August Gate Church

As a Gospel-centered, missional church we need to experience God's word, ingest God's word, and share God's word to effective on the mission that he has called us to.

What are we doing here? Tonight's message is all about refocusing on our purpose for doing this thing called "church."

Jesus came, doing what no one could do for himself or someone else. He redeemed sinners once and for all by His own blood opening the way to God, cleansing the Christian of sin, and promising eternal life. Christmas is about celebration. But what will we celebrate? Christ or culture? How will we celebrate? Perform rituals or praise widely? Why will we celebrate? For the fun for the forgiveness?

The goal and mission of the church is to develop people into men and women of God whose lives are given to knowing God and making Him known. Paul gave Timothy several commands concerning this result. We are not “playing church.” God has called August Gate to be a church of people living as men and women of God with a passion to see people come to know Jesus.

Continuing in the theme of honor, Paul calls Timothy to instruct the church to honor God with their work, doctrine, contentment, and love. We have a God that cares for us. We should honor Him with our work, doctrine, contentment and love for His glory and our joy.

Paul writes this letter to a young church plant in Colossae encouraging them to mature in the faith, which will only happen as they live lives of thankfulness for the Gospel they both believe and obey. Lives of Gospel thankfulness (believing, relying on, remembering the Gospel) are what will bring about the growth of our church and our maturity as individuals.

In the church, the household of God, relationships matter. With elders/overseers as the example, Paul instructs Timothy to honor older men as fathers and treat younger men like brothers. In the household of God, we are called to respect "fathers" and help younget men become respectable men.

In the church, the household of God, relationships matter. With widows, you and old, as the example, Paul instructs Timothy to honor older women as mothers and treat younger women as sisters. In the household of God, we are called to honor "mothers" and help "sisters" become honorable women.

In the midst of instructing Timothy in his responsibilities for leading the church at Ephesus, Paul pauses to give him some instruction that is focused on him as an individual. The Gospel requires individual response. Periodically, we must stop and hear what it has to say to "me" specifically.

Not everyone who claims faith in Jesus is living in and leading others into faith in Jesus. We must learn to discern between false teaching and Gospel teaching so that we may live lives centered on the Gospel.

Paul is showing Timothy that the ontology of the church results in the objective of the church and the objective of the church necessitates the organization of the church. God has given us the organization within the church so that we may live out the function of the church for His glory and our joy.

Paul is telling Timothy that God requires the best men to lead His church; men who are submitting to the Gospel in every area of life. Jesus wants the men of August Gate to the best men; men who are believing and obeying the Gospel in every area of life.

Understanding God's design for men and women, the women of the church in Ephesus should submit to God's design and the leadership God puts over the church so that both the men and women may fulfill their roles in the church. Basing our understanding of manhood and womanhood in Scripture and not in culture, we at August Gate must empower women to fulfill their roles for God's glory and their joy.

God desires for His people to be drawn in by the Gospel and be sent out with the Gospel.

Paul tells Timothy that the church should be about two things: Jesus and people. But there are two main obstacles to praying for and reaching people for the glory of Jesus: men and women.

Paul encourages Timothy to fulfill his duty as a messenger of the Gospel by comparing the outcomes of those who surrender to the Gospel and those who refuse to believe and live the Gospel. Therefore, we see that we should surrender to the full work of the Gospel in our lives by both believing and living the Gospel.

Paul charges Timothy to rebuke teachers who have taken their focus off the gospel and caused controversy and a lack of mission. We learn that we have to keep our focus on the gospel so that God continues to do work in us and through us and that we may build up the movement and pursue the mission.

The words of Jesus impacted the lives of his listeners. Have we felt the impact? Do his words have authority in our lives? Are we living like they will leave an impact on those around us?

Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount like any good preacher: with a chance for response. He compares Himself to all other false saviors and calls for us to hear His words and put our faith on Him; the only firm foundation.

As He brings the Sermon on the Mount to a close, Jesus reminds His followers and the crowds that surround Him that there are two contrasting paths in life: the gospel and everything else. We learn that our path will be painfully transformational, we can either help or hinder those on the path that leads to life, and that the point of the Gospel is not knowing about Him but truly knowing Him by experiencing the Gospel and its effects in our lives.