The Equipping Ministry, Student Workbook, SW15

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T H E E Q U I P P I N G M I N I S T R Y

• The cardinal virtue of the teaching ministry is clarity, rightly dividing the Word of truth and relating that meaning to the lives of the students. • Correspondingly, the cardinal vice of the teaching ministry are pride and hypocrisy , being carried away with one’s own knowledge and importance, and laying standards on others that you yourself are unwilling to apply and keep. • The heart of the content of the teaching ministry includes the teaching clause of the Great Commission, i.e., to instruct disciples of Jesus to obey everything that he commanded and to make plain the person and work of Jesus Christ for the purpose of Christlikeness in character and life. • The teaching ministry involves explaining and exploring implications of the biblical vision and teaching regarding the Kingdom of God, its promise and the righteousness associated with it. • Moreover, teachers are to ground disciples in the apostolic tradition (Jude 3), i.e., the historic orthodox faith once delivered to the saints for faith and protection. Teachers instruct disciples in just how this tradition relates to their life and witness.

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I. The Call to the Teaching Ministry

Video Segment 2 Outline

The Word of God in the Teaching Ministry

What is the purpose of the Bible? Of course, salvation is the first purpose (2 Tim. 3.15), but Christian living is also included. The Word is profitable for teaching (doctrine), conviction (reproof), setting right (correction), and discipline (instruction). It enables the child of God to become a man or woman of God, matured in the things of the Lord. “Perfect” (3.17) does not mean sinless; it means “mature.” And “thoroughly furnished” means “fully equipped” (vv. 16–17). So, the Bible transforms the child of v. 15 into a mature person in Christ; it equips the saints to be servants. It is fine for Christians to take study courses and learn methods of ministry, but the best way for them to equip themselves to serve God is to study and practice the Word of God. Study books tell us how, but the Bible gives us the motivation and power to live what we learn. ~ W. W. Wiersbe. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament . (2 Tim. 3). Victor Books: Wheaton, IL, 1997.