Godliness With Contentment Is Great Gain

In one paragraph

Pastor Carl worked through 1 Timothy 6:2b, focusing on Paul's charge to Timothy to teach and hold to sound doctrine while living it out in conduct. The sermon kept returning to a single tension: knowing the Bible and actually obeying it are not the same thing, and Paul knew that gap was already tearing at the church in Ephesus. The closing section pressed hard on contentment as the antidote to the...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 6:2b the main passage being preached through, beginning with 'teach and urge these things'
2. Galatians 1:8-9 quoted to show that preaching a different gospel brings a curse
3. Matthew 28:19-20 the Great Commission cited to connect teaching content with teaching obedience
4. 1 Corinthians 8:1 referenced to show that knowledge puffs up
5. Job (implied) we brought nothing into this world and can take nothing out, noted as possibly the oldest recorded book of scripture
6. 1 Timothy 6:6 godliness with contentment is great gain
7. 1 Timothy 6:9 those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare
8. 1 Timothy 6:10 the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, not money itself
9. 1 Timothy 3:8 deacons should not be greedy for dishonest gain
10. John 13:34 a new commandment to love one another as Christ loved us
11. 1 Corinthians 10 whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God
12. Matthew 6:21 where your treasure is there your heart will be also

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl worked through a long list of imperatives Paul gave Timothy, covering both content and conduct. Which one on that list surprised you or stuck with you, and why?
2. The sermon described someone who got an A in Bible and an F in conduct. Where do you think that gap most often shows up in your own life or in church life generally?
3. Paul says that rejecting sound doctrine and craving controversy produces envy, dissension, slander, and evil suspicions. Where do you see that pattern playing out, and what does Paul's diagnosis tell us about the root cause?
4. The sermon drew a sharp contrast between 'imagining that godliness is a means of gain' and 'godliness with contentment is great gain.' What does genuine contentment actually look like in day-to-day life, and what makes it so hard to hold onto?
5. The point was made that the love of money, not money itself, is a root of all kinds of evil, and that some have wandered from the faith because of it. What habits or practices help keep money in its proper place and God at the center of where we find our security?