Craig

Q2. (1 Timothy 5:17-18) In what circumstances should elders be compensated financially? What is the Scriptural support for such a practice? Paul uses two scripture references to support or prove his statement that elders should be compensated financially. The first is Deuteronomy 25:4 and the second is taken from Luke 10:7. Paul takes one verse from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. He refers to both of them as scripture. It is obvious from this that Paul considered New Testament writings as of equal authority with the Old Testament. These scriptures teach that an ox which is used in the harvesting process should not be deprived of a share of the grain. Also, a laboror is entitled to a portion of the fruit of his labor. So it is with elders. In spite of the fact that their work might not be physical (preaching and teaching), yet they are worthy of the support of God's people.

Q1. (1 Timothy 5:1-16) What responsibilities do we have to help aging family members? According to Paul, in what way is this our Christian responsibility? In what way is this a "repayment" of a debt? To what does Paul compare those who refuse this responsibility? Our responsibility to aging family members is to help them as a way to return the care given to us as children. Most importantly, it is a tremendous way to show love and thanks to our parents and grandparents and others who have no relatives to care for them. It is Christain ministry beginning in the home. An essential part of the Christian way is ministering to other spiritually and physically in need. Beginning in home. According to Paul, it is sinful and pagan not to take care of your family.

Q1. (1 Timothy 5:1-16) What responsibilities do we have to help aging family members? According to Paul, in what way is this our Christian responsibility? In what way is this a "repayment" of a debt? To what does Paul compare those who refuse this responsibility? Our responsibility to aging family members is to help them as a way to return the care given to us as children. Most importantly, it is a tremendous way to show love and thanks to our parents and grandparents and others who have no relatives to care for them. It is Christain ministry beginning in the home. An essential part of the Christian way is ministering to other spiritually and physically in need. Beginning in home. According to Paul, it is sinful and pagan not to take care of your family.

Q4. (1 John 5:21) Why does John exhort his "children" to "keep yourselves from idols"? What idols distract us from the true God? What idols compete with God for attention in your life? John is exhorting the church not to replace or displace Jesus Christ, who is God and eternal life, by idols. Anything that a person places above and before God is an idol, i.e people, things, sports, time, work, etc. In my life the idol of self-will or doing what I want competes with God's will and what He wants me to do.

Q3. (1 John 5:14-15) What are the two conditions to answered prayer in 1 John? (See also 3:22) How do we determine God's will so that we can pray boldly, confidently? How often will our prayers be answered when our main motive is to achieve our will? The two conditions required for answered prayer are obedience and God's will. We determine God's will through scripture and prayer. I don't think our prayers are ever answered when the main motive is to achieve our will. Our will and God's should be one and toward the same end.

Q2. (1 John 5:11-12) What is the difference between saying "this life is in the Christian Church" and "this life is in his Son"? What should we be doing differently so that we teach a faith relationship rather than a religion? What is the difference between "faith" and "faith in Jesus"? This set of scriptures makes it clear that eternal life is not found in education or philosophy or science or good works or religion or attending church. To have life, one must have the Son of God. On the other hand, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life, that is, true life. Eternal life is inseparable from Jesus Christ. One can participate in the life of a church, but that does not equal to life in Jesus Christ. We need to model a faith relationship in our day to day living and circumstances. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ rises above and beyond religion. A personal relationship with Jesus entails love and a desire to please and glorify Him in and with our lives. Religion just requires conformity and checking blocks to ensure that I have done the required actions according to the rules, rituals, and regulations whether I like it or not. There is no personal relationship and love to these rules just conformity. Undirected faith really means nothing. Faith in Jesus Christ is eternal life and all that comes with having a vigorous love relationship with Him. See the Gospel of John.

Q1. (1 John 5:4-5) How does a defeatist mentality differ from a belief that in Christ we have overcome the world? What part does faith have in this overcoming? What part does unbelief have in a defeatist mentality? The carnal Christian and/or defeatist caves into the things of this world while born-again, committed believers in Christ know that in Christ they have and will continue to overcome the world. There is a determination in Christ to overcome the things of this world and be pleasing to God. Faith is trusting in God's Word. The Word of God tells the believer that trusting in Him will enable the believer to overcome sin and the things of this world. John wrote in 1 John 4:4: "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater that than the one is in the world." If a person doesn't believe and understand 1 John 4:4 and that they cannot do all things in Christ (Phil. 4:13), then they will have a defeatist mentality. They will continue to have that mentality until they give their lives and thoughts to Jesus Christ and permit the Holy Spirit to direct their thinking and lives.

Q4. (1 Timothy 4:12b) Rigid, unsmiling orthodoxy can teach right doctrine, but cannot produce godliness. Why not? Why is a strong example of godliness in church leaders essential to a healthy church? Rigid orthodoxy is just that -- rigid orthodoxy. It is abstract theology or doctrine. It only becomes alive and living when practiced. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: "The religion Jesus gave the world is an experience, not a body of ideas or principles. It is in being lived that it lives." Living out the Word of God produces godliness. As long as the Word of God remains in the mind it means nothing and can produce nothing.

Q3. (1 Timothy 4:7-8) How would you define "godliness"? What produces godliness in a person? How is godliness different from embracing a strict morality? I would define godliess as living to please God out of love for Him. The transforming power of the Holy Spirit and a person's response to God's Word produces a desire within a person to please God by living a godly life. Godliness springing from a love for God is personal vice an impersonal adherence to a moral code Adhering to a moral or religious code is more about the individual than pleasing and honoring God.

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel? The attraction lies in the sense of self-righteousness people feel when performing legalistic requirements. Legalism doesn't produce righteous fruit in that it doen't change the heart or inner life/being of a person. Only the Spirit of God does that. Legalism requires compliance to a set of rules or mores. It is not motivated from the heart -- a changed heart in Christ. It is not motivated by love. We are saved and made righteous through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again for the salvation of humanity. It is in Jeus Christ that we are made the children of God, not through a religious code. The indwelling presence of God, the Holy Spirit, works to transform the believer into a Christ-like human-being who lives out their faith in righteousness out of love not conformity to a set of rules. Love being the operative word. A selfless desire to please God is a motivating factor vice a self-righteous desire to elevate one's self.

Q1. (1 Timothy 4:1-2) Why does Paul remind Timothy (and the church) of predictions concerning widespread apostasy? What effect should this knowledge have on his ministry and the church's perception of the situation? So that the church will not be confused about apostasical behavior they encounter around them. Godly knowledge is power. God throughout time has provided those human-beings who care information about the state of humanity and this world and how to deal with it or overcome it. This passage of scripture was a comtemporary warning from God through Paul to the church about apostasy. It applies to believers in 2013 as well. This insight should give believers throughout the ages security and understanding about what is happening and to trust God not men. Again, Godly knowledge is power and Godly understanding drives away fear and anxiety.

Q4. (1 Timothy 3) According to our text, do you see differences in qualifications between overseers/elders and deacons? What are they? Both positions are to be filled with believers who were called by God into either position and are spiritually mature in all aspects of their lives. High moral and ethinical qualifications apply to both equally because they serving God in a church leadership capacity. Example is everything and both positions should be filled by people who lead by example. The overseer/elder has a teaching responsibility which requires sound, apostolic doctrine and teaching. The deacon's role is an administrative one. Therein lays the difference between some of the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy 3. In other words, additional doctrinal qualifications are added to the overseer/elder due to their teaching responsibility that is not required of the deacon.

Q3. (1 Timothy 3) Why are tendencies to anger, intimidation, force, and pride so important to consider in selecting church officers? What happens when you don't consider these factors? These tendencies do not reflect the fruits of the Spirit, as defined in Galatians, chapter 5 by Paul, but rather the fruits of the flesh as defined in that same passage of scripture. These tendencies in a church leader will cause resentment, bitterness, division, and utlimately spiritual and physical destruction within a fellowship. You don't place a person into a leadership position who displays these tendencies whether you need that person's gifts and talents or not. They are dangerous to any congregation.l

Q3. (1 Timothy 3) Why are tendencies to anger, intimidation, force, and pride so important to consider in selecting church officers? What happens when you don't consider these factors? These tendencies if exercised, by church leadership or any church member for that matter, will destroy a congregation. When you don't consider the above factors you are setting the prospective leader and the church up for failure, disappointment, hurt, and really a negative outcome.

Q2. (1 Timothy 3:6, 10) Why should leaders be observed carefully and tested before placing them in office? What should you be looking for during this period? Prospective leaders should be observed carefully and tested before being placed in office in order to determine that they reality are who they claim to be. In other words a reality check should be conducted to include their personal stability, family life, interests, spiritual maturity, doctrinal views, overall life style, past job performance, commitment to job at hand, and commitment to future calling. The bottom line -- for the prospective future leader's and for everyone's well-being in the church, the prospective leader should be observed to ensure the call and placement into a job or office is a true calling by God and not ego driven for popularity, resume building, job networking, advancement in some secret organization or club, etc. Is the person the real deal is the main concern for the church and whether the prospective leader's life indicates a calling to the job the church is assigning him/her.

Q1. (1 Timothy 3:2-12) What kind of leader do you believe Paul is indicating for us with the phrase "husband of one wife"? Why is a leader's family an important indicator of leadership potential or problems? In this passage of scripture Paul is stating that a married leader should be faithful and committed to one wife. Often the way a leader leads and manages his family is an indicator of his/her leadership skills. A leader's family will reflect by and large what the leader promotes, models, and practices. The leader's leadership style will be reflected in his/her family. So, a church search committee can be fairly certain that the state and dynamics of a prospective leader's family can be an indicator of how the leader will interact and lead the church.

Q4. (1 John 4:11-18) What kind of fear should we have towards God? What kind of fear is extinguished by his love perfected in us? What kind of attitude should we have towards future judgment? Perfect love casts out all fear. Fear involves torment and he who fears is not made perfect in love. God's love has not been allowed to operate in the lives of those who are afraid of Him. They have never come to Him in repentance and received the forgiveness of sins. Believers should look forward to future judgment with confidence and without fear. Here's why: I am assured of the Lord's love first of all, because He sent His Son to die for me. Secondly, I know He loves me because He indwells me at the present moment. Thirdly, I can look to the future with cofidence and with fear because of His love for me.

Q3. (1 John 4:7-8) Why is the statement, "God is love," so important? What does it say about God's nature? How does love being the essence of God's nature affect us? If we were created in God's image of love, but fell, what does this say about the road to healing in our lives? Why does love demand a willingness to forgive? If we do not love others then we cannot love or know God because God is love. Paul in defining love in I Cor. 13 really defines God's nature. Everything God does is motivated by love. God's love provided humanity saving grace -- See John 3:16. Humanity was created to love and reflect God's love. Love forgives.

Q2. (1 John 4:4) What in us is greater than false prophets and even Satan? In what sense have we overcome them? In what way will we overcome them in the future? How should this truth affect fear in our lives? The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer is greater than Satan and the false prophets. In letting the Holy Spirit influence our thinking and actions we overcome the practices of this world. Utlimately overcoming the things of this world will lead to spending eternity with Jesus. If God is for us who can be against us. Peter advised the church to cast their worries and fear upon God because He cares about us. The fact is Jesus said not to fear anything, but put our trust in God.

Q2. (1 John 4:4) What in us is greater than false prophets and even Satan? In what sense have we overcome them? In what way will we overcome them in the future? How should this truth affect fear in our lives? The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer is greater than Satan and the false prophets. In letting the Holy Spirit influence our thinking and actions we overcome the practices of this world. Utlimately overcoming the things of this world will lead to spending eternity with Jesus. If God is for us who can be against us. Peter advised the church to cast their worries and fear upon God because He cares about us. The fact is Jesus said not to fear anything, but put our trust in God.

Q1. (1 John 4:1-3) Why is believing that Jesus was God in the flesh so important? Why doesn't Satan want us to believe that? What are the implications of the fact that Jesus could live out his divine life in a human body like ours? What significance does it bring to the crucifixion and to the resurrection? What is the significance for your Christian life? It is not so much the confession of the historical fact, namely that Jesus was born into the world in a human body, but rather it is the confession of a living Person, Jesus Christ come in the flesh. It is the confession that acknowledges Jesus as the Christ Incarnate. Confessing Him means bowing to Him as Lord of one's life. The signifcance is that Jesus Christ living out his divine life in human body, crucifixion, and resurrection fulfills Biblical prophecy regarding the Messiah. See Isa. 53. Satan wants us to worship him and not the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many today who are willing to say acceptable things about Jesus, but they will not confess Him as God Incarnate. They will say that Christ is "divine," but not that He is God.

Q4. (1 John 3:22) We know that God doesn't "owe" us anything. So what is the relationship between obedience and answered prayer? Do we "earn" God's favor through obedience? Obedience is the basis for a vigorous and healthy relationship with God. Disobedience separates one from God. In a good and healthy relationship God wants to interact in our lives. God wants to answer our prayers. Scripture teaches us that God desires to grant us the desires of our heart. However, a heart that is abiding in the will of God. We don't earn what God gives freely out of love for those who love and cherish Him. For those who intentionally seek His will for their lives and a deep relationship with Him. God desires to bless those who love Him.

Q3. (1 John 3:16-18) What does it mean to "lay down your life for your brothers"? What are some concrete examples of this kind of love in action within the Christian community? If you are in a large congregation, how can you get to know other members so you'll be able to lay down your life for them -- and they for you? Our Lord Jesus gave us the ultimate example of love when He laid down His life for us. Jesus gives us love in its highest expression. In one sense, love is invisible, but we can see the manifestation of love. In the cross of Calvary we see the love that is love indeed. John draws the lesson from this that we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. This means that our lives should be a continual giving-out on behalf of other believers, and that we should be ready to die for them also if necessary. Most of us will never be required to die on behalf of others, but every one of us can manifest brotherly love by sharing our material things with those in need. That is what is emphasized in verse 17. Our love for God and others should not be a matter of affectionate terms only, neither should it be an expression of what is not true. But is should be manifested in actual deeds of kindness and should be genuine instead of false. The bottom line is to love your neighbor as yourself and do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. Regardless of the congregation size, believers must make a point of creating relationships with others in order to live out their faith.

Q2. (1 John 3:15) How can anger turn into hatred in our hearts? In what ways do anger and hatred relate to murder? How can we get rid of stored-up anger in our hearts so that we may love those who have offended us? In the eyes of the world, hatred is not a very wicked thing, but God calls it murder. A moments reflection will show that it is a murder in embryo. The motive is there, although the act might not be committed. Thus, whoever hates his brother is a murderer. When John says that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him, he does not mean that a murderer cannot be saved. He simply means that a person who characteristically hates their fellows is a potential murderer and is not saved. By forgiving those who have wronged us we release anger and do not permit it to store-up and cause destruction to us and others. Additionally, how can anyone except God to forgive them of sin if they cannot forgive others. Forgiving others prevents us from being hypocrites. Thankgiving and forgiving others cause the heart to soften and become more loving to others. Becoming Christ-like means forgiving like Jesus forgave and that is what Jesus teaches.

Q1. (1 John 3:12-15) Why did Cain resent Abel? Why did Cain kill Abel? How does the story of Cain and Abel illustrate Jesus' explanation of why the world hates us? Cain resented Abel because God didn't accept Cain's offering due to his attitude and lack of repentence. God accepted Abel's offering because it was offered in righteousness and repentence. The Scripture tells us that Cain's works were evil and his brother's righteous. It is a basic principle in human life that wickedness hates righteousness and this explains why the world hates the believer. Cain didn't love his brother and hated that God accepted Abel's offering and not his. Cain's hatred and jealously lead to murdering his brother. A hatred of God taken out on Abel. God personally counseled Cain on doing what was right and being accepted. Cain chose to ignore God's advise and followed his own way which led to murder. The righteous life of the follower of Christ throws the wickedness of the unbeliever into sharp constrast. The world hates this exposure and instead of changing its wicked behavior, the world seeks to destroy what shows it up so clearly.