When One Man Tries to Own the Church

About

A single Sunday from 3 John 1:9-14 for a church living under a leader who has begun to treat the congregation as his own. The elder names a name, Diotrephes, a man who loves to be first, rejects apostolic counsel, slanders his correctors, refuses the traveling workers, and expels the members who welcome them. This message refuses the cheap dismissal of calling him merely proud and instead walks the four escalating deeds pride commits once it gets its hands on authority, then holds up Demetrius, whose good name is given by three witnesses rather than grabbed. It anchors the whole matter in Jesus' servant standard, that whoever wants to be first shall be bondservant of all, and guards against the opposite error of branding every hard leader an abuser. Includes manuscript, one-page outline, and an eight-question midweek discussion guide.