Rekindle! (Week Two)

INTRO

Good morning church!

We are officially streaming Live online!

If you are joining us for the first time, welcome, and to all our regular attenders we truly miss being together.

We are known for our love, fellowship and food so these past couple weeks have been dragging on!

But we also realize that everything is in God’s hands and His timing is the best timing.

If you did not get a chance to listen to last week’s sermon, go ahead and jump onto our website at fccrb.org to catch Week One of our new 3 week series titled, “Rekindle!”

If you listened last week, welcome back.

(Sitting around a campfire talking kind of a series)

To sum up for those that are new- this series is seizing an opportunity to take advantage of the time we have in quarantine to reevaluate where we are at spiritually in our lives.

When things are going 100 mph because of work, sports, school, etc. we don’t necessarily have the time to take a minute and check our spiritual vitals so to speak.

So over these 3 weeks we are setting out to get back to 3 foundational principles for the Christian life found in 2 Timothy 1:7.

These principles were written to Timothy who was a young pastor but they apply to us today all the same.

Let’s read 2 Timothy 1:7...

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Last week we discussed three F words (wow, that sounded bad), when it comes to power that we receive as beleivers.

These three F words help us realize the power that we have as believers...

Freedom

Not the kind of freedom that you think about in America, we’re talking about the ultimate freedom from sin and death through Jesus’ death, resurrection and promise of eternal life.

Faith

Through the freedom that we have in Christ a part from sin and death, we live differently.

We live differently through the Spirit’s power given to us which is through the gift of faith.

Family

We must always remember that we are in God’s family and nothing can separate us from that.

Once we are saved, there is no spiritual pit deep enough that could separate us from God.

This week we’re going to talk about love.

The Holy Spirit does not instill fear in us but love.

Timothy was facing some issues that made it hard to love people in the way he needed to.

The interesting thing was not necessarily in a typical fashion of loving people, because of preferences but because these problem people in his church literally were spreading lies and trying to cause an issue.

The issue was that he needed not to be afraid but to speak the truth in love, God’s truth.

There were definitely things that he was up against at that time:

He had some sort of stomach issue, most likely from contaminated water back then.

1 Timothy 5:23 NIV

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

Custom to add wine to the water because it disinfected contaminated water.

2. He was a naturally timid individual

1 Corinthians 16:10 NIV

When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.

3. He was young

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

4. The heretics he was up against were very smart and determined.

I can relate to Timothy’s gratitude for Paul at times like that in ministry.

I am grateful in my own life for my dad who has given me invaluable advice over the years when facing hard situations- he has great wisdom in loving and respecting people through the toughest of times.

5. Believers in his church were being persecuted by the state.

1 Timothy 4:3 NIV

They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

This is how William Hendrickson summed up this section of Scripture:

“My dear child, Timothy, fight that tendency of yours toward fearfulness. The Holy Spirit, given to you and me and every believer, is not the Spirit of timidity but of power, and love, and self discipline. Avail, yourself of that limitless never-failing power, and you will proclaim God’s truth; of that intelligent, purposeful love and you will comfort God’s children, even to the extent of visiting me in my Roman prison; and of that ever-necessary self-discipline, and you will wage God’s battle against cowardice, taking yourself in hand.”

Hendrickson is making the point that when we relinquish our power and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, then and only then will be proclaim God’s truth; which is His love that comforts us, and as we live out of the confidence of God’s love for us, we use self-discipline to wage war against fear and the enemy.

When we fear Satan’s schemes more than we trust God’s power, we’ve lost our mental balance.

Timothy was needing a pep talk and Paul reminds him of these things:

Of Paul’s own confidence in Timothy.

Is there a greater feeling than knowing your greatest inspiration believes in you?

The fear of letting down those who you love and respect most is a cleansing thing!

Paul reminds Timothy of His rich spiritual heritage, his Christian upbringing.

His mother and grandmother loved him enough to teach him God’s truth from a young age.

Timothy is reminded of his position and gifting that he holds for teaching and equipping God’s people with His Word and how to live the Christian life.

And Paul reminds Timothy the qualities that a Christin should have and model as a teacher; courage, power, love and self discipline.

As we talked about last week, Paul is trying to help Him rekindle his love for God’s people and teaching His Word.

It’s said that as a pastor you must have a love so strong for your people that there would be no roadblock keeping you from caring for them.

The greatest thing we can do for our people is to preach, teach and equip them with God’s Word and how to live the Christian life.

If people do not understand God’s Word correctly everything else will be out of balance in life.

This is where Timothy needed the reminded most perhaps, to get back to the basics of having a love for God’s people.

Here is a great picture of the love we are supposed to understand and live out i our own lives:

READ EPHESIANS 3:14-21

Here is the truth about these verses as Chuck Swindoll puts it:

We might be timid, but the Spirit is bold.

Our competence will falter, the Spirit never fails.

We lack confidence, the Spirit never backs down.

When we look at this subject of love s being our second log that we are throwing on the fire to rekindle our spiritual fire, we need to understand this:

Love is the decision to live unselfishly and seek the highest good of another human being, and this flows deep with a Christ-like perseverance.

I would also add a second part to that;

As a pastor or Christian teacher, as Timothy was, to not show love would be to keep the peace, and allow everyone to do what they pleased to fit their own lifestyle, and preferences that are contrary to God’s Word.

The goal of teaching is love; purity, clean conscience and faith.

We may think that sounds like a really hard standard to live up to, and it is!

But as parents, don’t we desire that for our children?

Shouldn’t we desire that for our children??

So how does this all come together?

Timothy needed to purify his conscience with the love that he first received from the message of Christ in order to have everything else fall into place.

He needed to move from a worldly kind of love and emotion to a godly one, that had love for others.

He needed to see that if he did not deal with the false teachings now, it would hurt his flock later.

He needed to instill confidence and peace in his flock so they could deal with the persecution of others and the state.

Timothy had to show that God offers power unlike any other to get through life’s most challenging situations.

He needed to exercise self discipline in order to bring order back to his congregation.

Man, talk about a passage that is close to home these days!

It has been quite the journey over the past few weeks as a pastor, working with our church leadership to retain a sense of community since we aren’t able to meet in person.

I hope that through the emails, letters, calls and Facebook posts you have been encouraged in your faith.

Please let us know also how we can continue to meet your needs so you can grow in Christ during this time!

Speaking of being online, here are some ways how we can show love and unity to others through our current situation:

Some people may feel compelled that “love your neighbor” means to stay at home in quarantine for the health and protection of others.

Others will interpret that to mean they still spend time together with others, respecting the social distancing and health guidelines.

When it comes down to it, we need to respect the way other people interpret that command- we are all in a new territory right now and it’s best to give grace.

2. People have different interpretations of the government and CDC’s regulations and recommendations.

Do we obey the regulations or recommendations?

Be careful how you react when people may see things a little different than you do.

3. Because some people may have compromised immune systems or have someone in their families that do and may be more prone to staying inside away from others.

Another family may be under a ton of stress and need to get the kids out of the house before they lose it!

You don’t know everyone’s situations so love them through it right now and respect what’s best for their lives, not what you prefer.

Speaking of not knowing everyone’s situations and judging, as we close I want us to look at a story found in Luke 7:36-50.

READ LUKE 7:36-50

Observations:

The religion of the Pharisees had no resolution for the problem of sin, like many false religions today.

They respond with condemnation, but Jesus did then and does now do away with sin.

2. Jesus was well respected by that group and was referred to as Rabi, teacher. But the Pharisees wondered if he was a prophet, because only with someone with divine authority could claim the ability to forgive sins.

3. But it’s the forgiven sinner who knows the true meaning of sorrow.

4. Perfume was costly back then and even though it was probably bought out of a sinful lifestyle, Jesus saw the heart and intention of the one serving Him.

5. Jewish women back then would never let their hair down in public, this woman not only did that but wiped Jesus’ feet.

6. Verse 44- This verse is so profound “Do you see this woman? Jesus asks Simeon” Simon could not see that woman for who she was then knowing who she was before.

Isn’t that a vivid picture of how we see others verses how God sees us when we’re forgiven?

7. Verse 47- No matter how many, how great all sins are forgiven by God’s grace.

Jesus is not saying that the woman’s act saved her- her love was proof that she had already been forgiven at some point prior; whether it was during one of Jesus’ messages and she was in the crowd, a more intimate moment that she might have witnessed or maybe a message from someone else telling others about Jesus and who He was.

Regardless, Jesus’ words imply that she’s already been forgiven and that her actions were a result of that salvation she experienced.

If we have anything to prove as believers in this life, it’s that we’ve been forgiven!