September 9, 2012 | S. Molla | Sin and Hell: The Key to Understanding and Appreciating Salvation

Salvation, the central message of the gospel, is the single most important subject in the Bible. Unfortunately, the concept of salvation is often misunderstood, leading many to fall far short of living holy lives.

September 2, 2012 | John Bayles | Seven Sound Standards, Part 1 (1 Timothy 2:14-24)

August 26, 2012 | John Bayles | Securing the Good Deposit (2 Timothy 2:1-13)

Paul begins and ends this encouragement to Timothy with statements about the nature of the Gospel. The seriousness of the apostle's charge is a compelling lesson for us today. If the true message of the Gospel is lost, then no matter how noble the replacement, it will not burn with the power of God, the souls of the elect will not be awakened by new birth, and the kingdom of God will not advance.

August 19, 2012 | John Bayles | Going On When You’re All Alone (2 Timothy 1:12b-18)

The nature of this second letter is quite unique from Paul's first one to Timothy. It is riddled with the personal reflections of a man who has languished in prison for perhaps seven years, and now the effects of isolation are beginning to take their toll. In addition to this stretch, Paul reflects that he has been abandoned by all those in Asia (Ephesus) who for one reason or another have given up on the faith in Paul's long absence from the church there.

August 12, 2012 | John Bayles | Courage in Weakness (2 Timothy 1:6-14)

Though the general tone of 2 Timothy differs from his first letter, the apostle continues to build up his young assistant in his task of confronting the false teachers in Ephesus. Paul turns from the four reminders of the opening verses and sets before Timothy four imperatives: fan the flame of your calling, be courageous, don't be afraid to suffer for the Gospel, and guard the deposit within you.

August 5, 2012 | John Bayles | The Last Time (2 Timothy 1:1-5)

This is not only the last letter Paul will write to Timothy, but also the last letter that the Apostle Paul will ever write (that has survived). The letters to Titus and Philemon follow the writing of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The tone is changed dramatically.

July 29, 2012 | John Bayles | Entering Into The Storm (1 Timothy 6:11-21)

Though we are coming to the end of this letter, the task of implementation is just about to take place in Timothy's life and in ours. The illusive part of studying the Bible is that we some times believe that once I have read and/or studied the text my task is ended. In reality the reading and studying are the preliminary parts of the overall process. As the Psalmist states, "Thy work have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God" (Psalms 199:11). And again the letter from James states, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

July 22, 2012 | John Bayles | Slavery to Men and Money (1 Timothy 6:1-10)

Two classifications of slaves are outlined in today’s text: those who have unbelieving and likely difficult masters, and those who have masters who are believers. Rome was absolutely dependant upon the institution of slavery by means of national dominance or personal indentureship. As a result, these characteristics are not only irrelevant to our historical experience, but strangely not in view in Paul’s message.

July 15, 2012 | John Bayles | Time-Tested Testimony (1 Timothy 5:21-25)

In this text the Apostle Paul takes a moment to give Timothy a personal instruction in leadership development. It’s simple, really: don’t place a person in leadership too quickly.

July 8, 2012 | John Bayles | The Hard Task of Church Discipline (1 Timothy 5:17-21)

Some people have a very strong bias against the Apostle Paul. He is described as a chauvinist, someone who is rigid about sin and soft about social ills such as slavery. In the following section that we will look at over the next few weeks, the historical record will not only disagree with these impressions, but will in fact break out against each of them.