The Tasks of a Faithful Minister (1 Timothy 4:13-16)

Every good coach focuses on the fundamentals of the sport with their team. No team can succeed if they fail in the fundamentals. A football team that can’t tackle, block, or run the right routes will lose a lot. Any basketball team that can’t dribble, pass, or shoot will lose a lot. During his career, every offseason, Peyton Manning would go and meet for a week with his old college quarterback’s coach. That week all they would do is practice the fundamentals of playing quarterback. They would spend time evaluating his footwork, his throwing motion, his line of vision, and so on. Even in his 15th year of NFL football (already one of the greatest to ever play the game), Manning headed to North Carolina where his coach lived and went through a week of drills. All because he understood, if you fail in the fundamentals you fail. A successful quarterback must be the best at the fundamentals. 

Paul reminded Timothy of this same concept. A successful church and a successful minister is one who focuses on the fundamentals. There are certain marks which must be true of any minister in order to be considered successful in the sight of God. This text this morning is vital because these fundamentals have been deserted today. In order for Cambria Baptist to be successful, we must keep the main thing the main thing. So what exactly is the main thing? What is a minister to focus his time and energy on? What are the fundamentals/the marks of a faithful minister? ...