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 As a family drove home after church, the dad was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his observant son said, “But Dad, you’ve got to admit that it wasn’t a bad show for a dollar!” So let’s just identify the elephant in the room right up front. Anytime a pastor starts talking about money in church, people immediately get nervous. Some of you right now are thinking, “Oh good. This is THAT sermon.” Others are checking to see if your wallet is still in your pocket. And a few of you are wondering if today might be a good day to suddenly need to get up to go to the bathroom! Money has a way of doing that to us. You can talk about prayer, forgiveness, evangelism, even sin — and people will nod politely. But mention money, and suddenly everyone gets very spiritual and very suspicious at the same time. And here’s the irony: the Bible talks about money all the time. Jesus talked about money more than almost any other subject—not because He wanted something from people, but because He knew money has a way of quietly taking something from us. So if you’re feeling a little tense already, relax. This is not a guilt sermon. This is not a pressure sermon. This is not a “the lights might go off if you don’t give” sermon. This is a discipleship sermon. Because 1 Timothy 6 isn’t actually about budgets. It’s about what kind of people we are becoming.

Discontentment is an American epidemic. Maybe we're susceptible to that epidemic because we live in the most affluent society in the history of the human race. And discontentment is fed by the advertising industry, as it promises us time and time again that our discontentment will disappear if we just buy what they're selling. And though, intellectually, we know those promises aren’t really true, but something deep inside our soul - the part that’s not rational - cries out, "Maybe this will make my restlessness go away or fill up my emptiness." And yet, the tragic truth of creating this kind of hunger in a population is that these things will NEVER be the solution. Because the problem goes deeper than what material things can bring to my life.

Last week, we dealt heavily with showing respect and honor to all people in the church, focusing MAINLY on the generation gap. But I hope you saw that the underlying principle Paul was trying to get across to Timothy was all about respect. It would have been difficult for some to be in Timothy's position... being a younger leader, but having the responsibility of leading those who were his elders, and who by that measure, deserved honor and respect. It's not always easy being a leader. It's a calling and a responsibility that, at times, doesn't win you many friends. Leadership is a unique thing. Not everyone is called into it - and there are some perks to being a leader, it's a rough road. You are called to not just be out in front (a person who leads but has no followers is just taking a walk, I've been told) - but to make sure the direction you are headed in is correct, that you are looking out for the good of your team, that you make decisions that will build up those under your care. And again, those decisions aren't always popular. I will tell you after 35 plus years in full-time vocational church ministry that leadership in the church is just as hard as leadership on a sub...and at times, I would venture to say, is even HARDER because you are taking the lead with folks who claim to be followers of Jesus, but who oftentimes don't ACT like it. They're your brothers and sisters in Christ, not just people in your congregation. And as long as there are people in churches, there will be times when people will act like people and other people will be wounded. So with that in mind, I think this next passage of Scripture is good for a church in general to hear. It's about HOW a church can lift up its leaders, and avoid inflicting too many wounds on those who have been called to love and to lead the Church.

There are a number of different church leadership structures that exist today. For instance, you have top-down authoritative models similar to how a business is run where you have a CEO doing the wishes of the board and stockholders. Churches with this structure keep a distinction between the “clergy” (who basically run the church) and “laity” (those who are told what to do in the church). If you know anything about Jesus’ teaching about the first being last, and the greatest becoming the servant of all, you’ll catch pretty quickly how UN-biblical this particular model is. When we study scripture to learn about church leadership, you’ll see there is a consistent model Jesus established for us. And since the church has been called the Body of Christ, and the Bride of Christ, and since we belong to Christ, it’s probably a good idea to begin with HIS example…

When we went through the series this Summer on Exodus, I mentioned towards the beginning how the Exodus story is really OUR story. The Bible isn't filled with perfect examples of perfect people - at all. I told you that it was messy. Because life is messy at times --- at MANY times, in fact. One of the places that those messes can happen is when one sinner comes into contact with another sinner. And the sparks fly! Relationships can be tricky - especially when those in the relationship haven't yet submitted their lives to the Lord. Then you have a situation where there are two people (like in a marriage) who both are REALLY looking out for themselves; they probably even chose their partner based on how that partner made THEM feel. And it's no wonder that things can get messy. A lot of Paul's writing focuses on how to get along in the Body of Christ. Because apparently when people come to faith in Jesus, turns out, they are STILL people. And people, being as we have noted, can be messy. We need to know how to do this thing called church. 

 "I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." - 1 Tim. 3:14b-15 Last week we saw that one of the main reasons Paul writes this letter to Timothy is that there are false teachers who have crept in among the various home churches - often claiming to come in the name of the Lord - and have introduced things that are NOT scriptural. It's clear that this wasn't an isolated event in Ephesus. Read the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Revelation and you'll see MANY churches having to guard against, or having fallen to, the error of false teaching, heresies, that do not provide the solid foundation of the truth of the Gospel. What I want to propose today is that heresy and false teaching aren't always wrapped up in an obvious package. In fact, the best way to deceive people with false teaching is to start with something that is true, and then begin to veer away from that truth little by little, until finally the teaching isn't just unorthodox - it's downright opposing what God has revealed to us in Scripture. You could argue that the most dangerous false teachings isn't in blatant lies that anyone could catch, but in the misuse of Scripture. And I would bet that these false teachings we deal with today were begun by well-meaning folks who just didn't understand how to deal with Scripture the correct way. This morning I am approaching the idea of fighting against false teaching in a unique way. Today I want to give you five ways to misuse the Word of God. If you can keep these five things in mind, then perhaps you can guard your mind and your heart from following a false gospel that doesn't have the power of God to save and to purify us from all unrighteousness.

Welcome to a new sermon series that will take us up through the Advent season in December. It's 1 Timothy - a book that is both challenging and empowering. It's a great blueprint on how God's House has been built and how it's to be maintained. We will look at LIFE and LEADERSHIP in the Church, and I know it will help sharpen our focus on what God wants of Powell Butte Christian Church.

If we’re honest, most of us probably don’t think of ourselves as missionaries. We tend to think that term is reserved for those like the ones we’ve been hearing from in our GO Moments this month - usually people involved in reaching past their own culture, be it overseas or intergenerational or just cross-culturally in our country. But reality is: Scripture calls those who are under the New Covenant "Ambassadors;" people who GO and as they are going share the good news of Jesus. But that's a new way of thinking for much of Western Christianity. Unfortunately we are surrounded by a "me-centered" culture that often - as I have observed - slips into that same mentality. So when we hear GO Moment presentations, it's very easy to get into the mindset of Missions is THERE - not necessarily here; and Missions is THEM - not necessarily me. In other words, like it or not, we have a Missional God. He was the first to send people out as His ambassadors, His representatives in this world. He did it with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He did it with Abraham, the Father of Faith. He did it on the Day of Pentecost as the HS empowered the disciples to share the Gospel with people from all over the world. And as we read in Revelation, He will one day have representatives around the throne, worshipers from every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. And Missions isn't just a NT thing. And today I want to focus mainly on a Psalm that shows us the mission of God that is timeless and part of the intent behind God's creation of the world, and more specifically of mankind.

One of the saddest realities about our world today, I believe, is the loss of integrity. We live in a society where someone’s word is no longer their bond. Years ago - and actually as is the case today in this area of the State, I have found - a handshake and one's word was enough. And that was the case throughout the country a long time ago for a long time. But today? Not so much. Promises are often given to just get things, and if it benefits someone, they'll break promises with no problem. That’s why we live in such a contract-driven society. We sign contracts for everything—cell phones, cars, mortgages, jobs. We need pages of paperwork because people don’t always keep their word. I’ve got a contract right now with my phone company, and that contract says I’ll keep this phone for two years. If I break it, there’s a penalty. That’s how contracts work: if one side doesn’t live up to their obligations, the contract is broken. But when we come to Exodus 24, we’re not dealing with a contract. We’re dealing with something much deeper, richer, and more binding: a covenant. A covenant is not just an agreement between two parties. A covenant is a sacred relationship established by God Himself. And unlike contracts, a covenant doesn’t end the moment one side fails. God is always faithful to His promises, even when we are not.

A New York family bought a ranch out West where they intended to raise cattle. Friends visited and asked if the ranch had a name. "Well," said the would-be cattleman, "I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one son like the Flying-W, and the other wanted the Lazy-Y. So we're calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y." "But where are all your cattle?" the friends asked. "None of them survived the branding." There’s a big difference between something written lightly and something branded or carved deeply into something. There's a difference between the student who writes on their desk in ink, and the one who carves their name into the desk. Chalk can be erased. Ink can fade. But when something is engraved, it stays.  That’s the picture we learn from Scripture. Under the old covenant, God's law was written on tablets of stone. The Law was given to show us what our sinful nature looks like and behaves like - but here's the deal, there was no power in the Law to make things new or to change anyone's heart. And so God decided to lead His people into a place where He would carve the Divine Law into His people deeply, permanently, by His own hand. 

How good are you at receiving and following advice? If you're like me, it’s a struggle at times for sure. I'm amazed at the times my stupid pride has kicked in and I know what I want and I know how it should be done. And there have been too many times when I ignored what turned out to be some REALLY GOOD advice, and of course I end up regretting being so stubborn. But none of you know what that's like, I'm sure! This morning we're getting to the part of Exodus where Moses could easily have fallen to the same sin. Last week Steve McCall outlined several stories where the people weren't real happy with Moses' leadership... Moses very well may have been at a place where there was much stress, and from what we will read in the passage today, absolutely overloaded and frustrated.

As we dive through Exodus, we're going to look at this overarching narrative but we're going to look today at a section that turns out to be a very frustrating time for Moses and Aaron. Now, because we are looking BACK at the story, it's obvious to us that God is at work. But, you must bear in mind that Moses and Aaron are LIVING this thing out in REAL TIME. They DON'T know the end of the story. They may have sort of a clue as to the end results, but this is hard for them, these lessons they are learning. We see this and think, "Hey - no worries, Moses. It's all gonna work out in the end." But that's again hindsight. And what Moses and Aaron will deal with in this section of Exodus this morning had the potential to knock them off kilter, for sure.