It Starts With You

Introduction:

Illustration: The reason you have been scammed is because they were PERSUASIVE!

Illustration: Have you ever bought something from a door-to-door salesman? Why? PERSUASIVE!

Our purpose is to talk a talk and walk a walk that persuades our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. to turn to Jesus.

Sad truth is this: many believers will spend most of their time to persuading themselves that their sin is really not that bad as apposed to persuading sinners that Jesus is really that great!

1) Timothy’s Foundation

A. The Family foundation (v5; Acts 16:1-3)

Who was Timothy’s mother?

Daughter of Lois (a converted Jew by Paul)

Timothy's mother was a convert of the apostle Paul.

She was a mother who was a great example of sincere faith in the Lord.

She raised Timothy with God's Word.

Eunice. Timothy’s mother, daughter of Lois (2 Tm 1:5), and the wife of a pagan Greek; a “Jewish woman who was a believer” (Acts 16:1). She apparently taught her son the OT Scriptures “from childhood” (2 Tm 3:15) and was converted to Christianity during Paul’s first trip to her home in Lystra, previous to his visit mentioned in Acts 16:1. (Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Eunice. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 729). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)

Eunice (yu-ni’-see) = Conquering well. Literally - happy victory. (Smith, S., & Cornwall, J. (1998). In The exhaustive dictionary of Bible names (p. 72). North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos.)

Both of these women were used by God to teach Timothy about the kind of faith God uses.

They put what God was interested in the most in front of Timothy.

TODAY’S EXCUSES: If I only had the time, I would teach my children more about the Lord | If my child was not in so many activities | If I did not have to work three jobs

Illustration: The faith Timothy was taught and showed was like fuel and motor oil is to a car.

They had no idea exactly the life Timothy would live, but they knew he had a life to live.

Lois — “grandmother” is only mentioned once in the Bible (sincere faith)

Eunice — only mentioned a couple of places in the Bible (sincere faith)

2) Timothy’s Fruit

A. The roots of his fruit (sincere faith)

“unfeigned faith” = sincere faith

“in thee” = rooted, alive, transformation

LISTEN, any good thing must be PUT IN US!

Let us look at what the Bible says about SINCERE FAITH:

Joshua 24:14

No rivals.

Idolatry can END with YOU.

It requires a negative & positive.

God is always fighting to bring you back to sincerity (sickness, finances, job).

1 Corinthians 5:8

Opposite of leaven

Purity

2 Corinthians 1:12

Simplicity — the quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech (the absence of affectation or pretense).

Godly sincerity —

Only by God’s grace can one live in the world and not live like the world.

How does a Believer remain sincere? By continuing to LEAN IN to Jesus!

Philippians 1:9-11

Sincere without offence

Your sincerity will one day be judged!

Sincerity grows stronger when your love grows deeper in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Sincerity leads to a fruitful life!

Titus 2:7 & 1 John 3:18

“Pattern of good works”

Sincerity is ACTION SEEN not a THOUGHT that is HIDDEN!

B. The results of his faith

What I am going to show you is a life that was shaped by those who influenced him and his own personal faith.

Here is a quick list of a life that was lived with purpose and shaped by his faith in the Lord:

Paul’s minister — Acts 19:22

Paul’s co-laborer — Romans 16:21

He became usable — Acts 16:1-5

Faithful to the Lord — 1 Corinthians 4:17

Committed to God’s work — 1 Corinthians 16:10

Preached Jesus — 2 Corinthians 1:19

Labored in prayer — 1 Thess. 1:1-2

He discipled believers and comforted them — 1 Thess. 3:2

3) Timothy’s Future

A. A chapter of fewer (vv3-4)

Notice Paul talking about Timothy’s tears.

Why would Timothy be crying? Paul would soon no longer be there to encourage him.

Timothy was also probably now without both his mother and grandmother.

Here we see the hard reality of what lies ahead of all of us. You may have already experienced this.

On the eve of saying goodby to his father in the faith, Paul reminds him of the heritage his family gave him.

(3:14-16)

You may very well now be physically there for your family, but there will be a day you won’t!!!

What will be there for your family to reflect on of your influence that will encourage them to stay faithful to “the faith,” the church, God’s Word, prayer, obedience, sharing the gospel, etc.?

The purpose of every parent is to provide what is necessary for your family to go forward living for the Lord (while you are here and when you are gone).

Conclusion: So, will you be the parent, grandparent that instills the power of continuing a sincere faith in the Lord? Will you be a huge part of why you children continue their walk in God’s truth? Often times, how you child finishes has a lot to do with how YOU STARTED! LISTEN, IT STARTS WITH YOU!

Jesus is our best example; You can finish victoriously today because of the choice He made before the world began! Faith alone in Jesus is where you must begin! Be a Gospel leader in your family TODAY!