Living Out Faith in Practice and Principle - 1 Timothy 5:3-16

I want to say welcome back to church because we are a week

after the great Sunday of the year.

Last week was our Easter celebration and I will never

tire of what that day represents.

What a joy it was to think about Christ conquering sin and death

and what a joy it also is to see, you know, that preview of

of heaven when there is just the, the packed House of people

that come and, and praise the name of the Lord.

And, and as always, the week after Sunday's, it's always how

do you ever how do you, how do you follow up the Easter Sunday?

And so it's always a challenge. I do think it is a very

important challenge to take on the I, I, I read a poll this

week that the national average of people who visited church on

an Easter Sunday last week, there will be about 15 to 20% of

those same people that come back this week.

And so some of you may have visited our church last week and

you heard the message of the gospel in such a profound and

real way that you have decided to come again.

So glad you are here, because the power of the gospel is more

than believing on a Sunday. And this is the great challenge

of following up Easter, not just Sunday to Sunday, but following

up the reality of the resurrection with your life.

It is not something to believe just as a historical event, and

it is not something to believe just as a confession.

It is something that if Christ rose again, which he did, it is

a reality that changes everything about who you are.

The gospel has the power to save and the gospel has the practical

way to live. And so we're going to look at

the second-half of that a great Sunday to come back to our

message in first Timothy, because Timothy is a, a, a

letter that is written to defend the power of the gospel with

grace and truth and sound doctrine.

And then it gets very practical. So you've picked a great week to

come to church as your second version of visiting a church.

If that's you. And for those of you who come

every week, let us live both the power of the gospel that we are

born again, our sins are forgiven, We have we have hope

in his name to face the headline news of death that we just

prayed through. And let us live every day in a

response that is practical. So today we will look at the

second part of First Timothy chapter 5.

1 Timothy 5 · chapter mention

We left off the beginning just giving this picture of the

family of God and how to treat one another.

Today we look at practical steps that a church takes to care for

people. And very fittingly, this

specifically is caring for people in the shadow of death,

caring for people that sometimes are considered the least or

easiest to forget. And today we are going to look

at the blueprint that Paul gives to Timothy to care for widows

inside of a church. And in doing this, we're not

only looking at widow care, we also, as throughout all of first

Timothy, we see all of these principles for what it means to

live the gospel practically. So that's where we are, if

you'll join me in reading First Timothy chapter 5, starting in

1 Timothy 5 · chapter mention

verse 3. I'm going to read the whole

section, and then I want to look at what this says about how we

are supposed to live practically in the gospel as we care for

people. So read along with me.

Honor widows who are really widows.

But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first

learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents, for that

is good and acceptable before God.

Now she who is really a widow left alone trust in God, and

continues, and supplication and prayers night and day.

But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.

And these things command that they may be blameless, but if

anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of

his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an

unbeliever. Do not let a widow under 60

years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has

been the wife of one man well reported for good works.

If she's brought up children, if she's lodged strangers, if she's

washed the Saints feet, if she's relieved the afflicted, if she

has diligently followed every good work.

But refuse the widows that are younger, for when they have

begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,

having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith.

And besides, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house

to house, and not only idle, but also gossips and busy bodies,

saying things which they ought not.

Therefore I desire that the younger, younger widows marry,

bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the

adversary to speak reproachfully, for some have

already turned aside to Satan. If any believing man or woman

has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church

be a burden that it may relieve those who are really widows.

The Bible in this section and as a survey from the Old Testament

all throughout the New Testament, has all sorts of

practical ways that believers, those who have confessed faith,

now live out the grace of God in their lives, extending grace and

care to other people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says the

church is only truly the church when it exists for others,

especially the weak, the vulnerable, the widow, and the

orphan. Last week we saw the power of

the gospel displayed through the resurrection.

This week we're reminded that in a response to that pure and

undefiled religion is to care for the orphan and the widow and

to visit them in their time of affliction.

And it's also not enough to just go out there and say, well,

we're part of a church now, so we're just going to throw out

widow care as the first priority of everything.

What I find so surprising in this is that there is a very

clear blueprint and a strategy for how care looks within the

community of people who are responding to the power of the

resurrection. As I read along, I hope that you

were noticing things that are filled with the text that that

show us things that sometimes seem like bad words in church

policy, almost programs. There looks like a membership

role in this church. So compassion does not mean

chaos and caring for people is actually within the confines of

how to do it in the way that we can care for the most people.

And so in this we start beautifully and poetically in

response to the gospel of the resurrection of Christ with the

most vulnerable and the most weak.

And, and I, I know that we have people that are living in the

shadow of death in our church that would be qualified as

widows, someone who's lost a husband or lost a wife and

they're looking at life after the death of someone they did

life with. That is a vulnerable and

sensitive place to be and especially true of the 1st

century church where there was no Social Security plan or

government safety net that was offered.

There was no backup plan to a woman who was living with the

partnership and the Co labouring of the husband's working income.

And so the church very early on was able to display the care and

the grace of God by caring for those who had no other option.

And today we're going to look at how that care works not only for

widows, but also for our church and your lives.

And so in verse 3, it says honor widows who are really widows.

So the principle there is honor them, care for them, show them

dignity and respect. Honor will also mean there's

times where you have to financially support them.

You have to see them as people that are worth supporting as a

church. And we're going to look at what

that looks like, but notice what it says if they're really

widows. Now, that isn't necessarily

saying that Paul is suspicious that some women are still

married and they're, you know, going to Timothy as some sort of

spy looking for free handouts. What he's saying is let's define

the people who need the care of the church, and let's see if

there's other ways that we can care for people to give the most

grace and the most compassion that we possibly can.

So he's going to give us some rubrics that I think are so

helpful for those of you who have big hearts of compassion to

make sure your compassion fits within the the design for how to

care for the most people possible.

So first we'll look at some of the rules that we already read

that Paul lays out for Timothy says, if any window widow verse

4 has children or grandchildren, let them, namely the children or

the grandchildren of the widow. Let them first learn to show

piety at home and to repay their parents for this is good and

acceptable before the Lord. So a question to ask in the care

and the compassion we want to extend to people.

Is there anyone in your immediate family that you're

still in relationship with that can come around you with a

sustained ability to help you? Do you have family?

And throughout what we just read, we're going to see there's

some there's some lines of defense that Paul wants to lay

out that are very wise. And the first line of defense is

the family unit. Beginning this chapter, we

looked at this as a vision that the church body is a family of

God that Timothy was supposed to pastor.

The older as mothers and fathers and the younger as brothers and

sisters. It's a family of God made-up of

family units, a trustworthy family of God.

Church is cultivating and encouraging trustworthy families

of mothers, fathers and sisters and brothers that are actually

your immediate family. So the first line of care is

family care. I was so blessed.

As I'm preparing this sermon, you know, the pastoring goes on

and there I, I get word that someone from our church had a

medical emergency and they're at the hospital.

And, you know, I, I, I desire, I would love if my role in our

church was to just be visiting people in the hospital.

It's a beautiful place to be, but I can't visit everyone and

in this particular instance I didn't have the capacity to go

to the hospital. So I I phoned it in, I called

it, I said OK, I'm going to call this person, see how they are

and set up a way for me to come visit them.

And I was so blessed. The daughter answered the phone,

and that blesses my pastoral heart because that daughter is

going to give sustained love and care in a way that a pastoral

visit can't. That's better than a pastoral

visit. Now I don't have superpower to

pray or to encourage the the real first line of defense for

caring for widows and then people within our church is

let's be amazing sisters and brothers and in this case,

children and grandchildren, so that as we age together, if the

Lord Terry's, we're all going to get old and some of us will have

loved ones that depart before us.

Let us be a family within families that care for one

another. That's what this is saying.

He says let them first show piety at home.

That's just a word for devotion to God.

So you guys are all showing devotion to God by singing and

praying this morning and and reading the word or listening to

it preached. And Paul says, you know what the

best way to show piety is at home.

So meaning if you have someone in your family that can't make

it to church, you know what they might need more than you saying,

hey, the pastor had a great sermon.

I, I brought it home for you or you, I'm going to send you the

link because you really need to listen to it.

They might need not a message. They might need someone who's

just going to help them practically.

Hey, can I take out your trash? That is devotion to God for that

person. Hey, can I mow your lawn?

Can I just sit with you Instead of a message.

Maybe they need a meal. And so we have to think in terms

of us as the body of Christ being the hands and feet of

Jesus. And there's there's there's no

elitism that the pastor does that better than anyone else

visiting a home more important sometimes than inviting someone

to church. So then it says that they show

piety and devotion to God by serving someone who is

classified as loss of a loved one.

And then he says and let them repay their parents.

Now, this is a great verse for all of you who are, you know, I

see some of you holding kids right now.

It is expensive to be a parent. It really is.

I, I actually, you know, I had to, I had to search because the

number is always growing to take your kids from, from diaper to

diploma. And that's only high school

diploma is going to be about $250,000 in this area.

That's the estimation as of right now.

So the 18 years that you're going to give them clothes and

food and shelter and, and all the things that, that go into

just raising a child is $250,000.

And that doesn't get you club sports and a college diploma.

Those are extra bonus items. So there's a lot that goes into

raising a child and I've got 4 kids at a $250,000.

My kids owe me $1,000,000. That's going to be I, I was like

reading this, I'm like, thank you Lord, this is great.

And it, it, it certainly doesn't.

Paul is not living in an economy of dollar for dollar.

What Paul is saying is, you know, your parents, my parents,

our parents, they cared from us for us when we couldn't care for

ourselves. They gave us food.

They made sure that we we slept, they made sure we had shelter

and protection. And God's design is that when

you come into the world, you have an instant caretaker.

And God's design is that it's a bell shaped curve because all of

us are going to a place where we lose our strength in the outer

man parishes. And when when you leave the

world, you're supposed to have an instant caretaker.

So you so into the lives of your children, knowing that God is

raising you a, a, a, a reward in that is that as you get closer

and closer to heaven, you're going to have an army of people

behind you that are ready to care for you.

That's God's beautiful design. And can I just say, church, the

world needs to see what this looks like.

The world needs to see parents who love their children and then

children who say, we're going to honor you until the day that you

die. And so Paul is going to continue

in the reasoning that he gives now, because where wherever

there is a rule, OK, it starts at the home, he also gives a

warning. So I want you to skip down.

And and as we still think about this first line of defense,

there is the the care that comes from the family.

And along those lines in verse 8, here's the warning.

We all heard the rule, Here's the warning.

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially

those for his own household, he has denied the faith and is

worse than an unbeliever. Again, we go back to where we

started. It's not enough to say Jesus is

risen from the grave. Now I'm going to go live my

selfish life and do what I want To put faith in the message

means you have a life that backs it up.

If you're not caring for people that God has given you the

sovereign oversight of, then you're denying the faith that

you have put in Christ. Who cares for you He actually

says that you're worse than a non believer.

Now this is Paul's way of saying listen, look around the world,

even people who don't know Jesus and are not standing under the

free gift of God's grace that should flow out of them to to

care for others as Jesus cares for you.

People know that they should take care of their own people

know God has designed it in the heart of men to take care of

your household. And that's why there's there's a

there's a certain lack of just personal pride if you're not

someone who can provide. And in the same way, he says non

believers, by God's design, they know that they should care for

those that are in their tribe. And if you're not doing that, if

you're making an excuse as to why you're not going to care or

how you know, devotion to church is more important than devotion

to family. He says, you know, now you're

not even living up to the standards that other people live

by that aren't even believers said provide for your own.

And you know, we just announced the men's ministry gathering.

This will be a great verse at some point for me to share with

the men. Men, you are called to work hard

to the glory of God and to the provision of your family.

And I think sometimes that's the context where you hear a verse

like this that you have to provide for your own.

But the context is not providing for your children, which does

come a little more naturally. The context is providing for

your own meaning your parents and your in laws as well doesn't

just go down for provision. It also goes to the needs of

people that are your immediate family that can't care for

themselves. And as I said, this will give

this get this passage gives us practical Christian living.

There's amazing Christian living through all of this.

Here's a principle that goes way beyond widow care.

For Christianity to to work, it has to work at home.

Your Christianity is not measured by your Easter Sunday

worship. That's the easy one.

Christianity, for it to work, it has to work on your

mother-in-law. For Christianity to work, it has

to to work on the parents who need your help.

So Christianity has to work at home.

And this is a principle that I know expands beyond just widow

care because we've seen it in all the qualifications we've

already looked at. How do we, how do we measure the

faithfulness of a, a potential elder, overseer, pastor?

Does he manage his own household well?

How do we measure the faithfulness of a Deacon?

Is he managing the people that he's got responsibility for in

his own household? And now how do we, how do we

manage the people that need help?

Well, if we're discipling in the right way, they should belong to

Christian homes that care for their own.

Your home is where your Christianity starts and where it

ends sometimes. So let us not be people who look

great on Sundays and come home and we have no representation of

what it means to follow Jesus faithfully.

And this is where Paul will continue a pattern we see

throughout description. He gave us a rule that it starts

in the family. He gave us a warning that if

you're not willing to accept that, then then you then you've

then you've lost the faith. And he also gives us a why.

And this will help us understand where Paul is going for the next

line of defense. So you skip down again to verse

16. In our church, where this is

just practically true, we have a food bank that people come every

week to our church and they come hungry.

And I can say the same principle.

If you've got food and money to buy groceries, leave the food

alone because some people actually need it.

We do. In a more immediate example for

what we're talking about, we do oil changes.

Every once in a while, we'll do oil changes for single moms or

what we would consider women who need a little extra support.

If you can change your own oil, change your own oil, that way we

can serve more people who can't and they need help.

And so the, the whole idea is not that the church shouldn't be

burdened. It should be the church should

be a powerful representation of God's grace and care to

everyone. But you're the church.

You should help. You should help the people in

your immediate way to help. And so the first line of defense

is who has God put in your household?

How are you washing their feet and caring for them?

Now we come to the second line. So we have family care.

And now as we've read, we're going to look at the church

care. There are times where the church

has to say, hey, there's no one that is willing to step up to

the plate or they they might not have anyone.

So now what do we do? And that's what we find now in

verse 5. Now she who is a, is really a

widow and left alone trusts in God and continues in

supplication and prayer night and day.

All through Timothy we have found qualifications for roles

and responsibilities. And you have to see all of this

in the light of the power of the gospel and the practicalities of

the gospel. We've seen qualifications for

elders and pastors and deacons, and now we even have

qualifications for widows. And here they are.

This verse almost sounds a little harsh.

These are the ones who are really widows if they're if

they're left alone. And so I, I, I like the way that

the new Living Translation puts it.

So I want to read it. And, and you can see just the

heart that Paul is getting after who can we really focus on on

behalf of the benevolence of the church?

The new living translation says now a true widow is a woman who

is truly all alone in the world. She has placed all of her hope

in God. She prays night and day asking

God for his help. So this isn't the exact policy

for every church, but it gives us some really quality

principles. First, left alone, meaning

there's nobody else. This is a woman where there is

no family that is there to take her in, that wants to take her

in. She has no one else in the

world, so she's truly alone. Nexus says she trusts in God or

New Living Translation. She's hoped in God.

She has put all of her life in the hands of God.

She is absolutely dependent. There is a dependency that she

has in her faith that God is her provider and will care.

And one of the ways that you see that, it says that she prays in

supplication night and day. And so there's some principle

here. One of the principles is people

that need help. All lines of defense start with

prayer and supplication. Our our help to people and our

help to one another is not supposed to replace people

depending on God. That's what Paul says.

Is she praying? Is she trusting God?

Is she asking God to be her provider?

And then once again, we find a principle that is for all of us.

When you ask God for help, when you cry upon the Lord to be your

help and your provider, most of the time he provides by sending

you people. Most of the time God hears a cry

for help and then sends helpful people.

But we don't want that to be out of place.

We don't want to just help people and say, oh, by the way,

there is a God that we believe in and you should consider him.

And sometimes we do that and it's not the most effective way

to actually help people, which we'll see as it continues

because it says in verse 6, but she who lives in pleasure is

dead while she lives. Meaning if they've not received

the power of the born again life, if they're not trusting in

God, if they're not putting all of their hope that God is their

provider and in the end they will be safe with him in

eternity, you're probably not going to help him anyway.

Now how many of us have had that moment when someone has

approached you and said, you know, I need, I'm in desperate

need of help and you don't know what to do because all of the

compassion that God has given you says, I want to help this

person. But there's something inside of

you that rightfully discerns, am I really helping them?

Is it really helping someone to to give them the support they

need to live a life that is not pointing to godliness?

So within the confines of a church coming around a widow, as

we'll see to to put her on a roster of care, you want to make

sure that you're supporting a life that is glorifying God.

And once again, we'll take a commercial break, I suppose, to

give one of those principles that is for everyone.

And it is in light of everything that we talked about last week.

Think about what Paul is saying to Timothy.

There's some of these women that if you help them, it doesn't

matter. It says that that she lives in

pleasure and is dead while she lives.

So let some of us receive that. What you don't need is for God

to answer all of your wish lists.

What Paul is saying is there is a character test for these

widows. Some of them are dependent on

God and some of them are indulgent in the Word or in the

world. And if they're indulgent,

they're dead. The principle is this.

You can be living and you can still be dead.

And what you need in the moment of the gospel coming into your

life is you do not need God to start mending your plans and

paying your bills and get you back on the life that you have

for yourself because you're still dead in your sins.

What you actually need more than a handout is you need to be born

again in the power of the resurrection.

You need to start by coming alive so that when the church

comes around you, it's it's helping you grow in the will of

God for your life. And so Paul is disqualifying

some who are not even born again.

They're just living these indulgent lives and they're

showing up for the, the, the, the widow care.

And then they're going out and buying things that that are a

waste of money and doing things that are a waste of time.

And they're not one step closer to putting their faith in

Christ. You can be dead while you live.

No doubt some of you needed to hear only that part.

Your the problem with your life is not your problems.

The problem with your life is that you are dead in your sins

and you need to put your faith in Christ.

So there's ways to help people that only delays the inevitable.

The power of the gospel has to have you come alive before you

can take part in all the practicalities of church.

So you have two tests now you have the family test.

Is the family caring? And you have the church test.

Are are are they qualified? And Paul is going to give a

couple more qualifications because for those of you

sometimes like me that need to be humbled that the Bible does

have policy. It's not just a quick thing.

These are people that Paul wants to see sustained by the help of

the church in a way that is good for them.

So he says in verse 9, don't let a widow under 60 years old be

taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of

one man. So she's a certain age.

Why 60? I have no idea.

I'm guessing that in that time, 60 represented some sort of line

that Paul was trying to draw between people who could

potentially work and provide some way to contribute in a way

that might give them self support or in some way they

could still find another person to marry.

But he said for him, his line at that time in Ephesus was the

number 60. So there's a certain age, an age

which qualifies them as people that are coming to the stage of

their life where they're going to spend time praying and being

supported by the church. And then it says she was married

to one man. She was a faithful woman and

that is going to be now the rubric is this woman a faithful

contributing member seen in her devotion to her husband and also

in her devotion to the household of God.

Verse 10, it says she was well reported for good works.

If if she has brought up children, if she has lodged

strangers, if she has washed the Saints of the feet, if she is

relieved the afflicted, if she is diligently followed, every

good work, she is a faithful member of the community of

believers. Help her honor her.

And I will tell you this is one of the great tests as myself,

elders overseers of the Benevolence Fund.

Are we helping someone who is clearly sown grace and kindness

and love into the church that God has called them to.

And if the answer is clearly yes for years and years we see

someone that has given their life to serve and to to build up

this church. It's clear that those are people

that we should take on as responsibilities.

Which brings us to another important principle for all of

us says that they were known to be of diligent and good works.

And here's the principle. Every single one of us right now

are either building what we're known for or we are becoming

more and more less known for anything.

And as a believer, we are supposed to be known.

Let our good work shine before men that they could glorify our

Father in heaven. We are supposed to be diligent

in our work in such a way that when our time comes to someone

gives a measure of who we were and what we are about.

Your story would speak for itself.

Are you diligent in good work? Are you diligent to take the

gifts and the opportunities that you have while you're still

young, while you still have gifts and opportunities to

contribute? Are you someone who's becoming

known as a diligent person? And you can read through this

list. What a beautiful list it is.

Washing the feet of the Saints, taking people in, caring for

people. This is clearly a woman that is

not there for a handout, but is there at the end of her faithful

service to a church. Galatians 6 verse 7 says

Galatians 6:7

whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Sow in the flesh, Reap in the flesh corruption, but sow in the

spirit. You'll, you'll reap this

everlasting life. And then he goes on to say the

principle of what you give. Let us not grow weary for doing

good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Now, of course, in doing good for the Kingdom you have

treasures in heaven. You will reap a reward.

But no doubt all of you who are serving in any capacity the

Kingdom now, you will reap in this life.

You will serve people who will remember your faithfulness.

You will serve a church who remembers and sees your

contributions. And this is not a way to say,

you know, work really hard so that you're putting into the

four O 1K of Calvary Boise. This is just a principle for how

you're living your life. So you have family care and you

have church care. And then finally, the third

category, which was probably needs, you know, the the most

softening because it does sound harsh, the pastoral care.

Paul is going to tell Timothy, some people don't need to go

with their immediate family. Some of these women don't need

to be put on the the roster of care.

Some of them need to be pastored.

Some of them are living a life right now that just needs some

correction and guidance. And so he says in verse 11,

refuse the younger widows for when they have begun to grow

wanton against Christ. They desire to marry having

condemnation because they have cast off their first faith.

So Paul says you're not going to actually have chaotic compassion

that a woman lost her husband. And and there's certain of them,

you say, well, actually, we're going to do something different

for you. And he says some of these

younger windows, one of the reasons you're not going to help

them is because they're in a place of uncertainty.

They're in a season where they've lost their husband and

maybe they looked at the older widows and they thought, you

know, that's such a simple life, just praying and, and faithfully

gathering to do whatever they can to take care of the needs of

the church that they're able to do.

Even though I'm young, I'm going to join the widow ministry.

I've lost my husband and I'm just going to enjoy early

retirement and, and, and enjoy the widows.

And, and Paul says now they've made a commitment with their

lips, but they're still young and they, they, they kept coming

to the, to the, the gatherings. And all of a sudden they're not

just looking at the widows. They're actually looking at some

nice young eligible bachelors. And they're thinking, you know,

maybe I shouldn't have joined the widow ministry so soon.

Maybe I made a mistake here. I, I was fully committed to

dying alone and just serving the church, But now I'm fully

committed to that guy over there.

And Paul says, don't support them.

Don't put them in the widow ministry in the season of

uncertainty. Let them settle, principal.

We all go through seasons of uncertainty, especially.

Is there more uncertainty than being a young person who has to

navigate resetting your life after losing a spouse?

For this principle, he says, don't immediately transfer them

into a lifelong commitment to be a widow.

Let them settle. And I will say that if you are

in a season of uncertainty, there's all sorts of emotions

that are going to try to pull you in One Direction to the

other. Wait, wait to see what God

really has for you before you decide you'll never marry again,

or before you decide this is exactly what I'm going to do.

Give yourself time to heal, to go through a process where the

church can come around you and encourage you and see what God

has for you next. Because what he's going to say,

marriage isn't bad. He's actually going to recommend

it. What is bad is thinking that you

know everything about your future in a season of

vulnerability. Here's another why verse 13, he

says, and besides, they learn to be idle, wandering about from

house to house, and not only idle, but also gossips and busy

bodies saying things which they are not.

So not only do they change their mind in a season of uncertainty,

but they have too much time on their hands.

There is a danger of early retirement that you might pick

up some habits that are not good for your life.

And these particular women are young enough to where Paul is

saying to Timothy, I want you to pastor them differently.

I want them to fill up their time and their days with

something that is not just wandering from house to house.

And here's your principle for all of us, too much time is a

bad thing. I know we all want more of it.

I feel it. It's so nice when we look at the

calendar, there's a blank space and we have time and even a

season of time. It's like, my goodness, I can, I

can just take a break. I'm mourning.

And I'm going to let this process really, really just have

its time. Too much time and being idle is

dangerous for your life. One quote said, engage in some

occupation so the devil may always find you too busy to

tempt you. And that's what's happening to

these women. They're going around and they

don't have a lot going on in their life, so they're talking

about everybody else's life. That is gossip.

It's like the ancient version of Desperate Housewives on social

media. Don't do that.

And the answer for Paul, I think is the answer that extends into

the the the direction for widows and all of our lives.

Be so busy with something good that you don't have time to be

tempted by something bad. Verse 14 Here's the solution.

Therefore I desire that younger women or younger, younger widows

marry and they bear children and they manage the house.

Give no opportunity to the adversary to speak

reproachfully, for some have already turned aside after

Satan. I think this is a fantastic

principle for all of us to consider in the same way we

started the sermon. The resurrection means your

whole life radically changed. If Christ rose from the grave,

let you be about Christ's work. Paul very wisely says get them

busy. You know what, You know what

takes a lot of time? Getting married, having kids and

managing a household. Am I right, ladies?

I mean, for those of you who are doing that, your life kind of

went from a season of like, OK, what am I going to do with my

life? And then the baby comes and

you're like, I'm going to do this for the next 20 to 30

years, depending on how fast these kids, you know, go.

And you have these seasons of breaks.

And then it's one thing after the other.

Paul is saying get busy. Get busy with something really

good to do with your life. I don't think that Paul is

saying for all times and purposes that the only answer

for a woman with time on her hands is to get married and have

kids. It's a great one.

God might be sending someone with time on their hands to a

mission field or to to work really hard and in the

opportunity of economics that all of us have available to us,

both men and women. But what he's saying is get busy

about something productive so that your life has meaning and

purpose to glorify God and do something on the behalf of of

someone else. And with that same pastoral

wisdom that he's giving to these younger women we now all

receive. Are we at church that's busy

about the Father's business? And here's a great opportunity.

There are people who need your care.

There are people who are lonely. There are people who are

vulnerable and time and idle Time is a dangerous game.

So may we give up some of our time to serve others for their

benefit and ours. Here's the grand, grand take

away. We have 3 lines of care.

May we be a church that grows and matures in all of them.

May we be a family of God that is made-up of healthy families

within our church. For that, I think Frank and

Kathy Kaprivnikar are family oversight because we want to

build up young couples who are thriving in such a way where

they can care for kids and care for their immediate relatives

that need help. We also want to be a church that

does take care of those who are alone, which means that we

should probably form communities to where we can be known our

diligent good work can be seen and benefit others.

And when your time comes, there are people who know you and can

support you. And so I thank Connor, who is

helping craft all of these Calvary communities in such a

way where we have a second line of defense ready.

You have your immediate family and you have your church family.

And if you have those two things, you should not be in

want at our church. And then finally, may none of us

be busy bodies. May we all be people who have

been so moved by the power of the resurrection that we're

willing for the gospel of power to turn into the gospel of

practical. May we serve.

May we find a way to give up some of our idle time for the

benefit of the the Kingdom of God.