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FAMILY NEWSHIGHWAY CLEAN UP NEXT SATURDAY: We need as many people here at 10:00 Saturday morning as possible to clean up the two-mile highway section in front of our building. If you can walk, we need you on the road. If you cannot, we need people to shuttle supplies and people. See Richard Hoyt if you have a question, but please plan to be here! SPECIAL EVENT OCTOBER 16: We have been supporting Glynn Langston and his work with the blind for many years. Glynn will be here October 16, speaking at the Niles congregation in the morning and speaking here in the evening. If you are not in the habit of coming Sunday night for our class, please make a real effort to be here that Sunday evening to hear Glynn. We need to know how our financial support is being used, and Glynn is a wonderful person to be around. He speaks five languages, travels by himself all over the world, and having been blind since birth, he is a wonderful testimony to overcoming a physical affliction. Let us all make a real effort to be here that evening. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION — A major issue in the church today
A. Dawkins says God is mysogynistic (hates women).
I. 1 TIMOTHY 2:13 – 14 — NOTE THE ORDER OF SINNING:
B. Feminists say the Bible makes women second class. C. Churches struggle with women's role. D. At the time of Christ, women were dependent: Having a husband, conduct strictly defined
E. Jesus contradicted all of this in John 4:27.F. New Testament quotes are in this setting. Eve was tricked, Adam willingly sinned.
II. 1 TIMOTHY 2:1, 8 – 12, 15
A. What you wear carries a message.
III. WHAT ABOUT A WOMAN WHO IS NOT A WIFE?
B. All humans are equal in the Christian system. Galatians 3:26 – 29 — There is no competition.
C. Equality does not mean sameness.
1. Analogy — baseball team, are all equal?
2. In Christianity women and men have roles a. “Salvation in motherhood” is a role.
3. Ephesians 5 — Man's response to the women's role
b. Home manager role — Proverbs 31:10 – 31 Verse 28 — extension of man's love — verse 25
4. Husband's role — be a spiritual leader — 1 Timothy 3:1 – 5 A. Different roles — Luke 8:1 – 4
IV. GOD'S VIEW OF ROLES — HOME AND CHURCH
B. Acts 16:14 – 15, 40 — Lydia C. Acts 21:8 – 9 — “Unmarried daughters who prophecied” — Women can have other roles. D. Acts 2:17 – 18; Joel 2:28 – 32 E. 1 Timothy 2:12 — Anything that does not violate the role of the man. “Usurp” = authenteo — to exercise the power of one's self.” “To practice teaching and domineering her husband with commands” (Knox translation) A. Family is the ultimate high priority — Mr. Mom is not.
B. Titus 2:3 — 5 C. Does God's plan work? THE BACK PAGEISSUES AND OUR CONGREGATIONOne of the problems with not having a full-time preacher is that there is a lack of continuity in lessons. Most preachers have a series of lessons on a given topic or on a particular book of the Bible. When we get questions in the question box in the lobby, it is frequently from a visitor or from someone who does not attend our class sessions on Sunday and Wednesday night. Last Sunday we studied the Holy Spirit in our lesson, but we have been studying that subject on Wednesday night for some time now. We are continuing that study and are beginning a study of spiritual gifts as we enter the last phase of that general subject area. Today's lesson is one that is difficult to cover in one 30-minute session. We have had a few questions asked about the role of women in the church and that is why we are studying that this morning. Devoting class time to this here at Dowagiac does not seem necessary because we have not had an issue with it. That is not true of surrounding congregations, and the probability is that the questions are coming from visitors from those congregations. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you … .” That verse is not dealing with congregational issues, but the principle is still there. We need to know why we do what we do. As I travel throughout the United States and visit other congregations, I find there to be a number of “brotherhood issues.” My children living in Texas attend congregations that just seem to move from one issue to the next. In Romans 14 Paul devotes a lot of space to what he calls “doubtful disputations” in the KJV or “disputable matters” in the NIV. The issues then were special days and foods, but the same principle applies. In verse 10 he calls on the church not to judge one another on such issues and in verse 13 he warns us all not to put a stumbling block in each other's way. He concludes in verse 19 by saying “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” He further says that we need to give up our view if it will make a brother stumble. Let us continue to work at the unity Jesus prayed for. — John Clayton Our sign by the street!
Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com |
