everyday.
In chapter 4, Paul further defines people by saying, “For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires” (4:3). Some translations interpret this as ‘itchy ears.’ A desire to hear something new, something spectacular, something odd and conspiratorially suspicious.
Paul knew, from his own personal experience, that Timothy would soon face this heartache. Timothy had been the pastor of the Ephesus church for around five years, long enough for him to have become known, long enough for those in the community to become suspicious of this outsider, long enough for even false believers to attempt to spread lies and half truths perverting the hope of Jesus, long enough to recognize this sometimes came from inside of the church, and long enough to experience the push back on truth by those with agendas and hostility. Long enough for the hidden evils to come to the surface inside and outside.
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[Slide] Paul’s words of wisdom to Timothy is “Don’t let it faze you.” which, in all honesty seems less than helpful
Let’s start with that elephant in the room. Being told to ‘not let it faze or bother you,’ is possibly the most frustrating thing to be told when we are going through difficulties and troubles. This past week as we began our study on James (which, if you missed last Wednesday, you are still able to join us this week), we heard James telling the scattered Jewish believers to
[Slide]
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” (James 1:2-3) It is possible, if someone has ever said this to you, or any version of this, when you were facing problems or heartaches, you have been tempted to respond in a less than loving way. To us, it sounds cliche, heartless, and maybe even ignorant. Often, or usually, we hear this from someone who has no idea what to say and this ends up being the default to fill an awkward moment of silence.
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But for Paul, and for James, it is very different when they say these words, this was the experience of Paul and James, it was genuine, not hollow words, it was truly what enabled them to survive their own tribulations.. Paul had experienced the same trials and problems that Timothy is about to face. He knows first hand what attacks and disappointments can do to you mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Paul’s recommendations, the same as James’ words, are more academic rather than cliche – this truly worked for them, they were possibly the originators of these responses. they got it and they used this method. ‘Hang on, hang in there, don’t give up, there is a better day ahead, you can do this!”
In reality, we all know that evil, disappointment, bullies, hatefulness, arrogance, selfishness, greed, pushed through agendas, disrespect, and every other evidence of bad, the opposite of good including heartache, rejection, loss, illness, death. All of these are ready to surface at any moment.
[Slide] This week, in Doral Florida, in Miami Dade County, 32 vehicles were discovered at the bottom of a lake. The lake was surrounded by commercial stores such as WalMart and restaurants, however, prior to the building these buildings, lake had stood alone and, evidently, these cars had been dumped into the water. The police identified the cars as being older models and speculated that they were part of a huge crime ring. So, the evidence of crimes were underneath this water hidden for all the years. No one had seen the evidence of evil because no one was able to see the sunken vehicles. Ironically, it was not until a private investigator hired a couple of divers to look under the murky waters of the lake trying to solve a recent crime that the evidence of this older crime surfaced.
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Evil often is unseen, gradually unnoticed, possibly even dormant, until it isn’t. Until something, or someone, brings it to the surface, allows it to appear and reactivate. This was Hitler’s modus operandi as he would enter into new countries banking on the hidden prejudice, hatefullness, and racism of the citizens to surface when given an opportunity. Many of our modern day religious leaders and politicians depend on this strategy of creating an enemy or a crisis out of those hidden hostilities and hatreds already under to the surface. Once a target is established and identified the brutality is given the freedom to rise to the surface.
There is a reason that Paul is concerned for Timothy, a reason that Paul voices his concerns for this pastor and the church at Ephesus now around five years after his previous letter. Paul is nearing the end of his ministry, he senses that he is approaching the end of his life. Time in prisons and arrest, an increase in the attacks against him and his life of restriction have all increased, all are his new reality. Paul ws feeling the coming reality of the end of his ministry and the end of his life. And, since he loves Timothy like a son, and desires to protect and prepare Timothy for the harsh realities ahead, he writes this letter.
Probably the great concern for Paul was the existence of false teachers in Ephesus. Those who could slither into the lives of the members of the church, and divert their attention from truth to the spectacular and the farcical – and, in doing so, could create tensions between those who believed the false teaching and Timothy.
Paul is pulling Timothy back from the cliff on which Timothy had not yet approached. The words of Paul and James to us tells us stand stong in confidence even in the worst of times.
“The one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6)
I’m not sure there are any less aggravating words because doubt, and especially self-doubt is human.
I don’t think Paul, or James, is speaking in the same language as us. By this I mean that when they speak of doubt, it is probably not what we think they mean when they speak of doubt.
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Illustration – Roller Coaster, Dad, Doubt, Perfect Father
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This is the doubt that Paul and James are speaking of. The doubts they are pulling us back from is the doubt in God, a doubt in the work of Jesus. Paul, ahead of time, is calling to strengthen his own trust in God. This is not about doubts about yourself, or our doubts in others, it is about knowing God well enough that we can trust God. Ninety percent of the doubts we have are not doubts about God, they are doubts in our self to be used by God, to be heard by God. This also points us to a recognition that our trust in times of trouble cannot be about human leaders, religious experts, political powers, but, instead on God. We have to trust enough to have an answer that is different than our agenda or expectations.
Question: Even as we doubt ourself, do we trust God enough to also trust the outcome even when it is not the outcome we expect or want?
Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda/Segun
The splendor of the King
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice
He wraps Himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
And trembles at His voice
How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see how great
How great is our God
And age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the End
Beginning and the End
The Godhead three in one
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb
How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see how great
How great is our God
Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God
Community (Slides) Rick
- Next Sunday, The Source of Good, James 1:16-18
- Summer Bible Study – James, Wednesday Nights @ 6:30pm for 4 weeks. August 9-30. This week – chapter 2
- Special Speaker, Dianne McNary, Sunday, August 27, CBF Global Mission, previously, with her husband Shane, as field personal in Slovakia
- Fall Message Series beginning September 11 ‘Overwhelmed (Rescue to Redemption/Flood to Sacrifice)
- 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)
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 