Uniting Generations in the Quest for Spiritual Growth

Hi and welcome to the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast.

We hope God will use this week's message to both inspire and challenge you as you seek to walk closer with the Lord.

Now join me as we listen in to this week's sermon.

What an awesome time of worship where we get to put all the things in our life aside and just focus on singing praises my favorite aspects of being part of a church.

So this morning I have something for you, seniors, but I have something also for the church, a little bit of a I guess, two audience message this morning.

So, if you will, what we're going to do is we'll be in 2 Timothy this morning, but before you go there, let me tell you a little bit about an interesting question that comes up in student ministry but also, I think, just in daily life.

There's this question of and I'm sure seniors have, uh, thought of this more lately than other times what is my purpose in life?

Has anyone ever thought that question?

Anybody, like.

Two people raised their hands, three, nobody Listen.

I think that's a big question in today's society, especially just with with all the different things that are happening in the world is what is it that I'm supposed to be doing with my life?

We ask that.

And seniors, I think, and students growing up, they think that a lot of.

What am I going to do?

Postgraduate plans For some adults.

Sometimes we have a hard time thinking of what we're going to do tomorrow.

Right, like our plans, our daily activities constantly change.

Students, your parents, know a lot.

Sometimes they get confused and don't know anything and they forget Parents, it's okay, you're still in charge, okay, you still know more than they do.

But it's fair to admit that sometimes we get a little confused in our purpose in life and what it is that we're supposed to be doing.

But there's good news in that, because Scripture answers that, I think, really clearly in 2 Timothy If you haven't turned there yet, go ahead and turn there now.

Let me give you a little bit of context, some background in what we're going to read today.

So the book of Timothy was written to a guy named Timothy.

If you didn't know, the author was a guy named Paul.

I'm sure you've heard of him.

He wrote most of the New Testament, several letters to different churches.

This is a letter to Timothy.

Some things that you need to know about Paul and the book of Timothy.

Paul was writing once again from prison.

However, this time his trial was not going well.

He was writing to his dear coworker, timothy.

Paul really wanted to see Timothy because he felt, in this stage of his ministry, abandoned by everybody else.

He felt alone.

Timothy was still on his assignment in Ephesus, and Paul gave him encouragement and instructions on how to carry on with his mission.

There were leaders in Ephesus who had a negative view of Paul because of how many times he had been in prison.

I'm sure this was a common theme through all the churches that Paul went and ministered to.

I mean, if the guy who is proclaiming the gospel to you continues to wind up in prison, I'm sure there's confusion, no matter what his prison sentence was for.

So I'm sure Timothy had a lot that he needed to clean up there as well, and so there are two main sections of this letter that I want to focus on today First, a challenge to Timothy to accept his calling, and second, instructions on how to deal with corrupt teachers in Ephesus.

Now it seems like this letter is twofold One to remind Timothy of his calling on his life Seniors, you have a calling on your life.

Church, you have a calling in your life as well but also to go off of that.

This letter is to also encourage Timothy and encourage us to remain faithful to the truth of the gospel.

What we're going to see play out here in just a second is the definition, I think also of our Christian faith.

There are two things that come with our Christian faith and it's things that I don't think we like to admit, and it's two things that I don't think we necessarily enjoy.

But let me tell you this Following Jesus involves two things risk and tension.

We don't like those two things.

Right, anybody like getting out of their comfort zone.

Maybe not many.

Okay, two or three.

Yeah, it's hard sometimes for us to go and be out of our comfort zone.

But, believe it or not, following Jesus is not easy.

So let's start 2 Timothy.

We're going to go through verses 1 through 14, but we'll break it up and there are four things that I want us to take away this morning.

So let's start reading together verses 1 through 7.

It says this, as my ancestors did when I constantly remember you in my prayers, night and day, remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and now, I'm convinced, is also in you.

Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgment.

Four charges that I think that Paul writes about in this letter that I'm going to give to seniors, but also to the church.

One hold fast to your faith.

If you're taking notes, that's the first one.

Hold fast to your faith.

I want to do a little exercise with you.

Okay, I want you to raise your hand and keep it up.

If you have been going to church for at least a year, raise your hand.

At least a year, okay, keep your hand raised.

If you've been going for five years, okay, ten years.

Fif five years, okay, 10 years, 15 years I'm going to embarrass some of you 30 years I'm not 30 yet, so that's as far as my number is going to go.

But listen, now I want you to raise your hand.

Your whole life, right?

Awesome, great.

There's nothing wrong with if you didn't have your hand up.

I'm just glad to see you this morning.

For those of you that have been plugged in your whole life.

Let me give you also some numbers.

If you've gone to church just on Sundays for the past year, you've heard 52 sermons.

If you've gone for five years, you've heard 52 sermons.

If you've gone for five years, you've heard 260 sermons.

Some of you are beating me in my mouth and I haven't written down.

Ten years is 520 sermons.

Fifteen years does anybody have it off the top of their head?

No, 780 sermons.

So listen, 15 years of going to church just on Sundays alone, you have heard the gospel 780 times just on Sunday mornings.

That's a lot of Jesus.

It's a good thing, but it's a lot of Jesus.

So that means, depending on how long you've been in church, you have learned about Jesus hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

That's not including teaching and training that you do at home.

That's not including what you do on Wednesday nights or on your other day of the weekends.

Maybe you dive into Scripture with your family on Sunday nights or on different nights of the week.

You're looking at your Bible studies lasting thousands and thousands and thousands of days and hours, and that's incredible thousands and thousands and thousands of days and hours.

And that's incredible For many of us in this room.

Our lives have been filled with the teaching about God, christian living and the Bible, but the thing that might make you a little uncomfortable psychological research has found that the most important factor of determining whether a memory sticks is how emotionally engaging it is.

Can anybody think of like times that emotion was really strong in their lives, like different situations through your life where emotions were high and you tend to remember that more than maybe what you had for breakfast on Tuesday?

Right, I have no idea what we had on Tuesday for breakfast.

I'm sorry, it was great, but I don't remember what it was.

I don't.

I'm sorry, it was great, but I don't remember what it was.

I don't remember what it was.

It wasn't emotional for me.

But listen, we are an emotionally driven people.

When emotions strike us just the right way, we tend to remember better, statistically, that moment.

That is a little uncomfortable for some of us because we don't like our emotions to be engaged in different ways.

Some people might hear that and they think they need to adjust their teaching to be better at making people feel strong emotions, but I don't think that is the case.

I think that we can get something out of any message we hear, because a lot of the time, what it is is it's God asking our hearts to engage in what it is that this word says.

See, sometimes it's easy for us to come in church and treat it as a checkbox or treat it as just another day of the week, but what Scripture calls us to do is to, emotionally, with everything that we have, engage in Scripture.

Now, that's not just including here at church.

That's included during your week, during your daily Bible studies, during the time that you sit down and discuss Scripture with your families around the dinner table, sundays or Wednesdays, when you're on vacation and you're studying God's Word.

Scripture calls us to, emotionally and physically, with everything that we have, engage in God's Word.

That's sometimes hard for us to do.

There's the old joke of we come here and we get our Jesus fill and then we want to go and beat whoever.

It is to lunch after church.

Who is it in El Dorado that we try to beat?

The Methodist?

It seems like it's always the Methodist we're trying to beat to lunch.

Anyway, listen, those things are good.

Family time is good, but what God calls us to do is to engage and not to beat towards.

Anyway, listen, those things are good, family time is good, but what God calls us to do is to engage and not to worry about anything else, but to be fully engaged in what it is that scripture tells us to do.

Hold fast to your faith.

2 Timothy 5-7, just to recap, paul says this to Timothy I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother, lois, and then your mother, eunice, and now, I'm convinced, is also in you.

So I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgment.

Timothy was raised to value scripture.

Seniors, as you go, as you leave this season of life and go to the next one, value what your family has put into you.

Value the scripture that God has put in his word and take it with you.

Hold fast to your faith.

It's in times of difficulty and struggle a lot of times that we remember, or that we need remember, who God is.

Our faith in Jesus sustains us and enables us to live a life on purpose, both in the good and in the bad, so we need to hold fast in our faith.

Right?

That's the first charge.

Charge number two share the good news.

Does anybody like good news?

A few of us.

Listen.

I want you to think of a time that something good happened in your lives.

Seniors, maybe you need to think of when you got your graduate letter or whatever, telling you you're going to graduate.

You probably told a bunch of people, right?

Did you call around and say, hey, I'm graduating?

Maybe you didn't, I don't know.

It was a big accomplishment for me.

So I don't know.

But listen, we like to share good news, both good and bad.

Right, when sharing the good news, we like, or when sharing news we like, to focus, however, more on the good.

Would you agree with me that the gospel is good news?

The gospel is great news.

In fact, there's no other news that's greater than the gospel.

2 Timothy 8-12,.

It says this Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or me, his prisoner.

Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior, christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

For this gospel I was appointed a herald apostle and teacher and that is why I suffer these things.

But I'm not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me.

Until that day We've been talking about Philippians the past few weeks, over in 252.

One thing that Paul makes apparent and that he reiterates here.

Paul goes through a lot in his ministry.

Paul is thrown in prison several different times, not for doing anything bad, but for proclaiming the gospel in places that the gospel is not as welcomed.

See, here's the thing the gospel is what carries us into the furthest places, away from our homes, and is able to shine through the darkness.

But there are a lot of people that do not agree with that same statement.

There are a lot of people that will oppose the gospel, that won't take the gospel to heart like we do, and we'll argue it and Paul makes this clear.

And Paul talks about how sometimes it's discouraging to do that.

It's discouraging to encounter people like that in different places, especially unfamiliar places.

But Paul says, hey, no matter what, share the good news.

See, in Philippians, paul continues to share the good news and what happens is, while he's in prison, not only is he telling other people about Jesus, but other people are hearing Jesus and they're taking it to heart and now they're sharing the good news.

And then they are taking the gospel and they are sharing the good news as well.

Seniors, through sharing the gospel with the people that you come into contact with, you can change your university campuses.

I fully believe that it takes one person to spark a fire in a whole university campus, so I encourage you to be the person.

Share the gospel, share the good news that God has put within you.

Point number three we've gone through to hold fast to your faith and share the good news.

Number three is rely on God's power.

Now we hear stories of Paul, peter, timothy, other disciples.

They go through a lot of different things and sometimes that's hard for us to put ourselves in their shoes and to really think about.

Like what they go through and then to realize, like man, even though they went through all these different things, they held fast in their faith.

A lot of times what happens to us is one little thing that gets in our way can shut down the rest of our day right?

One little thing doesn't go the way.

I'm guilty of it.

One little thing, one little bump in the road and our whole day is thrown off and we lose sight in what it is that God has placed in front of us.

But Paul is encouraging Timothy here don't lose sight of that.

Through the good and the bad, no matter where you're at, rely on God's power to sustain you.

2 Timothy 8 and 9, it's a repeat here.

So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner.

Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

If you're a Christian, you have power, or access to the power that the Holy Spirit gives you.

It's kind of like I'm going to talk about this more here shortly.

It's kind of like this power strip.

Right, is anybody wondering about the power strip?

Or is this kind of?

Is it weird that I'm up here like dangling around a power strip?

Listen, we'll get more to it here in just a second.

But listen, we have power through the Holy Spirit.

Plug into that power.

Get involved in that power as well.

Paul tells us four things Hold fast to your faith, share the good news, rely on God's power.

And finally, he says this continue to grow.

This is one that I think we struggle with continuing to grow.

How do we grow in Christ?

What do we do next?

What is it that we do with what we've been given?

Continue to study it.

Verses 14 through 17,.

Well, 13 through 17,.

Excuse me, hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

You know that all those in the province of the Holy Spirit who live in us, you know all the oh sorry.

Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit lives in us.

You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed in my chains.

On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me.

May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day.

You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.

Paul encourages us to continue to grow, and what that looks like is.

It's a continuous searching for the gospel.

It's not a I know who Jesus is and so I'm going to rest here and not move further any longer.

It's a hey, I know who Jesus is, and because I know who Jesus is, I want to know more about how my life fits in his grand picture.

It's hey, I know Jesus and I have this relationship with Jesus, so I need to go and take all the tools that I have, which is why the church seniors just if you didn't catch on, why the church buys you a Bible.

That's your power source.

That's something that you can plug into when you know who Jesus is, when you're discouraged or you don't know how else to grow in your faith while you're away from your church family, open your Bible, continue to grow, no matter where you're at.

I want to talk about this power strip just for a second and then I'm going to put it away.

I promise Right now, this power strip has a purpose.

If I plug something into it, what's going to happen?

Huh, I've got mixed.

Somebody say it louder Nothing, why not?

Y'all are talking way too quiet.

Why is it not going to do anything right now?

It's not plugged into its power source.

Y'all are going to a brand new place, whether it is a tech or right next door at South Ark or the University of Arkansas, or to go and be a golf professional, you're going to a new place.

This, the church right here, should act as an extension cord to you.

We, forever, are going to love you and encourage you, whether you're here or you're far off.

Let us be your extension cord.

But I encourage you to be a lot like the power strip.

Now, power strip does a few different things.

Okay, one it is a continuation, an extension of whatever you plug it into.

It has to have a source of power for it to work, though, when you go, I encourage you to be plugged in wherever it is that you go To take yourselves and to search yourselves on campus and say, hey, I'm going to find a new church home, a church home that I can pour into and that can pour into me and plug yourself into it.

Let's be extension cord, but go and find a new power outlet that you can plug into.

Here's the other cool thing about a power strip.

On my old power strip, there are six outlets.

Did you know that through this power strip, not only will it have power in itself, but everything else that plugs into this also will have power.

It's mind-blowing, right?

Listen, seniors, church, when you are a power strip and you are plugged in and engaged and you are actively living out your faith, other people take hold of that and they say, hey, you know what I want, what he's having, I want what she's having.

You, when I say, can spark a movement on your campus, in your workplaces, wherever it is that you may be, when you are being the power strip, when other people see you and want to engage more, you help them plug in.

You are now their extension into the gospel.

Seniors, your time has come to graduate.

I know that you're excited about it and you have big, big plans ahead.

I know that God has important things for you to do.

Don't lose sight in your faith.

Continue to be a lot like a power strip.

Continue to go and tell other people about Jesus and continue to be plugged in.

Continue to read God's word and find a church home that loves you just as much as First Baptist does First Baptist.

Do not forget to pray for these seniors.

Send them a letter, shoot them a text, call them when they're in town, take them to lunch, continue to be the source of getting the power of the gospel to them, just as someone did to you whenever you came to know Jesus.

I want to move into a little bit of time of reflection, of invitation.

What do we do with what Paul tells us to do?

How do we grasp hold of this faith?

How do we share the gospel with other people?

For those of you that are believers, maybe this is a time where you say you know what God.

I need to.

Just I need to reconnect, I need to replug in.

This is a time that I need to really find and study my source of power.

Let me get into your word.

Let me study more.

Let me find some way that I can grow stronger in my faith.

For visitors, this may be a place that you want to call your church home.

We would love nothing more than you to call this place your church home.

Just in what seems like a really short year that we've been here, I can tell you that this church has been so much of an extension to our family, just a group of people that is God-fearing and God-loving and loves people so much and will pour into you.

For those of you that may not be Christians or believers.

Here's what I challenge you to do Take steps, whatever steps it takes, to know who Jesus is, plug into the power outlet, be part of the body of Christ.

Maybe you just have questions about it and you just want to know more about what faith is.

Well, to help you out, brian and I will be down front here in just a minute and we'd love to talk to you and pray with you and answer questions and sit and talk with you.

Whatever it is that God has laid on your heart.

My challenge for you, my prayer for you, is to follow that with everything that you have.

So let me pray and then the worship team will come and lead us a little bit more.

God, we thank you for this day.

We thank you just for your word and we thank you for being the source of power for us as believers.

God, we pray that in this time of reflection, of invitation, god that you just move, you continue to move and continue to be present.

And God, you continue to teach us and love on us.

God, for these seniors, we just thank you again for them.

We thank you for a church family that loves them and has taken them in and encouraged them.

And God, we just pray that we are continuous in that action, god, that as they go to this next season of life, that we continue to encourage them, to reach out to them, and God just be their source of encouragement.

God, for the unbeliever in the room, we just pray for their hearts.

God, we just pray that you stir up something inside of them.

God, help them.

Know you.

God, we love you and we praise you and we thank you for this time that we got together In your