Principles in Serving the Poor

Chris Hearty
1 Timothy 5:1-16

Paul gives Timothy principles for meeting the needs of the poor. First, believers need to take care of their own family members before seeking help from the church. The church needs to focus on those members who do not have family to help them, who are unable to help themselves and who have a good reputation. The church should be generous but also smart!

Raising Up Qualified Leaders

Conrad Hilario
1 Timothy 3:1-2

Raising up qualified leaders is less about gifting and more about character. Rather than church leaders appointing people to leadership, new leaders should be recognized for already having mature spiritual character and doing the work of a leader. God raises up leaders, the church just recognizes them. If leadership is about influencing people, then you are leading people whether you realize it or not.

How to Effectively Fight Poverty

James Rochford
1 Timothy 5:1-16

Paul gives Timothy principles for giving financial aid to those in need in the church and outside the church. Poverty is very complicated, but God is liberating people across the globe from physical, medical, educational, and spiritual poverty. As God liberates believers, He calls us to let Him lead us in liberating our finances for Him to bless others around the world.

Serving Love Toward the Poor

Dennis McCallum
1 Timothy 5:1-16

Paul continues his instructions to Timothy on leading the church at Ephesus. He advises him how to relate to both older and younger members of the church, but his main focus is on how to serve the poor among them, especially widows. Paul puts conditions on giving to the widows because hand-outs can be harmful. Giving financially to widows was to be after all other avenues failed. If the woman could not remarry, depend upon family or work, then she could ask for help from the church. The goal is to actually help those in need, not inadvertently weaken them.

Leadership in the Organic Paradigm Part 2

Dennis McCallum
1 Timothy 3:2-13

The qualities required of a spiritual leader in the church are good character and spiritual maturity. These are qualities all Christians should be growing in. The Body of Christ is always in need of believers who are willing to serve the Body in leadership whether as an official deacon or elder or as a servant looking for needs to meet.

The Devotional Life

Ben Foust
Mark 1:32-39

Psalm 32 says, "You (God) are my hiding place." Every Christian needs to develop a devotional life where they retreat regularly to connect with God. The Christian life is a constant launching out in service and ministry and returning back to recharge, to retreat to safety, to be reinvigorated to launch out again. Having a 'secret life' is a game-changer for our ministry, our relationships and our spiritual vitality and longevity.

What Is Man?

Mike Sullivan
Psalms 8

When the Psalmist considers the question of what is man, he recognizes that the basis for understanding man is to understands who God is. God displays His might through the weak. With God, even the weakest people can do great things. In His mercy, He confers dignity on us. Humans bear the image of God. God send us into the world to rule by making us co-rulers with Him. Jesus asks us to use the great power and resources we have as co-rulers to serve others.

A Disrupted Life

Patrice McCormac
Nehemiah 1:1-2:12

When you understand God is at work and you have a role to play in that plan, you can be guaranteed your life will be disrupted so that you can play a small role in impacting eternity. Nehemiah was able to embrace that disruption to his life because he knew God was at work in human history and Nehemiah had a role to play in that plan.

Lessons in Christian Leadership

James Rochford
1 Peter 5:1-7

Peter calls the leaders to shepherd the flock of God under them with an attitude of privilege rather than obligation. Leadership is a gift from God to be exercised according to the will of God, not for sordid gain but with eagerness. Leadership is also a mercy in that God uses broken people to lead His flock. God uses ordinary, fallen people to accomplish a great mission. In the process of impacting others for eternity, the leader is grown and stretched by God to do the impossible.