Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

How many of you enjoy building things?

Perhaps you like to build things out of wood or metal to be able to use.

Perhaps you like to build things out of existing parts like a car or computer.

Perhaps you prefer to build things out of plastic legos.

Legos, while yes, they are a pain to step on, can bring a whole lot of fun to a family.

Creativity can go into overdrive and 200 legos can be used to make many different objects!

Having a curious and at times destructive son, legos are a hit more often than not.

Gabriel will hand me a lego and I’ll connect it to another one and within a couple of seconds we have a structure being built a couple of inches off the ground.

The building process is going great and after a minute or two, what does Gabriel do?

Gabriel loves to knock the structure down and start from scratch.

Every time he knocks the legos down he chuckles and smiles from ear to ear before handing me one in hopes that I’ll build something else for him to destroy.

As one who loves legos and as one who at times thinks too deeply about things, I think it’s easy to look at a structure of legos and compare it to our life as a whole.

There are different parts and different pieces that are important to different seasons of our life.

Sometimes life is hard and we’re stretched really thin and we wonder how things will work out or where this piece will fit.

In the moment, these moments are difficult and they seem like they will ruin everything… Yet, whenever you step back you’re able to see that even those big, bulky, good for nothing pieces have a purpose and that they are not the end.

They often add a new area for other, easier pieces, to build on top of.

Just as a tower of legos can relate to the chapters of our life, they can also represent each one of us as individuals.

We read in the Bible that we, as Christians, are a part of the Kingdom of God.

We’re a part of the body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12 talks about this in detail as does Romans 12 as we find this

There are many parts and functions, but there is one body.

There are many legos but there is one structure.

We as Christians look different and have various giftings from one another.

Yet, we read in the Bible that we’re all a part of the body of Christ.

Therefore, there is work to be done together to fulfill our purpose as a group.

The enemy would love to come in and, like Gabriel does to me sometimes, knock our structure down and get us divided into individual legos.

He’d love to get us to look at ourselves.

This isn’t our calling according to the Word, though.

We’re united!

We have a task ahead.

We need one another now more than ever before.

This morning, our last Sunday morning together, let’s look at how we are to live as members of the Kingdom fulfilling our God-given responsibilities.

This text of Scripture is commonly preached during ordination services, if you’ve ever taken part in one.

Many pastors will commission a young minister or deacon and encourage them in the way that Paul does to Timothy in this passage.

Paul is nearing his end here in 2 Timothy 4. His time is almost here and he senses it if you read to the end of the chapter.

Yet, Paul isn’t discouraged!

He boldly states that the Lord has strengthened him in the past and that the Lord will bring him safely into His kingdom.

Paul lives with this “already/not yet” mindset.

He is saved but he’s not yet in glory.

He’s been redeemed but he’s not yet perfected.

He has hope but he’s not without hardships.

Paul knew that he was living in the “already/not yet” reality.

We are as well.

We know that Christ has come and He has poured out His Spirit.

In doing this, we read in the Gospels that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

The last days are upon us!

But the last day is not yet here.

So, how do we live in the already/not yet?

How do we play our part in the Kingdom of Heaven while living on earth?

Paul, nearing his death, exhorts Timothy and encourages him to do several things that we should be prepared to do as well.

Let’s look at 4 specific things from this text that we must all do in the days ahead as we look at this text.

1. Proclaim the Gospel (1-2)

Why do you do what you do?

Sometimes whenever children are in school they are asked what they want to be whenever they grow up.

The answers vary from child to child, but many of them have a reason as to why they want to do that occupation.

They’ll say, “I want to be a teacher because my grandma was a teacher” or, “I want to be a doctor because my dad is a doctor” or, “I want to be a stay at home mom because that’s what my mom does.”

Students have reasons as to why they want to do things in the future.

Why do you do what you do?

There are some things that we simply have to do.

We have to earn an income to provide, sure.

We have to do tasks in order to get through each day, sure.

But what is the motivation behind those things?

If it’s to just get through each day then we’ll be tempted to do the bare minimum and to call it good.

We’ll just survive and get to the next day - while we all have these days at times, this isn’t the most healthy way to live.

What should be the motivation behind why we do things?

We have to remember that we have been given a task from God - the Creator of the Universe has a plan for your life and He expects you as a Christian to proclaim His truth to others.

Danny Akin shares in his commentary on this text that it’s easy to think that we’re not really noticed by others.

We can slack off a little here or there, we can take the easy way out, we can just slide on through and no one will care because they won’t even know what happened.

If our motivation behind working hard or doing something is to provide or please ourself then we’ll be tempted to take shortcuts left and right when no one is looking… Yet, whenever we correctly understand that we serve an audience of 1, we will take the task at hand seriously.

Paul charges Timothy before God.

What does this mean?

It means this: The opinions of others aren’t our number 1 priority.

God’s approval is what matters most of all.

If God’s opinion matters most of all, what does God want us to do? Verse 2 shares that we are to preach the Word and to be ready in season and out of season.

Now, not everyone is a preacher, sure, but we are all called to be witnesses for Christ

What does this mean?

To be a witness is literally the word martyr.

We are to be witnesses of who Jesus Christ is.

This means that we share the Gospel truth with others and we stand up for what Scripture says.

We should always be ready to share the Gospel and to correct others who are going astray, to rebuke false teachers, and to encourage those who are struggling.

Friends, we are living in a world of people who are drowning in depression, overwhelmed with oppression, and absolutely confused by anxiety.

What does our world need now so desperately?

We need to be encouraged by the Word of God.

We need the life changing grace that only Jesus can provide!

How can we provide this to our world?

By proclaiming the Gospel to others.

In the years ahead, proclaim the Gospel.

Don’t just offer traditional suggestions or advice given to you from your great grandparents.

Don’t offer political platitudes.

Proclaim Jesus.

Jesus is enough.

Proclaim His Gospel and watch Him work in the lives of others.

As AW Tozer once said, “A fearful world needs a fearless church.”

2. Remain True to the Word (3)

As the Gospel is proclaimed, there will be some opposition.

In Paul’s day we read about some of this opposition in the verses that follow in chapter 4. We read that several people deserted Paul to go to different places because they loved the things of this world.

This was a common theme in Biblical times, you could either love the things of this world or you could love the Word, but you couldn’t have both.

There must be a priority.

There must be a first love, to borrow from Revelation 2 with the church at Ephesus forgetting its first love.

What comes first to you? Ask yourself: Do I care more about the comforts of the world or do I care more about conforming to God’s Word?