Personal introduction
As this is our first visit to CCB, I thought a brief introduction wouldn’t be amiss?
This wonderful lady and I have been married to each other for almost 54 years. We have three married children and nine grandchildren. The eldest grand-daughter is now in her first term at Uni. Both of us grew up in Christian families and met up in the Christian Union while at university. We got married in our final year of study and began the great adventure of serving God together.
For pretty much all of our married life we have been involved in one form or another of leadership in the local church. We took early retirement from secular employment in the year 1999. Since then have also had the privilege of serving other churches – most recently working with Steve helping to advance disciple making in ChristCentral Churches.
We brought up our family during the 28 years we lived in Stevenage – a new town 40 miles north of London. Then we were called by God to Staffordshire in 1999 and then in 2020 to Halifax, West Yorkshire during Covid. Our testimony would be that following Jesus is never boring!
Introduction to talk
Imagine for a moment that you were asked what should be included in a new “Handbook for Church Leaders”? Just to make it more challenging, you need to assume that the New Testament is not yet available.
What do you think would be the key topics that a new church leader needs to be instructed about? Could it include…
The list could go on and on. Depending on our past experiences, we would all have different opinions on what to include and even the order in which they should appear.
The good news is that somebody appointed by God has already done the job for us. Paul wrote three letters often described as ”the pastoral epistles”. These were sent to Timothy and Titus who were taking on new leadership responsibilities on behalf of Paul in local churches.
So today we can look at 1 Timothy and see what Paul thought was vital for a church leader to know and to be teaching others.
Bible reading
1 Timothy 2:1-4
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Prayer
Our main theme
Chapter 1 contains Paul’s introductory remarks. He uses them to address the specific challenge that Timothy needs to deal with in the Ephesian church.
As we start chapter 2, Paul is getting down to the practicalities which take up the remainder of his letter.
Commentators have sometimes described this part of the letter as a “Church Handbook” – a sort of manual to guide Timothy in his role leading the Ephesian church family.
When I asked you to think what your top topics for a leader’s handbook might be, did you come up with the same answer as Paul?
For him it seems very clear – the number one priority is prayer. The Message paraphrase puts it this way, “The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.”
I am sure that if I asked you whether prayer was important, you would all agree, but – would you have given it first place in your version of the church handbook?
Praying for government
Paul then goes on to single out some specific groups of people for whom they should prioritise their prayer.
The Message paraphrases verse 2 as “Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation.”
The reminder to pray for “kings and those in high position” seems especially timely following the recent election. Perhaps you were hoping for a new government full of integrity and have felt a bit let down by events? Whatever political party you support, the instruction to pray for good government is always relevant.
At least one of the purposes of us praying for national leaders (both here and in other nations) is that the people of God may be able to freely work out their salvation.
The question I have been asking myself recently is which do I spend most time doing – criticising the government or praying for it? Irrespective of our own political preferences, we need to consider whether our confidence is in them or in God?
While most of us have probably got in the back of our minds that we ought to pray for leaders and those in authority, this might well be an area where we could learn to be more in line with the emphasis that Paul gives here?
How we think about those in government is one of those areas where followers of Jesus are to be strikingly different from the world. The media sets a bad example by attacking politicians and those in authority. They justify it by arguing that they are “holding them to account”. That would sound much more sincere and convincing if they also praised leaders when they do get it right.
It is so easy for us to be drawn into the same patterns of thinking and speaking when many of our family, friends and colleagues indulge in critical behaviour.
We CAN be different and I have put together some suggestions of how we could and should pray on these cards that you can pick up from me at the end of our meeting.
Did you know that before the start of parliamentary business each day, prayers are read by the Speaker’s Chaplain
“Lord, the God of righteousness and truth, grant to our King and his government, to Members of Parliament and all in positions of responsibility, the guidance of your Spirit. May they never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals but laying aside all private interests and prejudices keep in mind their responsibility to seek to improve the condition of all mankind; somay your kingdom come and your name be hallowed. Amen.”
What a great prayer that is… We could do worse than regularly pray this for our national and local leaders!
Paul then goes onto explain why we should pray for those in authority – so that we live peacefully and in a way that is honouring to God. Paul had experienced the opposite of this where poor government had resulted in his persecution and the spread of the gospel being impeded.
Having suffered in this way, Paul makes the connection between peaceful living and God’s desire for everyone to be saved seeing how that creates an environment for growth of the gospel.
Praying for the unsaved
So, if those in government are the first special group in “all people” that we are to pray for, then those still needing to be saved are the second.
There are three reasons why we might want to pray for our non-Christian family, friends or colleagues:
It is now a few months since Steve Hurd introduced the opportunity to “Pray for 5”. A simple idea that helps you to focus on prayer for people who you care about but are still far from Jesus. By writing their names down on a card and committing yourself to praying for them regularly, you are taking something that you feel strongly about and turning it into action.
If you missed out then, or lost your card, today is another opportunity for you to join in.
Can I let you into a secret? I have cheated! The first three slots on my card are filled with the names of couples rather than individuals. What is important here is not how many names you write down, but your regular prayer for them.
Do you find it easy to pray for others to become disciples of Jesus? Some of the names on my list have been there a very long time – way before we had the “Pray for 5” cards. Recently I have been looking for scriptural ways to pray. When we pray Bible verses over our family, friends or colleagues we have confidence that we are praying in line with God’s heart and it stirs more faith.
I have created some notes on how to “Pray for 5” with relevant Bible verses. There will be copies to collect at the end of the meeting.
Taking our prayer to the next level
In our home church we have recently been challenged to think and pray about what “moving to the next level” might involve in our relationship with Jesus. The underlying principle is that living things keep on growing – when they stop growing or renewing they die.
Making disciples for Jesus is probably the most significant invitation we have from him. So moving to the next level should certainly include what we are doing to reach family, friends, neighbours and colleagues with the good news about Jesus.
In the context of “Pray for 5” why don’t you ask the Holy Spirit “what comes next for me?” Here are some simple possibilities that came to me….
Jesus at the door
Finally, if you are listening this morning and know that you have not yet made Jesus Lord of your life, then probably much of what I have said may not have seemed very relevant to you. This bit is for you! You should at least have been reminded of how much God and your Christian friends care about you finding peace with Him through Jesus.
What I can tell you is that Jesus cares about you more than you knowand he died so that your rebellion against God could be brought to an end. He has done all he can to provide a means of reconciliation. It is as if Jesus is knocking on the door to your heart. The handle is on the inside, so the next move has to come from you.
Today could be the day when you make the bold step of opening upyour life to him. Do come and talk to me afterwards (or someone else if you prefer) if you want to know more and begin the adventure of a new life with Jesus in control.
[[PRAYER]]
After we close with our final song, remember to come and collect cards or notes that you need to move to the next level.