Well, here we are at the end of our series in 1 and 2 Timothy. Paul is concluding this second letter to a young pastor whom he mentored and instructed on how he should lead the local church.

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Oftentimes, these letters in the Bible end with a lot of names and farewells, which is certainly the case with 2 Timothy as well. While that is true, it is also true that there is a lot we can learn from this passage.

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So, let’s read the passage, then see what the Lord may have for us.

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Look in your Bibles at 2 Timothy 4:9-22:

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9 Make every effort to come to me soon, 10 because Demas has deserted me, since he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works. 15 Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words.

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16 At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

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19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus has remained at Corinth; I left Trophimus sick at Miletus. 21 Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

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22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

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Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us as we study this passage.

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(prayer)

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We can communicate a lot in a farewell message, can’t we?

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If someone says, “I’ll see you after a while, if I make it out alive.” That tells you something about what the person is going through, right? Or, if someone says, “I’m going to a meeting. If I’m not back in an hour, please check on me.” You know how they feel about that meeting.

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Or, your parent says to you, “I’m going to cook dinner, when I get back in here, this room better be cleaned” You should use wisdom in that situation and get that room cleaned.

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Well, in Paul’s farewell words, we can hear several realities communicated. Specifically, we hear of four actions that the Lord accomplishes in our lives, so let’s see what we can learn.

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First, we learn that . . .

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‌I. The Lord provides

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One of the main realities we see in this passage regarding provision is that the Lord provides through His people.

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Paul says to Timothy in verse 9, “Make every effort to come to me soon.”

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He says in verse 11, “Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.”

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In verse 13, he gives Timothy a list of things that he needs him to bring on his visit.

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He says in verse 21, “Make every effort to come before winter.”

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Paul desires to see Timothy because Timothy encourages his soul.

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Paul goes on to list several other friends who are with him or who have visited him at different times.

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Even though life is challenging for Paul, even though He has gone through tremendous pain and heartache, God is providing for and blessing Paul through the godly friends who are in his life.

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Paul also speaks about when he felt lonely and deserted by everyone else.

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Paul says in verse 16, “At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me.”

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But what does he say in verse 17? Paul says, “But t

We are starting the last chapter of our series in 1 and 2 Timothy, although this is not the last sermon (there will be one more).

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Surely you’ve heard the phrase, “I solemnly swear.”

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To be solemn about something is to be serious or sincere.

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When someone says, “I solemnly swear,” it means that they’re really serious; they are seriously serious.

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Well, the apostle Paul is near the end of his second letter to Timothy, and he gets solemn about something.

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He starts off in verse 1, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus . . .”

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Paul is getting really serious with Timothy, and through the Holy Spirit, he’s getting really serious with us.

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So, let’s hear what Paul has to say. Before we do, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, remember that Paul is speaking to Timothy, who is a young pastor, probably still pastoring in Ephesus at the time of Paul’s writing of this letter.

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As a pastor, Timothy is a servant of God.

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At the same time, there’s a sense in which all of us who belong to Jesus are servants of God, Amen?

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All of this is directly applicable to Timothy as a pastor, and to other pastors. Yet, all of us can also learn from these verses as well.

Paul is essentially telling Timothy “How a Servant of God Can Be Read.”

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So, let’s discover three ways that a servant of God can be ready for what lies ahead:

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First, . . .

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‌I. Be ready to share the message.

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Look at verses 1-5:

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1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

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As we discover this first way that we can get ready as servants of God, I want us to focus on verses 1, 2, and verse 5.

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First of all, let’s look at verse 1 again; it’s incredible!

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1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom.

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Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ has a kingdom of His own people, He is coming back again when He appears in glory, and when He comes He will judge the living and the dead.

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These realities have tremendous implications that call us to share the gospel message with the world.

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Jesus is bringing people into His kingdom and He does so through the sharing of the gospel message.

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Jesus will judge the living and the dead and they will only escape guilt through the sharing of the gospel message.

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Jesus will return one day and take His people into His glory and into His kingdom, and they will only be able to enter through the sharing and their acceptance of the gospel message.

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Servants of God: we must be ready to share the gospel message!

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Also, look again at verse 2.

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Paul says, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season.”

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Paul says to be ready in season and out of season. This reminds me of an athlete who may let their health deteriorate during the offseason. If they’re not in shape, it will be hard to compete if they were called to do so during the offseason, because they’re not ready,

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Paul says that the servant of God must always be ready to preach the Word of God!

We are continuing with our VBS Theme for the month in preparation for VBS, tomorrow, “Twists & Turns,where following Jesus changes the game of life.” Life is not all fun and games – even after becoming a follower ofJesus; it’s full of twists and turns that can leave us feeling like we’ve taken one step forward and two steps back.We are looking at 4 encounters Jesus had with His friend Peter this month. Peter messed up,stumbled, and wasn’t perfect. But even when he messed up, it wasn’t ‘Game Over.’ God still worked throughPeter to help others learn about Jesus.So far we’ve seen Peter’s Aha! Moment where and when He first recognized Jesus for who He really is!We’ve seen Peter’s first steps of faith in Jesus when he first trusted Jesus enough to risk stepping out in faith!Last week we saw how, after seeing Jesus do the stuff for 3 years, he still denied even knowing Him when theheat was on, but how Jesus is forgiving even when we sin!Jesus defied all logic and reasoning when He died on the cross and rose from the grave so that wecould have forgiveness of our sins and live eternally with God. Hopefully, every one of us is seeing forourselves that Jesus is worth following even when it gets tough.A simple definition of the word “worthy“ is “having worth, value, or merit”. Today is about discoveringhow and why Jesus is worth following. When we trust Him as our Savior and Lord, we are acknowledging toHim that He is the most important person in our lives, like our most prized possession.You will tend to think about yourself what you think the most important person in your life thinks aboutyou. And God has a lot of thoughts about us!Psalm 139:17-18 NLT – 17  How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!18  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!I heard a missionary once say that you’ll really never see that Jesus is all you need until you see that He’sall you’ve got! Like the Hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All otherground is sinking sand.” Peter knew Jesus came to save him just as much as He did for everyone else.Everyone has a soul who will spend eternity somewhere.It’s easier to walk in compassion and love when you know what’s at stake! And your peace andconfidence you carry in friendship with God will trigger everyone around you! And because Peter understoodand received these realities, he was literally willing to risk his life to make Jesus known – wherever he was, towhoever he met.His life was changed forever, and God would use him to change the lives of everyone around him. The Holy Spritwould prompt Peter to say to a huge crowd in Acts 4:12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is noother name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”Q: If you have trusted Jesus, do you see and treat Him as your most prized person in your life?Salvation is only possible through one person – Jesus. He is worthy of all our praise, of us following Him, andof us acquainting others with Him!After Peter experienced Jesus’ forgiveness and was restored – the crux of last week’s message, he gotto do some really tough and even cool things for Jesus – things we are still talking about today! Here’s one ofthose:Acts 3:1-5 – 1  One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer – at three in theafternoon. 2  Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, wherehe was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3  When he saw Peter and John about toenter, he asked them for money. 4  Peter looked straight at him [gave him his complete attention], as did

John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5  So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something fromthem.Acts 3:6-10 – “   Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name ofJesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7  Taking hi

Luke 22:31-34,54-62; John 18:15-18; 21:1-19

We are continuing with our theme for the month in preparation for VBS, 7/17/22, “Twists & Turns,where following Jesus changes the game of life.” Life is not all fun and games – even after becoming afollower of Jesus; it’s full of twists and turns that can leave us feeling like we’ve taken one step forward andtwo steps back.We are looking at 4 encounters Jesus had with His friend Peter this month. Peter messed up,stumbled, and wasn’t perfect. But even when he messed up, it wasn’t ‘Game Over.’ God still worked throughPeter to help others learn about Jesus.So far we’ve seen Peter’s Aha! Moment where and when He first recognized Jesus for who He really is!We’ve seen Peter’s first steps of faith in Jesus when he first trusted Jesus enough to risk stepping out in faith!Today we will see that, even after all that, Peter turned his back on Jesus and denied even knowingHim! Even so, Jesus forgave Peter and restored him. Redemption is a free gift available to everyone!If you need to know how you can experience this for yourself ,or how to bring this hope to others inyour life, our Theme Verse for the week is a great way to start by praying – Psalm 25:4 – Make your waysknown to me, Lord [so I’ll recognize and know the difference between what’s from You and what’s not];teach me your paths [so I’ll know how to live them out and bring others into your ways more confidently].Today’s Point: Jesus is forgiving, even when I sin.Our sin doesn’t change Jesus, but it breaks us! Jesus loves us and wants to heal and forgive us.We want this for all the kids we get to minister to at VBS next week, but do we have this ourselves to give?Q: What is forgiveness? At its’ simplest, forgiveness is canceling a debt.We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. We all think, say, or do things that displease God. We’ve allhad plans for our lives apart from God’s plans for our lives.For every one of us, the debt for our sin costs more than we are able to pay. Sin always costs us morethan we can afford to pay, takes us further than we can afford to go away, and keeps us longer than we canafford to stay. That’s the trap! First sin fascinates, then it assassinates. It’s a thriller, then a killer – a bait,then a fate.Jesus paid that debt for us by dying on the cross for us. He offers us that debt-forgiveness for free, butit’s not automatic – we have to believe Him and receive it from Him, trading back our control and plans forour lives apart from Him for His. He gave His life as a ransom for all to pay the penalty we all own, since weall cut ourselves off from the life God gives us by turning to our own plans apart from Him, which landsus…apart from Him.For those who believe and receive God’s offer through Jesus, Colossians 1:13-14 says God “…hasrescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14  in whom wehave redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”Redemption is a churchy-sounding word, but it is very, very practical and important!!!“Redemption” is the action of re-gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, orclearing a debt.Redemption means “to restore”.

When we humble ourselves and come to God for forgiveness of our sins, by way of Jesus’ paymentwith His own life, Jesus makes it possible for our relationship with God to be restored. We can spend eternitywith Him forever.When Jesus forgives our sin, He restores our relationship with God!John 1:12- “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name [In who He says He is, inhow He defines reality, in what He promises to do], he gave the right to become children of God.”This is something you want! It’s what you were made for in the first place! (Please speak with us ifyou have questions about how Jesus can forgive your sin.)For the moment, here is Peter’s story, how he over-estimated his own character and his come-back!3 years prior to today’s passages, Peter laid down everything to follow Jesus –

First Steps – Matthew 14:22-33 – Richard Jones, 7/2/23

We are continuing with our theme for the month in preparation for VBS, 7/17, “Twists & Turns, wherefollowing Jesus changes the game of life.” Life is not all fun and games – even after becoming a follower ofJesus; it’s full of twists and turns that can leave us feeling like we’ve taken one step forward and two steps back.We are looking at 4 encounters Jesus had with His friend Peter this month. Peter messed up,stumbled, and wasn’t perfect. But even when he messed up, it wasn’t ‘Game Over.’ God still worked throughPeter to help others learn about Jesus.Last Week we saw Peter’s Aha! Moment where and when He first recognized Jesus for who He reallyis!Today we see Peter’s first steps of faith in Jesus, when he trusted Jesus enough to risk stepping out infaith!During our Youth Week, we had a time of team-building each day where Susan Prevatt helped us getbetter at forming strategies for trusting each other. “Trust” happens to be our discussion theme today – andhow Jesus is trustworthy!Jesus is trustworthy even when I doubt“Trustworthy” means “honest, dependable, ethical, virtuous, and incorruptible.” Trust is necessary inany relationship. The main question for you is, “Do you think Jesus is trustworthy? Why or why not?”Today we’re looking at the encounter Peter had with Jesus when Peter first acted on his trust in Jesus,or exercised faith. And when he did, he got to experience something really amazing! And I hope we’ll all seethat Jesus is trustworthy even when we doubt.This particular encounter with Jesus is recorded in Matthew 14 and occurs just as Jesus and discipleshad finished feeding the 5,000 men, besides women and children, from just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.Verse 20 tells us, “They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls ofbroken pieces that were left over. That’s 12 doggie bags for the disciples to remind them of what they didtogether!Matthew 14:22-33 – 22  Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of himto the other side [across the Sea of Galilee], while he dismissed the crowd. 23  After he had dismissed them, hewent up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24  and the boat wasalready a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.The account as John recorded it in John 6 says the disciples had gone 3 or 4 miles out by the time Jesuscame to them. Because of the strong wind, they had rowed and rowed, not gaining much distance.In a normal trip across the northern end of the Sea of Galilee (where they were), the boat would nothave traveled more than a mile or two from shore at any point. The storm had obviously carried it severalmiles south, out into the middle of the lake, with these guys rowing against the flow the whole time. On topof that, they were battling exhaustion before they even got into the boat.[v25-26] 25  Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26  When the disciples sawhim walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.Jesus walked a great distance – miles -on the water to get to them! Suddenly, in the stormy mist, Jesusis walking toward them on the sea. They reacted in terror, imagining that they were seeing a ghost. They allcried out in fear. They thought they’d left Jesus back on the mountainside.Besides, no one had walked on water before! This was not a taken-for-granted Sunday School lessonyet. This was a “How can things get any crazier” moment. Enter Jesus.

[v27] 27  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”Their need was real; their fear was real. But in the presence of Jesus, fear can be dismissed.I came across a great statement in Dr Tom Constable’s Expository Notes: “Fear is unwarranted where Jesus ispresent.” I believe this is in the mix of what comes next when Peter, in the middle of a cr

This whole last week was YouthWeek 2023! About 15 FBC Adults came together to bring our youth a week of Bible study, worship in song,Small Groups, Team-Building, and a different fun activity every night! Our theme for the week was, “Twists &Turns, where following Jesus changes the game of life,” because life is not all fun and games, even afterbecoming a follower of Jesus; it’s full of twists and turns that can leave us feeling like we’ve taken one stepforward and two steps back.

That was certainly the case for ourcase-study, a man in the Bible named Peter. He messed up; he stumbled; and he wasn’t perfect. But evenwhen Peter messed up, it wasn’t “Game Over”. God still worked through Peter to help others learn aboutJesus.

We looked together at fivedifferent encounters Peter had with Jesus to discover that Jesus is holy; trustworthy; forgiving when wemess up; worth following no matter what; and that Jesus is for everyone, even all of us.

The youth did not know this, butthese are the Focus of the 5 days of this year’s VBS, which is just 3 weeks away! So, for all you VBS Workerswho participated, you are that much more prepared to help, and you didn’t even know it!

Our Theme Verse for the weekwas Psalm 25:4 – “Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths [so I’ll know how to live moreconfidently].”

Because these are amazing topicsand Scriptures to study, and so we can all be more on the same page and prepared to lead the children whowill be in our care, I am going to be preaching through these passages for the next 3 weeks.This morning we’ll be looking together at Luke 5:1-11.

In the first four chapters of Luke,we see how Jesus was born, grew up, was baptized, and began His earthly ministry. Today, we are going topick up in Luke chapter 5 and learn about one of the early encounters the Bible records between Jesus andPeter.

We know from John 1:35-42 thatJesus had previously talked with Simon Peter and Andrew before this event and had been teaching in the area.Now we’re looking at the encounter Peter had with Jesus where and when he finally saw Jesus for who Hereally is – why I’m calling today’s message, “Aha!”.It’s like this line of letters, which I used this week as well: O T T F F S S E N ?What is the missing letter at the end?If you know, just raise your hand, but don’t give it away.I’m confident all of the rest of us have some kind of idea what it might be, because you believe something,based on your life experience, about what the letter might be. Everyone has reasons for what they believe,even if they believe it doesn’t matter. (which is a belief).The Bible describes Jesus as the answer to all the heaviest things of life. The Sunday School answer foreverything is typically “Jesus”, right? Just like Jesus is the answer, there is a correct answer for what letter ismissing.What do you think it is? _ I’m sure you have reasons behind what you believe the answer is, like:

“N” because all the consonants are doubled, “D” for “SEND”, or “O” to round it off. Those are all logical, butthey are also incorrect.The missing letter is ”T”. But if you thought the answer was “T” for “SENT”, you’d miss the point. And even ifyou believe and trust me that the answer is “T”, if you don’t know why, the answer probably doesn’t exciteyou.It’s similar with Jesus. Most people in the United States have heard His name and are aware that He claims tobe the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.“Jesus” is the most frequently used name in our nation. You’ll hear it in locker rooms, on golf courses, and inbusiness meetings. People shout it when they’re happy, mad, surprised, and excited. His is the only propername that is used as a swear word. But, like the letter “T”, only those who are intimately acquainted with Himare excited. Knowing about Jesus doesn’t excite. Knowing Him is very exciting!God made you to love you, and for you to love Him back. He also made you able to recognize Jesus, His son,for who He really is when intr

‌‌Recently I taught my oldest son, Jeremiah, to iron. A man should know how to iron a shirt, so I set out to teach him. I taught him how to progress through different parts of the shirt, how to use the steam function, and how to lay the shirt on the ironing board. I taught him the potential challenges of which to be aware. I also told him that the key to ironing well is in how you use the iron to your benefit.

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Well, Paul is continuing to teach Timothy how to live and lead as a faithful servant of God, and he’s continuing to do so in today’s passage. He’s told him how to lead the church well. Today, he’ll tell Timothy of challenges that he can expect along the way. Then, he’ll remind Timothy of the key to being a faithful servant of God: the Bible.

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As we journey through this passage, let’s pay attention as we discover “The Great Future Hope of the Christian.”

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Pray with me before we go any further, and let’s ask God to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at the passage together. Let’s read all of 2 Timothy 3. Follow along as I read:

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1 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.

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6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions, 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth. They are men who are corrupt in mind and worthless in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be clear to all, as was the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres.

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10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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I want us to pay attention to four discoveries in this passage.

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First, let’s discover that . . .

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‌I. The future for Christians will be challenging.

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Paul has told us this before. Jesus has told us this before.

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Yet, Paul wants to make sure that Timothy understands this, so he comes back to it again.

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Paul says in verse 1, “But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.”

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Hard times will come, church; we must not be surprised.

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Paul speaks of these hard times coming in the last days. Well, when are the last days?

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I really like the way the New American Commentary explains “the last days.” It says, “In the New Testament the phrase [the last days] refers to that entire time from the completion of Christ’s redemptive work until his return.”

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In other words, we are in the last days now, and the church has been in the last days since Jesus went back into heaven. Jesus Christ will return, and we are one

The Passage:

Colossians 3:12-17 – The Christian Life

12Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Introduction: Suit Illustration

In 2005, an actor by the name of Christian Bale portrayed the role of Bruce Wayne. In this movie, Bruce Wayne approached a member of his father’s cooperation about something called a Nomex Survival Suit. This suit was a $300,000 prototype for advanced infantry. It was designed to stop a knife, deflect a bullet, and even regulate and mask the wearer’s body temperature. The suit’s design made it ideal for advanced infantry. Unfortunately, the cost of production was so high that it was never put into production.

Bruce Wayne decided to “borrow” this suit. He painted it black and embossed a bat emblem on the chest, to which his male butler Alfred asked, “Why bats Master Wayne?” Bruce replied, “Bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies shared my dread.” Because of the suit’s design, it could stop a knife, deflect a bullet, it would even protect Bruce Wayne’s identity while he wore it, but most importantly, it became the icon of Gotham City’s superhero, Batman.

Without his suit, Bruce Wayne could go about Gotham City without anyone realizing he was Batman. When he put on the suit, he became someone the criminals feared because that was the suit’s design.

Today, we’re going to be talking about a different design, a design God has for His people. In this passage, Paul talks about attributes of a Christian’s life, attributes we must “put on” if we are to reflect and experience God’s design for us. That’s the tile of our message today: Experiencing God’s Design

Our passage today comes from the book of Colossians 3:12-17, but before we get into our passage today, let me briefly give some background information about our passage.

The book of Colossians is one of the many books in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul. Many of these books (also called Epistles) are letters addressed to a specific person or persons for a specific reason. This particular letter was written to a group of believers in the city of Colossae, a church that Paul did not found but had a positive relationship with.

In this letter, Paul addresses an issue that had risen within the people of the church in Colossae, specifically the rise of false teachers attempting to diminish the authority of God and the truth about Jesus, and one can read about that in chapters 1-2 of Colossians. Paul goes to great lengths to combat these false teachings with the truths of the gospel. In our passage today, Paul reminds the church of these truths by detailing what followers of Jesus should look like.

(read Colossians 3:12-17, then pray)

As we study this passage, we’re going to look at three truths about God’s design for His people; three truths we need to remember if we are to experience God’s design. The first truth is this: we need to remember that we are, Chosen By God.

Point I: Chosen by God. (v. 12-13)

Paul begins this passage with the reminder that those who follow after Jesus are truly God’s chosen people. Paul tells them that they are, “…God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved”.

The word “holy” means to be “set apart” by God and for His purposes. I remember growing up, my friend

My senior year of high school, I was the editor of the yearbook staff at the prestigious and elite Mulberry High School. The teacher of our class and the yearbook supervisor was Mr. Price. I really liked Mr. Price. In fact, I had him for three classes my senior year. Well, there was a young lady on our yearbook staff who was over the adverting section. I didn’t think that she was doing things quite the way that I wanted them to be done, so I started to micromanage her and pick apart everything she was doing. Well, Mr. Price saw this happening, and he sternly rebuked me, telling me that I should let her do her job. I was ashamed because I looked up to Mr. Price a lot, and I had let him down. I wasn’t doing a good job as the leader of our yearbook staff. Now, as things would turn out, I would later marry that young lady who was over the advertising section, and this past Thursday, we celebrated 21 years of marriage, so it all worked out.

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In today’s passage, Paul is going to give some more instructions to Timothy about how he can live an approved and unashamed life. By the power of the Holy Spirit, this is also helpful truth for us. Paul doesn’t want Timothy to end up in a situation like I did, where he was ashamed of the way that he lived and led. Today’s sermon is simply entitled “Approved and Unashamed.”

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Let’s look at the passage together, in 2 Timothy 2:14-26.

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14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to fight about words. This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen. 15 Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 16 Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, 17 and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them. 18 They have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are ruining the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.

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20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

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22 Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. 26 Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

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Let’s pray together as we journey through this passage.

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(prayer)

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Ok, we’re going to discover three pursuits that we must chase after so that we are not to be unashamed.

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First, . . .

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‌I. Pursue proper teaching.

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Paul again warns Timothy to avoid false teaching and empty nonsense.

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Look at verse 14: we are not to “fight about words.”

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Look at verse 14 (again): “This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen.”

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Look at verse 16: “Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness.”

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Look at verse 17: “their teaching will spread like gangrene.”

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Rather than tolerating false teaching, Timothy needs to (look at verse 15) “be diligent to present [him]self to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’

We are continuing our series in 1 and 2 Timothy. Today, we will be in 2 Timothy 2:1-13.

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Let’s read the passage, and then we’ll go from there:

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1 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

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3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer. 5 Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

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8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and descended from David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer to the point of being bound like a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. 10 This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 This saying is trustworthy:

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For if we died with him,

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we will also live with him;

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12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;

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if we deny him, he will also deny us;

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13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful,

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for he cannot deny himself.

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Join me in prayer as we ask God to speak to us through this passage:

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(prayer)

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When Florida businesses started to open back up after the COVID-19 shutdown, we received notice that Universal Studies was offering a deal to buy a one-day ticket and get the rest of the year free. We were so excited because we wanted to get out of the house, and we are not the kind of family who can often purchase multi-day passes for a theme park. Well, we took the deal, and when we went, we would write a little note and put it in the pockets of our young sons. Then, we would tell them what to do if they got lost. “Go find an adult and give them the note,” which had our names and phone numbers on it. Well, we’re blessed that they never got lost. But each time, we would say, “Remember the note. Remember the note.” We wanted to constantly remind them about what they needed to know because their well-being was dependent on that knowledge.

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In this passage today, Paul is reminding Timothy what he needs to know to live his life as a faithful Christian and minister of the gospel. Today’s sermon is entitled, “Remember to be Strong in the Lord.”

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So, as we reflect upon this passage, let’s remember three specific focuses that we need to remember.

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First, . . .

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‌I. Remember your work.

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Paul has already told Timothy not to fear and not be distracted by false teachers.

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Now, he tells Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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We’ve talked about this before, but I want to point out how helpful it is that Paul identifies both the effort that Timothy must give and the power by which that effort succeeds. Paul says, “be strong” in the “grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

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It is by Timothy’s intentional effort, that is founded in the grace of Jesus Christ, that strength will come.

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Church, as we remember the work that Jesus has left for each of us, we must remember that we need strength, and that strength is found in Jesus.

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Paul then gets specific about the work that Timothy has before him.

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In verse 2, Paul says, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

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Paul has invested in Timothy, and he is calling Timothy to invest in others. Part of Timothy’s responsibility as a minister of the gospel is to train up others to do ministry.

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Timothy needs to remember his work.