Getting Ready For Sunday: How To Prepare For The August 22, 2010 Sojourn Gathered

This is a church. The people, not the place.

What is the Church?  Is it a building?  Is it people?

Which people?  What do they look like, as they go about their lives?  How are they living, and what expectations do they carry?

These are some of the things our pastors will teach as we travel through the “pastoral epistles” the next several weeks.  These epistles are simply letters that Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus, two younger men whom Paul mentored.  His words to them (and to first-century Christians, through them) are his words to us.

This Sunday we’ll focus on an overview of 1 Timothy.  Paul writes here that the true gospel of Jesus Christ leads to godliness.  Along the way, this letter confronts false teaching, describes qualifications for elders and deacons, talks about how each gender and different age groups should reflect the gospel and more — all in six chapters.

As Pastor Daniel said in yesterday’s Photo Blog preview, you’ll receive a new, free devotional study guide this Sunday as well.  You’ll also be able to download the PDF this weekend from the Resource section here at sojournchurch.com.

Songs we’ll sing together this week include:

• Come And Sing, from our Before The Throne album.  Hear it in its entirety at Facebook.com/sojournmusic
• Warrior from our Over The Grave album.  Hear it in its entirety at Facebook.com/sojournmusic
• Merciful God.  Hear a preview from Tammy Trent at Last.fm

I’ll leave you with this reading from 1 Timothy 6:11-16, which we’ll recite together at Sojourn Gathered.  See you Sunday.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Greet someone you don't know this Sunday. We're family.

Photos by Troy Harvey, from last Sunday’s East Campus Sojourn Gathered service.