Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021

Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX

1 Timothy 4:1-2 – Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,

Now “the Spirit expresses…” What is the Holy Spirit highlighting right now?
The danger of departing.
The danger of deception.
The danger of doctrines of devils.
Folks lying about how they have their own act together.
Unable to be moved by the Holy Spirit.

1 Timothy 4:3  – forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

They always manifest as control freaks and they believe they are anointed by God to police the lifestyles of struggling Christians. Think of all the health and fitness gurus—the false prophets of relationships, diet and exercise. They lure people to focus on themselves in shallow and vain ways. Magazines like Men’s Health, Vanity Fair, Self, Us, Elle, Cosmo and hundreds of life coaches, YouTubers and bloggers all over the worldwide waste of time giving “expert” advice based on what? Not God’s word!

1 Timothy 4:4-7  – For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.

Senseless traditions, local legends. Godless ideas. Regional myths. Strange doctrines and passing rumors.

1 Timothy 4:8 – For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

The idea here is that what ever you do for your body is only for now.

1 Timothy 4:9-11 – This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.

The Passion Translation – 9 Faithful is the Word, and everyone should accept him! 10 For the sake of this ministry, we toil tirelessly and are criticized continually, simply because our hope is in the living God. He is the wonderful life-giver of all the children of men, and even more so to those who believe.

1 Timothy 4:12-16 – Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

◦ If we cut off a finger, the finger dies... if we want it to function, we must get it reconnected quickly. Connection is absolutely necessary for life.
        ▪ When the connection is hindered... the body doesn’t operate like it’s supposed to.
• Because the church is pictured as a body in the New Testament, this means that the church is not an organization – it is an organism. There is LIFE in the body and that life comes from the SPIRIT!
          ◦ We are a body. We are a living, breathing, organism and we exist in community. That is what Paul is writing about here in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 – For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink [g]into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

We’re on a journey together!

In 2013, I was made aware of a book, Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, by Dave Logan, John King, and Hailee Fischer-Wright

◦ They learned that what separates average tribes from those that excel is culture.
• A tribe is a group of between 20 and 150 people; a small organization is a tribe and a large organization is a “tribe of tribes.”
• The idea behind this book is that in order for an organization to change—to take a step up—the culture has to change. The authors discovered that “strategies failed 70 percent of the time.”
◦ As they researched why this occurred, they found that Peter Duckers’ statement was true:

            “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” 

Culture:
The Food Bank
Homeless Outreach
Missions like SPARK and Troy Brewer Ministries
Our Church