Legacy: The Foundation of Faith - 2 Tim 1.5-7

Good morning, and welcome to the preaching ministry of Dillingham Moravian Church.

My name is Pastor Simon, and here at Dillingham Moravian Church,

our heart is to make disciples of Christ throughout Bristol Bay and southwest

Alaska through the teaching of God's Word.

When I put up my 20-foot greenhouse a number of years ago, I realized that I

had to have a solid foundation for the greenhouse, or else it was going to blow

away, like when we had it in our old location.

The wind speeds from the Nushagak Bay can get exceedingly high,

and that greenhouse turns into a kite that could potentially sail away and never be seen again.

I wanted a solid foundation that would adequately hold down the greenhouse,

and so I dug footer trenches,

made sure they were level, and then half-buried blocks of old wooden dock pylons

that weighed about 100 pounds each.

Again, I leveled them out and attached the frame of the greenhouse to that foundation.

Now, regardless of the wind speed, our greenhouse does not fly away.

However, on the ground that I thought was solid, there are areas of the greenhouse

where the foundation blocks have sunk into the ground, making the greenhouse

skin not fit as well as we would like it.

My point is that a solid foundation is paramount for the life of any structure.

And that foundation cannot be solid if the ground on which it stands is not completely firm.

Salvation and the Christian life are based upon the foundation of the Word of

God working in a believer's life, And that foundation leaves a marvelous legacy. Let's pray.

Oh, Heavenly Father, we come before you. We thank you for your word, your truth.

We thank you for your life that you have given us by the Holy Spirit through your Word.

Teach us, Lord, today. I thank you for all mothers, Lord.

And may you bless them, those who are listening today.

That they may serve you and serve their families with joy and with your love.

In Your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Turn with me today to 2 Timothy 1, verse 5-7. 2 Timothy 1, verse 5-7.

2 Timothy 1:5–7 2 Timothy 1:5–7

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your

grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you

through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and discipline.

Since it is Mother's Day, most of the applications in this sermon will be directed towards mothers.

However, all the principles and applications can apply to all believing disciples of Christ as well.

The first principle that I see in this passage is that instruction in the Lord

is the foundation for salvation and the legacy of faith.

In 2 Timothy 1, verse 5, Paul wrote, For I am mindful of the sincere faith within

2 Timothy 1:5

you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice,

and I'm sure that is in you as well.

Paul was writing to Timothy and was telling Timothy that he was continually praying for him.

It's also important to know that Paul viewed Timothy as his beloved son.

Timothy was the son of a Jewish woman named Eunice who was Christian and of

a Greek man who was not a believer.

In Acts 16, verse 1-3, Luke recorded, Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.

Acts 16:1–3

And 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 brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he took him and he circumcised him

because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

These verses tell us that Timothy was a disciple and a believer who had a very

good reputation with the church in Lystra and in Iconium. And here's what I want to point out.

Notice that Timothy was not described just as a believer in Jesus Christ,

but as a disciple as well.

There is a huge difference between someone who just believes in Christ and someone

who is not only a believer, but also a disciple of Christ.

In the Gospels, a disciple is a person who follows after his or her master,

learns from their master, imitates their master, and in turn makes disciples for their master.

And when Paul arrived in Lystra, he immediately picked up on this difference in Timothy.

Paul noticed that Timothy had a good reputation, not only in Lystra, but in Iconium as well.

In 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, Paul taught that an elder must be a man who is above

1 Timothy 3:2

reproach, meaning an elder is to live such a godly life that he has a good reputation with everyone.

Paul saw these attributes in Timothy and realized the call of God on Timothy's life.

And Paul, through the Lord's direction, mentored and trained Timothy.

The question we need to ask is, how did Timothy become that godly man and disciple of Christ?

Did he get saved and the next day was this committed and faithful disciple? No.

Timothy's sincere faith came out of the legacy of the sincere faith of his grandmother and mother.

How do we know this? To find out, let's look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 14 to 15.

2 Timothy 3:14–15

Paul was writing to Timothy, and he said in verse 14, You, however,

continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of,

knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known

the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation

through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Timothy was being encouraged to continue in the scriptures that have been taught

him since his childhood by his mother and grandmother, since his dad was a Greek non-Christian.

These Old Testament scriptures were the foundation of wisdom that led him to

salvation through faith in Christ.

But I want you to notice that Paul told Timothy to continue in the things he

has learned and become convinced of.

The questions we need to answer are these. How had Timothy learned the scripture?

And why was Timothy so convinced that they are truth?

And please listen to this, because of who taught him, his mother and grandmother!!

Timothy trusted and loved them implicitly. And because he did so,

they were in position to impact his faith and train him in the scriptures more than anyone else could.

We see the legacy of faith and

instruction in the scriptures that Lois and Eunice imparted to Timothy.

And through the faithful instruction of Lois and Eunice in partnership with

the mentoring of Paul and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Timothy later became an effective minister and one of the most influential leaders of the early church.

Life was not easy, especially for someone who was called the shepherd churches

like Timothy, but Timothy had a strong foundation in the instruction of God's Word.

What can we as Christians learn from this verse?

As mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers in the Lord,

no one has more influence over your children and your grandchildren than you do.

You are in a prime position to influence and grow the faith of your children

in the Lord by training and instructing them in the scriptures and setting the

example of biblical living by your love and faithfulness.

This is extremely important for us as believers to put into practice.

The church can help. Other believers can help. but no one has the ability to

influence the faith of your children like you do.

It is possible for people to come to Christ later on in life,

but it is a lot harder and often means that the Lord needs to break us before

we can surrender our lives to Him.

It is very crucial that Christian mothers, and I include fathers and grandparents

in this, stay or abide in Christ and teach your children and your children to

teach their children to do the same.

This is at the heart of God's plan to disciple the word for Christ.

Strong, godly marriages and families are the building blocks for a Christ-like

universal church. Satan knows this.

And this is why Satan has been intacting Christian marriages so ruthlessly.

So far, we've learned that God has given Christian mothers and fathers and grandparents

a legacy of faith to pass down to the next generation, just as Eunice Lois did for Timothy.

However, sometimes in the midst of challenging circumstances,

we can let Christ's fire of faith die down within us.

And thus, it is by faith that we can rekindle the fire of our faith.

For those of you who were living in Dillingham last summer, probably know just

as well as I do that it was an extremely wet summer season.

As much as we could help it, my family and I would go over to our land to work

and to play and relax there.

Every time that we would go to our land, my boys would ask for a campfire to

be lit. My boys loved building campfires.

It had been raining that particular week, and thus the wood on our land was sopping wet.

Even the wood that we had under tarps. somehow had gotten wet.

Thus, my boys and I spent at least an hour trying to get our fire going in our

nicely built campfire to no avail.

Finally, the family were hungry and wanted to cook on the fire.

So I went and I got out my gas tank and poured gas on the fire and dropped a

match in it and watched it go boom.

Of course, my boys, being boys, always love watching things explode, right?

My point with this family story is that,

like trying to get a fire started with wood and ground that is soaking wet,

it can also be a great challenge to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit and

God's purpose in your life if we have allowed God's fire in us to go out,

or at least to diminish greatly.

Yet I want to encourage you today that it can be done by the power of God in

Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Paul continued on in 2 Timothy 1.5-6, For I am mindful of the sincere faith

within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice,

and I am sure that it is in you as well.

And here's where we are, verse 6, For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh

the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

In verse 5 through 6, Paul reminded Timothy of Timothy's sincere faith and real faith within him.

Timothy had a genuine faith through and because of the sincere faith of his

grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

Why is it so important that Paul remind Timothy that Timothy had faith?

Because Timothy needed his faith in Christ in order to rekindle Christ's gift in him.

Paul knew that Timothy was experiencing a lot of struggles in the ministry.

False teachers named Hymenaeus and Alexander brought in false teaching to the

older women of the church.

There was division due to racism and wrong theology between the Gentile and Jewish Christians.

There were also attacks on Timothy due to him being a chief elder at such a young age.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, verse 12, Let no one look down on your

1 Timothy 4:12

youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity,

show yourself an example of those who believe.”

Additionally, Paul's apostleship was always under attack, and because Timothy

supported Paul, Timothy was under attack as well.

It's very possible that Timothy was overwhelmed and may have been letting his

interior faith life with Christ slide because he was ready to give up.

Fear may have started to take over his heart. Thus, Paul exhorted Timothy to

rekindle the flame of his relationship with Christ.

Timothy was to do this by focusing on Christ and on Christ's call to Timothy.

Timothy was to keep on remembering his purpose, why, and who he was ministering

for. And here's what I want you to notice.

It is only by faith that Timothy would be able to remember the gift of God's

ministry on his life and kindle it into a fire for God. How do we know this?

Because in verse five, Paul wrote, for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you.

How can we apply these truths to Christian mothers and to all of us as believers in Christ?

God is teaching us that it is only

through faith in Christ that we can rekindle the life of Christ in us.

One of Satan's ploys is to attempt to deceive us into believing that during

hard times, when our emotions and thoughts are disordered, that we have lost

our faith, especially when we have been tempted and we have fallen into sin.

We are not to believe these lies. It is not true.

You may not be exercising your faith right now, but it does not mean that the

faith of Christ is not in you.

Your faith may be smoldering, but it is not out.

It can be fanned into a flame, and from a flame into a burning fire for God.

Faith allows us to remember God's goodness to us, not only on the cross,

but also in choosing us to be His bond slaves.

It is by faith that you, as Christian mothers, are able to sacrifice sleep,

personal time, personal needs in order to joyfully love your children and family

and view those sacrifices as good for the sake of Christ.

It is faith that allows you as a mother in Christ to be reminded of Christ's

love for you, for your spouse and your children, for the world.

It is faith that allows Christian mothers and us as believers to view Christ

being glorified through our sorrows, griefs, suffering, and sacrifice as gained.

It is through faith that allows Christian mothers to see that by raising their

children up in the Lord, they are indeed impacting generations to come,

not only for your own family, but

for every family that your children and descendants influence for Christ.

For Christian mothers and grandmothers, Faith reminds you that God's love and

calling on your life is the most amazing and valuable when you value your families,

friends, ministry, and everyone else through the lens of the surpassing greatness of Christ.

Paul in Philippians 3, verses 7-9 related that all things are now rubbish or

Philippians 3:7–9

garbage in the light of the surpassing greatness of Christ Jesus, my Lord.

In the midst of the challenges and trials of being a wife and mother,

hold tight to the surpassing greatness of Christ and to the purpose of your

calling as a mother and wife in Christ.

If you are a single mother, hold on tight to the surpassing excellencies of

God and to the purpose of your calling as a mother in Christ,

and God will leave a legacy through you.

I want to encourage you with that today. God, through Paul, taught Timothy to

rekindle his relationship with God by faith.

The question is, how do we as Christians and you as Christian mothers accomplish this?

We can rekindle our relationship of faith in Christ as we trust that God is

the one who is living in and through us.

For those of you living in Dillingham in the Bristol Bay area,

you're probably aware that Nushigak Cooperative is in the investigative stage

of building a hydroelectric facility on the Newyukuk River in the Wichichuk State Park.

According to NUSCHCAC's website, this proposed run-of-the-river concept,

which is not a dam, will generate year-round and produce up to 12 megawatts

of power, depending on the season and associated river flow.

Electricity and optical fiber would be provided to the communities of Dillingham,

Alecnegade, Caligonic,

Newstuoc, Equac, and Levooc, also supporting the electrical and communications

needs of Bristol Bay's incredible wild salmon industry in these communities.

The proposed facility is supposed to have a low impact on the salmon and may

even help the salmon by cutting down the water velocity of the falls.

I'm sharing this information about the proposed project to impress upon you

that although the hydroelectric facility will potentially supply all the power of our region's needs,

it and all the power generators on earth and in the universe pale in comparison

to the cosmic power generation ability and its benefits of the Most High God

and Sovereign Lord of the universe.

2 Timothy 1-5-7, Paul explained this,

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Timothy was struggling.

Nero's persecution had hit full tilt, and the pressure would have been overwhelming

to quit sharing the gospel at the very least, or even leaving the ministry.

Paul, who valued Timothy as a son, lovingly warned Timothy that that kind of

life was one of cowardice and shame.

Now, though Paul was warning Timothy, Paul was also encouraging Timothy by stating,

For God has not given us a power of timidity or fear, but of power, love, and discipline.

The word power, dynomaos in the Greek, which means power, strength.

This word is where we get the English word dynamo. And according to the Merriam-Webster

dictionary, a dynamo is a machine by which mechanical energy is changed into electrical energy.

Paul explained to Timothy that the Spirit of God who has, through his power,

created and sustained the universe was living in Timothy.

The Holy Spirit not only creates power, but continually generates power.

The word that Paul used for love referred to agape love or the love of affection of God.

To have love for someone or something based on a sincere appreciation and high regard.

The love that sent Jesus Christ to the cross as the blood sacrifice on our behalf

was in God's Spirit who was living in Timothy.

Paul was encouraging Timothy that God wasn't just in heaven smiling down on

Timothy and sharing his great love to Timothy from far away,

but yet rather God Almighty Jesus

Christ and the power of the Spirit was living in and dwelling in him.

Operating Timothy.

And as a result, the affection of God towards Timothy wasn't far off. It was right there.

God had sincere appreciation and high regard for Timothy through the precious

sacrifice blood of Christ.

Timothy could know and experience the love of God because God was now with him.

Moreover, God and his love dwelling within Timothy meant that Timothy could

access God's love and share God's love with everyone around him.

The last word I want you to see in this verse is the word for discipline,

which meant an exercise of prudence, a moderation, self-discipline, prudence.

However, the King James Version translated this word to be of sound mind.

This translation is also helpful because the key to a sound mind is self-discipline

or self-control and prudence, which is wisdom and how we act.

What Paul was saying to Timothy is so amazing. God himself, who has the most

self-discipline and the soundest mind in the universe, was living in Timothy. deep.

Timothy had access in Christ through the Spirit of Almighty God to God's energy-producing

power, to God's love, and God's self-control to accomplish the will of God in every circumstance.

Maybe you are a mother or a grandmother or a foster mother who is here,

or you're listening today and you're suffering from an illness,

or you're grieving the loss of a loved one.

Maybe you're dealing with a difficult work situation or a work-related event.

It's also possible that some of you are dealing with relationship issues in

your family and are in need of forgiveness, patience, love, and self-control.

Maybe you're a mother who has been trying to quit an addiction under your own

strength and you were struggling.

Maybe you're a mother who is just finding the challenges and stresses of motherhood,

marriage, and work challenging and overwhelming.

Whatever your struggle or trial is, as a Christian mother, you have not been left defenseless.

You and all believers in Christ have been given the power by and in the Holy

Spirit to live by faith in the Son of God.

We have been given the love by and in the Spirit to love God and others when it seems impossible.

God wants you to know that He loves you so dearly and He is not far off from

you, but He is living within you by the energy-producing power of the Holy Spirit.

The energy-producing power to have discipline over ourselves so that we can

control our emotions and act rightly, wisely, with prudence.

To live in and use the power, love, and self-control of God,

we, you and I, have to believe the truth that our old self is now dead and it

is Christ, through the Holy Spirit, that lives in us and is working in us.

And in order to live by the power, love, and self-discipline of God,

we are to surrender to Christ by faith and let Him, through the Spirit, control our actions.

What then has God been teaching us today? The first truth that God has taught

us today is that God has given Christian mothers and fathers and grandparents

a legacy of faith to pass down to the next generation.

This is God's calling for our lives as parents and as grandparents and as guardians.

The second truth we have learned is that it is only through faith in Christ

that we can rekindle the life of Christ in us as we trust God and believe in

Him and believe His Word.

The third truth that God is revealing to us is that we as believers in Christ

have been given the power, love, and self-control or self-discipline to live

by faith in the Son of God because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

We as christian parents have a wonderful

and important privilege and joy to give our children the foundation of the scriptures

which will lead them to salvation and carry them through as they follow their

Master Jesus Christ throughout their lives and as we're celebrating mother's

day. Let us thank God for giving us mothers but also thank God for giving us

mothers, and grandmothers, and guardians here at our church,

but also at your church where you are listening.

We thank God for them. The calling of a mother, a grandmother,

foster mother is indeed mighty when they stay in Christ and leave a legacy of

the Word of God for their children, grandchildren, and their community. Let's pray.

Father God, we thank you for your mighty and most wonderful truth.

Help us all to stay in you, to learn from your word, be guided and strengthened

and empowered and live by your Holy Spirit in Christ.

Use us, Lord. Use the mothers that are listening. Bless them. Work in them, Lord.

In your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Let me leave you with

a blessing from Ephesians 3, verse 20-21.

Ephesians 3:20–21

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the Church

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.