In recent years, there has been a noticeable growth in the use of the word "family" in reference to co-workers, teammates, professional associations, and hobby groups. The rise of applying the concept of family to corporate culture has grown so common that there is now a growing awareness of the problems this creates and significant pushback.

In the context of the overuse of "family" applied to none-family connections and the corrective pushback, we come to 1 Timothy 5, where Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, instructs Timothy to labor as an overseer among the church not as a dictator, ruler, or boss but as a son and brother. While applying the family relationship to your school, work, or hobby connections may be unwise, the Bible commands that Christians should apply it to fellow church members.

Recognizing the members of the church as family testifies that the church is more than a disconnected group with no responsibilities to one another but that through saving faith and mutual submission to Christ and one another, the members of the church are related and connected to one another.

As Paul concludes his letter, he gives some final warnings and instructions. His final warning can be broken into two parts, confrontation of sin and examining your faith to test if it is genuine. In this sermon, I preach on the first part concerning the confrontation of sin.

Confronting sin and church discipline is something that most Christians know should be happening, but they have not seen a healthy or consistent model of how it happens. And a more honest assessment may be that many Christians have no motivation to faithfully participate in church discipline because they enjoy the lack of accountability in their church.

Understanding this passage and how to confront sin requires understanding three principles of healthy, godly discipline:

1. Discipline is motivated by love.

2. Discipline is connected to worth.

3. Discipline is connected to church fellowship.

The relationship of parent to child is one that Paul uses in this passage and is helpful in understanding the relationship between those who proclaim the gospel and those who receive it. Children do not always appreciate their parents' sacrifices and sometimes even rebel against their parents. What motivates all that parents do for their children is love.

In this passage, the Bible teaches how believers should respond to the gospel, the cost of ministry, and what motivates the preaching of the gospel.

Church discipline is a subject that makes many uncomfortable. This may be because the church has not been faithful or consistent, some have used the cover of church discipline to abuse, or so little is understood about it, that there is much misunderstanding. Regardless of how uncomfortable it may cause us to be, we must reckon with the fact that this is the teaching of Jesus. May our heart's desire be to faithfully obey the word of God - even the parts that make us uncomfortable.

This passage follows a very significant moment in the life of Peter. Jesus had asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied with the powerful confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In verses 18-19 Jesus responds to Peter’s confession. Jesus declares that on this confession of Peter, Jesus will build His church. In this passage, we see that the church is founded on Jesus, sustained by Jesus, and is the testimony of the gospel.