Sermon Tone Analysis

A kingdom of Servants

Servace is placed hifgher in the kingdom of God than in any other kingdom.

For many having servants is trhe sign of power, but in the king dom, being a servant is te highest form of power.

This is of course because Jesus himself came not to be served but to serve.

So as a person rises in the ranks of God’s kingdom, that person places more and more value on the humbeling act of servace,

And the matrure believer is always looking for oppertanities to excersise their spiritual gifting in acts of service.

However, all service is sacrifice.

And sometimes, the sacrifice feels more than the blessings of service, and when that happends we get discouraged.

We wonder if our effort is worth outcome.

This can and does happen to everyobe who serves, from the tea ladies, to the sunday school teachers, from the youth leadres, to the decons, from the elders to the pastors, from the pastors to the bishops, from bishops to moderators.

In our Text today, we are going to look at The Apostles Paul’s wordsof encouragment to service to Timothy, but on a lrger scale, we will look at5 God’s words of encouragment to each one of us who has taken up the position of servant.

This is the setting of our verses.

Timothy is a man called by God, as each of us are, for a work in the kingdom, however, Timothy, like all of od’s faithful servants faces difficulty, opposition and harships in this task.

Timothy was being attacked for the simplicity of the Gospel he preached and that his Mentor was in jail.

-So Paul writes:

He was attacked because he was bi-racial.

He was attacked because some thought he was to young.

These wrere the problems Timothy faced and i mention them because we all face problems of our own.

People attack us because of our past, our education, our this or that and we get discouraged.

And what happens to Timothy, is the same thing that happens to all of God’s servants:

We take the attacks personally, we stop relying on the Holy Spirit, we end up working in our own strength, we suffer spiritual buyrnout and fear makes its way into our lives.

So pauls, has a few words for Timothy and God has a few words for you:

Paul had written in his first letter:

Now he added, “Stir up—stir into flame—the gift of God.”

The Holy Spirit does not leave us when we fail.

But He cannot fill us, empower us, and use us if we neglect our spiritual lives.

Like I said last week, you can have the presence but not the power of the Holy Spirit.

Never grow weary of your spirit Gift or for the work you do for the Lord - always wrve God with all your heart.

But od is not finished, l;ets keep reading:

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to serve God, and through Him we can overcome fear and weakness.

A Spirit of Fear

The word fear in 2 Timothy 1:7 means “timidity, cowardice.”

In greek Fear - phobia - a fear that prevents… - a fear of hights prevents you from going high.

A fear of spiders prevents you from goimng near them - a phobia is a fear that prevents...

This can be a very good thing, for example, a healthy fear of God prevents you from sin.

But on the negative side, this fear also prevents many christians from serving God.

What is it that keeps you from the full potential of your ministry?

Failure?

Rejection?

Death?

Harassment?

Mockery?

What keeps you from getting a soap box and preaching on the corner?

What is it that makes you too afraid to share the good news with random strangers on the street or on the beach?

If i ask for a testamony, what prevents you from coming forward witha simple word of encouragment?

This is the fear that prevents us from serving.

God has not made you afraid of those things.

The answer to this fear is remeber that our confidance should be in God and not ourselves and when we transfer that confidence over to God our fear dissapears.

A Spirit of Power

The Holy Spirit gives us power for witness and for service.

It is futile for us to try to serve God without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Talent, training, and experience cannot take the place of the power of the Spirit.

A Spirit of love

The Holy Spirit also gives us love.

If we have love for lost souls and for the people of God, we will be able to endure suffering and accomplish the work of God.

Selfishness leads to fear because, if we are selfish, we are interested only in what we will get out of serving God, and we will be afraid of losing prestige, power, or money.

What is this love?

It is a thirst after the happiness of God’s other people.

Not in an envious way, but to seek that they are happy.

Finally,

A Spirit of Self Control:

He is also the One who gives self-control.

This word is related to the words sober and sobriety that we often meet in the pastoral letters.

“Self-discipline”

It describes a person who is sensibly minded and balanced, who has his life under control.

That is to say, wild fantasies do not cloud their minds or judgment - they have a firm hold on reality.

Conclusion

Timothy had every reason to be encouraged and to have spiritual enthusiasm in his ministry.

Paul loved him and prayed for him.

His experiences in life had been preparation for his ministry, and Paul was confident of the genuineness of Timothy’s faith.

The Spirit within him would give all the power needed for ministry.

What more could he want?

The same is true for you!