Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, good morning. It is getting full.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: The next couple weeks, it's gonna be even more full. Kevin will remind you of this next week, but our 8:30 service has a few more seats. But as school starts back then, we're gonna ask y' all to scoot in and we're gonna ask y' all to make space. And if you want to come to 8:30, then it's a little less crowded. But I love a full room and
[00:00:22] Speaker A: there's an energy to hearing all of you guys sing, and it's incredible. And so we.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: We're glad you're here. If you're a guest, we're glad that you're here. We're gonna be in Second Timothy this morning, and we're gonna be in Chapter one.
And this is coupled with an event that we do. It's in our milestone that we do a family worship event. And so we invite kindergarteners and first graders up to the church on Saturday morning.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: And so they get to come and
[00:00:48] Speaker B: they get to run around in the green room and get to see that and in the Baptistry and see that. If you were one of those kids, I know there's a couple of them
[00:00:55] Speaker A: in here, then do you want to raise your hand?
There's one here. If you came up to the event? Yep. Yep.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Jasper, I got you. Oh, there's Thomas. I got you. Is there anybody else that I'm missing? Yeah. It's an incredible reality that we want to invite these kids to be a
[00:01:15] Speaker A: part of what we're doing.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: That statistically, if you want your children
[00:01:21] Speaker A: to remain in the faith, one of
[00:01:23] Speaker B: the biggest contributors to that is them
[00:01:25] Speaker A: being in a Sunday morning worship. Worship service. It's like, well, but did they really get that much? Yeah, they get to see a community of faith worshiping God and saying he's worthy.
And that's an incredible reality that sticks with our kids as they launch into the world and as we kick them out of the nest to go and do everything that God has called them to do and be. Then one of the things which sticks with them if they're going to remain in the faith is that they've seen it modeled.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: And so that's one of the things
[00:01:57] Speaker A: we're gonna walk through and talk about this morning. Let's read our text in Second Timothy, and then we will talk through this together.
Before we jump into that, if you
[00:02:08] Speaker B: ask people who first told you about
[00:02:10] Speaker A: Jesus, there's very few people who will reference a pastor.
Now, that is kind of sad for me.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Most people will say the first people
[00:02:23] Speaker A: that told me about Jesus were my mom or my dad, my grandma, my
[00:02:29] Speaker B: grandpa, that God put in the design that there would be a faith handed
[00:02:35] Speaker A: down from generation to generation.
Some of them will say a youth pastor or a mentor, maybe a teacher or a coach.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: That oftentimes faith is handed from one person to the next.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Just like you hand a baton that
[00:02:51] Speaker B: it doesn't come through mass proclamation. Yes, God uses that.
But primarily it comes from faith being
[00:02:58] Speaker A: handed down one to the next. Let's read our passage and then we'll discuss together. Second Timothy, chapter one, verse three says this.
This is Paul writing to a young man, Timothy, and he says, I thank God when I whom I serve, as did my ancestors, you see generational there
[00:03:20] Speaker B: with a clear conscience.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: As I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day, as I remember
[00:03:26] Speaker B: your tears, I long to see you
[00:03:29] Speaker A: that I may be filled with joy.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.
And now I am sure, dwells in
[00:03:46] Speaker A: in you as well.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: 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. For God gave us a spirit not
[00:03:59] Speaker A: of fear, but of power and of love and self control.
Therefore, do not be ashamed of the
[00:04:08] Speaker B: testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God,
[00:04:15] Speaker A: who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our
[00:04:20] Speaker B: works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, to which now we have been manifest through
[00:04:30] Speaker A: the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher, which is
[00:04:45] Speaker B: why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to
[00:04:53] Speaker A: guard until the day what has been entrusted to me.
Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Guard the good deposit entrusted to you. Would you pray with me? And then we'll jump into unpacking this.
Lord, by your spirit would you move this morning, Lord, to awaken our heart, Lord, to awaken our mind, Lord, to remind us of that which is good and right and true to that which is holy, Lord, would you stir in our heart to encourage us in ways that we're prone to despair or fear or guilt or shame. And Lord, would you encourage us and give us conviction to not just obey when it's convenient, but to obey you because of what you've done in us and through us and because of your spirit, Lord, we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
Well, here's the theme that I want us to have in our mind as we walk through this. The theme is this, the importance of teaching our children to obey God.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: And so we're gonna ask the question then kind of in the sense of why is it so important for us
[00:06:18] Speaker A: to teach our children to obey God?
[00:06:20] Speaker B: And as we look at this, then we're just reminded that, that the truth is the greatest legacy that you and
[00:06:28] Speaker A: I leave is a sincere faith.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: That's the greatest legacy that you can leave. It's not some accomplishments which you have achieved. It's not some inheritance which you have provided.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: It's that you leave a sincere faith.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: That's what Paul writes to Timothy of this legacy of faith which had been passed down from grandmother to mother to now him.
And so as we look at this, the importance of obedience and how that structures us and shepherds us, then the
[00:07:02] Speaker A: first thing I want us to see
[00:07:03] Speaker B: is that a sincere faith really is
[00:07:06] Speaker A: the greatest legacy that you leave.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: It's in verse three to five that Paul thanks God, whom he serves as his ancestors did, that he reflects back and goes, this was passed down to me. Someone left a legacy of serving God that now has reached him. And now as he points forward to Timothy, he reminds Timothy that he has a job, a duty to pass on what has been entrusted to him, that there's a legacy which we can leave
[00:07:41] Speaker A: to our children, parents, church.
We are constantly communicating a legacy because
[00:07:51] Speaker B: we're constantly communicating a worldview that how will we pass on a sincere faith is not gonna be by showing up
[00:07:59] Speaker A: one time a week to a church service for an hour. That's not how you pass on a legacy.
Well, they spent 52 hours a year passing on their faith.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: That's not much when you think about all of the other hours within a year that you will pass on something. It's that we would live out our faith, not just on a Sunday morning, not just when we read a Bible story with our kids, not just when we pray with our kids at night, not just when we pray at a dinner table, but in every decision that
[00:08:34] Speaker A: we make, we are passing on a legacy.
And will it be a legacy of faith
[00:08:43] Speaker B: that when you get stressed, you
[00:08:46] Speaker A: communicate a worldview, a way in which
[00:08:49] Speaker B: the world Functions of what is important and what is not, of why you do what you do. What are your values in this world?
[00:08:59] Speaker A: The way that you spend your money or think about money communicates a legacy
[00:09:06] Speaker B: which you will pass on. And this world recognizes that. That you pass on a legacy of financial gain.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Is that legacy greater than the legacy of faith which you will pass on to your children?
[00:09:21] Speaker B: How you treat others is a way that we play out the worldview, a
[00:09:27] Speaker A: way that our faith is seen.
Are you only kind to people who
[00:09:32] Speaker B: can offer something in return?
Do you treat others with dignity and respect because God has created them in his image? Or do you only treat them with dignity and respect if they give it to you?
How you treat others?
[00:09:46] Speaker A: In front of them and behind their back, Children are always listening.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: They're always watching.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: And oftentimes the legacy of faith is
[00:09:59] Speaker B: caught,
[00:10:01] Speaker A: which helps them to understand what's taught.
Are we teaching them a legacy?
That Jesus matters?
That Jesus matters not just on Sundays. Jesus matters. Not just on community group night. Jesus matters every day and in every way.
Are you passing on a legacy?
[00:10:26] Speaker B: You see? But as we pass on this legacy, I know there's a group of parents who are already, you're prone to this. You're prone to guilt, you're prone to shame. You're prone to, like, you've already got the Rolodex of how you failed your kids already this morning.
I know you're in here, that you're prone to go, man, I just constantly fail them.
I don't pass on a legacy of faith. I pass on a legacy of what not to do. Or.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Or maybe your children are grown and out of the home and you constantly feel guilt of, if I would have just known this earlier, if I would
[00:11:02] Speaker B: have just known about these things when my kids were in the home. If I would have just known about these things before my kids were teenagers. If I would have just known about these things earlier. And you feel guilt and you feel shame. Listen, our kids don't need perfect parents.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Our kids need authentic disciples.
What does it mean to be an authentic disciple? It means that you're a follower of Jesus and as you follow Jesus, that
[00:11:26] Speaker B: when you mess up, you admit it, you confess that, say, I messed up.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Because even in that, you're modeling to your children who are also going to mess up.
How do you respond?
[00:11:40] Speaker B: They need authentic disciples who follow Jesus, who endure.
They need authentic disciples who confess their sin and repent of it and say, lord, help me, that's not who I'm created to be.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: They don't need perfect parents. They need authentic disciples, authentic followers of Jesus who model, teach and discipline what it means to follow after Jesus.
There's an importance in teaching our children to obey God, but there's an importance in us living out what that looks like.
The second thing that I want us to see in this text is that a sincere faith actually produces obedience.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: That if we have a sincere faith, then that is what motivates obedience. That we don't obey so that we have faith. We have faith, we believe, and therefore we obey. That a sincere faith produces obedience. Real obedience is possible only because of God's power.
Look at verse 6 through 12.
He says, for this reason I remind
[00:12:49] Speaker A: you to fan into flame the gift of God.
My kids love fire. I think I've told y' all that before.
We have strict rules about where fire is permissible and where it's not.
It's not permissible on the trampoline that ends poorly.
Those things melt.
It's not permissible under the trampoline. Those things melt.
Right.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: There are strict rules that fire is only to be done in the fire pit, where there is a border which protects and keeps the flame in.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: Flames can be dangerous because they can spread like wildfire.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: That's exactly actually what Paul is saying to Timothy.
Fan the flame.
That's when a fire starts. It starts small.
A little smoke, little heat, embers.
One of my favorite things is a campfire late at night and you just see the embers sparkle and grow.
But the only way that you see those embers is if it's completely dark.
You don't see those embers if it's light outside. But.
But a blazing fire you can see in the daylight. It doesn't have to be completely dark. It shows up at night and it shows up in the day.
That Paul is telling Timothy, hey, this gospel which has been entrusted to you, this ember which has been entrusted to
[00:14:15] Speaker B: you, he says, blow on it.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Fan it into flame so that it might spread.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: That he says, fan this into flame. This is the gift of God, the gospel which was given to you through the laying on of hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self control. That God put his spirit in us and that spirit doesn't make us prone to fear.
But that spirit actually infuses power and
[00:14:49] Speaker A: love and self control, and it goes on.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: And he says, therefore, don't be ashamed
[00:14:58] Speaker A: of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share in
[00:15:01] Speaker B: the suffering of the gospel by the power of God who saves us and calls us into his holy calling. So he calls us in that we would be a part of what he's doing. His holy calling, not because of our works, not because we've earned it by
[00:15:18] Speaker A: obeying, but because of his own purposes and grace which he gives to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and of which now have been manifested through his appearing.
So Jesus, because of what he did, he gives us the ability to now obey.
[00:15:42] Speaker B: That it would produce obedience in us, that we would depend on the Spirit in order to obey, not depend on our own willpower, that his spirit gives us the self control. I was reading a book the other day and it was talking about this
[00:15:56] Speaker A: rider and an elephant as an illustration. And I thought it was just super
[00:15:59] Speaker B: helpful that when you try to willpower your self control, then you're like the
[00:16:07] Speaker A: rider on top of an elephant that
[00:16:10] Speaker B: you can pull and maybe you can get him to obey a little bit, but you're going to wear out a
[00:16:16] Speaker A: lot faster than the elephant wears out.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: But if the elephant desires to go
[00:16:24] Speaker A: where you want him to go, you're not wearing out.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Then when God puts His spirit in
[00:16:31] Speaker A: us to obey,
[00:16:34] Speaker B: then we don't have to pull against his spirit to try to get it to obey. He infuses us.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: It's a sincere faith that produces obedience.
But let me give us maybe some warnings because the Scripture is full of
[00:16:51] Speaker B: this, that why is it important that
[00:16:53] Speaker A: we would obey based off of the
[00:16:56] Speaker B: faith that produces disobedience.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: I want to give us three warnings that disobedience, number one, is dangerous.
Disobedience is dangerous.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: We see this in Matthew chapter 19, that a man comes up to Jesus
[00:17:12] Speaker A: and he's described as a rich young man.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: And he comes up to Jesus and he says, what must I do to
[00:17:18] Speaker A: enter the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus tells him to obey the law.
Obey.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you need to keep the law perfectly in order to be in God's holy presence.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: The young man, naively he goes, well, he's sincere, he's moral. And he says, I've done this since
[00:17:47] Speaker B: I was a kid. Listen, this rich young man is what many of us want our children to look like.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: Like, well adjusted, can talk to an adult.
[00:18:00] Speaker B: That's a great skill set. Can obedient in a sense that kept the law, not getting in trouble. School's about to start.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Like you guys know, like parent teacher conferences.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: You're like, whoa, like me and my kids kept all the rules.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: Jesus then says to him, he Says, go sell all that you have and store up treasures in heaven.
Scripture tells us that the young man went away sad that day, for he had many possessions.
That when Jesus called him to obey in a way that would lead to life and blessing, he said, eh, I don't want to obey that.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: That it was dangerous to disobey that. What that actually revealed was that there's a worship problem in the man's heart. Maybe not what showed up externally according to the cultural norms, but there was a major problem in his heart.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: He was worshiping his possessions and the things which he had rather than worshiping God. That this spirit fueled obedience.
It didn't exist.
See, disobedience is dangerous. We want to teach our children. We would say this often in our home, that to our kids, your job is to obey mom and dad immediately in order to teach you to obey God immediately.
See, that's the training ground.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: We've got to teach our children to
[00:19:45] Speaker A: obey so that they will understand that obedience to God is good and disobedience is dangerous. There's a second aspect of this warning that we see throughout the Scripture, and it's that delayed obedience is dangerous.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Delayed obedience is dangerous. There's a story that Jesus tells in Matthew, chapter 25 about this parable about a wedding that was happening and there was a bridegroom coming, and that there were these ladies that. That we're supposed to have these lamps and oil,
[00:20:18] Speaker A: and that some of the
[00:20:19] Speaker B: ladies did not prepare when they were supposed to, right? That there was a delayed obedience, that they did not bring oil with them.
And so then they missed out because
[00:20:35] Speaker A: of their delayed obedience.
You and I have seen this with our children. We say, go brush your teeth.
And five minutes later we say, go brush your teeth.
And 10 minutes later we say, go brush YOUR teeth.
[00:20:51] Speaker B: And 25 minutes later we say, go brush your teeth. That there's a delayed obedience.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: I see parents that are, like, looking at kids, like, elbowing them, like I see it.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: We can all know that. We've all experienced that reality.
But what's underneath this?
What's underneath this is that I'll obey
[00:21:13] Speaker A: when I'm ready to obey.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: I'll obey when it's good for me.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: But can you imagine the Lord calling out to us and saying, turn away from that sin, going, I'll obey when I'm ready.
I'll obey later.
He's saying, this unforgiveness in your life is detrimental to you.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: Repent of it.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: Saying, I want to hang onto it a little bit. I'll do it later, Maybe when the Lord convicts us of whatever it is.
Are we modeling for our kids? Delayed obedience is acceptable.
Are we modeling and teaching them that immediate obedience is the path to blessing in life?
Delayed obedience is detrimental and it's dangerous.
There's a third aspect of this warning. And then I promise I'm going to pull us up out of this, right? Like we're like, whoa. Like we're feeling it, right? Like, careful, you're on my toes.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: Number three.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Is that compromised obedience is dangerous.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: There's a story that we get introduced to in Exodus.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: We get introduced to the characters. At least Aaron has two sons, Nadab and Abihu.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: Those are some interesting names.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: They're not very common among naming children. No one actually names their kids Nadab and Abihu. And the reason is that nobody wants their kids to be like Nadab and Abihu.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: That's why that the story goes like this, that Nadab and Abihu were trained as priests, that they were trained in order to help the people worship God and help God communicate to the people. That was their job.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Man. Incredible calling.
That's actually the same calling that you and I have. We're a kingdom of priests, that we have that same calling.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: And yet Nadab and Abihu, they're going
[00:23:19] Speaker A: about their business, and there's a sincerity to their intentions.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: But their sincerity should never replace faithful obedience.
Listen, you and I, our sincerity in what we're doing doesn't justify our disobedience.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: See, Nadab and Abihu supposed to bring fire to the altar for sacrifices and fire for the. For the incense.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: And Nadab and Abihu had strict instructions on what that was to look like.
But out of sincerity, sincerely disobeying what God had told them to, to not introduce strange fire.
They brought fire from other places, other
[00:24:11] Speaker A: sources than where God had told them.
It was more convenient.
Maybe that was their justification.
Well, it's not a big deal.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: I mean, why would it. It's still fire.
It's more convenient to get it here than it is to go over there and do that.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: The result was devastating.
Says that they were consumed by God's fire.
It was dangerous for them to compromise their obedience.
Listen, I think this.
This is possibly the place where we need to be the most diligent.
Are we teaching our children to only obey when it's convenient?
Are we teaching our children that to obey God, even if it's costly, is worth.
May cost you reputation, it may cost you money, it may cost you time, but it's worth it to obey?
Or do we teach them that you can justify your disobedience?
Well, those people were really ugly to me, so I'm justified in doing that to them.
Well, I mean,
[00:25:49] Speaker B: it's okay to lie
[00:25:52] Speaker A: as long as it's not a big deal.
Are we teaching them compromise or are we teaching them obedience? We want them to obey God because compromised obedience to God is dangerous.
Number three, let me move us through this. That again, the Holy Spirit is what makes this obedience possible.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: The Holy Spirit is what makes this obedience possible. Number one, we saw that sincere faith is our greatest legacy that we can leave. That sincere faith then produces obedience. But then that obedience is made possible by the Holy Spirit.
He makes it possible.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: Look at verse 13 and 14.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: It says this. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me and in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, that we're to do this and guard the good deposit that has been entrusted to us. That Paul told Timothy, follow these words and guard this deposit, but you're going to do that by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: Galatians chapter three helps us with this.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: The Galatians chapter three actually tells us
[00:27:10] Speaker A: that the law is a teacher or a tutor.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: That the law existed in order to teach and tutor us only for a certain amount of time.
As we teach our children, it's important
[00:27:22] Speaker A: that we teach them to obey.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: It's important that we have boundaries. It's important that we teach them that rules matter because that tutors their heart until the Holy Spirit comes into them,
[00:27:40] Speaker A: and then they obey out of a love for Him.
Then the elephant wants to obey.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, he empowers us with the desires and the ability to obey.
Until then, the law tutors our heart. And how does it tutor our heart? It shows us you can't do it.
You and I both know we can't obey well enough.
You and I both know that we can't keep all the rules.
[00:28:17] Speaker A: Students, you may feel this.
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Kids, you may feel this like your
[00:28:20] Speaker A: parents tell you to do stuff.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: And you get to a point where you're like, I can't do it all.
You just want me to fail.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: No. In failing, we learn that there is one who perfectly obeyed.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: And it throws us. Our failure throws us at the feet
[00:28:39] Speaker A: of the cross to go, I can't do it without you, Jesus.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: That's exactly what the law is. For that then we would cry out to him and we would find Grace in our time of need, that he obeyed perfectly for us, that the law is the tutor, but the spirit enables us.
That's actually what Galatians chapter three tells us, is that the law passes away
[00:29:06] Speaker A: when God writes not the law on a tablet of stone, but he writes the law on a heart.
And then we can obey it because he dwells in us.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: And that he has given us power
[00:29:21] Speaker A: and ability and love and self control, that he has done it in us.
But I'm keenly aware, as we bring this to a close again, that there's a lot of potential for guilt in this.
There's a lot of potential for shame in this. There's a lot of potential for trying
[00:29:46] Speaker B: to justify ourselves, to make ourselves feel better. That as you look at kids and you look at their disobedience and you go, well, it's gotta be their fault or it's gotta be my fault.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: Well, here's the reality.
There's grace in the midst of this.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: There's grace on both sides of this. There's grace for our kids that when they fail, God meets them there.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: That's why Jesus came to die. If we could have accomplished it through the law, then Jesus wouldn't have needed to come.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: But Jesus did come, and he meets us right there.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: Where we fail. There's grace for our kids when they fail.
There's also grace for us when we fail. Our kids, when you go, well, sorry kid, you got a bad draw on me as your parent.
There's grace that makes up the gap in between where we fall short and what God expects.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: There's grace that meets them there, that our kids don't need a perfect parent because they have a perfect Savior.
And our hope is not in our perfect parenting, but it's in a perfect Savior.
That's why he came, was to make
[00:31:06] Speaker A: up that gap which was lacking.
Now that doesn't excuse us not teaching them to obey, but it makes up all the space in between.
The gospel gives us grace.
The gospel is the good news that Jesus came and accomplished everything that we failed to in obedience to the law, in obedience to God's standard that he accomplished it.
So you don't need to take inventory of your failures in order to justify yourself or in order to heap guilt and shame.
You need to run to Jesus and say, lord, make up all that I lack in my kid's life.
And kids, you don't need to point to your parents and say, they failed me.
You need to run to Jesus and say, thanks be to God who sent the one who did it perfectly.
As we do this, we actually get to see that the Holy Spirit will empower the next generation to guard the gospel which was entrusted to them, which was handed down, which was modeled by a family, which was modeled by a church which walked alongside them until Christ returns. Listen, that's the model that we get.
One person handing it off to the next, surrounded by a community of faith, saying, when you drop the baton, we'll pick it up and help you.
We'll help you go again, and we'll help your kids see that model, and we'll help you continue to model it. And we'll continue striving and modeling that Jesus is our only hope. Would you pray with me?
Lord, you've called us to obedience.
We see that in the way that you called your disciples to come and follow after you and that there was great blessing in the immediate obedience.
Lord, we've seen in the scripture that there's danger in disobedience, that it's dangerous
[00:33:33] Speaker B: for us to delay obedience. It's dangerous for us to compromise obedience.
Lord, help us to be an obedient people, not because it earns us salvation, but because your spirit has put it in us.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: Lord, help us to model this for our kids, that we would entrust this sound teaching and this.
This gospel message to another generation that they might fan it into flame, Lord,
[00:34:04] Speaker B: that we might see the gospel go forward in revival across our city, in revival across our nation as they fan into flame that which was entrusted to them.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: Lord, help us to be a church which blows wind into those flames for our kids ministry for our student, ministry for us as a body of believers empowered by your spirit. Lord, we need you. In Jesus name, amen.
