Dave Hentschel: Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: We gather here as members of a historic movement, a gospel movement with a message that saved and changed the world.
Dave Hentschel: When this church began in 1851, it was during a time when our nation was divided against itself.
Dave Hentschel: Though our country was still young, it was a time leading up to the Civil War in the United States.
Dave Hentschel: But the leaders of NBC were united by a common purpose.
Dave Hentschel: They were unified about what they were fighting against, and they were also unified about what they were fighting for.
Dave Hentschel: And so our church was born.
Dave Hentschel: The scriptures tell us that the gospel is a foolish idea, a scandal.
Dave Hentschel: But in this delusion, we embraced a vision of putting an outpost for the kingdom of heaven right here at 520 King George Road, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and Millington Baptist Church was born.
Dave Hentschel: Our original core group did this together.
Dave Hentschel: And under the current leadership of this church, we will once again take on the task of envisioning a new future, driven by a vision of a future as a gospel-preaching church that will serve as not just the hope of our own community, but as part of the universal church of Jesus Christ, which is indeed the hope of the whole world.
Dave Hentschel: The church was founded 175 years ago, but the roots of this movement are from long before that.
Dave Hentschel: We're part of the movement that was predicted by the Lord Jesus Christ that he prophesied to build when he was at Caesarea Philippi, saying, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Dave Hentschel: We are his body.
Dave Hentschel: We are bound together by the deepest bonds that a human could possibly ever share, forged together by the one blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his one Holy Spirit is living inside of us.
Dave Hentschel: We are here today because of the sacrifices that our forefathers had made together for the resources that we are heir to today.
Dave Hentschel: It was right here on this corner where our church was started.
Dave Hentschel: It was right here on this corner where so many missionaries have been sent out all across the globe.
Dave Hentschel: It was right here from this corner where we birthed a ministry known as Liquid Church, a very fast-growing church in New Jersey today.
Dave Hentschel: And it is right here where the Lord continues to direct us and to continue these same ministry efforts in our day today.
Dave Hentschel: So we're here today as again our nation is at war.
Dave Hentschel: This time there's an international conflict abroad, and we are also polarized here at home.
Dave Hentschel: Today many in our culture think that they have moved on from a need for the gospel, thinking that Christianity is regressive at best or hateful at worst.
Dave Hentschel: We have different worldviews that are on a collision course.
Dave Hentschel: We have faced challenges before.
Dave Hentschel: The church has been here in days past, and we will face these challenges again.
Dave Hentschel: This is why we need a compelling vision, and this is why God has given us one.
Dave Hentschel: We want to be a church full of disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ who are firmly planted, growing together, and made to multiply.
Dave Hentschel: We want to build a church that's stronger and prouder and prepared for the challenges of our children.
Dave Hentschel: We want to prepare a foundation for doctrinal instruction and catechesis.
Dave Hentschel: We want to engage our culture by defending the faith in apologetics.
Dave Hentschel: And we want to display our faith through serving the outcast and the oppressed in a society as we become a social witness for the Lord Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: What we have inherited together is something that is unique and it is distinct and it is irreplaceable.
Dave Hentschel: If we move and act together, we will hold back the forces of darkness that threaten civilization around us.
Dave Hentschel: My personal story began here about 10 years ago as a pastor.
Dave Hentschel: Many of you have been here much longer than me.
Dave Hentschel: But however long you've been here, we have inherited together a powerful and proud legacy here.
Dave Hentschel: We have a children's ministry that serves the needs of our youngest little ones and builds a strong foundation.
Dave Hentschel: We have a youth ministry that's on fire for the Lord Jesus, who are shining like stars in a crooked and perverse generation.
Dave Hentschel: We have a staff that's skilled and gifted and up to the task of taking our church to the next phase.
Dave Hentschel: And as one of your pastors, I want to tell you right now that we are ready.
Dave Hentschel: We are ready to take this next step, and we want to do it together with you, with all of our congregation, functioning as one.
Dave Hentschel: This past year has been an incredible year of growth, as seen quite obviously in almost every single metric: attendance, record giving, record baptisms, and the largest classes of new membership I've ever seen.
Dave Hentschel: We should be very proud of what we've achieved together over the last year, over the last few years, but now we must confront and embrace the opportunities to come.
Dave Hentschel: Yesterday is now behind us and over.
Dave Hentschel: The future is in front of us, and together our destiny awaits.
Dave Hentschel: Every generation of Christians faces the same exact question.
Dave Hentschel: Will we faithfully pass on what we received?
Dave Hentschel: Some of you may remember a few months ago I talked about the image of a relay race and needing to pass the baton and how the exchange zone in a relay race is the most vulnerable and important part of the relay race.
Dave Hentschel: We must pass the baton, the baton of the gospel, carefully.
Dave Hentschel: The consequences of not passing the baton well are nothing short of catastrophic.
Dave Hentschel: And that is the moment that we find, I think, here in the book of 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: So today we're beginning a sermon series through this book entitled Passing the Faith to the Next Generation.
Dave Hentschel: This will be an 11-week series that will take us to the end of May.
Dave Hentschel: You can see on the back of the bookmark that you got on your way in.
Dave Hentschel: If you have that, the series is all laid out for you.
Dave Hentschel: If you don't have it, pick one up on your way out so you can follow along and be prepared for what's coming up each week.
Dave Hentschel: Last year, if you were here, we studied the book of 1 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: And originally we were thinking about doing these two studies back to back, but as we studied them, something about that just didn't feel quite right.
Dave Hentschel: Those two letters are very different.
Dave Hentschel: And so this study, this time, is actually perfect for where we are as a church as we celebrate our 175th anniversary.
Dave Hentschel: Second Timothy is the last letter that the Apostle Paul ever wrote.
Dave Hentschel: Think of that.
Dave Hentschel: If you knew you only had one letter left to right, what would you write?
Dave Hentschel: What would you say?
Dave Hentschel: Today we'll find out what Paul says as we look at chapter one.
Dave Hentschel: The title of my message is Leaving a Legacy of Faith.
Dave Hentschel: We'll look at the first five verses.
Dave Hentschel: And we'll see three things in our passage today.
Dave Hentschel: We're gonna look at the messengers, and then we're gonna look at the message, and then we're gonna look at the method.
Dave Hentschel: And with that as our plan, let's ask God for his help.
Dave Hentschel: Would you pray with me together?
Dave Hentschel: Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us here today as your people, your church.
Dave Hentschel: You're the God of our generation, but you are indeed the God of every generation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who's faithfully sustained your people, your church through the centuries.
Dave Hentschel: So we want to thank you for the legacy of faith that we have received, for those who prayed for us and taught us and pointed us to Christ.
Dave Hentschel: And now, as we open your word, dare we ask that your Holy Spirit would speak clearly to us.
Dave Hentschel: Give us ears to hear and hearts to believe, and then courage to live out the gospel that we've been entrusted with.
Dave Hentschel: Strengthen our faith, I ask.
Dave Hentschel: Deepen our love for Christ, and prepare us to faithfully pass the baton of the good news to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: For we ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Dave Hentschel: And everyone said, Amen.
Dave Hentschel: Movement one, the messengers, we'll start by looking at the opening greeting in verses one and two.
Dave Hentschel: The letter starts like this Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child.
Dave Hentschel: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Dave Hentschel: Pretty standard Pauline introduction.
Dave Hentschel: This letter was written by the Apostle Paul.
Dave Hentschel: Paul writes this letter to someone who was very precious to him, to Timothy, his beloved child.
Dave Hentschel: Why does Paul refer to Timothy as his beloved child here?
Dave Hentschel: The reason is because Timothy was a convert of the Apostle Paul at his first missionary journey that he took in Lystra, where Timothy was from.
Dave Hentschel: So here, Paul, I want you to see is not writing to a co-worker, he's writing to his spiritual son.
Dave Hentschel: Now, all three pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, mention Timothy, and they mention a kinship that Timothy had with Paul.
Dave Hentschel: In 1 Timothy, he's called his true child in the faith.
Dave Hentschel: Here he's called his beloved child, and in Titus 1:4, he's called his genuine child in a common faith.
Dave Hentschel: All have a personal touch, but 2 Timothy is far more heartfelt and far more personal than any other letter that the Apostle Paul writes.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, this letter contains 14 verses of introspective and autobiographical comments in its conclusion of chapter 4.
Dave Hentschel: What's the setting?
Dave Hentschel: Where did all of this take place?
Dave Hentschel: Well, the recipient, Timothy, is a pastor at the church at Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: He's serving as the pastor there, and he has been serving as the pastor there for many years.
Dave Hentschel: We learned about this in 1 Timothy chapter 1.
Dave Hentschel: Paul said, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.
Dave Hentschel: So Timothy is remaining at Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: He's ministering there.
Dave Hentschel: We have no evidence to think that the situation has changed whatsoever.
Dave Hentschel: He's still pastoring at Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: That's where Timothy is.
Dave Hentschel: Where is Paul?
Dave Hentschel: Where is Paul writing from?
Dave Hentschel: Well, Paul is writing from the capital of the Roman Empire.
Dave Hentschel: Look at 2 Timothy 1, 16 and 17.
Dave Hentschel: It says, May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onecephorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
Dave Hentschel: But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me.
Dave Hentschel: So what we learn here is the geographical location of Paul as he's writing this particular letter.
Dave Hentschel: And we also learn about his condition, don't we?
Dave Hentschel: He's in chains.
Dave Hentschel: He is a prisoner.
Dave Hentschel: Again, we see this in verse 8, where Paul says, Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Dave Hentschel: So Paul is in Rome and he is a prisoner.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is now an accused criminal.
Dave Hentschel: And there is a negative stigma in their day, as in our day as well, in terms of anyone being in prison.
Dave Hentschel: And so, because of that negative stigma, there's going to be a great temptation for Timothy here.
Dave Hentschel: And the great temptation is for Timothy to be ashamed of the Apostle Paul.
Dave Hentschel: And we'll talk a lot more about that next week.
Dave Hentschel: For some further context, back in 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul had given some important instructions to Timothy, and it appears that the context is very different.
Dave Hentschel: Look how he writes back in 1 Timothy chapter 3.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says, This, I hope to come to you soon.
Dave Hentschel: But I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.
Dave Hentschel: Notice as he writes 1 Timothy, Paul is not in prison here.
Dave Hentschel: He's not constrained whatsoever.
Dave Hentschel: He hopes to come and visit Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: He hopes to come soon.
Dave Hentschel: Not the case as he writes 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: He's not hoping that he will come.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, he's expecting that this imprisonment will end in death.
Dave Hentschel: Skip over to the ending in chapter 4, where Paul writes this.
Dave Hentschel: He says, Luke alone is with me.
Dave Hentschel: Get Mark and bring him with you, for he's very useful to me for ministry.
Dave Hentschel: Tychicus, I've sent to Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpis at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Dave Hentschel: Notice here, Paul is expecting Timothy to come.
Dave Hentschel: And Tichochus is evidently being sent.
Dave Hentschel: And the likely reason that Timothy is being sent, uh I'm sorry, the likely reason that that I'm getting my name's mixed up, that Tychicus is being sent over to Ephesus is to replace Timothy as the pastor at Ephesus so that Timothy can leave and go be with Paul.
Dave Hentschel: Notice it looks like Paul has recently been visiting Troas, if you see that.
Dave Hentschel: His cloak was left there, along with some parchments that wouldn't have been left there unless he had recently been there.
Dave Hentschel: Now I want you to think about this for a second.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is the most important Christian in the whole world.
Dave Hentschel: And this guy has one cloak.
Dave Hentschel: Why?
Dave Hentschel: Why wouldn't he just say, Go buy me a cloak?
Dave Hentschel: The reason is because he's poor.
Dave Hentschel: Think about that.
Dave Hentschel: This is the apostle Paul.
Dave Hentschel: Paul standing in the church, even here, is awesome.
Dave Hentschel: And yet he's nobody.
Dave Hentschel: So he says, I have this important cloak.
Dave Hentschel: I left it over in Troaz.
Dave Hentschel: It keeps me warm.
Dave Hentschel: I didn't realize I'd be spending the winter over here.
Dave Hentschel: When you come, can you just bring the cloak?
Dave Hentschel: You can still visit the dungeon where they kept Paul if you go to Rome today.
Dave Hentschel: It's the Mamertine prison.
Dave Hentschel: It's a dark and dank and cold, confined Roman jail cell.
Dave Hentschel: Look at that.
Dave Hentschel: That place is where he was confined, where they kept him.
Dave Hentschel: And that place is where he writes one of the most wonderful, personal, heartfelt, warm books of the Bible.
Dave Hentschel: This is Paul's second imprisonment.
Dave Hentschel: After the first imprisonment, he had got out.
Dave Hentschel: But now, for a second time, he's back in prison, and the timeline here is around 67 AD.
Dave Hentschel: And this time it's his last time.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, he knows this, which is why he says in verse 6 of chapter 4, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering.
Dave Hentschel: And the time for my departure is near.
Dave Hentschel: I have fought the good fight.
Dave Hentschel: I have finished the race.
Dave Hentschel: I have kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: Notice, Paul says, the time of my departure is near.
Dave Hentschel: Not maybe it's coming.
Dave Hentschel: No, it's here.
Dave Hentschel: That word departure there is fascinating.
Dave Hentschel: It means to untie.
Dave Hentschel: It was used to untie a ship and set the ship out on its voyage.
Dave Hentschel: This is the way Paul views death.
Dave Hentschel: Not as the end, but as being untied and being set out on a voyage.
Dave Hentschel: This is what he's taught us elsewhere, right?
Dave Hentschel: In Philippians chapter 1, he says, if I stay here and live, that's good.
Dave Hentschel: Like let's say get to work.
Dave Hentschel: But if I die, that's actually better.
Dave Hentschel: For to me, to depart and be with Christ is better by far.
Dave Hentschel: To live is Christ, but to die is gain.
Dave Hentschel: So here he says, I've I've fought the good fight, I've kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: What this letter is, is it's like the last will and testament of the Apostle Paul.
Dave Hentschel: So let's review.
Dave Hentschel: The situation here as we enter into this study is what we find is that Paul is beginning a very authoritative and yet heartfelt letter.
Dave Hentschel: And what we also learn is that Timothy is supposed to come and see Paul.
Dave Hentschel: Antichicus is going to take his place.
Dave Hentschel: And Paul wants him to come.
Dave Hentschel: He says, I want my cloak and I want my books.
Dave Hentschel: Why?
Dave Hentschel: So I can do ministry here while I can, while I'm still alive.
Dave Hentschel: So that's the messengers.
Dave Hentschel: And now let's talk about the message.
Dave Hentschel: For this part, I want to look at two things.
Dave Hentschel: I want to look at the source of the message and then the structure of the message.
Dave Hentschel: First, the source of the message.
Dave Hentschel: Look again at verse one.
Dave Hentschel: Paul refers to himself as an apostle.
Dave Hentschel: That was a term that carried with it a great deal of authority.
Dave Hentschel: The word apostle just simply means one who is sent.
Dave Hentschel: Like the Greek term apostelo means to send.
Dave Hentschel: They had these ships that they called apostelic ships, where they would carry cargo and take the cargo from one place to the next place.
Dave Hentschel: They were sent on these apostolic ships.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is an apostle.
Dave Hentschel: He's been sent to carry the good news of the gospel from one place to the next.
Dave Hentschel: He is like one of those ships.
Dave Hentschel: And Paul says, I'm an apostle according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: And that phrase to begin this letter is supposed to be striking to us, considering that he's writing from prison, because Rome sees him as a condemned prisoner.
Dave Hentschel: Rome sees him as someone who's a dead man walking.
Dave Hentschel: Rome sees him as someone who is awaiting his own demise, who is waiting for his own death.
Dave Hentschel: But Paul does not see it that way.
Dave Hentschel: Paul sees himself as an heir to the promise of eternal life.
Dave Hentschel: This is important because later in the letter he will exhort Timothy to endure suffering with the hope of eternity on the horizon, appealing to his own situation and his own authority to give that exhortation some special weight.
Dave Hentschel: So the gospel promises life even when this world threatens death.
Dave Hentschel: That is the hope that the early church hung on to.
Dave Hentschel: That is the hope that turned this world upside down.
Dave Hentschel: The first century church did not know about that hope.
Dave Hentschel: They did not understand the Christians.
Dave Hentschel: But yet, this is the kind of hope that they had.
Dave Hentschel: And this is what Paul is testifying here.
Dave Hentschel: Notice also it says, Paul is an apostle by the will of God.
Dave Hentschel: See that?
Dave Hentschel: What that means is that Paul did not self-appoint himself.
Dave Hentschel: Paul, formerly known as Saul, was basically uh, you know, a Jewish Pharisee that was turned into a terrorist that was killing the early Christians.
Dave Hentschel: In the book of Acts, that's where we first meet him, named Saul.
Dave Hentschel: He's this guy that's going around wreaking havoc on the early church.
Dave Hentschel: Everybody's terrified him.
Dave Hentschel: And God like knocks him off of his horse in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus and says, I'm going to use you to be my witness to the Gentiles.
Dave Hentschel: To try to illustrate this, I just want to get you to see that Saul starts out as one man and he ends up like a totally different man.
Dave Hentschel: And the image I want to give you to kind of get this is this picture that was taken back in 2015.
Dave Hentschel: This picture captured the hearts of the entire world.
Dave Hentschel: You had these religious terrorists, these ISIS members, those are the ones dressed in black, and they captured these 21 Coptic Christians, those are the ones dressed in the orange jumpsuits, down in Libya.
Dave Hentschel: And they told them with knives at their necks that they should convert to Islam or they would record a video of them being beheaded on camera and circulate the video and show it all over the world as a threat to the rest of the world.
Dave Hentschel: And the guys in the orange jumpsuits, they were not pastors or theologians or seminary professors or bishops, or they were just day laborers.
Dave Hentschel: They were Christian construction workers.
Dave Hentschel: And so they get this message that basically says, convert or die, and all 21 of them refused to convert.
Dave Hentschel: Twenty-one out of 21 stay faithful to the Lord Jesus to the end.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, the last thing on their lips, it's on the video, I do not recommend you watch this video, but the last thing they say is Yarab Yeshua, oh Lord Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: These guys die with the name of Jesus on their lips.
Dave Hentschel: That guy in camo there, you see him kind of in the middle, he's like the leader of that terrorist cell, that ISIS cell.
Dave Hentschel: Now, when you meet the Apostle Paul in Acts, he's like the guy in Camo.
Dave Hentschel: He's the leader of this terrorist group, and he's going around hunting down people who name the name of Jesus and killing them to terrorize this early Christian movement.
Dave Hentschel: That's where God finds him.
Dave Hentschel: Saul starts out as one guy, and he ends up as a completely different guy.
Dave Hentschel: And I think the lesson that we can learn right here, friends, is this God can save anybody.
Dave Hentschel: God can take the guy in black and actually turn him into the guy in orange, because that's what happened with Paul.
Dave Hentschel: He was the guy in black at the beginning, and by the end of his life, he's the guy in orange.
Dave Hentschel: This is the life changing power of the gospel.
Dave Hentschel: And Paul comes to the end, he's in this dungeon, he knows he's about to get beheaded.
Dave Hentschel: That's how He dies.
Dave Hentschel: He knows that and he's fine with it.
Dave Hentschel: I fought the good fight.
Dave Hentschel: I've kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: Wow.
Dave Hentschel: Is that anything that lines up with your definition of success?
Dave Hentschel: Mark Dever said this quote What if you were executed as a terrorist for Jesus?
Dave Hentschel: Could you still consider yourself a success?
Dave Hentschel: Answer that, Mark says, and I will tell you if you've understood 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: And I will tell you if you've understood the gospel.
Dave Hentschel: And I will tell you if you've understood life.
Dave Hentschel: This is success.
Dave Hentschel: Back to the text, Paul says, I'm an apostle by the will of God.
Dave Hentschel: God came and got me.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel was not a human invention.
Dave Hentschel: The ministry that he's received is a ministry that's a stewardship.
Dave Hentschel: Unlike other successful organizations, the Church of Jesus Christ does not exist because of human vision.
Dave Hentschel: It exists because of the will of God.
Dave Hentschel: The source of the message of the gospel is super clear.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel is from God.
Dave Hentschel: Notice the words that are used in chapter 1, verses 9 and 10.
Dave Hentschel: You see these words like gave and manifested, and words like revealed and brought.
Dave Hentschel: This is the kind of message that Paul has received, and now he's got to pass it along.
Dave Hentschel: This is what Christians are supposed to do.
Dave Hentschel: We need not be inventive or original.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy is to take this message and to guard it.
Dave Hentschel: It's kind of like a trust, if you will.
Dave Hentschel: Look at 2 Timothy 1, 13, and 14.
Dave Hentschel: This makes this more clear.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says, follow the pattern of the sound words that you've heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Dave Hentschel: Guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
Dave Hentschel: He's got a trust underlying that section of your Bible.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel was entrusted to Timothy, and it's been entrusted to each generation up until our generation, it's now been entrusted to you and me.
Dave Hentschel: You and I are not called to change the message or give out another message or to come up with something that has more surface appeal or to craft a gospel better suited to meet modern needs.
Dave Hentschel: We are called to deliver the gospel from God to people.
Dave Hentschel: You know why?
Dave Hentschel: Because if the gospel of Jesus Christ is altered, it's lost.
Dave Hentschel: If the gospel is altered, it's lost.
Dave Hentschel: And so Paul was sent, and then Timothy was sent, and then each generation gets sent with this message.
Dave Hentschel: To give you another illustration, it's kind of like a mail carrier, if you will.
Dave Hentschel: The mail carrier that comes to your house every day.
Dave Hentschel: The mail carrier is not supposed to go visit the store, buy a bunch of postcards, fill them out, stamp them, address them, write them to you, put them in your mailbox.
Dave Hentschel: The mail carrier is supposed to take mail from one place and deliver it to another place.
Dave Hentschel: That's what the mail carrier is hired to do.
Dave Hentschel: Just deliver the mail.
Dave Hentschel: That's the same really mission you and I have been given as well.
Dave Hentschel: Take this, bring it over here.
Dave Hentschel: 175 years ago, our church got that.
Dave Hentschel: Mount Bethel Baptist Church was a church that was founded in 1767.
Dave Hentschel: I actually pastored that church for eight years.
Dave Hentschel: There was 80 people that came from that church and planted this church in 1851.
Dave Hentschel: They had this gigantic revival, second great awakening, Reverend E.
Dave Hentschel: C.
Dave Hentschel: Ambler, a bunch of people came to Christ, and this new work of God was started on this corner back then.
Dave Hentschel: That generation understood the mission, and every single generation had to continue the mission, continue sharing this, to continue sharing this same message, just as it was back at the beginning.
Dave Hentschel: So that's the source of the message.
Dave Hentschel: Now I want to look at the structure of the message.
Dave Hentschel: It helps sometimes when we begin a new study to see kind of a bird's eye view of the whole letter, the macro level structure.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy has two letters to his name.
Dave Hentschel: Second Timothy has four chapters, and it's easy to remember there's four parts.
Dave Hentschel: And I'll give you the major thrust of each chapter.
Dave Hentschel: So chapter one is all about this guard the treasure.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, kindle afresh the gift of God that is in you and guard the treasure that's been entrusted to you, which is of course what?
Dave Hentschel: The gospel.
Dave Hentschel: Chapter two, Timothy, multiply your ministry.
Dave Hentschel: The things that you heard from me, I want you to pass those along to faithful men who will be also able to teach others.
Dave Hentschel: Multiply your ministry.
Dave Hentschel: Chapter three.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, stick with the scriptures.
Dave Hentschel: Here's the thing things are gonna go from bad to worse.
Dave Hentschel: In time, evil men will come.
Dave Hentschel: You, Timothy, stick with what you've been trained in already.
Dave Hentschel: All scriptures inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the good man might be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Dave Hentschel: Chapter 4.
Dave Hentschel: Finish well.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, preach the word.
Dave Hentschel: I'm being poured out like a drink offering.
Dave Hentschel: I've fought the good fight.
Dave Hentschel: I've kept the faith, and now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who long for his appearing.
Dave Hentschel: Finish well.
Dave Hentschel: So this is Paul at the end of his life.
Dave Hentschel: He's in prison, he's in chains, and he knows he's reached the end, and he is passing the baton to Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: It's like that four by one hundred relay race where the first guy takes off running and puts that stick out and goes, stick, and then the next guy takes off running, stick.
Dave Hentschel: This is the Apostle Paul saying, stick.
Dave Hentschel: That's the heart of 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: So that is the message.
Dave Hentschel: Now let's take a look at the method.
Dave Hentschel: We've seen the messenger, we've seen the message, but that's not all.
Dave Hentschel: Now I want you to picture this.
Dave Hentschel: Imagine you're in Paul's shoes, okay?
Dave Hentschel: You're alone, you're incarcerated, you're probably hungry, you're poor, you are isolated, you're about to die.
Dave Hentschel: This is how he begins the body of this letter.
Dave Hentschel: Look at verse 3.
Dave Hentschel: I thank God.
Dave Hentschel: Whoa.
Dave Hentschel: Paul has this amazing attitude of gratitude, even despite the worst conditions you could possibly imagine.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is thankful.
Dave Hentschel: Now, what's he thankful for?
Dave Hentschel: Well, let's continue.
Dave Hentschel: He says, I thank God, whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience.
Dave Hentschel: As I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day, as I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy.
Dave Hentschel: Notice a couple things here.
Dave Hentschel: Notice, first of all, that word ancestors.
Dave Hentschel: This is Paul's nod to his Jewish ancestry, his general affiliation to the God of the prophets, the patriarchs, his spiritual heritage.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is not saying that Christianity continues Judaism unchanged, but that it is the fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs, and there's one larger story with the Messiah Jesus who caps it all off.
Dave Hentschel: Second, I want you to notice how close this relationship is here between Paul and Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: Take notice of the words.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, I thank God for you.
Dave Hentschel: I pray for you night and day.
Dave Hentschel: I remember your tears.
Dave Hentschel: It shows the deeply emotional tenor of this letter.
Dave Hentschel: It shows the emotional depth of their Christian friendship.
Dave Hentschel: These are brothers.
Dave Hentschel: He says, I long to see you.
Dave Hentschel: You bring me so much joy.
Dave Hentschel: This is a relationship that's clearly been invested in.
Dave Hentschel: And that's the method.
Dave Hentschel: Ministry is deeply relational, it's not just functional.
Dave Hentschel: What we learn here is that faithful ministry is sustained through relationship, through prayer and relationship together.
Dave Hentschel: That's very important if we're to understand our task.
Dave Hentschel: The message of Christianity doesn't move forward through institutions, it moves forward through people, it moves forward through relationship.
Dave Hentschel: Every believer needs somebody who has invested in their faith.
Dave Hentschel: And behind every faithful Christian is someone who has prayed for them and who has taught them and who has encouraged them and who has corrected them at times.
Dave Hentschel: A healthy Christian life always includes deep, significant spiritual relationships, never isolation.
Dave Hentschel: There is no such thing as the lone Christian in the New Testament.
Dave Hentschel: Paul continues in verse 5 saying this, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith without hypocrisy, that's that word, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.
Dave Hentschel: And now, take this to heart, grandmoms and moms.
Dave Hentschel: And now, I am sure it dwells in you as well.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy's story did not begin with Paul.
Dave Hentschel: First, it was his Jewish grandmother named Lois.
Dave Hentschel: And then it was his mom, Eunice.
Dave Hentschel: They laid the foundation.
Dave Hentschel: This is a generational thinking.
Dave Hentschel: This is generational faith we're talking about here.
Dave Hentschel: Now notice that word faith used here.
Dave Hentschel: In this context, this is not talking about a momentary decision.
Dave Hentschel: Rather, this is a virtue that's formed over a lifetime through teaching, through example, through imitation.
Dave Hentschel: This is the faith that's being taught and passed on by parents and grandparents and church family.
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Dave Hentschel: Caravilla in his commentary on this letter says the fidelity shown by parents and teachers toward the young and emulated by the young and the formation of their character is a critical part of the formation of this theological virtue.
Dave Hentschel: Faith here is not a momentary decision that occurs at a moment of crisis or conversion.
Dave Hentschel: Rather, it is a virtue that can grow through the stages of a person's life.
Dave Hentschel: This is the kind of faith that each generation is supposed to pass down, which is why there's such a burden right now for where we are in our cultural moment.
Dave Hentschel: Because there's some troubling statistics about kids who had parents who associated themselves with Christianity but who aren't maintaining that faith today.
Dave Hentschel: In his book, Nonverts, The Making of an Ex-Christian America, Stephen Boulevant chronicles what has happened in America over the last few decades.
Dave Hentschel: For example, he states, quote, all across the United States, cradle Catholics born since 1970 and raised in a Catholic upbringing has produced twice as many nuns as it has weekly mass going Catholics.
Dave Hentschel: And he goes on to chronicle the statistics of the decrease of self-proclaimed Christians over the last couple of decades.
Dave Hentschel: That book has further details about that.
Dave Hentschel: But to go against the tide, we have to embrace our responsibility being spelled out here.
Dave Hentschel: Because it's not just about the messenger and it's not just about the message, there's also a method that he's spelling out for us as well.
Dave Hentschel: When God, by his perfect timing, brings the two parties together.
Dave Hentschel: A spiritual legacy is passed on through ordinary faithfulness as God uses generations to safeguard the advance of the gospel.
Dave Hentschel: Paul will say later in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.
Dave Hentschel: And how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which were able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: See, Timothy had a mom and a grandmom who got this vision.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy had a family who understood this.
Dave Hentschel: So Timothy had a wonderful advantage.
Dave Hentschel: He had a godly grandmother and a godly mother, Eunice and Lois, who taught him the scriptures, meaning the Jewish scriptures.
Dave Hentschel: And so from childhood, he had learned them.
Dave Hentschel: From childhood, he had been taught those scriptures.
Dave Hentschel: I can almost imagine Eunice and Lois talking, saying, What scripture should we read about and teach young Timothy today?
Dave Hentschel: What should we tell Tiny Tim about today?
Dave Hentschel: And maybe one day they teach him all about the story of creation.
Dave Hentschel: And maybe one day they teach him all about the story of Noah and his ark.
Dave Hentschel: And maybe one day they teach him all about Abraham and his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Dave Hentschel: They are preparing him for what he would one day learn about when he was much older.
Dave Hentschel: Because one day a missionary would come to their city, Lystra, named Paul, and there Paul would preach the climactic message, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: There he told the simple story of salvation.
Dave Hentschel: And at the end, Paul gave an invitation, and Timothy crossed the line of faith.
Dave Hentschel: And that day, Timothy became wise for salvation in Christ Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: I wonder if Paul even knew how significant that day was at the time.
Dave Hentschel: I wonder if the other elders and leaders at the church at Lystra knew after the teaching time.
Dave Hentschel: Maybe they got together for like, I don't know, roast beef or something.
Dave Hentschel: And maybe they're like, how is church today?
Dave Hentschel: Anything significant happened at our gathering today?
Dave Hentschel: Maybe one elder goes, not much.
Dave Hentschel: You know, we had that long-winded preacher.
Dave Hentschel: Another elder goes, oh yeah.
Dave Hentschel: Well, one thing, Eunice and Lois' boy, Timothy, accepted the gospel.
Dave Hentschel: Not much.
Dave Hentschel: Here's the man who will become the traveling companion to the apostle Paul.
Dave Hentschel: Not much.
Dave Hentschel: Here's the man to whom two books in your Bible are written.
Dave Hentschel: Not much.
Dave Hentschel: Here's the man who will pastor the most important church in the first century, Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: Not much.
Dave Hentschel: The Bible says, when one sinner repents, there is rejoicing by the angels in heaven.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy crossed the line and became wise to salvation.
Dave Hentschel: This is what the scriptures do, and that's what happened to Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: But that foundation was first laid a long time earlier by his grandma and by his mom.
Dave Hentschel: And Timothy's faith was born and it grew as he was ready to take the torch himself.
Dave Hentschel: That's really what the book of 2 Timothy is about.
Dave Hentschel: If I could give you the big idea in a sentence, I would say it like this.
Dave Hentschel: 2 Timothy is about this.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel survives when one generation receives it faithfully and passes it on courageously.
Dave Hentschel: That's what 2 Timothy is.
Dave Hentschel: This letter really, it's about third generation Christianity, if you know what I mean by that.
Dave Hentschel: The first generation were the generation of the apostles.
Dave Hentschel: And then the second generation was Timothy and his generation.
Dave Hentschel: And now Timothy is building into that third generation.
Dave Hentschel: This letter is for people who did not witness the actual earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ firsthand.
Dave Hentschel: They had to take these things on faith, just like you and I have to take these things on faith.
Dave Hentschel: Remember, Jesus said to doubting Thomas, Blessed are you who see and believe, but blessed are those who don't see and still believe.
Dave Hentschel: That's the third generation, and that's the same situation that you and I find ourselves in.
Dave Hentschel: We have to pass the faith to the next generation just as they did.
Dave Hentschel: Years ago, we talked about a concept here called being a three-chair church.
Dave Hentschel: And here's the concept kind of spelled out for you right here down front, just to remind you.
Dave Hentschel: So we have three chairs up here.
Dave Hentschel: And let me just explain what the three chairs mean and what they represent, if you will.
Dave Hentschel: So I'll start with this middle chair.
Dave Hentschel: The chair in the middle represents my chair, your chair.
Dave Hentschel: The chair in the middle represents our place in the family of God.
Dave Hentschel: This is where you're sitting today.
Dave Hentschel: Your chair was here.
Dave Hentschel: You and I, when we first came to this church, there was a chair for you.
Dave Hentschel: Did you notice that?
Dave Hentschel: Yes.
Dave Hentschel: We all had a chair when we got here.
Dave Hentschel: Hopefully you did.
Dave Hentschel: Some of you, maybe you remember where you sat for the first time.
Dave Hentschel: Some of you have never moved your seat since you sat there the first time.
Dave Hentschel: That's where you sit.
Dave Hentschel: Some of you remember where you were sitting when you gave your life to Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: Some of you remember where you were sitting, where you heard a word that was encouraging to you, or you received an exhortation that was really important to you, or you remember the chair that you were sitting in when God spoke to you or gave you direction in your life.
Dave Hentschel: And that chair was very critical to you and your own relationship with God.
Dave Hentschel: That's the middle chair.
Dave Hentschel: Then there is this chair to my right.
Dave Hentschel: So this chair to my right is here visually to remind me that somebody came before me.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody was here before I got here.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody invited me.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody made a place for me.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody sacrificed for me.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody was made uncomfortable for me.
Dave Hentschel: None of us came by ourselves.
Dave Hentschel: All of us came to Christianity because somebody thought about that before we ever knew about that.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, you could picture a whole line of chairs going from here all the way back to Jesus and the first generation, and they were faithful every single generation to have chairs and never skip the generation.
Dave Hentschel: If they would have skipped a generation or two, then we would have a big problem, right?
Dave Hentschel: So they were faithful every single generation to get up to this generation here, that then passed the baton, passed the faith over to us.
Dave Hentschel: This is the chair on our right that we have to honor as well.
Dave Hentschel: And then there's this third chair.
Dave Hentschel: So this chair, the left-hand chair, represents the people who aren't here yet.
Dave Hentschel: So this left-hand chair represents the people that are still coming.
Dave Hentschel: This left-hand chair represents somebody nobody really thought about yet in this room.
Dave Hentschel: Somebody that's coming, but we just haven't seen them yet.
Dave Hentschel: So the person in the left-hand chair doesn't know that this is their chair, but it's here for them.
Dave Hentschel: And it's our turn, those of us who sit in the middle chair, to make a sacrifice for the person who's going to be in the left-hand chair.
Dave Hentschel: Now it's our turn to make sure that there's a seat for the person who's going to be coming and sitting in the left-hand chair.
Dave Hentschel: And we want them to have a place and be comfortable in the family of God when they come.
Dave Hentschel: We want to make sure that there's a seat for them.
Dave Hentschel: That's the left-hand chair.
Dave Hentschel: You might think about these three chairs like this: this is the past, this is the present, and this is the future.
Dave Hentschel: This is what it means to be, if you will, a three-chair church.
Dave Hentschel: That's the kind of church that we want to be.
Dave Hentschel: Three-chair churches honor the past and they give thanks for the faithful people that have gone on before them and made it possible for our church to be where we are today.
Dave Hentschel: And three-chair churches also sacrifice for those yet to come who will sit in the left-hand chair.
Dave Hentschel: Now, sadly, here's the problem.
Dave Hentschel: Some churches, maybe you've run across this kind of church.
Dave Hentschel: Some churches are only two-chair churches.
Dave Hentschel: They only have these two chairs.
Dave Hentschel: Maybe you've run across a church like this.
Dave Hentschel: Um, this is the kind of church that maybe used to be a church, but it's no longer a church.
Dave Hentschel: Now it's like turned into a restaurant or something like that.
Dave Hentschel: Now like the church is a bank, or there's there's there's only two chairs because nobody at this church was ever thinking about the left-hand chair.
Dave Hentschel: Uh, this is have you ever been to a church and like nobody's there under the age of 60?
Dave Hentschel: That's what I'm talking about.
Dave Hentschel: There's a there's a there's a a blankness here where the people are not making consideration and thinking about who's coming after me, who's gonna be in this third chair, and they're not really making good preparations for that.
Dave Hentschel: And it's sad because you see a once maybe thriving ministry, there was a vision, but now there's just a church in decline.
Dave Hentschel: That's not gonna be our story, though.
Dave Hentschel: So, our story is gonna be we're a three-chair church, and we want to reach people and we want to pass on our legacy of gospel faithfulness to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: To do that always takes effort.
Dave Hentschel: To think about the person that's not here yet and advocate for the person that's not even in the room always feels uncomfortable.
Dave Hentschel: It always feels like effort, it always feels like sacrifice, it all it's never about me, it's about the person who's not here.
Dave Hentschel: It always feels like oh, this is gonna involve some change.
Dave Hentschel: And who likes change?
Dave Hentschel: Not me.
Dave Hentschel: I mean, I'm a Baptist.
Dave Hentschel: Change.
Dave Hentschel: I'm like I'm like a baby in a poopy diaper.
Dave Hentschel: I don't want to be changed.
Dave Hentschel: I know it smells, but it's warm and it's mine.
Dave Hentschel: Okay, so that's that's that's how I feel about change.
Dave Hentschel: But to do this, to think about the third chair, the left hand chair, that's gonna take change.
Dave Hentschel: That's gonna take effort.
Dave Hentschel: Have you noticed that there's a parking shortage on some Sundays?
Dave Hentschel: Does anybody notice that?
Dave Hentschel: Does anybody notice it's kind of like dangerous right around 10:30, right around that spot over there sometimes?
Dave Hentschel: I'm worried.
Dave Hentschel: Anybody notice some Sundays you come in, it's kind of hard to find a seat.
Dave Hentschel: So to accommodate for the left-hand chair, we got to think about strategically how are we gonna make sure there are parking spots and seats for the people that aren't yet here.
Dave Hentschel: We're gonna have to think strategically about that.
Dave Hentschel: Like this Easter, we can't do two services, we have to do three services.
Dave Hentschel: So uh that extra service might mean some of you changing your service time, maybe coming a little earlier, so the left hand chair could be for somebody who hasn't yet come.
Dave Hentschel: And so the third chair requires sacrifice and effort and sometimes change.
Dave Hentschel: But I think that's exciting.
Dave Hentschel: I think it's exciting to even think about that.
Dave Hentschel: We might need to think about the third chair and change because that means God's using us and our community needs us, and that's why we're doing this.
Dave Hentschel: And so, though it's difficult to be a three-chair church, I would rather do that than anything else in the whole world.
Dave Hentschel: So, this is our job.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel survives when one generation receives it faithfully and then passes it on courageously.
Dave Hentschel: That's really the message of 2 Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is saying, I carry the torch.
Dave Hentschel: Now it's your turn.
Dave Hentschel: So as we apply this message to our own lives, let's think about this in a few different ways.
Dave Hentschel: I'll just pose them in terms of questions.
Dave Hentschel: How can we apply this to ourselves?
Dave Hentschel: Here's three questions.
Dave Hentschel: Question number one: have you received the faith?
Dave Hentschel: Are you here and have you yet crossed the line of faith and made the Lord Jesus your Savior?
Dave Hentschel: If that's something you're still thinking about, we're so glad that you're here.
Dave Hentschel: I would love to talk to you more about that.
Dave Hentschel: Please come see me.
Dave Hentschel: We have little tracks in the foyer called What is the Gospel?
Dave Hentschel: We would love to explain all that to you so that you can make sure you have your relationship settled.
Dave Hentschel: Secondly, are you growing in sincere faith?
Dave Hentschel: Everybody should be growing.
Dave Hentschel: Amy Huber, our director of discipleship and connections, is putting together a discipleship growth pathway so that it'll be very clear how we can grow here.
Dave Hentschel: And she's doing a fantastic job.
Dave Hentschel: You'll hear more about that in weeks to come.
Dave Hentschel: Number three.
Dave Hentschel: Number three is this who are you passing it to?
Dave Hentschel: Who's that one that's in your life that God has strategically placed you around, where you get the messenger, you got the message, and then the method is going to be God's perfect timing when he opens the door for you to share.
Dave Hentschel: Maybe it's a co-worker, or maybe it's a family member, or a neighbor, or I don't know.
Dave Hentschel: But Easter's coming up, and I would encourage you to take this card on your way out and give it away.
Dave Hentschel: The gospel never moves forward automatically, it moves forward when Christians like you and me receive it, embrace it, and then pass it on.
Dave Hentschel: So as we start this series, I want to give you a homework assignment today.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to think about somebody in your life, and I want you to think about the person who first introduced you to the Lord Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: Who was that person for you?
Dave Hentschel: If you were a child, maybe think about the person that shared with you then, or maybe somebody who shared with you when you were older or old enough to understand the gospel, or that person who shared when you were 18 or 19 and shared with you the message that brought you back, or maybe reintroduced you to the grace of God at that time in your life.
Dave Hentschel: Who was that person?
Dave Hentschel: Who was that messenger for you?
Dave Hentschel: Now, what I want you to do for homework is I want you to do an exercise that will take you 10 minutes.
Dave Hentschel: Here's what I want you to do.
Dave Hentschel: And this exercise will remind you of two things.
Dave Hentschel: It will remind you, first, that you were once an object of God's mission.
Dave Hentschel: And number two, it will remind you of the gratitude that maybe you forgot that you had.
Dave Hentschel: Here's what I want you to do.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to go home this week.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee, and I want you to write a short letter.
Dave Hentschel: And I want you to write a letter to the person that introduced you to Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: You don't have to send it.
Dave Hentschel: That person might not even be even alive anymore.
Dave Hentschel: The point of doing this is to remind you that somebody took a risk, that somebody broke the sound barrier, that somebody was bold enough, that God used somebody in a terrific way, and if it wasn't for them, you would have never heard, or you would have never known about the God who loves you.
Dave Hentschel: So here's my letter.
Dave Hentschel: I sat down and I wrote a letter.
Dave Hentschel: I'll read it to you.
Dave Hentschel: This letter's to my mom.
Dave Hentschel: Dear mom, I'm writing a letter today to say thank you.
Dave Hentschel: I was five years old when you asked me what happened, when I asked you what happens after people die.
Dave Hentschel: And I can still remember when you explained to me the way of salvation through Jesus, that Jesus died for me to go to heaven with him.
Dave Hentschel: And that day, I prayed to ask Jesus into my heart.
Dave Hentschel: As you know, my wife and I have now had the privilege of leading our three children in prayers similar to that one that you led me in.
Dave Hentschel: And for my entire life, I have anchored my soul to that simple prayer between you and me and God.
Dave Hentschel: And I just want to say thank you.
Dave Hentschel: So here I am, almost 50 years later, writing this letter, preaching the same message of salvation to anybody that will listen to me.
Dave Hentschel: My encouragement, friends, is that someday somebody may sit down and write a letter like that to you.
Dave Hentschel: To you.
Dave Hentschel: And you might think to yourself, man, I had no idea.
Dave Hentschel: Like all I did was, or all I said was, and all I meant was, but yet in God's perfect timing, he took the messenger and he took the message, and with his method, he used you to make an eternal difference in the life of somebody who doesn't even know what they're missing.
Dave Hentschel: So I beg you, and I beg you on behalf of your lost friend, and I beg you on behalf of this community, and I beg you on behalf of this church, and I beg you on behalf of your own reward when you stand before the Lord to embrace God's role for you to share the faith to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: I want to invite the worship team to come, and I want to close with a poem, and it's one of the most powerful poems I've ever read.
Dave Hentschel: It was a poem that was written a hundred years ago during World War I.
Dave Hentschel: The poem is called In Flanders Fields.
Dave Hentschel: You've probably heard it before.
Dave Hentschel: The reason I want to share with you is because 2 Timothy is like the Flanders Fields of the Bible.
Dave Hentschel: It's a poem that was written about the World War I dead by a former World War I sergeant.
Dave Hentschel: And it's written about where the soldiers' graves were located in Belgium and the poppies started growing there.
Dave Hentschel: So I'll read the poem for you.
Dave Hentschel: It says, In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row, that mark our place, and in the sky the larks still bravely singing fly, scarce heard amid the guns below.
Dave Hentschel: We are the dead short days ago.
Dave Hentschel: We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Fields.
Dave Hentschel: Take up our quarrel with the foe.
Dave Hentschel: To you from failing hands we throw the torch.
Dave Hentschel: Be yours to hold it high.
Dave Hentschel: If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields.
Dave Hentschel: Here's Paul the sergeant saying to Timothy, his lieutenant, and to the next generation, I fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I've kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: Now it's your turn.
Dave Hentschel: To you from failing hands, we throw the torch.
Dave Hentschel: This is what Paul is doing in this letter.
Dave Hentschel: The apostles have thrown the torch to us.
Dave Hentschel: The question for you and for me and every generation is will we hold it high?
Dave Hentschel: Would you pray with me as we close today?
Dave Hentschel: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gospel that you've entrusted to us, the message of life, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: Thank you for those who faithfully went on before and passed the faith to us and for the generations of believers that have carried this torch before us.
Dave Hentschel: Lord, would you now help us to be found faithful in our generation?
Dave Hentschel: Would you strengthen our resolve and deepen our love for you, for your word?
Dave Hentschel: And would you give us a heavenly boldness to share the hope we have in Christ?
Dave Hentschel: Help us to invest in others.
Dave Hentschel: Open doors.
Dave Hentschel: We promise to walk through them.
Dave Hentschel: Help us to disciple the next generation and to live in such a way that the gospel continues to move forward through our lives.
Dave Hentschel: And may our church be a place where the faith is received and nurtured and then passed on for many, many years to come.
Dave Hentschel: For we pray it all in Jesus' name, his mighty name.
Dave Hentschel: And everyone said, Amen.