We are entering into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season! I know it seems early, but I wanted to get dates out so you would block them off in your calendars!
November 3 - Communion Sunday
November 17 - Thanksgiving Service and Meal Following Service
December 1, 8, 15, 22 - 4 Sundays of Advent
December 8 - Communion Sunday with Meal & Manhattan Beach Fireworks Following Service
December 14 - Rock Christmas Party
December 22 - Rock Final Sunday of Advent Christmas Service
December 24 - Combined Christmas Eve Service with Harbor Covenant Church
Are you tempted to skip over Bible passages regarding church leadership structure? I admit, these passages are not the ones people want to talk about most. This does not mean that they are unimportant. It also does not mean these passages don’t mean anything to your everyday life! I believe passages on church leadership help us to establish proper foundations for any church. If church leadership is operating properly, churches can avoid many struggles and problems. Also, if church leadership is operating properly, ministries of love, mercy, teaching, and prayer will thrive!
I will preach part II of my sermons on I Timothy 2:11-15 this Sunday. This passage is often used to answer the question; “Can women lead in churches?” There is disagreement over the conclusion, but there is little disagreement over the difficulty of this passage! If you missed last Sunday, I want to encourage you to watch or listen to last weeks sermon. Click to read full article and a link will be provided. This sermon on how to interpret difficult passages will help understand this weeks sermon.
I Timothy 2:11-15 is a passage on women in ministry that many in the church disagree on the modern application. One thing we can all agree, it is a difficult passage! Interpreting this passage requires an understanding of the rules of interpreting the Bible (the theological word for this is hermeneutics). Before we study the actual text of vv. 11-15, I want to preach on how to approach any difficult passage in the Bible. I believe this will help us understand and love God better! A worthy goal for any Christian.
There has been much discussion in the church throughout the centuries about I Timothy 2:8-15. The topic of men and women leading worship has been contentious, confusing, and divisive. Paul writes to Timothy advising him of 3 key practices in the church in chapters 2 and 3 of I Timothy. Who we pray for in the church and why (2:1-7). The manner in which men and women lead in public worship (2:8-15). And, finally, how the church leadership is structured and who is qualified to lead (3:1-16). This middle section on men and women in public worship is going to be our focus in the next 2 weeks.
Some classic questions of any religion are: Who will go to heaven? Who does God love? Who do we welcome or reject? Who should we pray for? The Christians in Ephesus, where Timothy was a pastor and receiving instruction from the Apostle Paul, wondered similar things. Specifically, they wondered what kind of people they should pray for. Only Christians? Only Jews who had become Christians? Only those in their church? In this section of 1 Timothy, Paul begins instructing the church on how to live. In I Timothy 2:1-7, Paul instructs the church on who to pray for and why. In short, Paul teaches that they should pray for “all people.”
Fighting is not my thing. I was never a fighter in my youth. I would prefer to let things go than to fight for my rights. I prefer peace over conflict and fighting as a rule. But, like Timothy in I Timothy 1:3, 18, I am called to fight for sound doctrine in the church. Pastors and church leaders must engage in “good warfare” (I Tim. 1:18) with those who have rejected sound doctrine. It is part of the job. It is necessary for the church to prosper. The sound doctrine that is found in the Bible must be protected at all costs. So I fight. But how I fight is important to God.
The Old Testament law found in the first 5 books of the Bible can be a stumbling block to people. For some, it is simply too bizarre for our modern minds to apply. For others, it is difficult to reconcile laws we no longer are called to obey, and others that we still must obey to please God. Finally, the Old Testament law can be a difficult way to evaluate God as a loving Father. We know from the New Testament that the Old Testament law is still valid if understood properly. Jesus says; “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17) Paul says; “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.” (I Timothy 1:8) The false teachers in I Timothy are not using the law lawfully. They have swerved and wandered away.
What topic would you start with in an instructive letter to a young pastor on how to lead a church? The Apostle Paul could have started the letter to Timothy with a number of crucial topics. He chose to start with a charge to the young pastor; “not teach any different doctrine.” Paul knew that the biggest existential threat to the church in Ephesus was false teaching that could lead them astray. So he begins with opposing heresy. Not motivated by anger, punishment, or retribution. But motivated by love according to I Tim. 1:5. Love for people. Love for God. Love of truth. Love of salvation. Love!
What topic would you start with in an instructive letter to a young pastor on how to lead a church? The Apostle Paul could have started the letter to Timothy with a number of crucial topics. He chose to start with a charge to the young pastor; “not teach any different doctrine.” Paul knew that the biggest existential threat to the church in Ephesus was false teaching that could lead them astray. So he begins with opposing heresy. Not motivated by anger, punishment, or retribution. But motivated by love according to I Tim. 1:5. Love for people. Love for God. Love of truth. Love of salvation. Love!
This Sunday is the beginning of our new sermon series: “I Timothy: Access to the Apostle.” It is exciting to start a new series in God’s Word. We will have I Timothy workbooks for everyone as a gift and I will start with an introduction from I Timothy 1:1-2. After the service we will have a BBQ to kick-off the series and enjoy our outdoor service. Since we are meeting outside, bring your beach chair and come ready for our outdoor vibe! Sign-up for what to bring to BBQ by clicking to go into article.
If this world ever seems like a mean place to you, imagine if you were to run for public office! We see an ever-increasing meanness during election season. This week I will preach on how to love God and neighbor during election season. Christians are never called to be mean to those who think differently from them politically. In fact, we are called to the opposite of meanness - to love. To love one another. To love our neighbor. To even love our enemies.
I’m back! Not quite as dramatic as Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing his return in Terminator. Or Michael Jordan’s two word fax (a fax! haha) upon his return to basketball after a year off playing baseball. But I’m back from my sabbatical rested and ready to get back to ministry at The Rock! I look forward to sharing this Sunday what God taught me during the sabbatical. I plan to share not only what God taught me, but how it was a gift from Him.
After 2 years and 68 sermons, our Romans sermon series will come to a close this Sunday! It will be a Sunday of endings and beginnings. We will end our time in Romans, which is cause for celebration to conclude the most influential theological letter in the New Testament. We will celebrate the beginning of new life in Jesus with a baptism after church. And we will prepare our hearts for the beginning of my sabbatical. This will be my last Sunday before I take 3 months to rest and renew! Immediately after church, we will go to the Grimes’s house for the baptism and to share a communion meal together!
I’ve often heard from other pastors that they feel alone in ministry. Through a series of events, these pastors feel like much of the work of the church falls on them. This has never been the plan of God. In the New Testament church, the Apostle Paul regularly comments on the work of others in ministry. In the book of Romans, he mentions 34 people who have helped and partnered with him in ministry! These workers in the Lord range from pastors and deacons to who Paul simply calls “hard workers.” Part of the intention of the New Testament letters is to encourage people to use their gifts in ministry. As Paul concludes the book of Romans, he further greets and appreciates his team.
Stranger danger is a basic warning for children given by their parents. The warning is to help them understand that there are certain people they need to avoid. Parents give all sorts of warnings to their children as they grow up. It is natural, kind, and helpful in the development of children. God also warns us of dangerous people as Christians. People who will be a detriment to our Christian growth. In Romans 16:17-20, Paul says these people will cause divisions and create obstacles for us as Christians. The simple answer Paul gives as a warning to us is to “avoid them.”
Of the twenty six people the Apostle Paul greets in Romans 16:1-16, nine of them are women. The significance of this is that Paul greets them as “fellow workers,”, “servants,” and “hard workers.” There is a clear emphasis on the work these women do for Jesus. For gospel ministry. For their churches. A few observations that I will highlight in this Sunday’s sermon: 1) These women engaged in important ministries in the early church, 2) In an extremely male dominant culture, the Apostle Paul was not afraid to publicly acknowledge their work in the church, and 3) These women held positions in their churches at the top levels of leadership. Paul’s practical, real-world greetings help us understand the role of women in the early, New Testament church.
Churches in the New Testament are much like our modern churches. Members have both joys and sorrows. The churches are most of the time doctrinally sound, but sometimes get things wrong. Sometimes people don’t get along with one another. Other times, people are willing to die for one another. One thing that all churches have in common is that our communities are rooted and grounded in Jesus. In fact, our main sense of unity is that each of us has been saved by Jesus. Each of us is sustained by Jesus. All of us look to Jesus for strength, guidance, and wisdom. When churches are operating in health, this community in Jesus becomes much like Jesus - loving, caring, kind, forgiving, and serving.
Easter Sunday is a celebration for Christians everywhere. We celebrate Jesus’s victory over sin and death. We celebrate the freedom in Jesus we receive when our sins are forgiven. We celebrate the eternal life that is given to us in Jesus. We celebrate the majestic statement, “He is risen!” Come at 9:00 am this Sunday to celebrate Jesus’s victory together at The Rock!
This Sunday is our annual Palm Sunday service. We will experience the whole range of emotions from ecstatic joy in the entry of Jesus, realization that Jesus will be betrayed, arrest, trials, mocking, and shockingly, death. We believe at The Rock that it is absolutely imperative that we fully understand the suffering and death of Christ to truly appreciate the Easter Sunday Resurrection. Come this Sunday to continue our preparation for the Easter Sunday celebration!
