Gentle Conversation

Sermon for East Gate, Friday, October 17th

Hymns

Opening Hymns:

1. How Firm a Foundation 46

2. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing 37

3. Standing on the Promises 434

Before the Reading or Message:

4. My Hope is Built 102

Closing Hymn/Doxology:

5. Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Scripture

2 Timothy 2:14–26 NIV

14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Sermon Point/Extra notes

We need to trust Jesus, live as an example, and gently love people into His kingdom.

Opening Prayer

Faith and Feelings

Some people measure how strong their faith is by how they feel. If they feel close to God, then they assume they must be doing well. But if they don’t feel close to God, they start to think something’s wrong with their faith. Yet we don’t put our faith in our feelings. We don’t use our emotions to measure our relationship with God. Neither did Paul, and neither did Jesus. That’s not what Scripture teaches. We have a final hope that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us, and even though it may take us a while to get there, God will go with us the whole way.

Having different experiences and emotions can lead to different opinions about God or about what we should or should not do. The Bible is always a good place to start when we’re trying to figure out what God wants from us. And if you haven’t started reading it yet, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a wonderful place to begin. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to read with you or help you along the way.

This letter was written to a young man who was serving as pastor to a church full of people he was still getting to know. So Paul’s words are encouragement for anyone who’s trying to follow Jesus while surrounded by others who may think or act differently. And in this passage, Paul gives Timothy three things to hold on to when the waters get murky and we’re learning to follow Jesus together even when we’re not all on the same page.

1. The Lord knows who are His.

There are plenty of times when we talk with people and wonder if they’re truly following Jesus. We might even wonder whether someone is really sincere in their faith or just trying to take advantage of us. Sometimes, when we care deeply about people, we long to know whether they’ve made that decision to follow Jesus, whether they’ve truly crossed that line and meant it in their hearts.

But the truth is, that’s not always something we can know just by watching or listening. We can take people at their word and trust what they say until they prove otherwise, but ultimately, it’s not our job to decide who belongs to Jesus and who doesn’t. It’s our job to invite and encourage. Jesus is the one who judges the heart. So Paul tells Timothy, “If you’re worried about that, don’t be, because Jesus knows the hearts of all people.”

Our job is simply to keep inviting and encouraging others to follow Him.

2. Live by example.

One of the best ways to invite and encourage people to follow Jesus is not just through our words but through our actions. Just as we wonder whether others are following Jesus, they often wonder the same about us. We may say we’re Christians, but do our lives show it?

If we say one thing and do another, we send the wrong message. Either we look dishonest, or we show that following Jesus doesn’t really make a difference in our lives. Paul tells Timothy to “turn away from wickedness.” That doesn’t mean we’ll never make mistakes. But when we do, we confess, repent, and get back to living the life of righteousness Jesus calls us to.

So instead of worrying about what others are doing, Paul tells us to let God be their judge and focus on living faithfully ourselves. Let our lives be the proof of the gospel we proclaim.

3. Avoid quarrels and lead with gentleness.

This third point is something we all need to be reminded of. When we work and serve among people who don’t think exactly like we do, and we try to help them follow Jesus, Paul warns Timothy not to get into arguments. He says those quarrels are a trap of the devil that drag everyone down.

It doesn’t matter whether the topic is religion, politics, or even whether Coke or Pepsi is better. We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt that shift in our heart when a friendly conversation turns into a heated debate, when our words grow sharper, and we decide we’re not stopping until we’ve proven we’re right.

But Paul says, “Go back to the beginning.” Remember that Jesus already knows who belongs to Him. He’s already defeated sin and death. No false opinion or wrong idea can undo what He’s done. We don’t have to defend Jesus. Jesus can defend Himself.

And when we look at how He defended Himself, it wasn’t through argument or anger. It was through love. He offered His life. Even Paul, the man writing this letter, was once an enemy of Jesus. But Jesus didn’t argue him into the faith. He simply said, “Paul, why are you fighting against me?” Those gentle words knocked him to the ground, opened his eyes, and changed his life forever.

Paul would later write to the Romans that it’s not God’s justice or punishment, but His gentleness that leads us to repentance. So if we want to be like Jesus, our conversations should be filled with gentleness and love.

Gentle Love

Tough love has its place. Sometimes people need to be pulled from the fire quickly. But most of the time, when we’re walking alongside people who are learning or struggling in their faith, gentleness is what opens their hearts.

So we trust Jesus. We trust that He knows what He’s doing and who He’s working with. We can be grateful for the work He’s already doing in others. We can lead by example, making sure our own path is right, because people will follow what we do more than what we say. And we can remember not to get caught up in arguments.

Some of the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ time trained lawyers to argue people into God’s kingdom. But Jesus raised up disciples who would love people into God’s kingdom. They served, loved, and witnessed to others through what they saw God doing around them.

If we can do those things — trust Jesus, live by example, and approach others with gentleness — then we don’t have to lead anyone all the way into the kingdom ourselves. We just have to point them to Jesus, and He’ll take them exactly where they need to go.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You that You call us to serve You. In this harvest season, we think of farmers bringing in their crops, and we remember how You looked at the crowds and said the harvest was plentiful but the workers were few. You called disciples, and You call us to be some of those laborers, to bring people to You.

We thank You that You trust us with that work. Help us to see the people You’ve placed in our lives — those who need to be invited, encouraged, and shown Your love by our example. Help us to trust You, to follow You faithfully, and to approach everyone we meet with Your love and Your gentleness.

We give You all the thanks, all the praise, and all the glory.

We lift this up in Jesus’ name. Amen.