Lectionary Year C
September 23, 2001
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Contemporary Address
Step VI - Contemporary Address
A. Goals
(JFC) A sermon from this text might seek to accomplish the broadening, the redirecting and/or the inspiring more of God-centered and rewarding prayer practices.
B. Describing the Audience
(JFC) This sermon is aimed to help a small, mostly rural congregation deal with their grief in having just lost their supremely competent pastor of 6 years and to begin moving them spiritually and ecclesiastically and socially on toward realizing a realistic future for this faith community right in the middle of Redevelopment Strategies. Their progress is documented, but their spirits are reportedly sinking currently. Other than the Redevelopment Strategies, the only program they have sustained in the month since the former pastor left, is a weekday afternoon Youth and Children's after school (from the school next door to the Church!) program, called, "Wild and Crazy Kids"! Their Interim Pastor is untried, yet appears to have a healthy approach to their needs now.
C. Address
(JFC) A Sermon, entitled, for this working draft, "Want More From Prayer?"
Introduction
Prayer might be enough by itself. After all, God has granted us this marvelous privilege of conversing with our Creator. Wow! Dare we ask for more? Well, how is your prayer life? Need more from it? Let's see where I Timothy 2:1-7 says more is.
I. Prayer and Its Forms
A. I Timothy 2 begins admitting the urgency of praying. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt an urgent need to pray? Recall and/or imagine such a dilemma.
When I was growing up in the 50's in Little Rock, Arkansas, our minister was preaching from this passage (or from Romans 13:1 and I Peter 2:13f), when the Governor of our great state had ordered our schools closed rather than to integrate the races there. Our minister led us to pray more fervently, more urgently, than ever before we high school students had done. Governors, Mayors, Presidents all need our prayers, to be sure.
B. I Timothy lists 3 or 4 different kinds of prayers. We've studied them before. Remember the abbreviation of A-C-T-S? Remember, it stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication? Well, I Timothy's list is comparable. It covers all bases as that author thought when he was writing or dictating his message for those people there and then. For us, more and more variety of prayers might improve our prayer-life.
II. To Whom To Pray
A. I Timothy 2 makes it abundantly clear that we are to address our prayers to God alone, the one and only God, who alone is God. Deuteronomy 6:4f and the first of the Ten Commandments emphasizes God's uniqueness from way back in Biblical history. When we focus on the God to whom we pray, all other concerns fall into place, into proper perspective, relative to God . . .
B. The Mediator, Christ Jesus, is our go-between, par excellence. . . Christ not only taught His disciples and us, too, to pray, remember the Lord's Prayer passage from a few weeks ago? He also exemplified the significance of prayer for relating to God; Garden Prayer, Last Supper, on the Cross, etc.
III. The Results
A. We all want and definitely need a more quiet and peaceable life. Well, I Timothy 2 tells us what to do to gain such a life-style. The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians (4:11) the same thing, which might also have been good advice since the Psalmist (46:10) recommended such relaxation techniques.
B. God calls us, all of us, to serve as heralds and apostles. Many Church bulletins identify the members of a church as ministers and the professionally ordained staff as pastors. There is a sense that it takes all members to get the Good News out these days of so much hype over the airways, etc.
Conclusion
When we pray, even and especially when we pray in more and ways new to us, we relate with God in more and more meaningful ways.
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