Living The Life

How do we live the life?

• We want to live life to the full but do we know how?
• We don't know straight away but the bible guides us in the life we strive to live.
• 1 Timothy 4 v 1-11
• Paul is speaking to Timothy as a young leader and I know not everyone is in that bracket but there is a key principle we can learn from what Paul says.
• Who do we have around us?
• Paul has just instructed Timothy on how to gather the right leadership team and overseers but now he is telling Timothy to be aware of the people who will speak things into his life which could damage and destroy not just him but others in the church.
• Paul wants Timothy to get a great group of leaders round him.
• He also wants Timothy to be wary of who influences him.
• Matthew 12 v 35 - "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart."
• Jesus is saying that we should invest in ourselves the right things and the right people.
• Paul was encouraging Timothy to build using strong foundations.
• Matthew 7 v 24-27 - "²⁴ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”"
• What people speak and influence our lives with should not affect our foundation in God.
• What are we storing up?
• What influences you?

Who Is On Your Team?

How do you pick who you have around you?

• It is crucial that we first choose who we have around us and how much influence those around us have.
• In some setting such as work or church there are some people who are in our lives because they are our leaders. We should always respect them, but is our choice how much we let them influence us.
• 1 Timothy 3 v 1-16
• Paul is giving more instructions to Timothy about the church, this time he is directing him in how to pick his leadership team and oversees. Timothy needs to pick who he wants leading and who he wants around him.
• God places different people in our lives and God uses them to make a profound effect on our lives.
• Jesus picked his team wisely, here are the people he picked and what they did::
• Peter - Fisherman
• Andrew - Fisherman
• James  - Fisherman
• John  - Fisherman
• Matthew - Tax Collector
• Simon - Zealot (terrorist)
• Philip - Tradesmen
• Bartholomew - Tradesmen
• Thomas - Tradesmen
• James - Tradesmen
• Judas - Tradesmen
• Judas Iscariot - Tradesmen
• They were all different and had varying personalities.
• Mark 1 v 16-20 - "¹⁶ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁷ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ¹⁸ And they left their nets at once and followed him. ¹⁹ A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. ²⁰ He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men."
• The first disciple to come to Jesus wasn't the one to succeed the most. Andrew came first and yet Peter was the one who Jesus chose as His closest.
• Some people say Jesus picked a bunch of drop outs and some people didn't even like. If Jesus wanted to do well straight away He would have picked the nicest people in town. He was showing people the grace of God by the people He had in His team.
• The culture of Galilee and the three towns in the Orthodox triangle was a rabbinic culture where people would ask lots of questions to gain understanding. These men were asking the right questions.
• I think when Jesus picked His he was looking for 4 key factors in people::
• Commitment - they were committed.
• Character - they had teachable characters.
• Competency - they would be able to do what Jesus was doing in time.
• Chemistry - they would bond well together.
• Jesus knew they weren't all perfect and that they were un-polished diamonds and He saw the potential in them.
• What factors do we look for when recruiting leaders or people to our team?
• Character, Chemistry and Commitment are the most important two, because they can't be taught.
• Competency can be taught and so not everyone needs to competent but there needs to be a glint or spark of talent in that area.
• Who will you recruit to your team?

Instructions

Do we follow the guidelines God gives to meet the requirements or to please God and follow His heart?

• God gives us guidelines and instruction so we are able to live life to the full for Him.
• God doesn't give rules and guidelines to make life boring He gives us them so can stay focused on His presence and purpose for our lives. The purpose God has for our lives is beyond imagination sometimes, if we follow the purpose we will live the best life we could.
• 1 Timothy 2 v 1-15
• Paul's instructions for worship are applicable to us as they are culturally relevant to the day in Ephesus.
• Paul doesn't just blast straight into things because he is talking to the leader of a church where one of the main issues was that they had forgot their first love of God and there was false teaching happening.
• He defines the Gospel and lays it out for them; to be saved you must believe in Jesus who died for the entire world and its sins. Paul outlines this because the Gnostics were saying people good get to heaven by material things and good deed alone.
• It doesn't matter how much we love each other and do good deeds, if the source of this love is not God then we are just going through the motions.
• Romans 3 v 21-22 - "²¹ But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. ²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are."
• If we just follow the law/rules and don't have faith then we can't fully follow God's purposes because we are just doing it meet requirements.
• Paul gives clear instructions for worship.
• The key to these verses is that Men are to worship in a wholehearted way and the women are to do the same. But neither should distract the other from worship.
• God uses many men and women all through the bible. God wants to use men and women all over the world today and He is.
• If some men and women worship whole heartedly then other people will follow suit.
• Three things that men and women should try to be - Loving, Faithful and Holy. 
• We can only be all three of these things by the power of God's grace.
• How can you step up your worship?                                                                                

Grace

Do we allow the Grace of God to overcome our struggles?

• Paul was so thankful for the grace God had shown him. He went through many struggles but this made him more thankful because he knew God had brought him out the other side.
• How thankful are we for the grace God has shown us?
• 1 Timothy 1 v 12-20
• Paul sees his past as a blasphemer, violent and persecuting man as horrible but he knows the grace of God has covered that sin and has filled him with hope and love.
• Paul doesn't want Timothy to get held back by the cage of guilt.
• Timothy may have done horrible things in the past, we don't know. But what we do know is Paul is encouraging him to focus on the grace of God, which filled Paul with faith and love.
• If the grace of God is put at the centre of the church and its heartbeat then they will regain their first love for God and their faith in Him.
• Paul encourages Timothy by saying that without the grace of God he wouldn't be where he is now.
• Acts 9 v 15-16 - "¹⁵ But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”"
• Paul was mightily used by God. All because the grace of God redeemed him.
• The saying Paul gives to Timothy is so powerful.
• 1 Timothy 1 v 15 - “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”
• Jesus hasn't come to save the people who are 'sorted' and full of pride in themselves for making something of themselves. But came for those who are weak and need Him.
• Mark 2 v 17 - “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
• God's grace is for all who are willing to accept it.
• As our relationship deepens with God our faith and love grow.
• Philippians 1 v 6 – “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
• The grace of God takes away all our past.
• God wants to continue the work in us that He has already started.
• God is moulding us and shaping us as we allow His will to be prevalent in our lives.
• What is God moulding you into?
• What is God’s purpose for your life?
• Timothy was working and pastoring people who had forgotten about the grace and their first love.
• He wanted them to re-light the fire within them and their passion for God and loving what He loves.
• Do we allow the grace of God to transform us?