Imagine being able to overhear a Jedi Master pass on to his young padawan all the skills of being a Jedi Knight. Or a violin virtuoso giving away playing tips to budding musician. At our church, we’ve just finished preaching through 1 & 2 Timothy – two letters that offer us a window into the glorious gospel of our God Jesus — and the apostle Paul’s parental heart as he pours out his passion and wisdom into Timothy and future generations of Christian leaders.
As with previous sermon series at PCBC, we had the delight of inviting a number of guest preachers to share in “Guarding the Gospel / Proclaiming the Word”, including Peter Anderson (his memoir and other books are a wonderful read!), Keimei Suzuki (one of our church’s partner missionaries), and Dr Paul Windsor (Director of Langham Preaching’s International work, and still blogging faithfully!). A newcomer commented how it was so refreshing to hear “different takes” on the same Word. I couldn’t agree more!
For those preparing to preach through these two letters, I personally found the Proclamation Trust volumes (1 Timothy by Angus McLeay and 2 Timothy by Jonathan Griffiths) the right length and depth for a busy dad, pastor and student. The Greek text can be a bit tricky at times so at times it was helpful to consult other commentaries, although there’s no replacing going through the text itself slowly. It was also a help to follow along Carey Baptist College’s “Mentored For Ministry” Karakia (chapel) series in 2024, and to have gone through these books before at our previous churches.
A few reflections in no particular order:
- As it’s fresh in my mind from this past week, I have to say it was a real privilege and treat to hear Paul Windsor close our preaching series from the final words of his apostolic namesake (2 Tim 4:9-22). Through him, God challenged us, even as we hold many, many people in our hearts, to be filled with the Lord in our hearts ourselves. To hear from one of the most experienced preachers in NZ not only careful exegesis (e.g. he brought out the NT Greek wordplay in using “love” in 1 Tim 4:8/10 and “repay/vindicate” in 1 Tim 4:8/14), but also offer clear and relevant challenges to how we live and lead as Christians was special. The analogy he shared of the bathtub was particularly relevant: in all ministry there will be things that drain, and things that fill our tub. To endure in gospel service, you’ve got to get the flow right! After all the trials and hardships of this past year, to have our bath-tubs filled again on Sunday by the Lord was a joy.
- Earlier on in this series, another Sunday felt particularly special for our congregation. On that day, we had a missions update from a sister and prayed for Mongolia; sang an 1800 year-old worship song with a modern twist called “The First Hymn“); had the privilege of one of our members Billy (Ngāti Porou) leading us in te karakia o te Atua / the Lord’s prayer (something our Chinese-heritage church would not have imagined was possible 30+ years ago!); all culminating in one of our young men Isaac preaching a clear, Christ-centred sermon on the practice, purpose and power of prayer from 1 Timothy 2.
- 1st Timothy attracts a lot of attention particularly because it is ground zero in many churches and denominations regarding debates over gender roles in ministry and leadership (e.g. 1 Tim 2:11-15, 1 Timothy 3). So much so that before being called to our church, I was told by a member: “So long as you don’t preach on that topic, it should be be OK”. But when our Senior Pastor picked these books as the focus for 2025, given our shared commitment to preaching through whole books of the Bible, I knew the time had arrived to preach this part of God’s Word without apology.
- As our pastoral team and many in our congregation hold different views on the “should women preach” question, we sought to give a balanced perspective on the relevant passage (Albert preached 1 Tim 2 for our Cantonese congregations; while I preached 1 Tim 2:8-15 for our English congregation), and to do so in a way that honoured the many gifted and faithful sisters and brothers in our church. Accordingly, one resource I found particularly helpful was this April 2025 podcast episode by Rebecca McLaughlin (interviewing Dani Treweek and Ellie Wiener). These sisters not only unpacked some of the heated questions and applications with exegetical skill from both egalitarian and complementarian convictions (although these terms don’t always map neatly outside Western cultures), but did so with a reverence and respect for the Scriptures and a wonderfully gracious manner – I suspect in a way that three men on a podcast wouldn’t have been able to accomplish!
- It’s important to remember though that who can or can’t lead in churches or preach in gathered worship isn’t the primary issue in Paul’s letters to Timothy. Rather, his priority in both 1 & 2 Timothy is that everyone is to guard the gospel and proclaim the Word, both in speech and in lifestyle (1 Tim 4:16).
- In the Lord’s providence, many of the passages I was assigned to preach popped up at timely moments in our fifth year of pastoral ministry at this church. In a year that’s brought about a fair amount of uncertainty and change in our midst, I was personally ministered to as I rejoiced in how Jesus saved even me, the worst of sinners (1 Tim 1:12-20); remembered that character matters in church leadership (1 Timothy 3), reflected on Paul’s priority to encourage the next generation among us (1 Timothy 4); and was challenged to think more deeply about honourable leadership (1 Tim. 5:17-25) and true contentment (1 Tim 6:1-10) living in a culture where it’s gotten harder and harder to find good examples of either. God truly ministered to me through these tender, parental words of Paul -for that, I’m filled and grateful.
If you’re interested, you can listen in to the sermon series in English here: “Guard the Gospel, Proclaim the Word” (1 & 2 Timothy). We preached 1 Timothy over 10 talks, and 2 Timothy over six sermons.
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” – 2 Timothy 4:2
