HOUSE RULES PT 6: The Household Of God
WEEK 6 · SERMON NOTES
THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD
1 Timothy 3:14–16
| BIG IDEA The church is God’s family, the living God’s dwelling, and the truth’s supporting witness — all centered on Jesus Christ — which is why everything else in this letter matters. SERIES QUESTION What does a healthy church family look like — and what threatens it? |
ANCHOR VERSE · 1 TIMOTHY 3:15
“…you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”
| THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE 1 TIMOTHY 3:14–16 ESV |
| 14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. |
BEFORE WE BEGIN
▪ The instructions we leave behind often reveal what __________ most to us.
▪ Paul may be absent from Ephesus, but the God who owns this house has never __________ it.
▪ Sometimes we spend so much time in God’s house that we forget whose __________ it is.
▪ For five weeks we’ve quoted one verse. Today we stop quoting it and __________ it.
READ MORE 1 Timothy 3:14–16
| MOVEMENT 1 · vv. 14–15a BELONG, DON’T JUST ATTEND |
You are not a __________ here. You are __________, and family has house rules.
▪ The house was never supposed to run on Paul, or Timothy, or your pastor. It runs on the __________ of God and the God of the Word.
▪ “Behave” (anastrephō) means a whole way of __________ — not just 105 minutes on Sunday, but the other six days.
▪ “Ought to” (dei) means it is __________. Not suggestions, and not cold regulations either — they help define what it means to __________.
▪ “Household” (oikos): a family with a __________, where members belong to each other and owe each other something.
▪ At abuela’s house, a guest gets served, says thank you, and leaves. Family gets up and __________ the table.
▪ A guest enjoys the benefits of the house. Family embraces the __________ of the house.
▪ You are no longer strangers and aliens, but __________ of the household of God (Eph 2:19).
▪ Customers leave __________. Family shows __________.
| REMEMBER Church is not a place where we simply __________ ministry. It’s a family where we __________ in ministry. |
If everybody participated in church the way you do, what kind of church would we have?
| WHEN FAMILY IS A HARD WORD The Father of this house is not like the one who failed you. God settles the __________ in a __________ (Ps 68:6). |
READ MORE Ephesians 2:19 · Mark 3:31–35 · Psalm 68:5–6
| MOVEMENT 2 · v. 15b SERVE THE LIVING GOD, NOT DEAD IDOLS |
An idol needs you to __________ it. The living God is the One who __________ you.
▪ Ephesus was the city of __________. When the gospel hurt the idol business, the crowd shouted for two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34).
▪ Worshiping a dead idol can look loud, expensive, and ultimately __________.
▪ You become like what you __________. Worship something dead, and something in you __________ with it (Ps 115:8).
▪ In Paul’s churches, conversion meant turning from idols to serve the __________ and true God (1 Thess 1:9).
▪ Our own Artemis: the thing we can’t stop checking, keep paying for, and will protect at any __________. It cannot speak. It cannot save. And it never __________ you back.
▪ Sunday is not a __________. Walk into a home where the Father is __________.
| HEAR THIS An idol doesn’t have to be a __________ thing. It only has to become the __________ thing. |
Ask yourself: What consumes my thoughts? What controls my decisions? What am I afraid of losing?
READ MORE Acts 19:23–41 · Psalm 115:4–8 · Jeremiah 10:10 · 1 Thessalonians 1:9 · Isaiah 46:4
| MOVEMENT 3 · v. 15c HOLD UP THE TRUTH, DON’T REWRITE IT |
The church does not make the truth __________. It makes the truth __________.
▪ The Temple of Artemis stood on 127 marble __________. Paul looks at a few small house churches and says: You are the __________.
▪ “Pillar” (stylos) is a load-bearing column. “Buttress” (hedraiōma), found only here in the New Testament, is a support that keeps a structure from __________.
▪ A pillar does not make the roof. It holds the roof __________, high enough for everyone to see.
▪ Error #1: __________ the truth. The faith was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). The pillar does not get a __________ on the roof.
▪ Error #2: __________ the truth. That is not a pillar. That is a __________.
▪ We don’t compromise truth to show love, and we don’t abandon love to defend truth. Speak the truth in __________ (Eph 4:15).
▪ The pillar is not the __________. The church holds up the truth, but __________ holds up the church (1 Cor 3:11).
▪ If the church is a pillar, your life is part of the __________. Somebody who will never read a Bible is __________ you.
| THIS WEEK’S LINE We are not the truth’s __________. We are its __________. |
READ MORE Jude 3 · Isaiah 40:8 · Matthew 5:14–16 · Ephesians 4:15 · 1 Corinthians 3:11 · Matthew 16:18
| MOVEMENT 4 · v. 16 KEEP CHRIST AT THE CENTER, NOT JUST THE RULES |
The rules tell us how to live in God’s house. __________ is the reason we have a __________ in it.
▪ “We confess” (homologoumenōs) means by common confession — saying the __________ thing together.
▪ Ephesus shouted, “Great is Artemis.” The church sang, “Great indeed is the __________ of godliness.”
▪ “Mystery” means something once hidden and now __________. Godliness (eusebeia) has a __________: the very next word is “He.”
▪ Manifested in the flesh: God did not send a memo. He came in a __________ (John 1:14). Jesus didn’t come to make bad people behave better. He came to make spiritually dead people __________.
▪ Vindicated by the Spirit: the Spirit answered every accusation by raising Him from the __________ (Rom 1:4).
▪ Seen by angels: “Why do you seek the __________ among the dead?” (Luke 24:5).
▪ Proclaimed among the nations: from Jerusalem to Ephesus to __________, in English and in Spanish.
▪ Believed on in the world: that line is __________. You did not join a club. You were __________ into a family (John 1:12).
▪ Taken up in glory: the song that starts in a manger ends on a __________ (Phil 2:9–11).
| HEAR THIS Rules do not make a family. A __________ does. Grace appeared first. Then grace __________ us (Titus 2:11–12). |
The greatest thing about God’s house isn’t what happens in the house. It’s whose __________ fills the house.
READ MORE John 1:14 · Romans 1:3–4 · Luke 24:1–7, 47 · John 1:12 · Philippians 2:9–11 · Titus 2:11–12
| THIS WEEK MOVE IN · HOLD IT UP · SAY IT TOGETHER |
☐ MOVE IN
Take one step from attending to belonging: membership, a Friday Life Group, or a serving team. Pick one, and talk to a pastor this week (Heb 10:24–25).
My next step: ______________________________
☐ HOLD IT UP
Name one place where your life is the only column somebody will see — your unit, your classroom, your job, your home — and live the truth there on purpose (Phil 2:15–16).
Where I’ll hold it up: ______________________________
☐ SAY IT TOGETHER
Memorize 1 Timothy 3:15 as a church. Every morning this week, read verse 16 out loud — with your spouse, with your kids, or in the car before work (Rom 10:9).
Who I’ll read it with: ______________________________
☐ KEEP PRAYING YOUR TWO NAMES
From Week 3 — every day. We are not done.
| THE CHARGE · THIS WEEK’S ANSWER TO THE SERIES QUESTION God’s house isn’t simply a place we attend. It’s a family we belong to, a truth we uphold, and a Savior we proclaim. What threatens it is treating the house like a store, the truth like a rough draft, and godliness like a checklist with no Savior in it. |
WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLING ME THROUGH THIS MESSAGE?
| ANSWER KEY |
Before We Begin: matters · left · house · preach
Movement 1: Belong, Don’t Just Attend: customer · family · Word · living · necessary · belong · Father · clears · responsibilities · members · reviews · up · consume · participate · solitary · home
Movement 2: Serve the Living God, Not Dead Idols: carry · carries · Artemis · powerless · worship · dies · living · cost · loves · museum · awake · bad · ultimate
Movement 3: Hold Up the Truth, Don’t Rewrite It: true · visible · columns · pillar · moving · up · rewriting · vote · hiding · closet · love · foundation · Christ · column · reading · editors · pillars
Movement 4: Keep Christ at the Center, Not Just the Rules: Jesus · place · same · mystery · revealed · name · body · alive · dead · living · Killeen · you · adopted · throne · Father · trains · presence
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