"Come Before Winter" , 2 Timothy 4:21, Pastor Daniel Reese

Welcome to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone

Church, Eldridge, Iowa. This week we welcome

Pastor Daniel Reese back to the pulpit and you

back to our sermon series podcast after a 12

week hiatus. Welcome. Good morning. It's been

12 weeks since I was able to stand in front of

you and share what the Lord has put on my heart.

In the first several weeks of that time, I didn't

miss it. I didn't miss it. I took it as a break.

But as the weeks went on, The desire to serve

the Lord in that way came back stronger than

it ever has before It isn't a desire to be seen

It isn't a desire to seem important. It's it's

a desire that's burning in me to point you to

Christ To make the most of every opportunity

that I have This is and never has been about

me and I will never forget that it is a privilege

to declare his truth to this body. The last couple

months have not been a vacation for me. It has

been a time that I've used to work on my relationship

with the Lord. It has been a time where the only

thing that I could offer this church was my prayers.

I understand more fully the words of Paul that

he writes to the church in Colossians where he

says that he hasn't stopped praying for them.

Paul wasn't with the church all the time, but

they remained in his heart and on his mind. And

for the last couple of months, I have felt that

weight that he probably felt. It has been a healing

time for me. and I'm grateful for the Lord for

how He has grown me through this season. I'm

thankful to be back here with you and I am truly

looking forward to what God is going to do through

this church and this community. One thing that

I've been burdened by lately is the fact that

time is fleeting. It seems to move a lot faster

for me now than it did when I was a kid. Especially

now that I have kids, they are growing up too

fast. You always hear people say your kids grow

up too fast. I'm absolutely living that reality.

I have always counted the summers. that I have

left with my children before they graduate. So

every summer is a good reminder to me that to

make the most of the time that I have with them

while they are still under my roof. And after

this summer, I have one left with my daughter.

But time is not just moving fast for me. The

reality is we are all closer to death or closer

to the return of Christ than we were before we

walked in here this morning. James tells us when

he says that life is a vapor. Let's hear one

minute, gone the next. Ecclesiastes tells us

that there is a time for everything and a time

for every activity under heaven. In chapter three

of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, there is a time

to be born and a time to die. Now, those of us

in this room, we have all accomplished half of

that verse. Congratulations. There is a time

to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.

My wife is really good at both of those. She

has recently gotten better about not having to

do those two things so close together. She's

doing better about keeping things alive for longer,

so that's fantastic. Then he says there is a

time to kill and a time to heal. My sincere hope

and prayer is that we are entering into a season

of healing that will lead to new life in our

church. And at the end of verse three, he says

there is a time to break down and a time to build

up. I've learned this lesson the hard way, unfortunately.

It's much easier to tear down than build something

new. It's much easier to do demolition than construction.

That is one of the areas where I feel like the

Lord is growing me by reminding me to use my

words to build. as opposed to tear down. Time

matters. And how you and I spend our time is

a kingdom issue. One day, I will stand before

the Lord and give an account for how my time

was spent on this earth. Did I make the most

of it? How many days of my life will I have to

account for for just scrolling through my phone?

or binging a TV show. So what do I do? What do

you do with the time that we have left? What

do we do with the time that we have in our lives

and the opportunities I take or don't take? Those

things matter because eventually for me and eventually

for you, time will be no more. We're all on the

same page in regards to that. For a lot of us

time matters more to us than even money I'm guilty

of this. I was having this discussion the other

day With a group of people here at the church

where I said I would rather spend some money

in order to save time Right. We use the phrase

time is money But a generation ago My parents

and my grandparents would rather spend some time

to save a buck Things have changed our our worlds

are busy and and what I have seen is that we

value our free time Because it's far more valuable

to us than even working overtime Now most of

us don't think that we're going to die tomorrow

And and I believe that is why we don't give much

thought to how we spend our days We procrastinate

We hope somebody else will do it Psalm 90 tells

us to ask the Lord to number our days so that

we may get a heart of wisdom. By reminding myself

that I have one summer left with Adélie before

she becomes an adult. Or three summers left with

Asher. Or five summers left with River. or nine

summers left with Ryker. When I think about those

things, it puts things into perspective for me.

So when I get asked to go book shopping or throw

the ball around or go fishing or play a game,

I try to do those things because there's going

to be a time where they stop asking me to do

them. But by thinking in those terms, I hope

that it has helped me become a better dad to

my children. Now obviously no one knows how much

time we have left. So it is impossible to actually

number our days. That would be weird. But if

you were told that you were going to die next

week, I would bet that you wouldn't have a hard

time concentrating on the things that really

matter. It is living what Psalms is telling us

is it's living with that mindset of making sure

that every day counts Every opportunity matters.

It is me Realizing that I have lost 12 weeks

of opportunities to encourage you in your faith

To remind you of the gospel 12 weeks of me not

operating in my gifting Too many days of throwing

a pity party for myself. I want to gain a heart

of wisdom and use this as an opportunity because

I never know which one is gonna be my last. I

never know if this is another person's last opportunity

to hear from God's word. So my prayer has been

to the Lord to help me. Number my days Help me

number my days My hope is that it will become

your prayer as well Now if there's anybody besides

Jesus That made the most of his time in the world

it would have been Paul Paul is credited in the

book of Acts for planting 14 churches over a

period of 13 years No technology No books because

he hadn't written them yet. No car to get around.

Paul took advantage of every opportunity that

he could to spread the gospel. Nothing stopped

him from his calling. Not shipwrecks, not beatings,

not prison, not distance. Nothing stopped Paul

from the calling that God had on his life. He

was martyred for the same faith in Jesus that

he used to kill others for. He invested in people

and he helped build churches into a beacon of

hope that eventually made its way here to Iowa.

Towards the end of his life, he wrote one final

letter to his protege, Timothy. Now Timothy eventually

took over as the leader of the church in Ephesus,

which Paul had started several years ago. And

as Paul's life comes to an end, he seems to be

concerned about the same things that most people

are concerned about when they know they're going

to die. He's concerned about people. He wants

to see the people that he has been in relationship

with. And so he spends the final few verses of

2nd Timothy chapter 4 just commenting on these

people that he has done life with, that he's

done ministry with, that he's served with, these

people that he loves. His final letter doesn't

close with a list of his accomplishments. Look

at how many churches I started. Look at how many

people came to faith because of me. Look at how

many miles I've walked. Look at how much money

I've accumulated. That's not what he says he

is longing to be greeted by those he has done

life with Those who have remained faithful to

the churches in which he started this is same

for every this is true for every person I've

ever met and stood beside their deathbed They

I've never heard somebody asked me to see Instagram

one more time They've never asked how much money

is left in my bank account. They just want to

be surrounded by those that they love. But Second

Timothy 421 has stuck with me the last few weeks.

Paul asked Timothy to come see him again. He

says, I'm sure we've all made those kinds of

requests throughout our life to people, things

like, I hope to see you soon. Next time you're

around in the neighborhood come and see me like

we've made those types of requests Paul's request

is different than those types of requests because

there is an urgency to it He asked Timothy to

come see me before winter Come before winter

Now by the time this letter reached Timothy And

considering the amount of time that Timothy would

need to get from Ephesus down to Rome, this is

one of those things that Timothy would have had

to do immediately. Traveling in the winter causes

tremendous difficulty. It's hard to get a ship.

It's hard to deal with the elements. And sometimes

because of the weather, it's almost impossible

to travel outside your immediate circle. Nearing

the end of his life, and confined in a Roman

prison, Paul was aware that his days were numbered.

He was aware that he probably wasn't getting

out of this thing alive. He wanted to see his

friend one more time, not only for personal support,

not only for encouragement, but to advance the

mission of the gospel. The urging of to come

before winter underscores that life's opportunities

often come with a deadline. God calls us to act

in specific moments. He calls each and every

one of us that have proclaimed faith in Jesus

to act in certain moments, whether to proclaim

the gospel, to heal a broken relationship, to

step boldly in faith, and we must respond without

delay. I mean, how often do we postpone, assuming

that we will have some time later? When we hesitate,

that can cause us to miss opportunities to serve

God and those around us. In February of 2021,

we were living in Texas. We had recently remodeled

our kitchen, which was an ordeal. And part of

that remodel was to move the water heater because

it was in a horrible place in the kitchen. My

house was built before water heaters were invented.

And so they just kind of had to stick it somewhere.

We decided to get a tankless water heater. Some

of you all have those. They're fantastic. We

decided to get a tankless water heater. And because

of the way the house was built, we weren't able

to move the plumbing very far without spending

an obscene amount of money. And so really, our

one option was to move our water heater to just

on the opposite side, which happened to be an

exterior wall. By doing that, it allowed us to

open up the kitchen the way that Sina wanted.

Now, Texas winters are not like Iowa winters,

if you didn't know that. It gets cold, but very

rarely does it get into the single digits, and

even more rarely does it ever get below zero.

But in February of 2021, Texas got hit with a

massive cold front and the state wasn't prepared

for it because it never happens. We called it

Snowvid, because it was right after COVID, right?

People were without power all across the state

for weeks at a time. They would do these rolling

blackouts throughout the day to conserve energy.

For well over a week, the temp did not get above

zero. And for weeks, it did not get above freezing.

Now if you go back to a few months prior, the

spring prior, when we had our water heater installed

on the outside of the house in the early spring,

they told me, you should probably insulate that

thing pretty good in case it goes freezing for

a long period of time. Did I do it? No. No. Because

it wasn't urgent. It never gets that cold for

that long. I wasn't prepared. Do you know what

else I learned during that time? I wasn't the

only one. Because when I ran to the store to

get some heated tape and some insulation for

my pipes, sold out. Sold out so so I got what

I could and and I would spend time five minutes

at a time ten minutes at a time In the cold with

a heat gun or a blow dryer trying to get my water

heater to kick on I Got it to work, but it would

have been so much easier If I did it when it

was installed. I shouldn't have delayed. I didn't

sense the urgency But I wish I had What is your

come before winter request. Has God called you

to something and you keep thinking, I'll get

to it when I have more time. I need to think

about it for a few days and those days have turned

into years. Has he called you to serve? Has he

called you to share your faith? Has he placed

a burden on you that you have been ignoring?

Don't don't wait for the right time. This is

a call to act quickly without hesitation The

reality is that we don't know if if Timothy actually

viewed this call from Paul is urgent We don't

know if he made it to Rome before Paul was beheaded

Now if you tend to follow through things quickly,

you might think yeah, of course he made it who

doesn't do things quickly If you're a procrastinator

Then you're like, oh, there's no way he made

it. Something distracted him, something happened,

whatever. But here's what I know. I believe that

if Timothy did make it to Paul, if he took him

out his word and came urgently, if he made it

before winter, it would have been one of those

moments that it was worth it for him. And he

would have been so glad that he did. If he hesitated,

and didn't make it until spring, I believe it

would have been one of those things that he regretted

for the rest of his life. I should have left

sooner. Regrets are almost always preceded by

procrastination. They're always preceded by hesitation.

I hear it all the time. I'm sure you do too.

I wish I would have spent more time with my kids.

I wish my wife and I would have gone to counseling

sooner. I wish I'd made peace with my loved one

before they passed away. I wish I had that conversation

about the Lord with my friend because now I have

no idea where they stand. I wish I would have

insulated my water heater before winter came.

And I know that we're all guilty of putting things

off until the situation seems better. I'll slow

down and spend time with my kids once I get that

promotion. I'll reach out when I know they aren't

so busy. I'll do some research and make sure

I have all my answers figured out and then I'll

share my faith. I'll serve somewhere when something

worth my while comes available. C .S. Lewis writes

a story about Satan and his apprentices in his

book, The Screwtape Letters. The story is told

of three apprentice devils who were coming to

earth for their first assignment. They met with

Satan who asked them what strategy they planned

to follow. The first one said, I will tell people

that there is no God. That will not work, said

Satan. because in their heart of hearts, they

know that there is a God. I will tell them, said

the second, that there is no hell. That won't

work, because there is so much evil on the earth,

they know there must be hell. Satan replied,

and then the third apprentice devil thought for

a moment, and then he said, I will tell them

that there is no hurry. Go. said Satan, tell

them that, and you will ruin them by the millions.

There is no hurry. How true is that of us? We

might have good intentions, but if we don't follow

through and act urgently, we could end up with

a lot of regrets. James tells us in chapter four,

verse 13, come now, you who say today or tomorrow.

We will go into such and such a town and spend

a year there and trade and make a profit. Yet

you do not know what tomorrow will bring. You

don't know what tomorrow will bring. It would

be foolish. It would be foolish of all of us

to think that you control what will happen in

your life tomorrow. That's why it's imperative

that when you feel the call from God, When you

feel a call from God, you pursue it with urgency

because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. What

if, what if as adults, as children, what if we

lived with urgency in regards to the things of

God? What if we stopped praying for opportunities

to serve? that fit what we want. And we just

serve because the Bible tells us to. On Tuesday,

Cena and I will celebrate 19 years of marriage.

I don't know if you remember that. 19 years of

marriage. The Lord has been so good to me to

give me a wife that is patient and gracious.

Like any marriage, we have had our fair share

of highs and lows. And within this last year

or so, we've had a season of growth that has

made us stronger than before. The reason we had

a season of growth is because there was an urgency

in us to not tolerate the way things were going.

Our communication needed improving. Our decision

-making needed some work. So instead of being

content with how things were going, we sought

help. And I'll be real honest with you, I did

not enjoy it. In fact, I was pretty mad about

it. Because going into it, I said what many of

you have probably said, we have a good marriage,

why mess it up by talking about our problems,

right? Why do we want to mess it up by bringing

these things up? We would leave a session angry

at each other. And I thought, why in the world

are we doing this? Eight months later, I'm so

glad that we did. What I was reminded of is that

God doesn't tend to grow me when things are going

well. He grows me in difficulty because it makes

me stop and clear the things away in my life

that are hindering growth. Through the difficulty,

it causes me to look in the mirror and reflect

on what needs to change in my life. I had to

stop looking at Cena. She had to stop looking

at me trying to fix each other. Well, you don't

communicate well. Well, you don't communicate

well. Well, that was a stupid decision. Well,

yours is a stupid decision. God, what do you

want from me in this moment? Now, anytime there's

two sinners together, there's going to be an

opportunity for some conflict. But there's also

an opportunity for growth. You can imagine the

same would be true of the church. Anytime you

put a bunch of sinners like this together, and

you put us in a relationship with one another,

there's going to be opportunities for conflict.

But there's going to be great opportunities for

growth as well. As the head of my family, as

the leader of my family, it is my responsibility

to pursue growth and not be content with how

things have been going. My prayer has been to

daily ask the Lord, how do you want me to respond

to this situation? What are you trying to teach

me through this? How do I honor you with my words

and my actions in my marriage? As the head of

this church, it is my responsibility to pursue

spiritual growth for this church. That burden

is on me. And there have been times that I have

failed in that responsibility. Please forgive

me for that. I wish I could tell you that I will

never disappoint you again. I wish I could tell

you that I will always handle things the right

way, but I can't. But here is what I am willing

to promise you. I will keep pursuing the Lord

and asking him to make me more like Jesus. I

will keep looking in the mirror and reflecting

on the areas in which I can grow. That's my call

to action. That's for me. But what about you?

Is the Lord making a come before winter request

to you? Is there something in you that you have

been putting off? Has the enemy been telling

you, there's no hurry. You got tomorrow, you

got next week. I am so thankful for those of

you who have stepped in to serve our church over

the last couple of months. I am so grateful for

the men who faithfully stood behind this pulpit

in my absence. You have taken on extra responsibilities,

you've gone above and beyond, and I am unbelievably

grateful to the Lord for you. However, it revealed

some things in our church that almost every church

deals with. Every church deals with this almost.

20 % of the members doing the work of the church.

I believe with everything in me that this is

a new season for our church. A season where God

is gonna do unbelievable work through us. That

will happen if we all work together. We need

you. We need you, we need you to serve. We need

you to use the gifts that God has given you.

Now some things might seem small, that's no big

deal, but they will be significant when it comes

to operating. within the body of the church.

Chuck, I think we have a QR code. Is that right?

No? Yeah? Can you put it on the screen? We have

a QR code with a list of places that you can

step in and serve. If you've wanted to get more

involved, but did not know how, this is for you.

If you've wanted to take a step, this is for

you. Scan that QR code. We made a bunch of needs

that we have around this church. And if one of

those needs, one of your gifts isn't listed,

then send me an email, send Sandy an email, send

one of us an email, and let us know, catch us

after the service. We want to help you take the

step of serving the Lord in this place. Don't

wait till after this message. If the Lord is

calling you to come before winter and serve this

church, Just do it now. Do it now. Maybe the

Lord is calling you to be a part of something

that's bigger than you. Maybe you've just been

coming here on Sundays, but you don't quite belong

yet. You haven't connected yet. Next Sunday,

we'll have a new members class where we will

walk you through what it looks like to be a part

of what God is doing at Cornerstone. I'd encourage

you to attend. We need you. We need you to plug

in here. Christianity, following the Lord is

not a spectator sport. It takes every single

one of us operating in the gifts that God has

given us to accomplish what only he can accomplish

through us. We need you. Is God calling you to

be obedient to him and be baptized? In two weeks,

we'll have a big celebration. It's one of my

favorite weekends of the year. We'll go down

to the Wapsi and would love to walk with you

as you take that step of obedience. I would love

to speak with you. I'd love to help you determine

if that's the right step for you to take. Is

God calling you to walk in obedience and be baptized?

We want to celebrate with you. Or maybe you are

hearing the most urgent of calls from the Lord

and that's to trust in Him. You've gone your

entire life trying to fill the void that only

He can. Scripture says that God has put eternity

into our hearts, which means that there is something

greater than anything we could ever experience

on this earth. There is a longing in us that

no amount of money, no personal relationship,

no career goal, no new toy will ever be able

to fill. Our hearts can only be satisfied by

a relationship with an eternal God who created

you and loves you. He is a father who longs to

see his children trust him and come to him. There's

a story in the book of Exodus where God splits

open the Red Sea. We just think about it. And

so he opens the Red Sea so that his people can

flee from their enemies and cross on dry land.

If you grew up in church, you know the story.

What you might not know is that early Jewish

writings suggest that the sea didn't open up

until people trusted that God would do it. There

are stories that say that if you walked out into

the sea, in full confidence that the Lord would

save them. Even as the waves crashed over their

heads, they trusted that God would provide a

way, and he did. The sea opened up, thousands

of people walked through because some were bold

enough to trust that God would do it. Maybe the

Lord is calling you to take the step into the

water. so that He can show you the miraculous

things He can do in your life. You are a sinner,

unable to save yourself, unable to be righteous,

which is why God sent His Son to die for our

sin so that we could have His righteousness.

So when God looks at me now, as messed up as

I am, as flawed as I am, He doesn't see my errors.

He doesn't see my mistakes. He sees Jesus. He

sees His righteousness. He can do the same for

you. The Bible says that all we have to do is

come to realize that we are sinners. Understand

that we are flawed people, that we are messed

up, that we walk in sin daily. that we then believe

that Jesus is the savior of the world, the perfect

sacrifice for a just and holy God. We gotta believe

that and then confess our sins before him. You

can't earn salvation. You just have to accept

it. That is the good news of the gospel. that

we are redeemed sinners saved by grace. If we

trust in not only that Jesus died for our sin,

but he offers us abundant life in him because

he not only died, but he was raised back to life

so that he could show the world that he and he

alone has power over sin and death. That's who

we trust in. That's who we proclaim. This is

why he is able to say that he is the only way

that we can get to the Father. He's the only

way. This is why I believe C .S. Lewis is correct

in his book. Satan doesn't try to convince you

there isn't a heaven or hell, because deep down

in your soul you know that there is. Even the

great theologians A .C .D .C. and Led Zeppelin

know this. They agree with Jesus. There's a highway

to hell, and a lot of people are on it. And there's

a stairway to heaven, and few will find it. That

isn't unloving. It's just. And anyone who calls

upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So what's

your come to winter request? I believe with everything

in me that God's Spirit is alive and active in

this church. I believe with everything in me

that if you will ask Him, He will speak to you.

He will make that request. He will put a burden

on your heart. He will call you to obedience.

We've wasted a lot of time. We've wasted a lot

of time and that's my fault. But not anymore.

It's time to go. It's a new season. If you are

new here, this is your first Sunday, man. What

a great Sunday to be here. What a great Sunday

to be here. So glad that you are here. I'm gonna

ask you to join us. Join us as we chase the Lord.

I'm gonna pray for us and then we'll celebrate

communion together. Father God, I pray right

now that your spirit will fall heavy on all of

us. Father, my prayer is that you will find me

faithful as we declare this truth. Father, I

pray that you will, your voice, your guiding

voice will echo in our hearts this morning. That

we will know without a shadow of a doubt what

you were calling us to. We pray for salvation

to come to this room. There's no amount of words

in the right particular order that I can convince

anybody. But you can. Thank you for listening

today to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone

Church, Eldridge, Iowa. For more information

about our church or just getting right with God,

please visit us at 563church .com. You can also

find us on Facebook and Instagram. Have a great

week.