The year 67 A.D., the year the Apostle Paul was re-arrested, also brought a crisis of leadership in the Church. Because of Rome’s persecution many first-generation Bible teachers, trained by Paul, abandoned the faith. It fell to Timothy to train replacements. The main subject of this letter is found in 2 Timothy 2:2. How was Timothy to train the next generation of Bible teachers? This is the subject of 2 Timothy 3:10-17.

When Paul wrote of the "last days", he was referring to the time period between the resurrection of Jesus and his imminent return in glory as King. For Paul and the other Apostles, there was an expectation that Jesus could return at any point, but until he did, the situation in the world, including within the churches, would grow steadily more difficult, oppressive, and godless.

In our study today, Paul gives Timothy instructions so that the leaders in the church will be holy, useful, and ready to serve the Lord.

In our previous study of 2 Timothy 2:1-13, we discovered that the Roman persecution against Christianity created a shortage of trained Bible teachers because of the many who abandoned the Faith. Paul assigned Timothy the task of training up a new cadre of Bible teachers (2 Timothy 2:2). In 2 Timothy 2:14-19 Paul emphasized to Timothy the need to train his students to avoid the practices of false teachers, and to work hard to teach God’s Word correctly.

By the time the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to Timothy in 67 A.D., persecution had broken out against Christians instigated by Nero’s lie that Christians had set fire to the city of Rome. Paul, abandoned and lonely, wrote his beloved partner from a Roman dungeon where he awaited what he assumed would be the trial that would lead to his execution.

Paul was lonely, having been abandoned by many on account of the persecution. Only Dr. Luke and a man named Onesiphorus were with Paul in Rome. Paul recognized death was near. He longed to see Timothy and asked him to come to Rome. In this, his final letter, Paul sought to fortify and inspire Timothy to persevere in faith and service in the midst of persecution.

Paul was encouraging Timothy and reminding him of some of the most important truths for Timothy to make the foundation of his life, both as a man of God, and a shepherd of God’s church. Paul reminds Timothy, and would teach us, that the eternal and rewarding way to live is not up to our imagination and desires, but is instituted and directed by God.

Elder Commissioning of Nick Lowther and Eric Benson The purpose of this commissioning service is to emphasize the spiritual importance of Eldership. Eldership is the sacred privilege and responsibility to lead the church family to love God, to love others and to make disciples of Jesus at home and abroad. By the laying on of hands, the Elders convey upon Eric and Nick the spiritual authority to lead, provide, protect and love the Grace Church family to accomplish its mission.

Youth Sunday / Why Praise God? Sometimes, as Christians we can narrow down the gospel to just one or two things that happen to us the moment we put our faith in Him. Usually, we tell others, "Jesus died on the cross for my sins so I can go to heaven when I die." While that is a part of the gospel, it is only two of the many blessings that God has given us in Christ. Paul, the author of the Ephesians understood that there are so many blessings that we have in Christ and made sure his readers know what those blessings are.

Money. We all have to deal with money. It's a dangerous thing. In our study today we’re going to learn the Christian way to earn money and the Christian way to relate to money.