1 Corinthians 4
The Aim of Apprenticeship is Love!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 21.
If you want to become a master electrician, you must start as an apprentice. Every student needs a teacher. We all must learn from someone!
Paul explains his heart for this truth in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17, “I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.”
Jesus’ call to be a disciple is a call to apprenticeship—to submit one’s life to God by becoming like our Master Teacher Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
To what aim? LOVE!
But, let’s be honest: we need someone to learn from on how to do this God’s way. Yes, of course, we are called to follow Jesus and not man, agreed, but we need someone to show us what following Jesus looks like. It has always been this way, even from the very beginning of the church.
Every apprentice needs a master teacher. Here’s how to choose a good one:
- LOVE! You will know by their love for God through their personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
- LOVE! You will know by their love for the Word of God and how they are humbly learning to obey all that Jesus teaches through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
- LOVE! You will know by their love for you and people; not just church people, but the people they encounter.
Seize the moment and faithfully obey the Lord by loving others well (F.O.L.L.O.W.).