Paradox: Maturity in the Age of Youthfulness // Travis Cook
Channel: Park Cities Baptist Church
Date: 18/07/2021

SERMON RESPONSE GUIDE

PRIMARY SCRIPTURE: 1 TIMOTHY 5:1-16
1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
3 Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. 5 She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

KEY POINTS
In a day when no one wants to grow up, we are all about growing up into Christ.
In a culture that prizes youthfulness, we are to prize maturity.
While the world continues to redefine what is beautiful, the church is continually defined by the only one who is truly beautiful: Christ Jesus our Lord.
Old and young, male and female, together we are the family of God.
The beauty of Christ is revealed in the unity and diversity of his bride.
In the Kingdom of God, we are better together.
MEMORY VERSE
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
- Luke 8:14 ESV

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
 
1: What is beauty, really?
 
2: When you hear God described as beautiful, what do you think about? When you gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, what are you dwelling on?
 
3: How have you seen God’s beauty displayed in the world around you?
 
4: When was a time you experienced God’s beauty through the people around you?
 
5: Name one way you see God’s beauty reflected in and through our local faith family here at PCBC. Name one way you long to see God’s beauty reflected in and through our local faith family here at PCBC.
 
6: Pause and reflect on the already and not yet revealed beauty of God in and through PCBC you named above. How is God inviting you to personally contribute to the growth of both the already and the not yet?
 
7: Read Luke 8:14-15 in view of today’s message about maturity in an age of youthfulness. What truth is the Holy Spirit illuminating for you as you sit in those two verses? How will you respond?*

*THIS WEEK:
Read John 13 and identify someone in a different generation than you (older or younger) here at PCBC who you can serve in a loving way.

PRAY
Lord, there is no one as beautiful as you. Forgive us for when we delight in others (and even ourselves) over and above you. Stir our hearts to regularly take the time to gaze upon your beauty. Open our eyes to see your holy beauty in the people you have purposefully placed in our lives. Train us to see the church as our very own family as we commit to serve one another in love. Lord, if we hold fast to you and your word of truth, we believe we will bear fruit with patience (Luke 8:15).

REFERENCES
For those interested in further study, our pastors want to share resources that have aided them in their sermon preparation (in conjunction with the Bible and the Holy Spirit):
 
·      Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age by Robert Pogue Harrison