BGM Minutes

Training in Godliness – Avoid the Unprofitable

Posted on by chgruver

This week we have been looking at discipleship and last time we saw how as a disciple we end up becoming both a student and a teacher. We are to be both learning from those more experienced, while teaching what we have learned to those less experienced in the faith. This time we will look at 1 Timothy 4:7, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” You see last time we saw how as disciples we are both teachers and students. One thing about that is in the role of a teacher we are also learning at the same time. We see where we have been making mistakes and learning to correct them as we teach. It is in our self examination while teaching that we learn of these “irreverent, silly myths” which we are to avoid.

Silly Myths

Paul commanded Timothy to avoid silly myths, or in other translations godless myths, worldly fables, or old wives’ tales. Paul is telling Timothy first to stay away from teachings that were not in line with the Word of God; instead they contradict it. Paul also calls them as mentioned old wives’ tales, or as being fit only for old women. In a time when women were not given the opportunity for education, Paul was essentially stating that such teachings would gain following by the most uneducated and unsophisticated individuals.

With disciples being a teacher to others, we need to be cautious of teachings that go against God’s word; by Paul telling Timothy to have nothing to do with them, it is not for Timothy to outright ignore them but to not be influenced by them. While as disciples we are to not have anything to do with false teachings; we do need to be aware that they are out there, as well as what they are. It is when we as disciples stick our head in the sand regarding false teachings that the enemy gains a foot hold in those we are discipling as well as often times ourselves.

Train for Godliness

The next thing Paul tells Timothy is to grain himself for godliness. This is a concept we will look further into next time. For now Paul is telling Timothy rather than putting your focus on the false teachings, focus on God’s Word and God Himself. You see as we turn our eyes towards God, our attitude and desires change to where the false teachings do not appeal to us. The only issue is because of our sin nature we do not want to instinctively look towards God, which is why Paul uses the word train. We have to make an intentional effort to focus ourselves on God, and much like with any athletic training it will get easier as we progress but we still have to work at it.

Training in Godliness – Student is a Teacher and Teacher is a Student

Posted on by chgruver

We are getting close to our next Men’s conference where we will be focusing on getting “Back to the Basics,” as such we are also getting close to wrapping up our series here on getting back to the basics. We have talked about faith, Bible study, worship, and fellowship. This week we will start to look at the concept of discipleship. The one thing that comes to mind when looking at discipleship is the concept of training and discipline. The passage we will look at this week is 1 Timothy 4:6-8, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Disciples Disciple Others

The first thing Paul tells Timothy here is, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” To give a little context here in verses 1-5 Paul had spent time warning Timothy about how some will walk away from their faith; whether they willingly walk away or are led astray by false teachings. Paul is telling Timothy here that as a mature disciple he needs to make sure he is teaching and showing those under him what is right. You see as we become mature disciples, we need to be willing to lead and teach those disciples that aren’t as mature in their faith. Paul gave Timothy a warning and as a good servant of Christ, as a true disciple, Timothy will pass this warning to those that he is discipling, in order to help keep them from straying away from their faith.

Disciples are Discipled by Others

The next thing is how do we tell from what could possibly lead us astray and what leads us toward God? Paul mentions to Timothy that it is from, “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” While Timothy is leading and discipling others, he is still being discipled by Paul. Paul tells Timothy to use his upbringing in the faith, use what he had been taught by his mother and grandmother as well as Paul. You see in the discipleship process not only do we eventually need to be discipling others, but we need to be discipled by mature believers that hold fast to correct doctrine. Look at it this way, if you were to play baseball you would want a coach and trainer that knew the fundamentals of baseball to help you. You wouldn’t go to a football coach to learn how to play baseball. In discipleship the situation is much the same, you need to choose wisely those that you would learn from. For in order us to fulfill the Great Commission and make disciples, we need to be properly discipled with correct doctrine. Discipleship is a lifelong process where we are constantly learning from those that are further along in their faith while teaching those that are newer than us in their faith.

Fellowship in the King – Encourage

Posted on by chgruver

So this week we have been talking about fellowship, how it involves motivating each other to live out their faith as well as a gathering together of believers. Today we will look at the last little section of Hebrews 10:24-25, where we are told we need to be “encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” One thing I have noticed is that in the Bible there are a lot of either progressions, or texts where the last thing mentioned is an outcome of the previous, this is one of those cases.

Walk Alongside

The biggest question is what does it mean to encourage one another? Some ways that encourage is defined is to give support, confidence, hope, advice, to help or stimulate or develop. To encourage one another we essentially are coming along and walking alongside each other and we move closer to Christ. Think of it like this, remember back when you were in school, or maybe you are still in school, how at times working on your homework and studying often was easier when you were working with someone instead of being by yourself? The reason is because the other person will encourage you, they will help you to push forward; just like you will do for them. I will point out that while in the long term encouragement is positive there is a level of accountability that comes with it. Much like your study partner will hold you accountable to be paying attention in class, take notes, and review on your own; in fellowship with other believers we are to hold each other accountable by pointing out, in love, when each other slips up as well as checking on how we are handling difficult times of great temptation. You see it is through accountability that we find where we each struggle and need to be encouraged the most; if I am going through a time of great temptation that is when I need a brother in Christ to come alongside and encourage me to hold strong to my faith and to keep my eyes turned to God.

The Approaching Day

The author of Hebrews finishes off these two verses by stating that the need for fellowship is going to be greater as we approach the return of Christ. When you look at what the Gospels and other passages in the Bible mention about Christ’s return you can see why. As we “see the Day drawing near” we will see morals and godly values going out the door; sin will be the norm. Sound familiar? You see with our society and culture looking less and less towards God and focused more on what pleases them, sin is becoming more and more acceptable. As Christians we are to be set apart, as we saw last week not to conform to the ways of the world, in order to do so we need that fellowship with other believers because it is through fellowship that we are able to keep from becoming more like the world and less like Christ.

Fellowship in the King – Gather

Posted on by chgruver

Last time we started to look at the concept of fellowship and Hebrews 10:24-25. We saw that in this passage fellowship has an aspect of pushing each other to be closer to God, if we continue to look at the passage, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

No Lone Ranger Christians

So we see the next thing the author of Hebrews mentions is that we are not to neglect meeting together. What this means is that our life as a believer should not be in isolation, we need to be around each other. You cannot do it alone, the church is often called the body of Christ, what happens when a part of the body is no longer a part of the body? Say something as small as a hair is removed, that strand of hair will die; the believer that tries to live in isolation from other believers suffers the same fate, they will spiritually dry up. As I brought up last time in Proverbs 27:17 we are told “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another,” We need others and to gather together for them to be able to push us into strengthening our faith. The problem isn’t just having others to help us grow in our faith, but look at when you hit hard times. If you are living your life in isolation you have no one that can come and give you an encouraging word, or to just provide comfort by being there to listen to you vent; in isolation you have no support.

Digital Gatherings

The author of Hebrews plainly told his original audience that neglecting meeting together has become the habit of some. It was an issue back in the first century and it is even more so today. You may state but we are more connected today, we have the internet which allows us to be connected with others all around the world. These virtual relationships, while at times can be beneficial, can also produce a false sense of fellowship. Yes with our virtual worlds we can connect with those we may never have the chance to meet in person, or we can keep connected with those that have moved away. With physical relationships and physical fellowship when you encounter a crisis, you have those that can be there for you and help out if it is needed. All you get with the virtual are words of encouragement, even if they may want to help they are limited. These limitations are one main reason why it is important to get plugged into a local body of believers, as they are able to help out in ways that those in a virtual community are not able to.

Next time we will finish off this passage by looking at how we are to finally encourage each other, as this comes out of both motivating each other and gathering together.

Fellowship in the King – I Dare You

Posted on by chgruver

Last week in our going back to the basics we took a look at worship, and how it is our way of expressing our love and gratitude towards God. This week we will be looking at a similar concept which is that of fellowship; the definition of which is, “friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests.” In regards to how we as Christians view fellowship a great passage to look at is that of Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Stir Each Other Up

The first thing we notice is that the author of Hebrews calls the believers to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” This phrase “stir up” had me curious what some of the other translations used, and I saw phrases such as encourage, stimulate, spur on, and the good old King James calls us to provoke each other. I will say the translations that use spur on, and provoke as well as others that use stir up bring a stronger sense than just to encourage. What the author is wanting us, and was wanting the believers to whom he was originally writing, to do was more of a challenge.

When I think of encouragement I think of someone suggesting a change or an action, more of being a cheerleader. Where stirring up or provoking something is to aggravate it, much like poking a sleeping bear. It is like when many of us were younger and would among our friends dare each other to do stupid stunts. The author of Hebrews is saying think of ways to dare each other, to challenge each other. As men this should speak to us we should find a way to be competitive with each other.

Love and Good Works

So what is it we are to dare each other with, various ways of showing love and good works. We should be thinking of ways to challenge each other to show Christ’s love to our fellow man. We should find ways to dare each other to put our faith into action. One of my favorite passages is in James where he is talking about faith without works is dead. He is not saying we are saved by any sort of works, but that good works should flow out of our faith.

Iron Sharpens Iron

But how does this competitive attitude towards love and good works promote fellowship? Well it is the concept found in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” You see when in Christian fellowship we are challenging each other to a sort of do better than this in love and good works, we should be pushing each other to focus more on Christ. We are not telling each other see what I did, I bet you can’t out do it. Instead we are saying see this action, I bet you can do better than this. We are not trying to bring our actions or ourselves glory but we are trying to build and strengthen each other to bring glory to God.

Fellowship does not stop here though, next time we will look at the next part of Hebrews 10:24-25, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.”

A Heart of Worship – Renewal of the Mind

Posted on by chgruver

So last time we started to look at how presenting ourselves to God as a living sacrifice is an act of worship; today we will continue on looking at what it looks like to be this living sacrifice. The passage we have been looking at has been Romans 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” In verse one Paul mentions that we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice; in verse two he gives us a glimpse of what this looks like.

Do Not Be Conformed

The first thing Paul mentions in Romans 12:2 is that we are not to conform to the ways of this world; this is the biggest part of being a living sacrifice. You see as men we are told by the world we have to live and act a certain way. The world tells us we need to do what we need to do to get ahead. Do you need to lie to get a promotion, the world tells us that it is okay. The world often tells us to do things that are contrary to what is right. This is because the biggest thing that the world tells us is that we are number one. We are told that we should view ourselves as the most important thing around, the world is all about pride.

To do as Paul states and not conform to the world we need to step away from pride, and take on humility. We need to understand that there is someone out there greater than we are and we need to place our focus on Him; for while the world tells us that we are to look at anything other that God as being the most important thing in our lives, God states that He is to be our all in all. The world tells us to look to ourselves and find strength in ourselves; God says to look to Him and find rest as He will be our strength. We live in a society where what God calls us to do is often looked at as weakness; our society and culture states that pride is good, to be humble is weak, and to be weak is bad. This is why not conforming to the world is a sacrifice, because we are willingly making ourselves look weak in the eyes of the world.

Be Transformed

It doesn’t just stop with turning away from the ways of the world; because as we stop doing what the world tells us and start looking toward God we find that we eventually change. In Psalm 37:4 we are told, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we go after God rather than the world God changes our heart, He makes it so that we start to desire more the things He wants. This is the renewal of the mind Paul tells us about. You see we cannot renew our mind to focus on the things of God when we are following the world and being focused on ourselves; this includes even noticing the constant blessings that God bestows on us.

Discern God’s Will

It doesn’t end with us having a renewed mind, renewed desires; as our mind and desires become more in line with God’s we are better able to discern God’s will. This is because as we look more to God and our desires are changed they become more along the lines of God’s will; we start asking how certain decisions will bring glory to God rather than the world’s question of how those decisions would bring glory to ourselves. You see through not conforming to the world and transforming our minds we are offering ourselves to God in an act of submission stating “rather than looking to glorify myself, how can I bring glory to Your name Lord?” This is what it means to be a living sacrifice and this is in one basic sense how we are to worship God.

A Heart of Worship – Living Sacrifice

Posted on by chgruver

So this week we are looking at worship and last time we looked at what worship is and why as Christians we worship God. Today I want to look at Romans 12:1-2 and what it says about our worship. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Living Sacrifices

We see in Romans 12:1 that Paul is telling the believers in Rome that they need to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. The big thing about this statement is that it is an act of humility and submission. I know as men those are two words we do not want to be associated with us, but that is what it means to be a living sacrifice. This is because in most cases a sacrifice was killed before being placed on the altar, but as a living sacrifice we are able to get up and walk off; this is where the humility and submission comes in. We are submissive because as a living sacrifice we are willingly placing our lives into God’s hand, allowing Him to do what he wants with us, to use us how He wills. We show humility because the act of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice shows we understand it is not about us, that there is someone greater than we are.

Spiritual Worship

Paul then tells us and the Roman believers that the act of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice is an act of spiritual worship. This is because of that attitude of submission and humility required to first present ourselves as a true living sacrifice. You see as a believer when we submit ourselves to God as a living sacrifice our hearts are crying out to God because of His love for us. We are saying to God that out of our love for what He has done for us, we realize that He is sovereign and greater than we are. That because of who God is we willingly submit to Him, we will never be perfect but we are holy and acceptable to God because out of our hearts we are turned towards Him. So what does it look like to be a living sacrifice? We will look at that next time as we look at Romans 12:2.

A Heart of Worship – Why We Worship

Posted on by chgruver

Over the last couple of weeks we have been looking at going “back to the basics” in regards to our faith. We have looked at first the most essential basic, that of whether we are a Christian, to then why it is important to study the Bible. This week I want to look at a basic that is often misunderstood; the concept of worship. Today I want to look at what worship is and why as Christians we worship.

So What Is Worship?

When I was in seminary in one class I remember learning that the origins of our word worship comes from an old term worthship or one showing the worthiness of something or some one. So you see in terms of worship we are to be expressing to God how we view him as being worthy. I often think of the scene in the movie “Wayne’s World” where Wayne and Garth meet Aerosmith and fall down saying “We’re not worthy!”

To some people the concept of worship is often closely tied to that of praise music; which wile there is nothing wrong with singing praises, many of the Psalms call for us to sing praises as a part of our worship, that is not all worship is. I often think of the story behind the song “Heart of Worship,” where it was written after the pastor at a church decided the church would take a month of worshiping God without using music. This is because we often look at worship as being the praise music but often do not even take the time to contemplate the meaning of the words or sing the songs without really meaning what we are singing.

You see it is when we take the time to meditate on the words, take them to heart, and sing the songs from our heart when they become a part of our worship; worship is an action that comes out of our hearts and not just a routine. We see this throughout the Bible, Isaiah 1:10-17, Micah 6:8, James 1:26-27, and Jesus through the Gospels point out that this is the problem with the Pharisees; they think keeping a set of rules, following traditions, is more important than a heart yearning for God.

So Why Do We Worship?

So if our worship is from our heart and not just a set of repetitive actions to be checked off a list, why do we worship. The simple answer is because in our hearts we know God deserves our worship; but it is deeper than that. There are many verses in the Bible that tell us why we are to worship God. In Hebrews 12:28 it is because He has given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Psalms proclaim it is for the glory due to Him. Psalm 100 tells us that He is good and His love endures forever. In 1 Peter 2:10 we see that it is because we have received mercy. Essentially we are to worship God because of who He is, and what He has done for us; for the mercy and grace He has shown to us through his work on the cross and the free gift of salvation.

 

Why Study The Bible – Equips Us For Service

Posted on by chgruver

Well today we will wrap up looking at 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and the importance of studying the Bible. So far we have seen that the Bible helps to make us wise regarding salvation, showing us God’s plan for salvation and how we are saved; and we have seen that the Bible was inspired by God and is profitable for living out our Christian faith. Which leads us into today’s topic. In verse 16-17 we see Paul tell Timothy regarding the Bible, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped mfor every good work.” Where we will look at today is that it helps us to be complete and equipped for every good work.

Complete

In verse 17, Paul starts out by telling Timothy that by being in the Scriptures “the man of God may be complete,” other translations may have perfect. The first thing to notice is that it is “the man of God” that is made complete. What Paul is getting at is that what he is saying pertains to believers. A person can read the Bible all they want, but unless the Holy Spirit is working in them they will never gain the full benefit of what the Scriptures contain. They may see it as suggestions to good moral living with a collection of stories; but never understand that it is the divine truth, God’s holy word.

So what does a believer gain from the word? It makes them complete or in some translations perfect. What the word Paul used here is getting at is not being sinless or that sort of perfection but rather it is the concept of being in fit shape or in fit condition. To be made complete through study of the Word is to put us in a place where we are the most effective when God uses us. Think of it like a car, you can do the bare minimum to keep a car running; but put it in the hands of a good mechanic to fine tune it and suddenly the car does not just run but it runs at its peak performance. The Christian is much the same way when the Holy Spirit works in them through the study of Scripture.

Equipped for Service

We then go on to notice that Paul states that not only are we made fit for service but the Bible will also equip us for service as well. What Paul is getting at is that through studying the Bible we are given the tools needed to do God’s work. Now the works that Paul is speaking of here are those that come out of our faith, they are an expression of our faith. Studying the Bible is what gives us the power to live out our faith. Often we state we feel we do not have what we need in order to do what God has called us to do, but Paul is stating here that we have all that we need and then more, all we need to do is to spend time in God’s word.

Why Study The Bible – God Breathed And Profitable

Posted on by chgruver

So this week we are looking at the Bible and why it is important to study it; last time we looked at how a knowledge of Scripture helps you to come to a knowledge of salvation. Today we are going to look at the next aspect of why studying the Bible is important. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we see, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Paul tells Timothy two things here that make studying the Bible important; it is inspired by God and it is profitable.

God Breathed

The first thing that Paul mentions in this verse is the importance of the source of Scripture. I know when writing research papers there are different types of sources, where the professors want you to use as many quality sources as possible, sources that are accurate and reliable as opposed to the random rants of someone on the internet. What he points our is that Scripture was inspired by God, or as we see in some translations that it was God breathed. What this means is that what we see in the Bible was in a way dictated to the authors by God; but in a way that was more in terms of thoughts and concepts, as God’s truth flowed through the minds, souls, hearts, emotions, and personalities of the various authors. This is seen by each writer having their own style and presentation; Paul uses a different vocabulary than James, and Luke writes to the Greek mind while Matthew speaks more to the Jews. It all however, is God’s truth breathed into the writers.

Profitable

The next thing we see is that not only is the source of Scripture important, but the uses of Scripture is important. Paul gives a list of ways that the Bible is to be used by stating that in each of these areas Scripture is profitable, it brings about the best results. The four areas in which Paul lists Scripture as being profitable all work together in helping the believer grow. First is that of teaching or in fancy terms doctrine, it is learning what is right. That is followed up by reproof, or telling us what is not right. So with these first two aspects Scripture tells us what we should be doing and what we should not be doing; what our goals should be and what we should try to avoid. Then there comes correction, this is where Scripture helps to tell us how to get right; especially when we fail, as we all will do at one point or another. Finally Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness, or how we are to stay right. These last two go together because as we are shown how we have failed and how to get right with God, we then are shown how to remain that way. This is not a one time deal, it is a life long process that we must all endure; and that is what Paul is getting at with how Scripture is profitable to us. It brings us to salvation, to faith in Christ, but then leads us through maturing in our faith.