Sermon for 1/28/2001
Able to teach
Introduction:
Gene Getz- Mike Cornwall was an elder at my church. He was also long time banker. At one point in time when he was CEO of one of the largest savings and loans in the state of Texas, he and his wife, Sharon, had an unusual experience.
Mike and Sharon were sitting at home having breakfast one Saturday morning when they heard some commotion in front of their home. They looked out the window and saw a group of people walking back and forth in front of their house. It didn’t take but a moment to conclude that they were being picketed.
In a few minutes, someone knocked on the front door. Standing there was a man with a document. Standing beside him was another man with a camera. Mike had never seen these people before and for a moment was puzzled. But very quickly he got the picture loud and clear. This man wanted him to sign the document confessing that his savings and loan organization was “redlining” minorities.
The facts are, the government had passed legislation that could give the impression of redlining. And because Mike’s organization was one of the most prominent in the state of Texas, they targeted his savings and loan- and Mike particularly as the CEO- to let the government know they were not happy.
It was clear that they never expected to get Mike’s signature but, rather, an argument or a slammed door. It would look great on the front page of the Dallas Morning News the next day- hence, the man with the camera.
Nonplussed, these men got neither an argument nor a slammed door. Rather, Mike invited them and all the picketers to come into his family room for a cup of coffee and an open discussion. At first, these people couldn’t believe what was happening, but they soon discovered Mike was sincere.
As they sat in comfort and while Sharon served them coffee, Mike began to share his own journey as a long-term resident in Dallas. He told them of his concern for minorities through the years, and his own involvement in helping build the Martin Luther King Center.
Mike then shifted his comments to an important event in his own life that forever changed his perspective on others. He told his visitors of his conversion to Christ in a Bible study in the home of one of his neighbors. At that point, mouths dropped open, and Mike began to get some positive affirmations. Apparently, some in the group at least understood the gospel.
To make a long story short, these people eventually left, each one thanking Mike and Sharon for their hospitality. Not another word was ever mentioned about their grievances. The picketers got on the bus, drove away and Mike never heard from them again.
That morning Mike effectively communicated the gospel in words and in attitude. Mike was mature enough to respond with kindness and patience. They heard Mike’s testimony regarding his relationship with Jesus Christ and how it changed his life. Hopefully, some of them came to a “knowledge of the truth.” Mike is one who is “able to teach.”
WBTU:
A. Greek word in 1 Timothy 3:2 is also used in 2 Timothy 2:23-25
B. We see this phrase through our own experiences. We tend to think of “good teachers’ we have known through the years- people who are effective communicators, great orators, people who are great behind the pulpit or behind a lectern in a classroom.
C. Able to teach- The ability to communicate in a humble, sensitive, nondefensive and “teachable” way.
D. In 2 Timothy this phrase describes just not skills, but qualities of life.
1. Avoid arguments.
2. Kind to all people
3. Patient when falsely accused and personally attacked.
E. This person must possess personal qualities that enable him to communicate with others in a nonthreatening, nondefensive manner.
F. A man/woman who is able to teach is a person who is not in bondage to himself. He is secure as a person and is in control of his mind and emotions.
G. This person is to be self-controlled according to Titus 1:8
H. To be able to teach is not just to mindlessly give out information.
I. To teach is nice, but to preach, oh, that is great. Preaching is tied to teaching. Preaching is proclaiming the message. Teaching is helping people to understand it and to put it into practice. They are similar and many times the same.
J. Some people think that all I do is get up here and rant and rave for 20 to 30 minutes and that is all that is needed.
K. Preacher, are you up to it? To be an effective and faithful gospel preacher you must study up to know what to preach, pray up to be prepared to preach, stand up to preach, speak up to be heard as you preach, shut up when you have finished preaching, follow up to reap the results of your preaching, and then live up to what you have preached. Yes, are you up to it?
L. All of us preach and teach! Whether we like it or not, we all by our mouths and by our actions we are preaching and teaching.
M. “Able to teach” is more than just preparing a sermon or a lesson.
N. Some people teach and never deliver a public address. Some of the best preachers and teachers never do it in a public setting. One on one, or in small groups.
O. In all places at all times “able to teach.” Even in hostile settings.
P. A person who is a good preacher/teacher is one who understands the needs and feelings of people and is able to connect the Scriptures with their real-life issues.
Thesis: To be able to teach, a Christian must: Learn more and more of the Word of God. Believe more and more of the Word of God. Live more and more of the Word of God.
For instances:
I. Learn more and more of the Word of God.
A. 2 Timothy 2:15
B. 2 Timothy 2:2
C. As maturing Christians, we must constantly be learning more and more of God’s Word, and understanding it. Only then can we teach it.
D. We need to develop a program of Bible study, either personally and/or in a group. More than a devotional study.
E. Need to learn the basic content and doctrines of the Bible.
F. A mature Christian must be a person who has been around the Bible for a good long while, a man/woman who is thoroughly experienced in the Word.
G. Many people know more about the daily newspaper than they do about the Word of God.
H. Sermons are boring. Why? Because we don’t care about the Word of God. (Heb 5:11 NIV) We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.(Heb 5:12 NIV) In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
I. Two million copies have been sold each year for the past 100 years.
J. Sir Isaac Newton- No sciences are better tested than the religion of the Bible.
K. Abraham Lincoln- I believe the Bible is the best gift that God has ever given to man, and that all things desirable for man to know are contained in it.
L. Charles Dickens- The New Testament is the best book the world has ever known or ever will know.
M. Ronald Reagan- Within the covers of this single book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today, if all would only look.
N. The Book of Books. The Bible- The Book.
O. All of the books in the Library of Congress cannot equal to the value of the Bible.
P. The Word- God communicating to man.
Q. It has eternal value to the saved and to the lost.
R. Diary of a Bible.
January: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.
February: Clean- up time. I was dusted yesterday and put in my place. My owners did use me for a few minutes last week. They had been in an argument and were looking for something to prove they were right.
March: I had a busy day the first of the month. My owner was elected President of the PTA, and used me to prepare a speech.
April: Grandpa visited us this month. He kept me on his lap reading for about an hour each day. He seems to think more of me than some people in my household.
May: I have a few green stains on my pages. Some spring flowers were pressed in my pages.
June: I look like a scrapbook. They have stuffed me full of newspaper clippings- one of the girls was married.
July: They put me in a suitcase today. I guess we are off on vacation. I wish I could stay home; I know I’ll be closed up in this thing for at least two weeks.
August: Still in the suitcase.
September: Back home at last and in my old familiar place. I have a lot of company. Two magazines and four comic books are stacked on top of me. I wish I could be read as much as they are.
October: They read me a little bit today. One of them is very sick. Right now I am sitting in the center of the coffee table. I think the preacher is coming by for a visit.
November: Back in my old place. Somebody asked today if I were a scrapbook.
December: The family is busy getting ready for the holidays. I guess I’ll be covered up under wrapping paper and packages again- just as I am every Christmas.
S. the best Bibles are the ones that are used.
II. Believe more and more of the Word of God
A. (Titus 1:9 NIV) He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
B. Hold firmly or fast. Believe it more and more everyday.
C. (Col 3:16 NIV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
D. Want to believe in these things? Read and study and then believe more. (John 20:31 NIV) But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
E. (Heb 3:14 NIV) We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
F. How can we be confident in these things?
G. Are these things convictions of our soul, or do we still harbor doubts?
H. When the Sadducees (the liberals) of Jesus day came with questions. (Mat 22:29 NIV) Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
I. They did not study the Scriptures with their whole heart and so they had doubts and did not have confidence in God or the Scriptures.
J. C.S. Lewis.
K. All who come to know the Bible, without a single exception, come to love and treasure the Bible.
L. No book has ever been so highly prized, so lavishly praised and so sacrificially proclaimed as the Bible. Jesus knew the Scriptures, believed the Scriptures, lived the Scriptures, and taught the Scriptures.
M. All the apostles believed the Scriptures, loved the Scriptures, valued the Scriptures and proclaimed the Scriptures. The apostle Paul, an Old Testament scholar, expressed profound appreciation for the Scriptures, saying, (2 Tim 3:16 NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
N. (Rom 10:17 NIV) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
O. Gets sweeter as the days go by.
P. Paul Mattox- For more than 55 years the Bible has been an exceedingly great and precious treasure to me. I couldn’t imagine a day without meditating on its great truths and relying on its unfailing promises. More than ever I believe it is the unchanging word of our living God to every generation.
Q. Feed your faith and starve your doubts.
III. Live more and more of the Word of God
A. (2 Tim 2:24 NIV) And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.(2 Tim 2:25 NIV) Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth
B. Begin now to develop a maturity so we will not be threatened when discussing the Word of God with all kinds of people.
C. Many people who know the Bible from cover to cover are defensive and highly threatened people and frequently use the Scriptures as a “personal” sword rather than as the “sword of the Spirit.”
D. Ask a question to these people and you are attacked and made to feel like a dog.
E. We learn best by asking questions.
F. Practical suggestions:
1. If someone attacks you personally, never retaliate out of threat or embarrassment. Respond warmly and with openness. Draw them out even more.
a. (Prov 15:1 NIV) A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
b. May have to leave until composed.
2. Try not to embarrass people publicly, although they may attack you publicly. Seek to speak to them in a private setting.
3. If you continue to have problems with insecurity and feelings of threat, seek out a mature Christian friend or counselor.
4. Gently force yourself to function in threatening situation.
G. How did Jesus respond to people who questioned his teachings.
H. There does come a time when diplomacy does not work, but we must exhaust all other options before we blast someone out.
I. (Rom 12:20 NIV) On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."(Rom 12:21 NIV) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
J. Killing them with kindness will go farther than anything else.
K. Edgar Guest- I’d rather see a sermon than hear one, any day; I’d rather one would walk with me than merely tell me the way; The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear. Fine counsel is confusing, but example’s always clear, and the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds, For to see good put in action is what everybody needs.
J. (James 1:22 NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Conclusion:
A. Summary of points.
1. Learn
2. Believe
3. Live
B. Invitation for non-Christians.
