Prepare for Sunday morning worship by using the guide below.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Summary: As we’ve seen so far in our series through I Timothy, there were some problems in the church in Ephesus. False teaching had arisen within the church. Paul exposes this, even mentioning two of the teachers by name. He says such men should be silenced. He then gives Timothy instructions on what a healthy church should look like. The church needs sound, gospel teaching that results in gospel-shaped living. He begins with prayer. We should pray for all kinds of people, even the pagan authorities, because God desires to save all sorts of people, Jew and Gentile, from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. This salvation for all men is accomplished through one mediator - the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all. This was a needed word for the church in Ephesus, and this is God’s word for us, as well.
Review and Apply
How would you describe your prayer life? What part does prayer play in your life as you “wage the good warfare?”
How faithful are you in praying for “kings and all who are in high positions?" If this is difficult, why is that?
If prayer for all people is an indication of a healthy church, how do you think Christ Covenant could grow in the practice of prayer?
Who have you been asking the Lord to save, that they would “come to the knowledge of the truth?" Who, if they came to faith in Christ, would you consider it an absolute miracle?
Have you ever thought of a certain subset of people as too far gone, as beyond the reach of God’s grace?
Have you ever struggled with the exclusive claim of Christianity that Jesus alone can make us right with God? How did you resolve this?
Give
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