The Aim of Our Charge Is Love

In one paragraph

This message opened the series in 1 Timothy, working through the first seven verses. Pastor Blake introduced Timothy as a person before turning to what Paul's opening words ask of him and of the church at Ephesus. The sermon kept returning to a single verse, verse five, as the anchor for everything that follows in the letter. Paul opens the letter by identifying himself as an apostle, one sent out...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 1:1-7 primary text for the sermon, read and expounded through the message
2. Acts 16 cited to show where Timothy is named as a disciple on Paul's second missionary journey
3. 2 Timothy 1 quoted to show Timothy's sincere faith dwelling first in grandmother Lois and mother Eunice
4. Philippians 2 referenced to show Paul's high trust of Timothy, saying Timothy cared for others more than anyone else
5. James 3 cited warning that not many should be teachers because they will face a harsher judgment

Talk about it

1. Paul calls Timothy 'a true son in the faith' and connects that title to Timothy's character and the job he is being asked to do. What does it mean to you to have that kind of trust placed in you by someone further along in the faith, and have you experienced that kind of relationship?
2. Pastor Blake pointed out that it can be tempting to teach something new rather than repeat the same gospel message week after week. Why do you think the simple, unchanged gospel can feel insufficient, and what does it look like in practice to keep coming back to it?
3. Verse five says the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Which of those three feels hardest for you to honestly claim right now, and why?
4. Pastor Blake described a good conscience as doing what you know to be right and being able to look back on your day and say you walked in that. What makes that kind of daily accountability hard, and what helps you actually live it out?
5. The sermon describes certain people who have swerved from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith and wandered into confident assertions they do not really understand. How do you personally guard against that kind of drift in your own thinking and speaking about scripture?