How ?
Call to Worship
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord” (Ps. 27:14 KJV).
*Praise # 3 God, Our Father, We Adore Thee
*Invocation (Lord’s Prayer) Father, we come to worship with glad hearts. We thank you for your Word that is truth. We thank you for the living Word, Jesus Christ, who dwells among us. Grant that today we shall so experience your nearness that your thoughts may be our thoughts and your ways our ways.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen
*Gloria Patri (Sung together) #575
*Psalm for Today Unison Psalm 121 NRSV
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
Our Offering to God “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap” (Luke 6:38 NIV).
*Doxology #572
*Prayer of Dedication Gracious Lord, open our eyes that we may see the beauty of the world as your gift. Grant us the desire and wisdom to do our part in bringing your light to the dark places. For this purpose we do now dedicate these offerings.
Scripture Reading Genesis 32:22-31 NRSV
22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
*Hymn of Prayer # 25 Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
Pastoral Prayer O God, Thou hast found us and not we thee. At times we but dimly discern thee; the dismal mists of earth obscure thy glory. Yet in other and more blessed moments, thou dost rise upon our souls, and we know thee as the Light of all our seeing, the Life of all that is not dead with us, the Bringer of health and cure, the Revealer of peace and truth. We will not doubt our better moments, for in them thou dost speak to us. We rejoice that thou
hast created us in thine image. Thy love has stirred us into being, has endowed us with spiritual substance. In the intellect, whose thoughts wander through eternity; in the conscience that bears witness to thy eternal righteousness; in the affections that make life sweet, and reach forth to thee, O Lover of Mankind—in these, we are made heirs to the riches of thy grace. And when we wandered from thee into the far country and there wasted our substance, thou didst not forsake us. Thy love followed after us and would not let us go and compelled us to return.
We praise thee that in the advent of thy dear Son, all that thou art hast become visible to faith. His passion has become our deliverance, his wounds our healing, his cross our redemption, his death our life. Make us one with him in faith and penitence, that as he died, so we may die unto sin, that as he rose again triumphant over wrong and shame and despair, so we may rise with him into newness of life.—Samuel McComb
*Hymn of Praise # 226 Holy Bible, Book Divine
Scripture Text 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 NRSV
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
Message How ?
* What do you think when you hear the word, “FEAR”? Fear is the great motivator, or better said, the great De-motivator.
* Few things in life will trap a person in bondage like “fear”. Fear has the uncanny ability to lock us down and keep us from fulfilling our dreams.
* Fear keeps the young man from asking his dream girl out for a date.
* Fear keeps the man from leaving the security of a job to launch out and open His own business.
* Fear keeps the woman from following her dream to go to school.
* Fear keeps everyone from attempting something which we have always wanted to do or to be – because – we’re afraid of what might be revealed about us. Maybe (just maybe) we don’t know HOW. We’ve never been “instructed”. And if we FAIL, well, in our minds that’s worse than not trying.
* How does this concept of fear play in our purpose of changing lives for Time and eternity? We must remember and nail down this truth; “this church will never achieve this goal until those of us who make up this church possesses this desire in our lives.” Candidly most, if not every one of us, simply do not see ourselves as “change agents.” We see ourselves as normal, average, every-day believers who struggle. We do not see ourselves as possessing the “know how” to change lives.
* Fear of failure keeps us from giving it a try. Fear of failure keeps us from sharing our faith. Fear that we might not have EVERY answer. Our church culture has so indoctrinated us to where it is believed we must have a theological degree to be equipped for the sharing of our faith.
* But I have a belief that is quickly becoming a conviction. It is my belief that every person who had placed their faith in Christ WANTS to, HAS A DESIRE to be a change agent. We want to influence people; want to make a difference in the lives of friends.
* The rub is; that we don’t really know HOW, or we don’t think we know how, or we’re afraid we don’t know how.
* Turn with me to our text and let’s watch God’s word be the living word. (Read) But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. 15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
4 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.[1]
* One of the most frightening times for any father is Christmas morning (Maybe Christmas eve) when the kids have received all this new stuff and it has to be “put together”. Listen, men KNOW they can put it together, but they are back to the “fear” cycle again. We’re deathly afraid we’ll have to read the “directions, the instructions, the how to”.
* In our verse of scripture we are told to “fulfill our ministry”. This literally means to complete our ministry and comes from the Greek word which means “fill up”. I remember pulling into a full-service gas station and saying, “fill it up”. That meant put in as much as you can. This verse gives us three way to “put in as much as we can” while changing lives. SO, how are we to do it:
1. We must Learn Consistently. The HCSB says, “Keep a “clear” head”. Other translations use words like “sober, steady, watch, and watchful”, Peterson (the Message) says to keep your eye on what you’re doing. He is telling us to be focused. The only way I know to keep a clear mind on the task at hand is to fill my mind with the right stuff! LEARN.
> It’s time for truth among us. We have become a generation of “lazy learners.” I am the leader of this group. In High School and College my idea of learning was to accumulate enough of the information to pass whatever test my instructor had. For many, if not most, we have adapted a “just enough to get by” mentality to our belief system when it comes to study and learning. Yet the Bible teaches us something entirely differently.
> Consider these scriptures; last week’s “study to show yourself approved unto God”, “take up your cross and learn of me”. However, learning is a 2-pronged fork and we must engage both prongs. Let me illustrate.
> When grilling “steak” a useful tool is a two-pronged fork to handle them. When you flip those steaks it is necessary that you have both prongs in the steak to control the motion or it may land where you don’t want it to land.
> The two prongs of learning consistently are: Knowledge and Action. Every Child of God is called to study and know God’s word. Think about this; there are those who never go to Bible Study, or any other place to receive instruction. Know what the result of this is: God’s word cannot be hidden to keep them from sin, God’s word cannot be a lamp, and God’s word cannot be meditated on because learning has not taken place. But learning is only ONE PRONG of this process.
> Here’s the secret; Knowledge must be engaged by action. The Bible says, don’t just listen and learn – but do it. Take action. Many are lethargic because they have sat, learned, and never put it into action. We may go to a Contagious Christian class and learn about the “Bridge” illustration, but we’ll never share it. We might seek to discover our spiritual gift, but to actually discover a ministry is almost unthinkable. Yet, this is exactly what God has called us to do.
> If a mind is to be renewed and thus, transformed, there must be a consistent process of learning & growing.
2. We must Live Authentically. As we learn consistently and begin applying what we learn, know what will happen? There will be some struggles. Paul writes, “endure hardships”. The word “hardship” is interpreted sufferings, hard times, trouble, and/or affliction.” Endure carries the idea that there is something better on the other side. The Bible says the hardships we suffer here are nothing compared to what awaits those who are faithful.
> To live authentically is to not have a compartmentalized life, but rather have a daily walk with Christ which impacts every area of your life. That means as I learn about Christ, I attempt to emulate Christ’s actions.
> It means how I use my tongue, how I think, and how I interact.
> You see, we live authentically when our walk equals our talk. One writer suggested that the reason our culture has rejected the church and, to some extent, God is because more often than not, what church goers say and what we do are miles apart.
> The life of a believer is a life which is changed by renewing our minds and overhauling our lifestyle. That means it is seen in our every day life. Our reaction and responses are in transition becoming like Him.
> Let’s pare this down and get to the heart of it: What would someone (who has known you a long time) say about you? Would they say that they have seen a constant change in your life for the good? Would they say that to know you today is different than knowing you 10 years ago. // Or would they say, “it just them. They’ll never change. They were difficult, complaining, hard, & just like their parents in the past & they’ll die that way. // That is quite a legacy! But not a legacy I would want to be known by. And what a difference from a believer in Christ whose life has been changed, so they know how to assist in the changing of a life. Authentically.
3. We must Love Unconditionally. Our text says, “Do the work of an evangelist.” As I understand scripture, there is no greater love than to “lay down your life for a friend”. Please listen; the work of an evangelist is literally laying your all on the altar for your friends, neighbors and family. In fact, I would go so far as to say that to have no desire to help people find God through Jesus is the greatest act of unloving known to mankind.
> To love unconditionally is to love like Jesus loved. He laid down His life for us when we were unworthy, unlovely, and even unwanted. He didn’t wait for us to become like He wanted us to be, He loved us. And with Jesus, Love is an ACTION word.
> Have you ever heard of the three types of love? There is the “if” kind of love; if you do this, then I’ll love you. There is the “because of” love; because of who you are, I’ll love you. Neither of these are Christ’s kind of love. His kind of love is the “in spite of”; No matter what, I love you and I love you enough to act.
To Change lives for time and eternity, we must act.
*Hymn of Response # 235 Standing on the Promises
*Sending forth
*Postlude
But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
1–2 4 I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.
3–5 You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.[2]
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[1]Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. "Text edition"--Spine. (2nd ed.) (2 Ti 3:14-4:5). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]Peterson, E. H. (2002). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (2 Ti 3:14-4:5). Colorado rings, Colo.: NavPress.