Widows Indeed (1 Tim. 5:1-16)

INTRODUCTION The Christian faith does not encourage us to have romantic or sentimental views of human nature—as this passage amply demonstrates. But as we learn to live as God would have us live, we find that the results are often quite remarkable. The instructions here are primarily about women—and the expectations are, oddly, both low …

Deacons and the Woman (1 Tim. 3:8-13)

INTRODUCTION: The apostle Paul then turns to the office of deacon, which is, in many ways, a mysterious office. We are given the qualifications for the office here, but an explicit job description is never given to us. We have some idea from the fact that the synagogue had a deacon, called a chazan, and …