All right. All right. Glory be to God alone. Amen? Amen. If you have your Bibles with you, will you please turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1? 2 Timothy chapter 1. In the Word of God reads, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, a beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience. As my forefathers did, as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind." Let's pray. I say again, glory be to God alone. God, you alone are worthy of our praise. Please forgive us where we fall short of that. Father, please forgive me. Father, I pray today that your word will go out. I know that it will not return void. And as Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit will be and move, Father. Do what you need to do. Pray that you will convict us, change us, strengthen us. God, may we lean on you. I ask in Christ's name. Amen. All right. It is a blessing to stand before you again this afternoon. As we continue to look at the church, I thought that it would be a good idea for us to take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. And looking at these verses, I want to explore the man Timothy and the gift that he received and how he was expected to use that gift to glorify the church. And as we have been reminded over the past few weeks, that all of us has been given a gift and that we are expected to use that gift to bless the body. And so those gifts can be very much a blessing to the church and not only to the church, but also to those whom we encounter in this world. So we're looking at Timothy, I think he would be a perfect person for us to look at. And for that reason, because that I believe that there's a little bit of Timothy in all of us. And when I say that, I mean that we all have been given a gift, and if we're not careful, we are hesitant to use that gift because we... we're either worried what somebody's gonna say, maybe not knowing what our gifting is, but whatever the case may be, there's generally seems to be something holding us back from exercising that gift as we should, which we will see here in 2 Timothy. But before we look at 2 Timothy, I thought it would be a great idea to lay some groundwork that kind of gets us to the point where we see Timothy here in 2 Timothy chapter one. And so, In 2 Timothy, if you remember, it's the last of the pastoral epistles. We will remember that a young convert joined Paul on his second missionary journey. So in Acts chapter 16, verses 1 through 3, it reads, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well-spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystria and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in the region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. So this was the beginning of their journey together. and Timothy labored faithfully beside Paul for 15 years or so. Then Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to work with the church there, and so here we find Paul writing back to a young Timothy. So Paul writes Timothy the second time, but this time I would argue that it's a little bit different in that Paul has basically found himself at the end of his life. He knows that this is it. And so I was thinking about this, and I wanted you guys to think along with me. You know that you've walked this journey, you've walked the life that God has called you to walk. You know you're about to die in a few days. Somebody gives you a pen and a piece of paper, and you get a chance to write to one person. What would you write? Who would you write to? And that is where I think the context of kind of where we see Paul writing to Timothy here in this letter. Pen and paper in hand, I know I'm about to die in a few days. If you look a page or two over at 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 through 8, Paul says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not only me, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing." My point here is to remind us that Paul has come to that point where there's, in one sense, there's no tomorrow for him. So he has pen and paper in hand. And he wants to write to young Timothy. And I want to remind us too that obviously we know that Timothy was somewhat of an elder, a leader in the body and in the church. But we're not all called and given a gift to take on a gift in that nature. But whatever your gifting is, do not belittle it and make sure that you seek to exercise that gift that you have been given. no matter what that gift is, no matter how big or how small. Now, I think it is important for us to lay that groundwork as we go now to 2 Timothy 1, verses 1 through 7. I want to look at the introduction here from Paul, which reads, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son, Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. So in typical Pauline fashion, this is Paul's kind of signet ring introduction to Paul. It is Paul saying, it is me, no need to think or wonder about who is writing this letter. It is me, Paul. But then Paul adds this, to Timothy, my beloved son. I think it is important that we do not miss the emotional progression in Paul's introduction to Timothy. On the one hand, Paul is identifying himself and standing on the authority of Christ. And from there, he goes on to this deeper emotional connection with Timothy. He says, grace, mercy, and peace to you, my beloved son. It is like Paul is massaging the heart of young Timothy. It's like he's saying that I know you. You know that I know that you love the Lord. I love you. You are my beloved son. Why the reference to Timothy as a son? I think Paul knew Timothy's lineage, which we will get to in a few minutes as we look further down here in this passage. But where was Timothy's father? And I think as we look through this and think about Timothy growing up, I think the father involvement is going to play a big role for us here. Men in the room, I think you'll know what I'm talking about when I say this, but I think there is something that God has put in us that yearns for a connection with our Father. It's like you're looking for that thing from your dad, whether he writes you a note or whether he looks you in the eye and says, oh, that's a great job. I love you. I am so proud of you and what you're doing and what you're seeking. It hits in a place that not many other things can. And I think that Paul knows that Timothy's father, not being a Christian, may have had some things missing here. Paul knew Timothy's lineage, which, like I said in a minute, that we'll get to in a minute. And when Timothy writes to his son and says, I am proud of you, he is seeking to grab young Timothy in a certain way. And when we don't have this thing, like I said, as young men, and I say young men, but I think it applies to young women as well. I think God has designed us. why fathers are so important to our society, why we see a big void of fathers in the lives of their children, why I think as a congregation we're trying to place fathers back in the lives of their children because fathers are so important. And I think Paul is getting at that with Timothy here. And it's so funny, like I talk about us in the church, but it reminds me of something where I walked into AutoZone maybe three weeks ago. And it was an older gentleman sitting there, and I had one of my younger daughters with me. Walked by, I think I was looking for some carburetor spray or something. But he said, hey, how you doing? Walked in. I get over by the carburetor spray. He comes around. He's like, oh, you have your daughter with you? I'm like, yes, sir. I like to keep one of them with me. You know, just I think is an important thing. He's like, yeah, I have a daughter, too. He's like, she's grown now. She's up in Chicago somewhere. And he was like, we have a great connection. He said, I didn't wound her. And it hit me when he said, I didn't wound her. What is he referring to? But he went on to say, I was in her life. She didn't have any issues because I was there. And it just struck me that even somebody who, and I didn't get a chance to talk with him on whether or not he was in the faith, but just that general conversation reminded me of the importance of a father being present and being active in their child's life. And so back to Paul in that, he says, In verse three, I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day. Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy. Remember that Paul and Timothy spent those 15 years together. Blood, sweat, tears. I don't think that Paul is just putting fancy words to paper here. I think he's really trying to make a point to draw out young Timothy and the relationship that Paul and Timothy has. And I would say the relationship is maybe kin to like a Jonathan and, oh goodness, I'm drawing a blank, is, wow, what can I think of his name? David, I'm sorry, David and Jonathan type relationship. And I think even better yet though, more of what we see from the prodigal son. So in Luke chapter 15 verses 20 through 21, it reads, and he rose and came to his father. But when he was still a great ways off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his father's neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no longer worthy to be called your son. His father didn't care about that. His father cared about his son and who he was and he was happy to see him. And I think that's the point that Paul is trying to make to young Timothy. Paul says that I'm greatly desiring to see you being mindful of your tears that I may be filled with joy. He does not want Timothy to miss the importance of that relationship. Verse five, when I called to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that is in you also. Now, earlier I mentioned fathers and I talked about the importance of the father's role in the child. But here I say thank God for mothers. It appears that Timothy's mother passed on the truth of the faith early on to her son. And we don't have time to really dig into it and look at it, but over in chapter three it says, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being that Timothy's father was not around, therefore we know that he at least had to get what he learned from his mother. And then Paul also tells us that he learned a lot of that from his grandmother as well. I'd like to place a footnote here to say to mothers and grandmothers in the room, I think it is a beautiful picture of the female importance of passing on the faith to your children. Because nine out of ten times, your children are going to spend more time with you than they will with dad, at least early on in their life. Please do not take for granted the spiritual impact of that time. I know that the days may seem long. I know that sometimes it may seem like you can't see the forest for the trees. But I want you to hear the words from Paul about Lois and Eunice and be reminded of the great importance of passing on the faith to your children. I also would like to reiterate what Brother Bosley said a few weeks ago as well. There's no greater calling or impact that you can have than loving those babies in the way that God has designed you to do so. He's given them to you for a reason. Be a blessing, do what God has called you to do. The world is gonna tell you all kind of things. We get billboards and advertisements and all the time. You're less than because you stay at home and you submit to your husband, oh, how terrible that is. Continue in the faith and do what God has designed you to do as a mother. Love those babies. Lois, Eunice passed on the faith to young Timothy earlier. And also for the young children in the room. I want you to be reminded of Proverbs 1, verse 8 and 9. It says, My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother, for they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. So little ones, when sometimes it seems like mommy is racking her brain, or it seems like she may not know what she's talking about, I think it would do you well to heed the advice of Paul to young Timothy of the importance of mothers and grandmothers in the lives of their children. Now, verse 7 and 8, which is where I want to do most of my time and focus on here as we talk about our giftings to the church and that we've been given to bless the church. So verse 6 says, Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So after drawing Timothy in, after calling him to remember their relationship, Paul hits him with this statement. This statement is vitally important. It is vitally important for Timothy to accomplish what Paul is going to call him to do in the rest of this letter. For Timothy to endure what Paul is calling him to do, this sentence must be acted upon and at the forefront of Timothy's mind. He wants Timothy to stir up the gift that God has given him. It's kind of like stirring up a fire, like giving a prong and stirring a fire or fanning the flame of a fire. I know you've heard Mr. Scott a time or two these past few weeks saying fan the flame. And it's akin to this of saying, make it burn hotter. Use what God has given you to be a blessing to the people. You must exercise the gift that God has given you. And then he says, as a matter of fact, do you remember when I laid my hands on you? I was there. I saw what was in you. God has given you a gift. Set that gift free. Don't hold it back. And thinking about this too, it reminded me of a movie. And side note, this is not a movie recommendation. This is just a scene from a movie that I thought would illustrate this very well. It's about a horse, a horse from the 1970s by the name of Secretariat. He was like this movie star of a horse. He came on the scene and took everybody by storm. But long story short there, he went on to seek to win the Triple Crown. And the movie shapes up where the owner's there when he's born. She goes through a lot of things to get him where he needs to be so that he could run the race that he needed to run. So when he hits the scene, he becomes the big horse on the market. Everybody's doubting whether or not he can win the Triple Crown because he's a sprinter. He was one of those horses who would fall in the back, kind of get to the last stretch, and then come out front. And so they found a jockey. His name was Ronnie. And they figured that he could help push this horse that way. Long story short, there they get to the final race. He's trying to win the triple crown. His arch nemesis is another horse by the name of Sham. And Sham's crew was saying and thinking, we're going to come out with a strategy. We're going to take this horse. We're going to take him out fast. We're going to wear him out. That way, when we get to the final stretch, we'll have him. There'll be nothing going on. So they get to that final race. Gates open up. Horses take off. As planned, Sham, Secretariat, go out hard. They get to a certain part in the race where everybody, the crowd, the riders, and everybody's like, oh no, this is too fast. He cannot sustain this. This is too fast. You gotta slow down. The owner stands up, yells, let him run, Ronnie, let him run. What she was saying was, set him free. Let him go. I was there with him. I know what's in him. Let him run his race. That is what Paul is saying to Timothy. You need to set it free. You need to run your race. And so, I bring that up to say to us as well, God has given us gifts. Set it free. Stir the gift that God has given you. Run your race. Bless the body with it. So, he says, stir up the gift. Fan into flames the gift of God. And I believe that this is a beautiful example of how God works in us. Paul did not say, allow the gift of God to fan you into flames. Timothy must act on the gift that he has been given. He cannot just sit back and do nothing. The gift must be put into action. And the beauty of our sovereign God is that whatever or whatever that gift is, we must act upon it and our gifting so that that God plan will not be thwarted. And here's the beauty of our God as well is Whether we exercise it or not, God's plan cannot be thwarted. So I say to you, stir the flame, stir the gift that you have been given. Look at verse seven. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind. But I think that it's apparent that Timothy struggled with his confidence. If you look at verse eight, it says, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our God. nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. Over in 1 Corinthians 16, verses 10 and 11, he also says, when Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him with the brothers. And also in 1 Timothy 4, let no one despise you of your youth, but that no one despise you of your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. So like I said, it's apparent that Timothy was struggling with something, because Paul is pointing out in these verses, help Timothy. Encourage Timothy. I need to encourage Timothy. I need to write this letter to remind Timothy that don't be timid because timidity will not get you where you need to go. There is something that the church needs from you. Being afraid, being a coward, does not get you there. But taking it a step further, with Paul knowing that he was coming to the end of his life and knowing that he had to entrust someone to take his place, he knows that being a coward, like I said, does not get you there. If you remember back in Acts chapter 14, in chapter 14, you see Paul was, it basically says, but the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. Paul had endured many things. Paul also meets Timothy some two chapters later. I am sure Paul shared the stories about what had happened to him. I'm sure that Timothy saw these things And it sounds like Timothy was afraid or at ease or uneasy in what was going on and what he was experiencing. I'm sure Paul, like I said, had bruises and scrapes sharing those stories with Timothy. Like I said earlier, timidity does not get us where we need to be amongst the body. Timidity does not get us where we need to be amongst the world when we're engaging a lost and dying culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the message to Timothy. That is the message to us as well. We must be reminded of this truth, that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And we will do well to be led by that spirit by engaging this culture with the gospel. Rightly understood and rightly applied. We will do well to remember this amongst the body as we are exercising our gifts. As you are exercising your gift in this lost and dying culture, Persecution may come. People might not like you. You might get called names. Government will change laws or seek to change laws. When you exercise your gifts amongst the body, you might often find yourself offended. I had a lovely conversation with a member here this afternoon just about how we can be easily offended by what happens even amongst the body. And so the example here as well of those things coming at us and how we are to handle those, and even in the midst of that persecution, if we want to call it that, being able to stir up and fan the gift that we've been given. Why should we do that? Because God did not give Timothy or you the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. That is why we must stir that gift. That is why you must seek to bless the body with the gifts you've been given. I need you to remember that this life is bigger than you. This life is not about you. I know we feel like that sometimes because in our sinful flesh, we kind of want what we want when we want it. But the gift that you received was not given to you for you. It was given to you to bless the person sitting next to you, the person in your community, the people in this lost and dying culture. You must embrace that gift. Don't be afraid. Don't be a young Timothy. Stir it. Fan it. We need it. The culture needs it. The elders need it. And so I want to leave you with that thought. That gift that you have, don't let it lie dormant. Fan that flame. The body needs it from you. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for another day. I thank you for what you're doing. God, I thank you that you did not give us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind. God, may we rest on that and think about just exactly what that is. God, may we reflect on the gifts that we have been given as a body, as we look at the church, who the church is, our role in the body. God, may I bless this congregation with what you've given me. May I not be afraid. May none of us be afraid. Father, may we stand on the word of Jesus Christ. May we stand on all that you've given us in your holy word. Father, I pray your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, to move us, to help us, to unite us, Father, even in our disagreements. Father, may we seek to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Father, please bless us this day as we leave here. May it be a blessed day and a blessed time for you. God, I just worship you. Father, may we find ourselves wrapped in you, resting in you, sitting at your lap. Father, as Brother Trent said today, be reminded of the picture of a father with his children. God, we are safe in you. No matter what the culture says, no matter what the culture does, no matter who hates us in the body, Father, we can seek restoration. We love you, we thank you, and we praise you. And I ask this in Christ's name, amen.