as we are coming together as we want to study the scriptures and just want to be inserted in the promises of God and the word of His grace to us. I want to direct you now to Acts 16. Acts 16, dear ones, that are done together this morning. We'll look at Acts 16, verses 1 to 5. Acts 16, 1 to 5. And I changed the title. It's a little different than These are the words of God God says Paul came also to Derby and to Lystra. A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers day by day. This is the Word of God. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word, and we will be asking you to bless us now as we study. Your Spirit come, lighten our minds, enlarge our hearts, and enable us to walk by your grace, to cling to Christ, to see him as the one in whom The word is affectionate, that, Lord, you will save and that you will mature and that you will use us now as we seek to be faithful to you in the world. Dear Father, please help us. We pray and we ask the mercy of Jesus. Amen. Well, friends, we are all looking for models. We're all looking for role models to some extent. And I know for me, one of those that came home was when I was thinking about being a father. I still have a lot to learn, but especially when the first baby came, you begin to think, how am I going to do this? It's fun in the pregnancy, and then the baby's born, and suddenly they say, So much fun, so much glory, time, of course. God is good and so wonderful. But again, you sit there and you say, what am I supposed to do? And instinctively, we begin to look at those models we have. We look to our own parents. We need our own parents for wonderful examples to follow. And we also look in the church to those who have gone before us. We look to others who raise their children and who take care of their grandchildren. We see their godly example, and even if we're not consciously thinking about it, we begin to emulate what we see in those around us. Friends, that's one of the benefits of the body of Christ. That God has so beautifully knit this whole body together, and God the Holy Spirit has so wonderfully crafted us together in Christ, that we can model one to another. when it means to follow the Lord Jesus. What would Jesus say to Peter and James and John? He would say, come and follow me. we focus much of our attention. Now, we do want to look abroad. We want to support missionaries as they go. We want to support local churches here and there. We want to be a part of those things, friends. But, as you can see now, what Paul is doing here with Timothy is very much Christ in the first disciples. Come follow me. As Paul would say, imitate me as I imitate Christ. And friends, I would wager today that many of you are already doing many of these These things we see in Paul for being and making disciples. So I want to encourage you with that. And I want the Lord to help us as we begin to see how we can be even more faithful to Him. Well, friends, remember this is the second missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas have split. Tragic. Painful. But God had a purpose. Part of the purpose was the missionary enterprise expanding. Now there's two missionary teams. And one team is Barnabas and Mark, and they're in Cyprus, and we see Paul who Asia Minor brought to visit those churches that were there, in Galatia in particular. So they come to Lusitra, and they come to Derbe, and they're checking in on the church. Remember, Paul has a pastor's heart. He loves these churches. He wants to support God's Word into their lives, and he also wants to love and shepherd them. So as they're there, we see that Paul encounters a particular disciple, and in an event He will become Paul's beloved son of faith. The man that he poured his life into, whom he loved and shepherded. This is Timothy. We get from that sweet friendship between Paul and Timothy I and II Timothy. But this is not Timothy the pastor. This is not Timothy the elder. Timothy, a young man, a disciple. And Paul sees him. He comes to Paul's attention. He is a disciple, and his name is Timothy. Now, going back just a bit, what does it mean to be a disciple? We're talking about disciple-making. And friends, sometimes in church life we throw terms around like disciple-making and evangelism and mission. And friends, all of these are good words, biblical words, helpful words. We do need to understand terminology. What does it mean to be a disciple? A disciple, for instance, is a learner. A disciple, for instance, is one who has learned from someone. And in this context, for instance, he is a disciple of Christ. He has come under the authority of Jesus as his King. Timothy is trusting in him as his Savior. following Him in truth, following Him in obedience to the Father. When we call ourselves as Christians, disciples of Christ, what we are saying, friends, to the world, to ourselves, and to those around us, we're saying, I am coming under Jesus. He will be the one who, by His Word and Spirit, will dictate to me what I am to believe, what is true, what is right and good. If I say I am a disciple of Jesus, what I am saying is that He has a right to command me, and I have every responsibility to obey. If I am saying to the world that I am a disciple of Christ, then that is the controlling factor of my identity. Before I am a father, or a husband, or an employee, or have this vocation, my identity is rooted in the ground of the Lord and saved me from the vice-place. Friends, we call ourselves the disciples of Christ. We endeavor to learn all about who He is so that we can enjoy worshiping and serving Him. So friend, let me ask you this morning, does that mark our hearts? Has God's Holy Spirit come and waken us? Have we indeed been born again so that we come to this Jesus, eager to know Him, eager to love Him, eager to serve Him? Or friends, have we settled for a cold religion I hate your modification of simply going through the motions because we believe it's the right thing for us to do. Friends, make it up. The Holy Spirit of God changes. May we open our eyes to see that Jesus' reign is good, that our Father in heaven is so gracious that he sent his sons to live and die while we were yet sinners, while we were yet in a far country, rebelling and fleeing from Him. Like Jonah, we went to Tarshish, yet this God of grace, the Sovereign and Merciful God sees us. And we're going to have food tomorrow. But we may say, yes, oh Lord, since we have been deemed to be so mercifully honored. I desire, I want to serve you, I want to follow you. May the Lord increase those passions deep in our desire to know and love the Lord. But Timothy is a true disciple. He's not a counterfeit Christian. He's not playing games. He's the real deal. And he has a history. He has a background. You know, friends, every one of you as a Christian has a backstory. That's part of the joy of being a pastor. I get to learn these things. You know, I told somebody the other day, it's almost like, you know, you've got those, I'm trying to remember exactly the rule, your grandchildren and different relatives and I have invention experiences and times when we pray together and I have all of this biographical information and it's not just it's not just data for dad's sake but all of that the Lord uses to help me as I pray for you and as I seek to minister to you or share God's He gave you the mom, he gave you the dad, he gave you the brothers, the sisters, he gave you the upbringing that in his wisdom he would purpose for you. And no matter how tragic or troubled it may be, or how wonderful and lovely it may be, God has meaning and purpose in your back story, in your past, because he is using it to shape you as his dear child in the present and in the future. Again, the circumstances around him coming into this world were a little scandalous. His mother is a Jewish woman and his father is a Greek. Which, friends, is pretty taboo in first century Judaism. This woman, who is But she and Timothy's father, they, well, they got together. Were they married? We don't know. The fact of the matter is, is he is an unbeliever, and he's never converted. He's still dead and trespasses in sin, but it says he's a Greek. What that means, what the Bible is using, it means he's Hellenized. of indications about God's will for us in which to be married. Young folks, if you're looking forward to or anticipating to be married, one of the qualifications is that if you're a believer, you're not to be unequally yoked. And so, when you're looking at all the list of guys and gals that you'd like to marry, make certain that they know Christ. Make certain that they love following him. Because when it makes for the marriage, Who knows, friends. But in this instance, his background's a good example to the community and to those around him. His father's an unbeliever. His mother is a believer and a Jew. But Timothy himself has never been circumcised. And so he's kind of in this limbo. He's a disciple of Christ, but he's grown up under a Jewish mother and a pagan father. And so the word gets around to everybody. Do you know where he came from? Do you know what his problem is? Do you know about his dad? He has the package. He has that backstory. It's a little more notorious. But God's purpose, this, for his glory and his kingdom and for the furtherance of the gospel, Timothy is so beautifully and wonderfully equipped to be in the sovereignty of God, Paul's assistant, and to go with him down on his mission. Again, you may look back at tragedy, you may look back on things in your own family or in your family's past, and you may say, you know, I really just want to forget all that. That's just so terrible, bad. But again, friends, even though it may be painful and it may be evil, know that a good and sovereign God is able to take all of that and use it for His glory and for your blessing. Friends, God loves this word, to shape you, to mold you, to prepare you. So give it to the Lord. When those painful memories come, when all of that is bubbling up inside of you, and you're just wrestling with all these things, give it to the Lord in prayer. And say, Father, I don't know what your purpose was for bringing me and my family through this, but I trust that you were good. I trust that you're soft with me. I trust that you're faithful. And we see, friends, that as Timothy is there in these cities, You know, friends, when we are identifying church, you know, candidates for church office, or potential Sunday school teachers, or leaders in different aspects of ministry, we're looking for reputation. We're looking for folks that are of a good repute. They are loved, they are walking in godliness and faithfulness to the Lord. Timothy has a good reputation. He's well spoken of by all these churches. So even though he's got this baggage, as it were, of a family history he can't really get around, and a background that seems to be just dragging him. Nevertheless, God's continued to bless him, among the Silas people. You know, friends, God is so good. Remember, the body of Christ is such a blessing to you, because he is here in the body of Christ. serving together, loving together, leading together. The Lord showed his gifts and helped to deploy them. So Timothy has a reputation. Paul recognizes that. He says, oh, I want this guy, Timothy, to be part of me. So what does Paul do? So Paul finds this man, Timothy. He understands his background, he knows he's a believer, he's checked out his character, and the Holy Spirit leads him to him. to come to ask for the ability to proclaim. You know, friends, again, this is the everyday discipleship. We're looking for those men and women who have gone before us in pilgrimage of faith. We're looking for those men and women who have been where we are now and can help us figure out how can I be faithful to the Lord in this season? And that's what Paul's doing to Timothy. He's saying, okay, Timothy, He recognizes potential, Godly character, a lot of promise here. But if Timothy is going to mature and grow as a disciple of Christ, if he is going to become the man Friends, when it comes to disciple making, one thing that I found so beautiful is to catch up folks around us in the everyday rhythms of life. The things that we do day in and day out, things that we do, whether it's going to the gym, whether it's activities that we do, we're just bringing people along with us to live life with us and in the circumstances of the day, looking for opportunities to point them to You see them when you go to the hair salon. You see them when you go to the gym. You see them when you go to the grocery store. Because you always go to Walmart about the same time every Sunday afternoon. Think about those people. And ask the Lord, Lord, help me. To witness to them, to love them, to serve them. And think about friends maybe built here in your church. Here in this body of believers. in your hearts, you can pray for them, and then you can just kind of understand that the Lord's been directing your steps to minister to them. Maybe, for instance, this is an opportunity to say, hey, I'd like to take some time to invest in you so we can grow in the Lord together. Again, for instance, Paul is catching Timothy up into the everyday rhythms of his life. He's saying, follow me as I follow you. We're sharing the gospel. We're so conceited. And we're being examples to those around us. Flawed examples? Yes. Many times, friends, we are going to fail as leaders and as families. We know that. Friends, we know that as parents. We know that as siblings. Friends, there are going to be many times when we will fall short in our example for Christ. But here's the wonderful thing, friends, is And so, friends, we can be reminded that in all of our failures, God is faithful. Where we fall short, the Lord Jesus was successful. And His blood covers my sin and the sin of those around me. And we see that our Father in heaven is so gracious to use us in these things. So Timothy looks, or I should say Paul looks, he finds Timothy, and he wants to take him along. Maybe you want to help us as we begin to look But there's a problem, verse 3, something has to kind of change. And this is an incident that sometimes breeds confusion. I know it kind of confused me some of the first times I read it, because what does Paul do? But Paul takes Timothy and circumcises him. The righteousness I need accrues to me. Friends, Paul is fighting tooth and nail for the purity of the gospel to say, you don't come to Christ, have your sins forgiven, and then try to establish your standing with God by your obedience to the law. No, no, no. It is in Christ Jesus alone that you are fully, truly, perfectly, wonderfully accepted into the kingdom of God. And the obedience which follows is an obedience out of gratitude. But Paul's saying, you don't go back to the law in order to justify. That's never been the way of salvation. It's always been in the promise of God. So Paul's fighting for this, and you say, well, why is he circumcising Timothy? Well, he tells us it's because of the Jews that were there in those regions. Because his background was so notorious. As a, you know, coming from this union between this Jewish woman who's a believer and this Greek bear, Paul says, Timothy, I think it's best if we give to you the rock circumcision. between his ability to minister to these unbelieving Jews, to share the gospel with them. First of all, it's going to be trouble if they go into a synagogue. You know, the fact that Timothy's uncircumcised doesn't mean he can't be there, but it's always going to be a thing where the Orthodox Jews are going to say, well, you know that Timothy, maybe with Paul, but he's not real, the real Theodore. Paul's saying, okay, we don't want to put any hindrance in the Gospel preaching. We want to make sure when we preach to Jews and to Gentiles that we are able to be as faithful to the Scriptures and as winsome in our evangelism as we can. Now there's another aspect where Paul doesn't circumcise Titus. Titus goes up within But I did circumcise too. And the fact is, again, friends, to make sure and to do everything possible to become all things to all men, by all means, we may then be circumcised. That's what Paul has in mind here. So think about your witness, and let's think about my witness, right, as a church, friends. You know, we want to, we want to do everything right here You know, we're witnessing to our neighbors, and let's say, you know, we recognize that our neighbors don't like a certain kind of food. They don't like pork, for whatever reason. Maybe it's dietary, maybe it's some kind of ethical thing they have, okay? But when we invite them over for dinner, We are condescending. We have freedom in Christ to eat the bacon. But, you know, because I love my neighbor, when I sit down to him at the table, I'm gonna say, look, I don't need the bacon. We're seeking to not put any stumbling block. And again, friends, that's circumstantial. That's one to one. And Paul, what he's talking about in 1 Corinthians, is that it's in the context of personal relationships Paul says, you know, when I was with those that were the Jews, I became like a Jew. I came under the law. So, right? He said, I'm going to eat kosher. I'm going to eat clean. But then, you know, when he was with the Gentiles, he said, all right, I always have the freedom of Christ to eat these things. Again, Paul's saying, I'm one designer by God's grace to do everything I can, faith and share the gospel, win some Spirit to lead us to love our neighbor and to love Him. And friends, in verse 4, we know again, friends, that the aim here is to, once again, encourage the churches because Paul and now Timothy and Silas Phil, and they share what the Jerusalem Council concluded. And the Jerusalem Council concluded that the unbelieving Gentiles come to Jesus and they're saved. They don't go to the wall, right? It's not as though they go to Christ and then have to go again and observe all of the Jewish statutes in order to be welcomed as full members of the covenant community. No, they're in Christ and they are to be received as full members. And so this message is good news. And they deliver it to these churches. That's sometimes what's the pattern we're seeing here again. Paul's disciple making strategy is pretty straightforward and simple. Okay? So he's identifying Joseph, and he is marking him out as a good man of reputation, and he's beginning to disciple him, right? And prepare him for, to be a witness. To prepare him to be a preacher and an evangelist. And so all that Paul is doing, friends, is he is day by day pointing Paul that the kingdom is carried out. And the result, verse 5, is that the churches were strengthened. So, for instance, there's faithful preaching, and we see that not only are disciples being made, but these leaders are being trained. We see that the churches are built up, strengthened in faith. They are maturing in their love for the Lord and their love for one another, and they increase in numbers every day. called us to go into the authority of Christ. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. The Lord be with you always. Be engaged. For instance, I think many times we're very good at There's a handing down, as it were, of all that the Lord has instructed us from His Word, how He's taught us how to walk in faith and love and obedience to Him, day in and day out, season in and season out. That is what we are equipping as a heritage to those who come after us. The Lord is going to use our and teach them to observe all of Christ's cast and commandments. Our interest is that we all do it together. That's what you and I do in the disciple making that we do. Whether it's our children, whether it's our neighbors, our family, our friends, whatever it is that calls us to say, come, follow me as I follow Christ. And the result turns out that God So, friends, in conclusion, on the one hand, I do what I have to do. Aren't you a disciple of Christ? Are you a lover of the Lord Jesus? Are you seeking to love and obey Him? And if we are a friend, then how will we think about the great commission that Christ has given to us? And how are we seeing it in giving money to the IMB, or doing this, or doing that, how are we seeing it in the everyday, ordinary rhythms and relationships in our lives? Are there certain people that the Lord has already put in our path that we could mentor, that we could love, that we could encourage in truth? And if not, friends, may the Lord help us, may God, the Holy Spirit, direct us. We ask the Lord, oh Lord, show me what you would have me do, and where you would have me go. And friends, I do want you to just be encouraged that as these gospel seeds plant, as their water, God in his time will bring them forth. So friends, you know, this is, disciple making is not an easy thing, and it's not an overnight thing. That's why the scriptures liken it to, you know, harvesting and growing crops in the field. There's a patient endurance to it. There's a patient's persistence in it. There is an intentionality to those relationships. And God, by His grace, used the wise word of this time. And I bet you pray for many of you who can give tons of chance. If you think of people right now who have done this for you, maybe you can do the same thing. May the Lord be glorified, may the Lord use our church, our church's kingdom to bring him the salvation of his people. Father, thank you for today. And Father, we pray that you would just continue to bless and pray Lord that you would direct us as we go on this everyday mission of disciple making. Father, we do request the Lord so often we fall short. Our obedience is weak, our love is little, Lord, we just know we can do nothing apart from you. So Father, we pray, forgive, restore, encourage us in the opportunities that you've given to us. We pray that you bless the relationships that you've entrusted to us. We ask, O Spirit, that you would prepare us to speak a word in which to speak truth and love. Well, Father, we pray that we may more and more appoint those around us to Christ, the promise of salvation that is found in the Lord. Father, we pray that you bless our church, that you would train us to be even more faithful disciples and makers. We pray that, Lord, your glory may be evident here in our church and to the ends of the earth. Father, thank you for using us. We ask the mercy of Jesus. Amen.