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FAMILY NEWSTHANKS to Bill and Patty Gibson for hauling their own equipment and mowing the grass. We need to get some new equipment to manage the property. Do you have some suggestions? THANKS to Tracey Brewer, Patty Gibson, and Lana Fox for putting together a 50th Anniversary surprise for Howard and Rose Marlin Wednesday night. The Niles congregation joined us for a wonderful evening. THANKS to everyone who participated in the highway clean up. Our youth rally with Willie Franklin is scheduled for October 19. More on this later. HELP is needed for Samantha Wheeler to go to the Dominican Republic as a mission outreach to assist in eye surgery by the doctors in the office where she works. To donate give a check written to the Dowagiac Church of Christ and give it to Bill Gibson and write on it “Dominican Republic” and you will have tax credit and the money will go to Sam's expense fund. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION
A. See THE BACK PAGE below for a discussion of words in Greek.
I. GENTLENESS COMES WITH WISDOM AND TIME.
B. Read Galatians 5:17-19. 1. Gentleness is the opposite of verse 17 descriptions
C. Does not mean weak, passive, unconvicted. How do you become gentle in the biblical sense? 2. This war is described in Romans 7:14-21. A. We are raised to be anything but gentle — TV, video games, athletics, movies.
II. WE ARE TO BE TEACHERS, NOT ENFORCERS.
B. As you get older you either get gentle or rough — Learn to cope — not having everything your way. C. Elder qualifications revolve around being gentle — 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9. D. James 3:13-18, especially verse 17. 1. How much does envy drive your life? When you get what you want — now what?
E. Making peace is not equal to compromising.
2. Do you have the strength to “yield?” 3. How much of your energy goes to “good fruit?” 1. 1 Thessalonians 2:7
2. Titus 2:15 3. Titus 3:1-15 4. Some things not to get involved in. A. Methods are clear — 2 Timothy 2:22-26.
III. GENTLENESS IS A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT — Galatians 5.
1. Grow up — do not be childish (verse 22).
2. Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes (verse 23). 3. Be kind, able to teach, no quarreling (verse 24). 4. Gently instruct (verses 24-25). 5. Follow Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1). A. It is a gift from God — to be accepted or rejected.
B. It should not be strangled, but grown — 1 Thessalonians 5:19. C. We are to be like Jesus. 1. How do you see Jesus?
2. Romans 6:4 THE BACK PAGEWORDS AND UNDERSTANDINGFor the past two months our sermons have centered around understanding what God would have us develop as his children. From the “Sermon on the Mount” to Paul's pastoral letters, which we have been studying on Wednesday night, there are words that have meanings in English that are not always exactly what the original words would have meant to the disciples in the first century. One example is the word “gentleness” which we have looked at in today's sermon. There are actually three different words used:
Notice that these different meanings do not create any conflict, but what they do provide is an expanded view of what characteristics a Christian should develop. The term “mercy” also has multiple words with each one carrying a slightly different characteristic than the others. The Greek word for mercy used in the gospels is “eleos,” meaning to be one of loving kindness. The word “oiktirmosv” means to be moved by pity to have compassion (see Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Philippians 2:1; Colossians 3:12; Hebrews 10:28). Once again the two words carry slightly different aspects of human experience. The term “meek” which we discussed August 25 also has more than one word to describe what God would have us know. The Hebrew word “anav” means to be humble while the Greek word “praos” means to be mild, easy (see Matthew 5:5; 11:29; 21:5; and 1 Peter 3:4). The term “long suffering” has multiple words in the Old and New Testaments: “erek aph” in Hebrew means long of face or anger. In Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:15 and Jeremiah 15:15; we see it used that way usually associated with God's mercy. In the New Testament the Greek word is “makrothumia.” The use is a time reference (see 2 Peter 3:9) and talks about God's desire (see Philippians 4:1 where “epipothetos” is used). The word “self” has multiple words to describe what it is in reference to. In Titus 1:7 and 2 Peter 2:10 the word “authades” is used and refers to pleasing. In other passages like 2 Corinthians 5:5, the word used is “ekeinos.” This word refers to what the healing was directed to. You do not have to know Greek or Hebrew to get the basic message of the Bible in cases like these, but just a little time with a concordance and/or Bible dictionary can help us all to get more meaning out of what we read, and a better handle on what God would have us know as we read his Word. — John Clayton Our sign by the street! Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website. www.dowagiaccoc.org |
