Gospel Purpose

Who did you honor this week?

1. Honor for the reputation of the Gospel

How are their bosses worthy of their work?

Mark 10:42-45

Looking past the temporal to the eternal… Looking past my work to God’s work

2. Pursue Godliness with Contentment

Ways this comes out: Seeking a platform in order to monetize for personal gain

Not having to balance a community around the truths being taught

Compare

Twisting love from a good conscience etc. to be about personal gain

What is being produced in the community? Problem: not seeing things that are wrong, not wanting to push for change, but creating loyalty to themselves vs Jesus - encouraging people to sacrifice for the good of the Gospel vs. always trying to create win-wins

Love from a good conscience

God as transcendent (immortal, holy light, invisible)

Savior who trusted God before Pilate

Planned return

Accountable to Him

3. Guard the Gospel

Membership

Questions:

Why would it be hard for you to follow Paul’s instruction to slaves if you were one of those slaves? (sense what hang ups they have with doing something difficult for Christ)

What does he say that should encourage you? (sense if they can connect the word of God to their attitudes)

When have you seen people be divisive and create suspicions of others? (what baggage do they have? )

What has that caused? (how has their experience molded them in regards to consequences of actions)

Why does desiring to be rich create a snare? (can they grasp why when it’s not directly textual?)

How can we avoid falling into that snare? (how practical can you be as a group?)

What does Paul instruct Timothy to do to pursue godliness with contentment? () What do those words mean?

How important is realizing you are accountable to God? (v 13-14)(Can they understand how actions and accountability go together?)

How can we fight the good fight of faith together? (Get practical about encouraging one another)