The DNA of the Faithful

1 Timothy 4:6-10 · 2025-09-21 · Jason Wolin · 1 Timothy | God’s Blueprint for a Strong Church

1 Timothy 4:6-10 · Faith. The DNA of the Faithful — sermon from Cypress Bible Church on BibleSlides.

The DNA of the Faithful Slideshow for this message PDF Message Download Introduction There’s a saying in the sports world, “Elite athletes aren’t born, their built.” And what that saying is getting at is that no matter how gifted you are, no how much raw talent you have, no matter how much genetic advantage you have been given nobody can just crawl off the couch and win a gold medal in the Olympics. Michael Phelps, is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. 28 total medals and 23 of them gold. That’s pretty impressive. Here’s the truth—those golds didn’t just splash into his lap. Phelps has an absolute brutal routine. He was famous for it: 50 miles in the pool weekly, 6 days a week, twice a day drills, 12,000 calories fueling all those endless reps of squats, sprints, and strokes. He trained through the holidays. Why? Because when it comes to athletics, the only way you get great is through discipline. There’s just no such thing as automatic success. That’s a myth. Does it apply to Christianity? Now how should we think about the concept of discipline as it relates to Christianity? A lot of people don’t like the idea of combining discipline with the Christian faith. There’s negativity associated with it. Some are repelled by leaders who have turned the idea of discipline into self-made righteousness. I have worth because of how I’ve worked. And if you want to have worth the way I have worth then you better get to work. And there’s this berating and belittling and comparison game. And people say, “I know that isn’t right.” Others are repelled by turning a relationship into a duty of discipline. And the reasoning goes, If I love the Lord Jesus, shouldn’t all my activity for him be a joy? If it turns into a duty, something I have to discipline myself to do, isn’t that a sign that something has gone wrong in the relationship? Let’s not turn a relationship into a list of do’s and don’ts Now, there’s something true about that, but it’s can’t be just that because when you read the book of 1 Timothy that’s largely how it reads. Do this. Don’t do this. Makes sure you avoid this. Pursue this. And it’s not of course just 1 Timothy, it’s the whole Bible. In fact the most well known portion of the Bible is probably the 10 commandments which is what? A list of dos and don’ts. But its not just the Bible. If you drive a car most of what you experience is a list of don’ts. Don’t run a red light. Don’t switch lanes when its solid. Don’t drive too fast. Don’t drive to close to the car in front of you. Don’t do a U turn here. Don’t text and drive. But we all still drive. We aren’t all driving around saying, “It’s always so negative out here.” We understand the the dos and don’t of driving create safety so we can get to our destination. But its not just driving. I…

Cypress Bible Church · Full sermon loading below.