There are a number of different church leadership structures that exist today. For instance, you have top-down authoritative models similar to how a business is run where you have a CEO doing the wishes of the board and stockholders. Churches with this structure keep a distinction between the “clergy” (who basically run the church) and “laity” (those who are told what to do in the church). If you know anything about Jesus’ teaching about the first being last, and the greatest becoming the servant of all, you’ll catch pretty quickly how UN-biblical this particular model is.

When we study scripture to learn about church leadership, you’ll see there is a consistent model Jesus established for us. And since the church has been called the Body of Christ, and the Bride of Christ, and since we belong to Christ, it’s probably a good idea to begin with HIS example…

When we went through the series this Summer on Exodus, I mentioned towards the beginning how the Exodus story is really OUR story. The Bible isn't filled with perfect examples of perfect people - at all. I told you that it was messy. Because life is messy at times --- at MANY times, in fact.

One of the places that those messes can happen is when one sinner comes into contact with another sinner. And the sparks fly! Relationships can be tricky - especially when those in the relationship haven't yet submitted their lives to the Lord. Then you have a situation where there are two people (like in a marriage) who both are REALLY looking out for themselves; they probably even chose their partner based on how that partner made THEM feel. And it's no wonder that things can get messy.

A lot of Paul's writing focuses on how to get along in the Body of Christ. Because apparently when people come to faith in Jesus, turns out, they are STILL people. And people, being as we have noted, can be messy. We need to know how to do this thing called church.

"I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." - 1 Tim. 3:14b-15

Last week we saw that one of the main reasons Paul writes this letter to Timothy is that there are false teachers who have crept in among the various home churches - often claiming to come in the name of the Lord - and have introduced things that are NOT scriptural.

It's clear that this wasn't an isolated event in Ephesus. Read the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Revelation and you'll see MANY churches having to guard against, or having fallen to, the error of false teaching, heresies, that do not provide the solid foundation of the truth of the Gospel.

What I want to propose today is that heresy and false teaching aren't always wrapped up in an obvious package. In fact, the best way to deceive people with false teaching is to start with something that is true, and then begin to veer away from that truth little by little, until finally the teaching isn't just unorthodox - it's downright opposing what God has revealed to us in Scripture.

You could argue that the most dangerous false teachings isn't in blatant lies that anyone could catch, but in the misuse of Scripture. And I would bet that these false teachings we deal with today were begun by well-meaning folks who just didn't understand how to deal with Scripture the correct way.

This morning I am approaching the idea of fighting against false teaching in a unique way. Today I want to give you five ways to misuse the Word of God. If you can keep these five things in mind, then perhaps you can guard your mind and your heart from following a false gospel that doesn't have the power of God to save and to purify us from all unrighteousness.

Welcome to a new sermon series that will take us up through the Advent season in December. It's 1 Timothy - a book that is both challenging and empowering. It's a great blueprint on how God's House has been built and how it's to be maintained. We will look at LIFE and LEADERSHIP in the Church, and I know it will help sharpen our focus on what God wants of Powell Butte Christian Church.

If we’re honest, most of us probably don’t think of ourselves as missionaries. We tend to think that term is reserved for those like the ones we’ve been hearing from in our GO Moments this month - usually people involved in reaching past their own culture, be it overseas or intergenerational or just cross-culturally in our country. But reality is: Scripture calls those who are under the New Covenant "Ambassadors;" people who GO and as they are going share the good news of Jesus.

But that's a new way of thinking for much of Western Christianity. Unfortunately we are surrounded by a "me-centered" culture that often - as I have observed - slips into that same mentality. So when we hear GO Moment presentations, it's very easy to get into the mindset of Missions is THERE - not necessarily here; and Missions is THEM - not necessarily me.

In other words, like it or not, we have a Missional God. He was the first to send people out as His ambassadors, His representatives in this world. He did it with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He did it with Abraham, the Father of Faith. He did it on the Day of Pentecost as the HS empowered the disciples to share the Gospel with people from all over the world. And as we read in Revelation, He will one day have representatives around the throne, worshipers from every tribe, people, tongue, and nation.

And Missions isn't just a NT thing. And today I want to focus mainly on a Psalm that shows us the mission of God that is timeless and part of the intent behind God's creation of the world, and more specifically of mankind.

One of the saddest realities about our world today, I believe, is the loss of integrity. We live in a society where someone’s word is no longer their bond. Years ago - and actually as is the case today in this area of the State, I have found - a handshake and one's word was enough. And that was the case throughout the country a long time ago for a long time. But today? Not so much. Promises are often given to just get things, and if it benefits someone, they'll break promises with no problem.

That’s why we live in such a contract-driven society. We sign contracts for everything—cell phones, cars, mortgages, jobs. We need pages of paperwork because people don’t always keep their word. I’ve got a contract right now with my phone company, and that contract says I’ll keep this phone for two years. If I break it, there’s a penalty. That’s how contracts work: if one side doesn’t live up to their obligations, the contract is broken.

But when we come to Exodus 24, we’re not dealing with a contract. We’re dealing with something much deeper, richer, and more binding: a covenant. A covenant is not just an agreement between two parties. A covenant is a sacred relationship established by God Himself. And unlike contracts, a covenant doesn’t end the moment one side fails. God is always faithful to His promises, even when we are not.