Grounded Faith

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

The WORD OF GOD - FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could "supersize" our faith?

They used to up-sell you in the fast food places – super-size – Wendy’s Biggie size.

Just 29 cents more.

What if we could do that in church – swing in and quickly get super-sized.

Run into Wal-Mart for whatever it is we need. Instant gratification.

Paul’s method of grounding our faith was, and is, not simple. According to Paul, faith is grounded when there is a willingness to suffer, a commitment to quality teaching, a passion to stand up for the gospel and a dedication to self-discipline. Obviously, these involve a life-long process of being involved in the community of faith.

To often we look for some way to speed up the process since we live in a culture that is used to fast-food, rapid transportation, social media, and instant gratification.

Paul reminds Timothy of 3 things to ground our faith.

Remember

1. Remember verse 5

Our ancestors; our nurturing mothers and grandmothers

Others mentors in the church.

Faith first lived in them and passed on to us.

Older ones who remember WWII (December 7, 1941) and the Great depression – we’ll make it!

We have our own past times when things were bleak but we stayed grounded in our faith and persevered.

Hallmark Christmas - almost always to a small town - reminded of “what it really means” amid chaos and conflict

Bethlehem candle - small town where Jesus was born - remind us of beginnings of our faith

During this pandemic - stay grounded in your faith - trusting God through the good and bad of life’s happenings

Rekindle

2. Rekindle verse 6 - 7

Keep ablaze, stir up, fan into flame, make full use, keep alive, inflame anew, kindle afresh, spark into fire

Campfire - kept going for days - fan into fresh flame each morning

Bucket of paint - stir again even if stirred yesterday

The idea behind “revival” meetings

ALREADY WITHIN US – no Wal-Mart trip needed – no McD needed

Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline

Follow

3. Follow verse 13

Keep the pattern of sound teaching – follow the pattern of sound words

Consider the sources of information you are listening to. Are they credible or are they trying to sell you something? Are they trying to scare you or are they, like Paul, appreciating you for the faith you already have?

Paul didn’t expect his followers to be superheroes. He knew they were human, vulnerable and at times afraid. Ultimately he reminds them (and now us) of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we do to respond to the crisis may not be enough. It may not always work. We may even feel guilty for making mistakes. This is where grace comes in. We are forgiven, already redeemed. God is still in charge.

Guard

4. Guard verse 14

Best way to stay grounded in our Faith is to Guard it

Guard the Good Deposit

Verse 14 - Guard - Greek = “to protect from loss or damage”

The Holy Spirit helps us do that. He keeps us grounded in our Faith

Remember, Rekindle, Follow, Guard

Keep the Faith - Live the Faith - Share the Faith

Go to Bethlehem - Meet Jesus

Be Grounded in Him this Christmas

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