Through the winter quarter, Pastor Bob is leading us through a study on the Pastoral Epistles.
Unlike most of Paul’s letters, the Pastoral Epistles are addressed to individuals rather than churches. Yet the individuals to whom they are written, Timothy and Titus, were companions of Paul who had been given oversight of churches in Ephesus and Crete, respectively. They thus serve both as encouragements to young pastors and as manuals of church practice, addressing issues that cannot be found anywhere else in the Pauline corpus.
In addition, as among the last of Paul’s writings, they reflect a more highly-developed church organizational structure than his earlier letters, which often were written to congregations that had existed for only a few years, or even, in the case of the Thessalonian epistles, little more than a few months. Paul is concerned, not only with how his young friends conduct their ministries, but also with the way that churches ought to be run. He also deals with threats to the congregations from within and without due to false teachers and their heresies.
While not all believers are pastors, all can benefit from a deeper understanding of the church, its ministry, and its message. Join us at 9:45 am each Sunday morning in the sanctuary as we examine together these final letters of the Apostle Paul. If you would like to listen to past lessons, you can access their recordings on YouTube by clicking here.