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CHAPTER 1
LESSON ONE
1 TIMOTHY 1:1-2
Overview
The best way to introduce yourself to 1 Timothy is to read through it several times. Since the book is six chapters long, a single read-through should take twenty or thirty minutes. Note the main topics covered in the book as you scan its brief but important passages.
1. What are your first impressions of 1 Timothy? (What is it about? What seem to be its major concerns? If you had to pick a single term to describe this epistle, what would it be?) ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
2. Repetition is a clue to the ideas an author wants to stress. What key words or phrases does Paul use over and over in this epistle? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
3. Look especially for the following terms. Where are they found, and how are they used throughout 1 Timothy?
a. Good ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
b. Faith _____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
c. Trustworthy saying ________________________________ ______________________________________________________
d. Teach _____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
e. Fight _____________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
4. The practice of outlining often helps tremendously in obtaining a firm grasp of the flow and general content of a book. Fill in the following "skeleton" with your own chapter and verse numbers for each section, as well as appropriate titles. A more detailed outline appears on pages 13-14.
1:1-2 Salutation
1:3-11 Warning against false teachers ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
1:12-20 God's grace to Paul ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
2:1-14 Instructions for church worship ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
3:1-16 Qualifications for church leadership ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
4:1-6:2 Instructions to Timothy ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
6:3-10 Instructions about money ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
6:11-16 Paul's charge to Timothy ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
6:17-19 Instructions about the wealthy ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
6:20-21 Benediction ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
5. Note here any teachings, commands, warnings , or instructions from 1Timothy that you want to think about this week. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
6. After gaining some background on 1 Timothy on pages 11-13 and after reading this epistle several times, what questions do you have about the letter or its contents? (Does anything puzzle you? Surprise you? Alarm you?) Write your questions here and refer to them as you continue this study. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Salutation (1 Timothy 1:1-2) Like each of his thirteen epistles in the New Testament — and in keeping with the custom of the day, which was the opposite of our own — Paul begins 1 Timothy by writing his name (in Greek, Paulos).
7. How does Paul refer to himself in 1:1? Why do you think he does this, if in fact he is writing to a good friend? What does this imply about a larger audience for the letter? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
8. How does Paul characterize Christ in 1:1? How does he describe God? How are these descriptions significant? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
9. To whom does Paul address this letter in 1:2? How does Paul describe this person? How is this significant? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
10. a. What kind of greeting does Paul give the recipient in 1:2? What is significant about each of the items he mentions? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
b. How does this greeting compare with those in Paul's other letters? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
11. Based on what you know of 1 Timothy already, what would you say is the purpose of this letter? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
12. What issues in your own life have been raised by your initial readings of 1 Timothy? How are you planning to address those issues in the coming week? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
13. What questions do you have about 1Timothy that you would like to explore further in your study of the book? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
For the group
It's helpful to begin each session with a question that helps group members get to know each other better and connect their own experience to the passage they are going to discuss. You might begin this session by asking, "Tell us about a time when you were assigned a task that felt challenging and maybe somewhat daunting. It might be a task at work, at school when you were a child, a parenting task — anything that comes to mind. How did you feel when you set out to face that task? What helped you?"
As the group leader, you should answer the question first. You will set an example of how long and how personal answers should be. Limit your answer to a minute or less so as not to overwhelm your study time, and share something that was genuinely daunting for you but probably not the worst crisis of your life. Your goal is to invite the group to identify with Timothy's situation.
In this and later lessons, don't feel obliged to discuss every one of the numbered questions. You might choose just half a dozen that seem to promise the most lively and helpful discussion. Your goal in this session is to help the group see this letter as a whole.
Study Skill — Themes and Purposes
Before you study a book in detail, it is helpful to make some tentative conclusions about the book's themes and purposes. A theme is a main topic that recurs throughout the book, such as "the church." A purpose is a reason the author wrote the book, such as "to teach God's people how to operate in the church."
One reading of 1 Timothy may not give you a firm sense of Paul's main themes and purposes, but by now you probably are at least beginning to have ideas about what they may be. Don't be hesitant to express those ideas; remember, they're tentative!
Study Skill — Summarizing the Passage
You can see whether you have understood a passage of Scripture by summarizing it in your own words. It can be helpful to write not only what the passage teaches, but also how the text relates to the main themes and purposes of the book.
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Excerpted from "1 Timothy"
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Copyright © 1996 The Navigators.
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