This Sunday, we’ll continue looking at “discipleship in action” from 1 Timothy 4. Here the Apostle Paul tells Timothy about the effort to maintain good doctrine, particularly in light of the devasting effects of false teaching. Once again, Paul reminds him (and us) that we need to be focused on godliness, so that we not only don't teach things that are false, but we don't fall prey to those same teachings and wander away from the faith.

Just this week, I read about three people who have done this ­- wandered away from the faith. And two more who are in the process of doing so, though I think both would deny it. And I've recently heard about two others, both former members of our church, who are in the process of leaving the faith. The technical name for this process is "deconstruction" which means rejecting some or all of one's previous belief system. And that's a hot topic in the church today, but it's not a new topic. Our text for this week starts with the warning that "some will depart from the faith." 

So, how do we recognize when this is happening? What do we do about it? And how do we keep ourselves and our loved ones from going down that path? Our passage tells us to "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." What does that mean and how do we do it? Those are the questions we'll be looking at this Sunday. And the answers to those questions may not sound easy, but I think you'll find that they're absolutely vital. I hope to see you there, Dr. Dave