55: 2 Timothy-Disciplemaking 101
Notes
Transcript
Living for Eternity! A LIFE WELL LIVED!
Living for Eternity! A LIFE WELL LIVED!
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture).
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture).
Today if you have a God sized vision for your life I want to refresh and strengthen it, I want to see it become even greater.
If you are uncertain about your vision for your life, I want to remind you and challenge you to embrace a God sized vision.
If you don’t have a vision I want to share with you the blue print from the Bible of the greatest vision you could ever give your life to.
As a young man I wanted to do something great with my life. I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself. And we were a basketball family growing up so naturally sports basketball is where I found and looked for greatness, where I literally looked for life.
There was one major problem I was not very good at basketball at a young age. I wanted to be good but I just wasn't. So I worked and I worked and by the time I got to high school I had become a really good player. No matter how good or bad I played it was never enough I always wanted more. When I failed I was at rock bottom.
But now surely I had arrived, I was on my way to making it to college and then: The NBA. Right?
Wrong I ended up at John Brown University. It was the only school that offered me a full scholarship.
It was there at my first week on campus and I am at a Christian school not sure of what to expect and I am confronted with the Gospel message, the good news.
A man asks me on a scale of 0-100% how sure are you that you are going to heaven? Not sure how to answer, I say I am 100% sure I am going to heaven Because I am a great guy.
The next week in my dorm room I realized the good news of the gospel, that I was sinful and disconnected from God and that I could not earn the favor of God but only receive it as a gracious gift because God loved me even as a sinner. Right then and there I began my journey with God by asking God for his gift.
The goals I had previously:
I did not make my goal of making the NBA
The goal of making tons of money, I chose being a pastor so that is not happening either.
Then I had the goal of marrying a beautiful wife. Now this goal was achieved, by the grace of God.
But more importantly after receiving God’s gift not only did my eternal destination change. No longer was I destined for hell, I was now going to heaven. But even more so this vision of making the NBA as an end all seemed so small in comparison to God’s plan of knowing Him and making him known.
The man who led me to Christ challenged me that I could be a part of God’s plan and that I could give my life to making disciples regardless of what profession I chose.
Today I want to ask you are you living for something greater than yourself?
What is your vision for your life?
The reasons Heather and I, and our launch team are planting a church is because we want to make disciples. We want to be a part of God’s great vision.
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen,Building a Discipling Culture).
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen,Building a Discipling Culture).
There are a lot of churches today that are not making disciples.
WE WANT TO UN-ASHAMEDLY MAKE DISCIPLES
Will YOU join US in giving your life to God’s great vision of making disciples.
Today we are going to be in 2 Timothy and Paul is going to lay out different components of someone who has a vision for their life of making disciples.
As Paul is about to die, he is in jail for preaching good news. Think how ironic that is he is in jail for doing something good, he gives us a field manual on how to actually make disciples.
Today I want to give us some components so that we can live out God’s grand vision for our lives.
1. The first component to living out a grand vision: is authentic relationships (1:1-5).
1. The first component to living out a grand vision: is authentic relationships (1:1-5).
a. Authentic relationship resemble family.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
They used family language and they did family things. They spent time together. Paul was in a real way Timothys’s Spiritual father. One of the breakdowns we see in the church is older believers do not invest in younger believers.
Paul-Timothy -Barnabas Model
Paul-There are three important relationships we are to have as believers. We are to have older, more mature believers who invest in us.
Timothy-When we begin to grow then we are to have someone we are investing our life into.
Barnabas-Then we are also to have a Barnabas. Someone who is running with us: side by side.
Do you have a spiritual father or mother?
Are you someone else’s Paul.
“No Christian is ever chosen to be a Christian entirely for his own sake; he is chosen for what he can do for others.”
b. Authentic relationship love well.
b. Authentic relationship love well.
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
This description emphasized the affection that Paul felt for Timothy and his relationship to him as his spiritual son and protégé, whom he had nurtured in the faith.
Paul Loved Timothy!
The reality is that others should have been praying for Paul but Paul was praying for others.
He did not have to pray for Timothy, but because he is his spiritual father, he constantly remembered him.
My three oldest are about to graduate high school relatively soon. As one man said about parenting the days are long, but the years go by quick. You don’t have to tell me to worry about my kids, you don’t have to tell me to invest in my kids. My job as a parent is going to be changing pretty soon. You don’t have to tell me to invest in my kids I get to invest in them. It is what I love to do because I am their father. Paul’s relationship was so authentic with his son that he said I constantly remembers him in prayer.
Paul had high expectations for Timothy, he would be the one who would carry on Paul’s legacy after he died and Timothy would pass on what Paul had taught him to the next generations. He remembered him so much that he was praying for him night and day.
Instead of focusing on the trial he was going through he was locked in on someone else.
longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.
c. Authentic relationships are life on life.
c. Authentic relationships are life on life.
Do you have authentic relationships?
Are society makes it easy to have superficial relationships. We know more people on facebook than we know in real life.
Next time you go into a restaurant look at how many people are talking to the person they are with and how many people are talking to their phone. It makes it so simple not to have relationships.
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.
Don’t miss this. Why was Paul investing in Timothy because he had sincere faith: Why did he have sincere faith. Because he had a mother and a grandmother who raised him in Christ.
I am so challenged by this.
As a pastor don’t go and save the world and miss your family.
Don’t be a parent who does not make time to invest in their kids.
Isn’t this where discipleship starts right in our homes. As I look at our church that we are planting look at all these kids. We want to reach Pearland, we want to reach Houston, we want to reach the world, but discipleship starts right here in the home.
Sometime more is less.
Sometimes we need to say no so we can invest in our kids. They grow up way too fast.
One of the reasons we are losing ground in America is because we are not living in authentic relationship: life on life. We see discipleship as just showing up to church. Some people come to church and exit as quickly as possible. But their is no shared mission. Could you picture being an athlete and not wanting to play in the game. There is a mission.
One of our new families that is coming to our church who moved from the North part of town from a mega church. As I was asking here the biggest difference about being a part of a church plant she said it makes you think about WHY you do things. At our old church we just did stuff because that is what they told us to do. Here I am actually thinking why am I doing this.
Why are we doing these gatherings so we can be in authentic relationships, so we can do life on life.
Paul and Timothy did life together. Paul and Timothy spent time together.
We wanted to plant this church so w could have authentic relationships
Michael-When we started this journey to plant RCC this is exactly what he said to me: Nate I am far from God but my wife wants to go with you and I will support her. During Covid Michale spent time in our discipleship groups, we played frisbee golf together, we ate meals together, we watched MMA together. We studied the word together, we prayed together. He lost his job during this time. And I remember it succinctly. We were setting up for our fall festival and he gets a phone call. I got to take this. So I am listening to Michael’s job interview and they ask him what are the most important priorities in your life. He says without hesitation, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. WOW. I am thinking to myself slow down a little Michael. When I pray for Micheal I don’t have to pray for him. I get to pray for him. Now not only does Michael have a job he is living on mission at his job.
Do you have authentic relationships.
God has created us for community.
Do you have a Paul in your life. Someone who is investing in your life?
Do you have a Timothy in your life someone you are trying to invest your life in?
If you have kids start right there with your kids.
Do you have a Barnabas in your life? Who is sharpening your life.
2. The next component to living out a grand vision: is inspirational faith (1:6-10).
2. The next component to living out a grand vision: is inspirational faith (1:6-10).
Does your faith inspire others?
Paul inspired others. On mission trips they tried to kill him and he kept coming back, like the terminator. You put him in jail and he gives us one of the most famous verses in the Bible, Philippians 4:13, you could not stop this guy and in jail instead of people praying for him, he was praying for them.
Contrast this to this quote:
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. -Henry David Thoreau
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. -Henry David Thoreau
Paul was the opposite of this quote. I became a follower of Christ at a young age. Even if I would have achieved the vision I had for my life before Christ.
Paul was the opposite of this quote. I became a follower of Christ at a young age. Even if I would have achieved the vision I had for my life before Christ.
Success in basketball
Money
Beautiful wife
If that is all I had, this quote by Thoreau would be me. I would be living a life of quiet desperation.
How many people right here and right now are living lives of quiet desperation.
But God has allowed me to be a part of his grand plan and to have a vision that is greater than myself.
No matter how great your vision is if it is not God’s it will lead to hopeless and helplessness.
Paul lived a life of purpose.
Paul knew that Timothy needed to live inspired.
Fear kept Timothy from living inspired.
Fear kept Timothy from living inspired.
What keeps you from living inspired?
What keeps you from living inspired?
Fear
Laziness
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Paul knew Timothy and he knew his strengths and he also knew his weaknesses. He knew his gifts, Paul had actually laid hands on Timothy to affirm his preaching, teaching and ability to share the gospel. Timothy had a gift, but his fear was going to keep him from using his God given gift.
What is keeping you from using the gifts that God has given to you?
Timothy was scared. Now let’s remember, his Lord was crucified, his mentor is about to have his head cut off so let’s cut him a little slack.
If you work in the business world you have the potential to climb the ladder and make a lot of money.
Timothys projection was he would die like his master Jesus, or his mentor Paul.
But God’s vision is big enough to both live for and die for.
And like a spiritual father Paul lifts Timothy up!
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Paul like a great father wanted to calls Timothy up. You have the most powerful message ever given. When you are timid that is not the spirit God has given. The very Holy Spirit God has given you is characterized by POWER, LOVE AND DISCIPLINE.
When it is hard to spend time with God the spirit gives us discipline.
When it is hard to love an unloveable person God’s spirit will help you with that.
When you just do not think you can do what God has called you to do he has given you the power to do just that.
Paul knew Timothy had a tendency towards fear.
Do you need to be kindle afresh today to use the very gift that God has given you?
Inspirational faith is not ashamed of the gospel!
Inspirational faith is not ashamed of the gospel!
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,
Can you think of a time when you were ashamed to identify with Jesus or another Christian.
We need to understand the power of shame in light of the honor/shame culture in which Timothy lived: To suffer shame was horrible. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel (vv. 3, 12), Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul its minister (v. 16), and Timothy should not be ashamed of either the gospel or Paul in spite of the fact that Christianity was now a persecuted faith.
In this chapter many of Pauls guys are ashamed to to identify with him. We must remember back then if you were in prison the way that you ate is if people came and brought you food.
Timothy do not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus or of me.
Inspirational faith is willing to suffer!
Inspirational faith is willing to suffer!
Are you willing to suffer for God.
Are you willing to identify with Jesus?
2 Timothy 2:3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
Do those around you know that you are a Christ follower?
When is the last time you identified with Jesus?
Standing for Jesus is hard. I remember when I worked with college ministry when we had a social or a Bible study we would have great turn outs. But if we had a time to go out and share the gospel guys would all the sudden disappear.
The gospel is the fuel for inspirational faith!
The gospel is the fuel for inspirational faith!
“There are few passages in the New Testament which have in them and behind them such a sense of the sheer grandeur of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The inspiration the motivation to live for God’s great vision is the good news of Jesus.
who 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 granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
Notice God saves us for a purpose. He has a holy calling for your life. Is this not amazing! God did not call us because we are holy quiet the contrary he called us to make us holy.
Your calling is not based on you, it is based on God.
He has a vision for your life.
Paul knew the way Timothy was going to live out this grand vision was by seeing a fresh vision of the gospel over and over again.
Do you need a fresh vision of the gospel.
How are we going to live out this vision?
but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
Our vision is fueled by the gospel!
for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.
For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.
Application:
Is your life inspirational?
Today we talked about living with a grand vision of disciple making.
Conclusion:
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture).
“If you make disciples, you will always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples” (Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture).
One of the things I love about your pastor is that what I am preaching here today he has not just had a great vision for a couple of years he has had a great vision for a lifetime.