Good Shepherd Community Church

Big Idea:
We are to encourage and honor one-another as the family of God; especially the afflicted and suffering for the purity of the church, and her witness to the world.

How to treat people in the church: Honor and Encourage

Exhort, Comfort, Implore, Urge, Appeal, Invite, Beg, Plead, and Encourage

Context: What was happening with Widows in Ephesus

"True” Widows: Honor These

- Not less than 60 years old
- Having been the wife of one husband…A one-man woman”
- Reputation of Good Works

· Brought up children
· Having Shown hospitality
· Washed the feet of God’s people
· Cared for the afflicted
· Devoted herself to every good work

Widow’s to Encourage as Mothers and Sisters

The self-Indulgent are those who live solely for pleasure

Encouragement for the self-indulgent

The Young

Characteristics of These Widows:
- Drawn away by passions
- Desire to marry
- Abandoning their former faith(pledge)
- Learn to be idlers (Lazy)
- Gossips
- Busybodies
- Speaking what they should not

Encouragement for these widows

Families to Honor and Families to Encourage

“Honor your father and mother…”

The Unsupportive Family

Why Does Any of This Matter?

1. The burden on the church in Ephesus was becoming too great.

2. According to verse 15 some widows had strayed after Satan.

3. This was giving the adversary an occasion for slander.