Sermon Outline:
- Preaching Christ with ungodly motivations
- Preach Christ out of love for the saints
- Preach Christ out of love for Him and His glory
Family Discussion Questions:
Older and Younger:
- What were the bad reasons that some people were preaching the Gospel?
- What was the good reason that others were preaching the Gospel?
- Why was Paul still able to have joy even though some people in the church were trying to hurt him?
- Why is it important that Jesus is your reason for being in the church, not other Christians?
Deeper Discussion:
- Based upon 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, should the men of verse 17 have been permitted to preach?
- How can this passage be a good caution for those of us who may be inclined to assume the motivations of other Christians?
- How can this passage be a good caution for us to search out our own motivations for Gospel ministry?
- What are some things that we could do to make sure our ministry is an encouragement to other faithful churches rather than a discouragement?
- Paul's rivals seemed to think that Paul's imprisonment was a sign that Paul hadn't been wise or winsome enough in his preaching. Have you ever fallen into the temptation to throw other churches or Christians "under the bus" when sharing the Gospel as a way to earn people's trust?
- What have been some of your greatest encouragements from gospel partners in your own church? How about from gospel partners from other churches?