Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Acts 16:1-3; I Tim. 1: 1-20  

Aug. 2, 2026

Message: “Setting the Table!”

by Pastor George Gnade 

Listen to the Message

7:39

Introduction:

1.Before you can feed a family, you must have a good cook and someone to set the table for those who are coming. That is true spiritually as well.

a. Before you can offer people spiritual food, they must know who is providing the food.

b. It is also helpful to describe what is about to be served.

2. Let us begin our study of I Timothy by explaining who is providing the spiritual food.

A. Paul is the writer of this book. Obviously, he is providing the food. 

1. In vs. 1, he writes: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.”

a. Most of the apostles whom Jesus trained followed Him for about three years so that they were eye witnesses to all He did.

b. Paul was different. In fact, in vs. 13, he tells us “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.” The word for “violent” meant to be cruel just for the fun of it. In plain words, he took pleasure in hurting people. He was the last person we would expect Jesus to choose.

2. But vs. 13 continues: “I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.”

a. “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (Vs. 14). Then he continues in vs.15 & 16:

b. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.” (In plain words, this was spiritual food that was good to eat! Then he shares this saying.) “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.” (If He could save me, then He can save you too.)

B. That is why Paul was giving this spiritual food to Timothy so he too could share it with others.

1. In Acts 16:1-3, we learn how Paul met Timothy on his second missionary journey. His mother was a Jewish Christian; his father Greek. We are never told more about the father. But Paul and Timothy became close friends.

a. He was much younger than Paul. In I Tim. 1:18, Paul describes him as “my son.” But Paul told him never to let his age keep him from obeying and serving the Lord.

b. Paul used him over and over again to go ahead of him. In this passage, verses 3-4 tell us Paul told him to “stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.”

2. We learned about the Gnostics in our studies of Galatians and Colossians. Scholars believe these false teachings are being referred to again in I and II Timothy and Titus. These false doctrines created a lot of controversies, but no answers.

a. If we compare Paul and Timothy to teachers offering good spiritual food, the Gnostic were offering spiritual food that would poison the mind and lead the Ephesians astray. In I Tim. 1: 9-11, this included “adulterers and homosexuals, liars and perjurers.”

b. Pastors and Christian leaders face the same kind of problems in our world today. As we try to teach people the truth of God’s Word that aims at high standards of moral behavior, our world offers all the sins of the flesh that are “contrary to sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which He entrusted” to Paul and Timothy.

c. In other words, the Gnostics could sound very religious and argue about a lot of spiritual topics, but they never resolved the controversies they created. Their lives fell far short of what Jesus desires of us.

3. In contrast, Timothy was dedicated to serving the Lord Jesus. In fact, in I Timothy 4:13-14, Paul wrote: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of the Scrip-ture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands upon you.”

a.. In Acts 13: 1, we are told how Christian leaders  laid hands on Paul and Barnabas to dedicate them to their work as missionaries. 

b. Now in this passage, we are told how Paul and other pastors laid hands on Timothy when he was dedicated to the work of the Lord. We are not told when this happened, but obviously it did happen.

4. This practice is usually followed even in our day. After a person is trained to do pastoral duties, it is very common to have him come forward and to lay hands on him and to commit him to the service of the Lord.

a. I had this done to me in 1970 after I had served one full year in the Greene Baptist Church in Greene, Maine. The one full year was to provide practical experience to back up my theological training.

b. In our day, this does not guarantee a person’s knowledge of the Bible or his theological views. But it is a reminder that pastors need a lot of prayer as we seek to do the work of the Lord.

C. Please take note of how this was applied to Timothy.

1. In I Tim. 1:5, Paul describes to Timothy how he was to perform the work of the Lord. “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

a. Then in I Tim. 1: 18-19, Paul wrote: “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith and a good conscience.”

b. Please observe these verses act like bookends to the passage we are studying today.

2. Between these bookends, we learned about the Gnostics who were leading the Ephesians astray, and Paul’s conversion that literally changed his life around.

a. Salvation is a gift of God, a gift of His mercy and grace. It is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ and His love for us.

b. Now we are called to live a changed life, fed on the truth of the gospel, and backed by a sincere faith and good conscience.

In conclusion:

1.This first chapter was meant to set the spiritual table full of the good food of the gospel.

a. Paul was called by the Lord and given a spiritual banquet to share with people everywhere.

b. His job was to also train Timothy and others just as Jesus trained the disciples. Together we are to dedicate ourselves to the task of offering the good food of God’s Word to others.

2. But our work for the Lord is always hindered by false teachings and a banquet of worldly pleasures that Satan uses to cause people to stray.

a. Paul described His work for the Lord as a spiritual battle. He called it “fighting the good fight of faith.” 

b. As Paul passed this task on to Timothy, he was also called “to fight this good fight, holding on to faith” (I Tim. 1:18-19).

3. Assuming you are a Christian, Jesus now wants us to fight that same good fight of faith, while offering spiritual food that can feed souls and change lives. Amen!