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Join BOLD Church in 21 Days of Transtraumational Prayer

A journey to healing, deliverance and freedom, by grace through faith, to manifest the good, pleasing and perfect will of God in our spirit, soul and body.

Day 8- 2 Timothy 1

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Good morning. Good morning. So once again, like as I mentioned, we are in 2nd Timothy chapter one. And we today, when we get into our breakout rooms and we'll get into a discussion now, we're discussing praying specifically for people in media, entertainment, and the arts. So as I was talking about last week, we as people that are maybe not in those fields, we have a lot of pressure on us, just in general, just with everyday lives, because in some way, shape, or form, with us being in the body of Christ, that automatically makes us leaders. Now we have leadership roles through being parents, through being people supervisors, et cetera, et cetera. But with us being in Christ, that puts another type of leadership on us. But our leadership is, you know, kind of in different little silos, you know, this group here, this group here. But when you are an artist, whether that be a musician, whether that be somebody that is making, you know, physical pieces of art or acting, et cetera, um, your actions and different aspects of your character and your just your profession are kind of blasted out there. So these people are under different types of pressures that we may not be under with our lives. Um, and that's why it is important to us, even though we may not identify or we may only have a relationship with these realms from the um point of consumption, just you know, literally watching, listening, or et cetera. Um, but because they're under this different type of scrutiny, um, it is important for us to remember and pray for them. Um, so we're in uh 2 Timothy, starting off with chapter one, of course. Um, personally, one of my favorite things and the kind of the difference between, you know, this letter versus others is there's a level of intimacy. Um, because, you know, this is not Paul talking to a church. He's not talking to a large group. This isn't kind of uh, if we wanted to view it as a not an attack, but as a something like a strategic uh, you know, point of view. He's not kind of, it's not like a widespread thing where he's trying to cover a bunch of stuff all at once. He's encouraging Timothy, who was like a son to him, um, you know, how to be the best type of pastor, how to be the best type of leader. So there are things that I think so the purpose of this book is a bit more concise. And I think that, you know, as leaders ourselves, and then as we're kind of turning around and shifting focus off ourselves and praying for people immediately, um, I think this is a really great place in the Bible to start. What I'll do is I'm just gonna read these uh verses that we're focusing on verbatim, and then I'll kind of expand out from there. So we're starting off with verse six, and once again we're in 2 Timothy chapter one. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a pay, but of power, love, and self-discipline. I'm gonna pause here. Um, you know, as I mentioned, it we have our own different responsibilities as being in the body of Christ for us to uh you know proclaim the gospel. For when we are faced with opportunities throughout our day to remind people that Christ is Lord or for remind people to our actions that there is uh there is Jesus that lives inside of us, um, that is a general responsibility and that takes courage. But there's a different level of courage to one, make that your your call, to make that your source of income for you to um have your actual life kind of be determined on, you know, how you portray yourself. So, you know, obviously there are gospel artists, there are people that, you know, make TV that's centered around um Christ-centered things, et cetera. And you know, when we break out into our breakouts room, we want to um just really pray for them to continue to have the courage to do that. Um, and it's mentioned later in this chapter, and as we just know from through reading the gospels and through just you know our actual lives, there is a level of persecution that literally comes um when you proclaim the cross of Christ. Um, it's just like I made an example one time when we uh Alfonso and other guys and I were in a breakout room, it's literally like water and soap. When you combine those things, there's gonna be bubbles. So when you know someone proclaims themselves for Christ, there are going to be, I hate to, I'm not gonna use the best word here, but consequences to that. So when we remember, you know, when we're praying for these people, when we're focusing on these people, just like we were talking about in these um those last two verses, um, there's a fire that you know comes across anyone that's stepping into their calling. But we do have a choice um to, you know, watch it burn or to participate and actively fan that fire to continue to pursue the things of Christ, which continue to pursue the things of our calling, et cetera. And people that are in that type of life, um, you know, that type of motivation, if you've ever been around any type of creative people or just having a general idea and watching a TV show, et cetera, you know, there can be ups and downs, peaks and valleys along with that. So we, you know, today we do want to kind of hone in and pray for those people to one, have the desire and the courage to fan that flame, but also for them to understand that, you know, fear is not where we're rooted. You know, there's an optimism, there's a confidence that comes from being in Christ. Um, that, you know, as you're as you continue to step forward and as they continue to step forward, that they'll, you know, they'll need for for their for the gospel to be spread through you know through their acts. So I'm just gonna continue on with verse eight. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord, and don't be ashamed of me either. Even though I'm in prison for him, with the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer for me for the sake of the good news. So in this moment, um, and you know, we're not talking about these people literally, you know, being incarcerated, literally being locked up, etc. You know, as we look back, one one thing that um kind of grounds me when we go through when I go through scripture is there are people suffering things in scripture that I, you know, you know, have been have been fortunate enough to not suffer and will not suffer because they did that for me. So on a lower level, you know, when we talk talking about shame, we start talking about, you know, just proclaiming that we once again need to pray for the boldness of these people. Even though they may not be in prison, there is a certain type of, you know, because we are, or because they are in the world or of the of in the world, but not of the world, there are pressures, there are different types of um influences that come, but they need to continue to kind of be bold. They need to continue to remember what the focus is. And you know, one thing, one of the things that I really do enjoy about uh this particular book is just how basic and just straightforward, you know, Paul is telling, you know, um Timothy, like, hey, this is what we're, you know, this is what we're we're doing here. And we're and just that constant reminder, that that one-to-one coaching that you know can be really beneficial if someone's looking to grow. So um I'll we I'll start back with verse nine. For God has saved us, or for God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because it was his plan from the beginning of time to show us his grace through Jesus Christ. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Jesus Christ, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the good news. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this good news. That's why I'm suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one, the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I entrusted to him until the day of his return. So that last part, that verse 12 there really stuck out to me when you know you just start talking about talents and gifts and finances and just your general purpose in life. And one other thing that I would like for us to pray about when we start talking about people in media, et cetera, is that, you know, when they're trying to conduct this thing and do this thing in a certain manner that, you know, lifts up Christ, they are entrusting him with their lives, their livelihood, their family life, et cetera. And that takes a certain level of boldness. That takes a certain level of boldness to look and turn on the radio or look and turn on the television or look and go into a you know an art gallery and see what's selling, see what's being lifted up. But when you know that you have a different calling and these people understand you know their purpose, for them to entrust that livelihood with Christ. So that's something important to remember. Like I said, once again, they are not in prison, but you know, and I'll I'll just say this plainly, sometimes, you know, as we, you know, as we walk with Christ, even though you know, we we and on a deeper level and in our spirit, we understand that we are free and what and we are we are truly free, but it can seem like there are restrictions. We can think seem like, okay, well, I can't go over there and you know, ho-hum because I can't do this or I can't say that. And there's, you know, there's things that may seem fun over there, there's things that may seem profitable over there. So as we, you know, you know, as we kind of focus in on being in this area of safety and this area of freedom, even though sometimes when we're in our flesh, it seems like we're not, we want to pray, you know, obviously we we'll focus in on ourselves. You know, there may be some, you know, disenlightenment as we pray for these people for things that we can deal with on our own, but we want them to understand why they're making this sacrifice and the fact that this sacrifice is not in vain. Um, and then there's one last place I want to go before I yield. Um, if you would go to chapter two, and we're gonna start in verse 20, and I'll just read a bit of a verbatim, then I'll mention why I went here. Um in a wealthy home, some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean and you will be ready for the master to use you for every good work. Um, so one reason I wanted to mention that, and you know, as the spirit was dealing with me as I was preparing today, I thought about music, I thought about movies, etc. Um, you know, even art or even art that's shrunken down to the form of memes. And there are things that in those realms that you go to, you may go to frequently, but they don't really mean anything to you. There's movies that you may watch for comfort, you may watch because it's the holiday season, et cetera, and you're doing it, but it's it's that same old, you know, raggedy spoon that you got from Walmart a couple years ago that you eat your so, you know, you eat your cereal with. It's something that's familiar, but it doesn't really mean that much. And what, you know, looking at ourselves, and then also looking at, like I said, the people that were focusing on prayer, we don't want, we wouldn't want that type of that that art, that, you know, that work that they're doing to be that regular old spoon. They we want, you know, to encourage them, to pray for them, to lift them up, for them to be able to create art, for them to be able to relay the news, for them to be able to write scripts that are um those special items, those things that instead of a song that you know may remind you of your younger years that you want to do a little dance to, but to think of for it to be something that really means something to you, something, a song that grounds you, a movie that motivates you, or uh, you know, uh an image of art that you know truly changes, you know, how you live your lives. So I just wanted to go over that specific scripture because one thing that we what would want to focus on, I think the last thing I'll mention is just focusing on that level of purity for for not to for them not to have that desire to be mixed in with the world and sort of maybe resemble it in a way to try to, you know, soften the blow that does come with delivering the gospel. But with that I will yield.