Healthy Church: An Introduction

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Happy 2013! It is exciting to be starting a new year. As we start a new year we are starting a new series. We will be walking through Paul’s letter of 1 Timothy. This letter unpacks many of the keys to Building a Healthy Church. As we continue to grow and build Southern Hills we want to ensure we do it in a way that honors God and we want to always do things God’s way. The quickest way for a church to get itself into trouble is to start doing things without God’s Word as it’s foundation and guide. The Scriptures have a lot to say concerning how we can build a Healthy Church so we should regularly take time to reflect on what the Scriptures say we should be as a body. As Matthew and I planned what our next study would be this book quickly rose to the top of our list. The big idea that Paul writes to Timothy about in this letter centers on building a healthy church and as a young church we see this as a critically important topic. As a young church this is an important time for us to build a strong foundation. To build a foundation that will point us towards pleasing God in all we do as a body and set our course for years to come.

It is important to remember the church is not this building. As we read through 1 Timothy we are not going to get tips from Paul on what our building should look like. We are not going to hear about how the stage should be set up or where the children’s classes should meet. The church is not a building. The church is not our service time each week. Something else we wont see from Paul are suggestions on what kind of music we should be singing, how we should be dressing, how long we should be meeting, or even at what time. Paul does not give an outline for what each church service should look like b/c the church is not our Sunday service. The church, Southern Hills, is all of us. We make up the church together. We are the church. When we talk about having a healthy church we are talking about having a spiritually healthy us, a spiritually healthy church family, people who do life together in a way that pleases God. These are the themes that Paul hits on. He gives Timothy instruction on how to lead people in a way that will help foster and nurture their individual and collective walks with God.

Now, this important message on building a healthy church comes from Paul to someone he loves dearly, someone he has taken under his wing to mentor for years, Timothy. The letter Paul wrote to Timothy has a story that leads up to it. Before we dive into 1 Timothy we will take the time to learn about Paul and Timothy and what led Paul to write this letter to Timothy. That should help set the stage and put some context around the letter we will be studying for the next couple of months. So let’s get to know Paul and Timothy.

(Selected Scriptures)

Study Notes