Sermon25-37 1Tim3 Guide

1 Tim 3:1-16 theme verse 1 Tim 3:15

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this thirty second Sunday of 2025, on Pentecost Sunday, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at how God governs His church, yet this week, we would like to look at who the offices of His church are together.

1)    First, to summarize today's passage, in today's passage, Paul introduced the qualifications for overseers and deacons as the offices of the church, and then explained what the church is. In verses 1-7, firstly he explained the qualifications for overseers. Here, the Greek word "episkopos" (ἐπίσκοπος), translated as the "overseer," refers to the same position as the Greek word "presbyteros" (πρεσβύτερος), commonly translated as "elder." However, while presbyteros has the Jewish root, referring to the elders of each synagogue, episkopos has the Greek root, referring to the city officials who govern subordinate cities. And within this overseer or elder, there are two offices: pastor, that is, those who teach, and elder, that is, those who rule. In today's text, the ten qualifications of these overseers are introduced. And then in verses 8-13, Paul explained about the qualifications for deacons. The Greek word diakonos (διάκονος), translated as "deacon" here, in secular society referred to the slaves engaged in menial tasks, especially serving tables. However, as the Lord said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve," the "deacon" in the church refers to the one called to serve, charged with practical administrative duties such as managing finances and distributing food and clothing to those in need. And then Paul introduced the qualification for the deacons. In short, while an elder is a position of leadership, a deacon is a position of service. Then, in verses 14-16, Paul introduces what the church is. According to Paul, the church is God's house, I mean, God's family, the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. And then he explained the reason why he introduced the church officials in this way was to teach Timothy how to work in God's house. In short, he says that these elders and deacons are to care for the family of the living God and establish the church as the pillar and foundation of truth.

2)    And regarding these offices of the church, in the church order of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the church recognizes the offices of minister of the Word, I mean, pastor, elder, deacon, and commissioned pastor. And it is said that these offices differ from each other only in mandate and task, not in dignity and honor. The calling of a minister of the Word is to proclaim, explain, and apply Holy Scripture in order to gather in and equip the members so that the church of Jesus Christ may be built up. A minister of the Word serving as pastor of a congregation shall preach the Word, administer the sacraments, conduct public worship services, catechize the youth, and train members for Christian service. The minister, with other officebearers, shall supervise the congregation and fellow officebearers, exercise admonition and discipline, see to it that everything is done decently and in order, exercise pastoral care over the congregation, and engage in and promote the work of evangelism and diaconal outreach. The elders, with the minister(s), shall oversee the doctrine and life of the members of the congregation and fellow officebearers, shall provide counsel and discipline along with pastoral care in the congregation, shall participate in and promote evangelism, and shall defend the faith. As shepherds of the church, they shall encourage and support the members in their Christian life. The elders also shall nurture in the congregation grateful and obedient participation in the Lord’s Supper through encouragement, instruction, and accountability. The deacons shall represent and administer the mercy of Christ to all people, especially to those who belong to the community of believers. Deacons shall lead the members in ways that inspire faithful stewardship of their time, talents, and resources and so give life in this world the shape of God’s kingdom. Thus deacons shall create and encourage participation in structures and ministries of mercy, justice, and reconciliation, both locally and globally. All of this shall be done with words of biblical encouragement and testimony, which assure the unity of word and deed. Finally The task of the commissioned pastor is to bear witness to Christ through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, church education, pastoral care, evangelism, and other ministries in order that believers may be called to comprehensive discipleship and unbelievers may be called to faith.

3)    To examine the qualifications for church ministers listed in today's passage, first, in verses 1-7, Paul first stated that a general qualification for an overseer is that he must be "above reproach." This doesn't mean "absolutely without fault," but rather "not blaming by anyone." He then listed ten specific qualifications. First, regarding personal qualification, he said he must be sober-minded, self-controlled, not a drunkard, and not a lover of money. In regard of family, he must be faithful in marriage and educate his children well. Furthermore, regarding interpersonal relationship, he must be hospitable to strangers, not violent and not quarrelsome. These can be summarized as meekness. And then, he states that an overseer must be respected by those outside the church, and must be spiritually mature and a good teacher.

4)    And then in verses 8-13, Paul continued to discuss the qualifications of a deacon that: Personally, they must be self-controlled in their actions, speech, drinking, and money. Family-wise, they must be faithful to their wives and educate their children well. Furthermore, they must possess orthodox faith and a clear conscience. Yet, above all, deacons are recommended to be appointed after a probationary period and careful examination. And also he discussed for female deacons that they must be chaste, not slanderers, self-controlled, and faithful.

5)    As such, regarding the offices of the church, Belgic confession article 31 confesses that “We believe that ministers of the Word of God, elders, and deacons ought to be chosen to their offices by a legitimate election of the church, with prayer in the name of the Lord, and in good order, as the Word of God teaches. So all must be careful not to push themselves forward improperly, but must wait for God's call, so that they may be assured of their calling and be certain that they are chosen by the Lord. As for the ministers of the Word, they all have the same power and authority, no matter where they may be, since they are all servants of Jesus Christ, the only universal bishop, and the only head of the church. Moreover, to keep God's holy order from being violated or despised, we say that everyone ought, as much as possible, to hold the ministers of the Word and elders of the church in special esteem, because of the work they do, and be at peace with them, without grumbling, quarreling, or fighting.”

6)    Here, it seems that there are two things that church offices have to keep in mind. I mean, first, since the church is God’s family, the church of Living God. Therefore, they must minister so that the church can become the pillar and foundation of truth. Second, we have to know that truth is Jesus Christ, I mean, Christ was incarnated, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Therefore they must minister so that the whole world may believe in Him and glorify Him.

7)    And also we have to especially focus on the fact that the church is the church of the living God. In this regard, first and foremost, the church has to be a place where we can vividly sense and show the presence of the Living God. If each and every church member is the very temple of God, where God dwells, and also the temple where God the Holy Spirit dwells, and also if the Son of God dwells where two or three of us are gathered together, then surely our church also must be a place where we can vividly sense and show the presence of the Living God. And secondly, when God made a covenant with the Israelites in the Old Testament, He said, "I will dwell among you and be your God, and you will be My people." This awareness that the Living God dwells among them profoundly influenced the life of the Israelite community. Similarly, the church, because it is the dwelling place of the Living God, must be the community of truth and love. Only then, I believe non-believers will come to church and glorify God, saying, "God truly dwells among you."

8)    So, as Jeremiah 6:2 says, if we believe the Lord is the True God, the Living God, and the Everlasting King, and if the Living God dwells among us, the Lord is with us, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us, I believe that we should live the life that glorify God by revealing the presence of the Living God who dwells among us to the world. Therefore, I pray that this year, we may all live in God's presence to reveal His Attributes to the world, for His glory.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that the offices of the church are pastor, elder, and deacon, where pastor has a role to proclaim the Word of God, and elder takes a role of nurturing His people and ruling of the church, while the deacon is serving, mainly, and also Paul says that in v.1, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” and also in v.13 “For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus”. So, meditating on the offices of the church and which office you are called, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And, also these offices are not the concept of who is higher, then they exist for the order of the church and in their dignity and importance are the same. So after meditating on the order of God and the glory of each office, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.