State of the Church | 2 Timothy 2:14–26

KNOW God (vv. 14-15)

The first thing Paul charges Timothy with is a call to present himself approved to God. He notes, “a worker who has no need to be ashamed.”

But how is he to do this?

By “rightly handling the word of truth.”

The correct and proper way to know God and to make him know in God’s church is by rightly handling the word of God. We are called to be in worship together as a church so that we can hear the word, and we can rightly divide the word.

We need to be in worship. We need to be together with others hearing the word of God. The greatest evangelism tool we have is the weekly teaching and preaching of the word of God.

Paul notes this at the end of the chapter when he encourages Timothy as the pastor:

2 Timothy 2:24–26 ESV

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

In 2021, at the first of the year, God was moving at Truitt in a mighty way. But somewhere along the way we took our eyes off of God’s purposes.

For the past year, we have been floundering, treading water.

But God has not called us to this. He’s called us to thrive.

Church, we are called to be gathered together to know him and to make him know. The church at Corinth where Timothy taught was being torn apart by bad theology, and senseless bickering over worship services, and personalities and preferences.

And any church that does not focus on God will be torn apart.

There is a pattern I’ve seen in countless churches: God begins to move, people begin to bicker, Satan begins to divide, and the church begins to split.

Right now, I hear a lot of bickering in the church. We’re worried about money. We’re frustrated about situations. We’re concerned about the future.

But God has called us to worship him and to handle rightly his word.

Hebrews 10:25 ESV

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

EXPECTATION 1: I will commit to KNOW Him through One Hour of Worship each week at Truitt.

GROW in Him (v. 16-23)

Secondly, Paul admonishes timothy because of division in the church. Paul was facing fracturing among the body. Even when they gathered together, those moments were filled with quarrelling, and thus the community of the church suffered.

In fact, there were some who instead of community created division.

Paul notes some of them, pointing out Hymenaeus and Philetus as people whose teachings were spreading like gangrene in the church. Bickering, bitterness, quarrelling are all cancerous to a church, and Paul calls these people enemies of God in 1 Timothy.

God has called us to grow in Christ, and the place scripture calls us to grow is in community with one another.

In 2021 we saw several classes grow up in our church. Things were moving forward, but because of “irreverent babble” we’ve seen our community wane.

God has called us to gather together for His glory. We are called to dilligently seek him in his word.

I see many of us have lost our sense of community, but it’s in community that God grows us.

But the thing is many of us just want that community to show up.

Community is not discovered, it’s forged. It’s created.

James Emery White notes:

“One of the great myths of relational life is that community is something found. In this fairy tale, community is simply out there—somewhere—waiting to be discovered like Prince Charming finding Cinderella. All you have to do is find the right person, join the right group, get the right job or become involved with the right church. It’s kind of an “Over the Rainbow” thing; it’s not here, so it must be over there.

This is why so many people (and you’ve seen them and probably flirted with this yourself) go from relationship to relationship, city to city, job to job, church to church, looking for the community that they think is just around the corner if they could only find the right people and the right place.

The idea is that real community exists somewhere and we simply must tap into it. It’s not something you have to work at; in fact, if you have to work at it, then you know it’s not real community.”

But this myth is devastating to the body. Real community doesn’t just happen, it must be worked at and fought for.

Why? Because community matters. It’s in community that we gather as believers to study God’s word and seek him.

Let me ask you this question? Are you spending more time in community with other believers studying his word and seeking him, or more time complaining about others in the body. Paul notes that the Lord’s servants “must not be quarrelsome...”

So here’s my second challenge. If you are a member of our church, our second expectation is this:

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

EXPECTATION 2: I will commit to GROW in him in community with other believers for One Hour of Grow group bible study each week at Truitt.

I don’t care when it is. Get in a grow group. If you don’t have one, join one. If you can’t find one, start one. Let’s quit making excuses and start growing together.

GO for Him (v. 24-25)

Finally, Paul encourage dTimothy to obediently serve as he was called.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 ESV

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Now Timothy was a pastor, so this instruction is specific to Timothy, but there is a principle here. One of the primary ways we go for the kingdom is by serving faithfully among other believers. Paul notes that Timothy was to serve in a way that was not quarrelsome, he was to be kind. He was to teach, endure evil, correct his opponents with gentleness.

But this principle applies to every area we serve at at Truitt.

Some of the most important ministers in our church aren’t on the stage.

Our Greeters our the front line of our ministry to members and guests.

Our Nursery workers are some of the first people our children hear the gospel from.

Our Audio visual team is behind the scenes attempting to remove distractions and enhance our ability to get the message out.

And on and on.

So here’s my question: How’s your serving?

Let me be specific: Are you serving with excellence?

If you’re a teacher, are you teaching to the best of your ability, studying faithfully and seeking to point people to Christ.

If you’re a greeter, are you loving people and being friendly to everyone that walks in the door. Are you making sure guests fill out welcome cards and get their gifts? Are you hugging members and letting them know they’re as loved and welcome as guests?

If you’re in the nursery are you diligently seeking to make sure guests feel safe leaving their kids with us. Are you friendly, are you kind?

If you’re on the AV team are you gracious and gentle?

If you’re on the praise team is your focus on performing or Jesus?

If you’re an usher are you loving the people you’re serving?

You never know people!

When you smile at a visitor yours may be the first friendly face that abused spouse, or that lonely person has seen that week.

When you love that baby, you may be giving that mother the first opportunity to hear the gospel and be transformed.

When you ask someone if you can pray for them, it may be that gesture that God uses to break the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh as they sit under the preaching of the word.

All service matters, not just what I do.

So here’s our last expectation for the rest of 2022 and 2023:

Ephesians 6:7 ESV

rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

EXPECTATION 2: I will commit to GO and SERVE at Truitt for One Hour in some capacity for God’s glory and our joy.

Find a place to serve, and then do it well. If you serve as a greeter, then let’s see our greeters stumble over each other to get to members and guests and welcome and encourage them.

If you serve in the nursery, let’s treat each child as if it was our own, caring for it and loving it while it’s with us.

If you don’t serve: Well, we need nursery workers, and AV techs, and greeters, and teachers. We need YOU. We need 20-30 volunteers every Sunday, and we can always use one more.

So here’s the state of Truitt:

God has been incredibly faithful to us. In 2021-2022 we have seen several baptized, we’ve seen many families join, but God can and will do more if we will not allow Satan to divide us. So let’s put bickering aside, and let’s focus on knowing him, growing in him, and going and serving for him in 2022-2023!