1 Timothy 5:1-16

Bringing the sermon home:

People often refer to the Bible as God’s instruction manual for life. While it’s actually much, much more than that, it’s understandable why it would be referred to as our instruction manual. It would be foolish to attempt to navigate the winding, treacherous terrain of this world apart from the Maker’s instructions. However, for those who are diligent to hear and to heed all that God has spoken, we quickly realize that far more has been left unsaid than said, for relatively few of life’s decisions are specified with any detail.

As such, when details are given about something, we recognize how important that topic is to God. 1 Tim 5 addresses matters pertaining to both our natural families as well as our spiritual family (i.e., the church), showing that these things really matter to God. They matter because family matters. May what matters to God increasingly matter to the spiritual family that calls Him “Father”. 



Sermon outline:

1. Treat believers as members of the spiritual family of God. (vv.1-2)
2. God cares for His children in need (in part) through this spiritual family. (vv.3-10)
3. Neglecting our natural family obligations hinders our witness. (vv.4,7-8,16)
4. When helping hurts: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”. (vv.6,11-15)