SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 3:10-17 (ESV)
DATE: 1-16-22
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main campus — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
If you were with us — in 2021 — you know that we had a theme for the year. The theme was things we are “for” as a church. Each week we highlighted and prayed for things and people and churches that we are for. This year — 2022 — our theme for the year is “belonging.” Something the last few years has revealed is how desperate we all are to know that we belong somewhere.
Isolation isn’t good for anyone because we’re created to be part of a community — we’re created to belong. So you’ll be hearing a lot about what it means to belong here at Gateway this year.
And we’re beginning a short series this week that we’ve titled “Prayers for the Church.” Prayers specifically for those of us who belong to Gateway Church. If you don’t know — I have some prayers that I pray regularly for us as a church. These prayers have circulated among some of you who pray these prayers along with me. There are many other things that I pray for on our behalf — for those who are sick — for those who’ve lost a loved one — whatever you may ask of me to pray for — but these prayers are what I return to again and again as I pray for us. So what do I pray for when I pray for us as a church? I pray…
- That God’s glory would be what’s most important to us.
- That we would live under the authority of God’s Word and by the power of his Spirit.
- That we would have unity.
- That we’d be concerned about the interests of others.
- That we’d be known for our love and faithfulness.
- That our identity would be in Christ.
- That the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders would be raised in our church.
- I ask God to help us to be a praying church; dependent upon him for all things.
- I pray that his message will echo forth from us. That reports of our faith in him would spread and be an encouragement to others (not for our glory; but for God’s glory).
- And I pray that God — from his glorious, unlimited resources — would empower us with the inner strength of his Spirit. And that Christ would make his home in our hearts as we trust in him. And that our spiritual roots would grow deep down into God’s love and keep us strong. And that we would have the power to understand how wide, long, high, and deep God’s love is for us. I ask God to help us to know, experience, and trust in the love of Christ.
These are the prayers that I — your pastor — pray for you — pray for us — daily. And — in this series — we’re going to look at these prayers — not in any particular order — because the order doesn’t really matter.
But — given that this is Sanctity of Life weekend — I thought it’d be good for us to begin with my prayer that we’d be a church that raises up the next generation — then we’ll look at a few other of my prayers for us. So let’s turn to our first passage for today.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
If you have your Bible please turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3. We’ll be looking at verses 10-17 together today. We’re in 2 Timothy chapter 3. Beginning in verse 10.
“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra — which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:10-17 ESV)
INTRODUCTION
So here’s what we’re gonna to do. We’re going to begin with our text in Second Timothy and my prayer that we would be a church that raises up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. Then we’ll look at three of my other prayers for us that define some of the characteristics I hope this next generation will exhibit.
But — here’s some background as to why we’re doing this series now. In the Old Testament — we find the people of God — as a nation — living primarily in two places. The first place — where we find them living — is in the land of Israel. Yes — the people end up dividing into two nations — Israel and Judah — but the point is that the people were living in a geographic location that was Jewish in nature. And even though the people often rebelled against God and had ungodly kings and leadership — overall — they were able to turn back to God because their nation and faith were interwoven with one another.
The other place — where we find the people of God living in the Old Testament — is in exile. Due to their rebellion against God — God sent the Assyrians and Babylonians to punish his people — resulting in many of them being sent to live in foreign lands. An example of living in exile is found in the book of Daniel — a time when the people of God weren’t living in a land that shared its faith values.
So here’s the question I’ve been wrestling with a lot over the past year or so. Which land are we living in as Christians in the United States? Are we living in a land where our Christian faith is interwoven with the values and culture of our nation or are we living in exile — living in a foreign land — spiritually speaking? Before you answer too quickly — it may be helpful to recognize what we find in Scripture — that may help us to recognize where we’re living.
In Israel, the people had a king who shared their faith. And even when a king was evil and rebellious there was hope that the next king might use his authority to turn the nation back to God.
In exile, the king and those in authority did not share their faith. And when one king was replaced by another there was no expectation that the next king — no matter his political affiliation — would turn the nation back to God.
In Israel, the culture was highly influenced by the Jewish faith and — even when the people strayed and rebelled — they did so with a bent towards the Jewish religion. How the culture functioned was influenced by the Jewish faith.
In exile, the culture was highly influenced by other faiths and religions and values — the Jewish faith wasn’t much of an influence at all — and the people of God had to learn how to live in a culture that leaned away from their faith and values and tried to pull them away from their faith and values.
So let’s bring this home to us and where we’re living. For a long time our nation was highly influenced by Judeo-Christian values. We’re by no means a perfect nation, but there are many obvious ways that the Christian faith influenced people in our nation’s history. But a shift started taking place — I don’t know — about 60 years ago — maybe even earlier. And church attendance and Christian influence started to decline and has been declining ever since. And here’s what the church in the US did — at least this is what our stream of Christianity did. We decided that we needed to get back out into our culture and influence things so we could turn our nation back to God. A noble idea.
But here we are — decades later — a pandemic later — and here’s what I’m thinking — I’ll just lay my cards on the table. For the past few decades we — the church — have been thinking that we were living in Israel when — in reality — we’ve been and are currently living in exile. One quick example that I think illustrates this and then we’ll get to my prayers for us. But this is the background for my prayers — the foundation of why I’ve been praying these prayers for us — that you need to understand — if we’re going to see these prayers answered among us.
Here’s the example. When you live in Israel — holy, sacred, religious days are honored by the nation. Think about all the times Jesus gets questioned about working on the Sabbath in the gospels. Why does he get questioned so much? Because the Sabbath was the Jewish holy day for worship — and no work was to be done on the Sabbath. The whole nation was to set the entire day aside to rest and worship God. Now — again — due to their sin they had gravely missed the point of the Sabbath but — because they were living in Israel — the Sabbath still had a sacredness to it.
So — if we Christians in the US are still living in “Israel” — we’d expect our holy day to have a sacredness to it in our country. So how sacred is Sunday in our nation? I mean — those sports activities — your kids and grandkids are in — they take the sacredness of Sunday and going to church and resting into account when they put their schedules together don’t they? No they don’t!
So — if you’re a parent — you feel the tension of your child wanting to participate in various activities and our culture pulling you away from — not towards — the Christian faith.
If Jesus got questioned about working on the Sabbath, what kinds of questions do you think we’d get asked about all these sports activities if we’re really living in Israel?
Yet this example — and there are many more — show us that we’ve not been living in “Israel” for decades. We’re in exile and we need to shift our thinking and our focus so we learn how to live as faithful Christians while living in a foreign land. Yes, this is still the United States of America. But we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re not in exile — spiritually speaking.
So how does this tie to my prayers for us as a church? We will fail to raise up the next generation if we don’t recognize what context we’re raising them up in. For — to raise up the next generation in exile — means we need to rethink what it means to be a disciple and what it means to make disciples who are living in a culture that’s doing everything in its power to draw them — and us — away from worshiping the one true God.
RAISING UP THE NEXT GENERATION
So — with that background — the first prayer of mine for us — is my prayer that the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders would be raised in our church.
Timothy is Paul’s next generation. Paul discipled Timothy as a Christian and as a pastor of a local church in Ephesus. And — in discipling Timothy as a pastor — in teaching Timothy how to lead God’s people — Paul reminds Timothy of how he personally modeled to Timothy the way of following Jesus. Paul tells Timothy — in verse 10— “You’ve followed…” meaning “you know my” what? Timothy knows what Paul’s taught. He knows how Paul’s lived. He knows what Paul’s purpose in life is. Timothy knows Paul’s faith, his patience, his love, and his endurance. He even knows the persecutions that Paul’s faced.
And — Paul tells Timothy — “Timothy, you know what you’ve been taught since you were a child — your grandmother taught it to your momma and she taught it to you — and Timothy you know that what these godly women have taught you is true.” And what did they teach Timothy? The Word of God. The Scriptures. The Bible.
And — my prayer for us — is that like Paul, and like Timothy’s grandmother Lois — and like his mother Eunice — my prayer is that we’d be a church that raises up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. Timothy’s relatives raised him up in the faith — teaching him the truths of Christianity. And God used their work — in Timothy’s life — to save him. Then Paul comes along and takes this young man and raises him up to be a missionary and a pastor and someone commissioned to raise up other church leaders. What a beautiful picture of different people all helping to raise up the next generation.
We have our own beautiful picture of different people helping to raise up the next generation here at Gateway.
We’ve got preschool, and kidway, and youth ministry volunteers helping to raise up the next generation of Christians in our church. We’ve got Life Group leaders and Equip class teachers doing the same.
We’re partnering with Knox Seminary to help raise up the next generation of pastors. Yes — this partnership gives all of us an opportunity to receive an excellent foundation in Bible, theology, church history and other subjects — but for some time in our country we’ve been seeing fewer and fewer people step into full time ministry. There are fewer pastoral candidates than ever before and a large percentage of current pastors are reaching retirement age. And we’re going to feel a huge vacuum in our country of a lack of godly spiritual leadership in the next decade or so. And — my prayer for us — is that though we won’t be able to solve the pastoral shortage problem all on our own — that — because of our commitment to raising up the next generation of pastors — fewer churches will go without a pastor.
We also have a wonderful group of staff and volunteers who lead us in being a going church as we desire to be a church that raises up a generation of missionaries who will take the gospel forth — both in our nation and abroad — so that many might repent of their sin and turn to Christ in faith.
I’m also very thankful for the church leaders who’ve been raised up among us and are serving alongside me to lead you all. Our elders, deacons, and staff truly make this a team leadership environment — which is what we find in the Bible. And I’m so thankful for the many men and women who’ve stepped up to the leadership call. Yet we want to continue raising up the next generation of church leaders — both for Gateway — and for Christ’s Church around the world.
So — if I might ask — how are you helping us to raise up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders here at Gateway? Again — I know and am thankful — that many of you are intentional in raising up the next generation — but if you find yourself not actively helping us raise up the next generation — might I suggest a few ways you can help?
For starters, we always have needs in our next generation ministry for volunteers. Men — you hear me say this often — but men you have no idea how strong of a spiritual impact you can have on the next generation.
One specific need — in our youth ministry — is for someone to plan and lead large group games on Sunday evenings. Someone — hearing me right now — knows that’s for you. Go to the what’s next wall after the service and tell someone you’ll be our games person.
Additionally, if you’ve been in a Life Group for a few years — would you consider becoming a Life Group leader? Reach out to our Life Group staff — especially Ed Grable — and find out what the needs are and how you might be able to help. Additionally, we had a sizeable group of folks come out for a meeting about missions trips for this year. But only a few people have signed up to go on the trips.
Now I know that some of us are hesitant to travel due to COVID — not making a judgement call. I also know that others of us aren’t hesitant and want everyone to get back to living life normal again. And I’d just like to encourage both groups. To the non-hesitant group — sign up for a trip. To the hesitant group — financially support someone going on a trip. Reach out to our Go staff or go to our website — gatewayepc.org — for more information about our missions trips.
Dr. Tim Sandsbury — from Knox Seminary — will be here in early February. In addition to preaching for us — he’ll be giving a lecture on Feb 12th — a Saturday morning — titled “What is going on here?” where he’ll be talking about all of the chaos and confusion going on in our country and around the world from a biblical and theological perspective. This is a great opportunity for you to learn more about Knox and find out how you might personally be involved in helping to raise up the next generation of pastors through our partnership with this seminary. Over 20 folks are already signed up — make sure you register online soon.
And — finally — if you aren’t already — financially support the ministry work we’re doing here at Gateway. When you give financially you’re supporting us as we raise up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders.
But there’s an important question for us to ask. And that is: What do we want this next generation to exhibit? What kind of characteristics do we want the next generation to be made up of?
GOD’S WORD AND SPIRIT
First, for them — and for all of us — I pray that we would live under the authority of God’s Word and by the power of his Spirit.
Paul writes to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)
The prophet Isaiah states, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8 ESV)
And the apostle Peter writes, “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV)
There are so many things competing to be the authority in our lives. On one level you’ve got politics, Hollywood, news sources, social media, and our own selves. On a higher level — one we often ignore — there’s Satan, sin, death, and Hell. And — at the infinitely highest level — there’s God and his Word to us. And we’re caught up in a spiritual war over what will be the authority in our life.
Too often we focus on that first level but — my prayer for us — is that God and his Word would be the authority under which we live. And — again — this is critical — not only for us — but for the next generation among us. Parents — if you’re not raising up your kids to understand these different authorities in their life and the supreme authority God and his Word is to have in their life — if you’re not having these kinds of conversations and modeling what it means for God and his Word to be the final authority in your life — well — don’t be surprised when they’re swallowed up by culture.
And please don’t think that getting your kid to church every now and then — or that getting your student to youth group a few times a year — is going to be enough. I don’t know if that was enough even when we were living in Israel — but in exile — there’s no chance.
Now — if you don’t know where to begin — for yourself or for your child — go grab a copy of my booklet “How do I grow?” that’s available at the What’s Next Wall at your campus. It’s free and in it you’ll find advice for both adults and students on how to grow in your faith so that God’s Word is the final authority in your life.
But we also need God’s Spirit to empower us. As Paul asks the Christians living in Galatia, “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3 NLT)
Paul’s point is that we can’t do this on our own — we need God’s Spirit to help us. And we’re fools if we think that — after being saved — we’re no longer dependent upon God’s Spirit to empower us to remain faithful while we live in exile. Which leads us to my next prayer for us — which expands on being empowered by the Spirit of God.
PRAYING AND DEPENDENT
In addition to living under the authority of God’s Word and by the power of his Spirit — I pray for the next generation — as well as for all of us — I ask God to help us be a praying church; dependent upon him for all things.
As Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NLT)
Apart from Christ we can do nothing — that’s how dependent upon him we are for all things. What kinds of things?
If you’re feeling weak know that “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” (Isaiah 40:29 NLT)
If you don’t know what to do, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
And even if we try to act independently, we’re promised that “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. 2 It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” (Psalm 127:1-2 NLT)
And our dependence upon God should cause us to be men and women of prayer. Prayer is a sacred opportunity because it’s communication with God. And it’s two way communication — not just us talking to God — but us listening to him as well. So let’s talk about both of these — our talking to God and our listening to him in prayer.
Talking to God — how do we pray? Each week you’re modeled how to pray by our worship leaders on stage, by those who do announcements, and by whoever preaches. So pay attention and learn how to pray by the prayers being modeled for you. And — if you don’t know — some of our worship leaders post their prayers on our church blog — the Gate — and most of our sermons are available in writing as well. So — if you’re unsure how to pray — you can literally take the prayers that have been prayed in the worship service and use them as a guide to help you pray.
We also have the words of Jesus. His disciples once asked him how they should pray. And he replied, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13 NLT)
Finally, a few years ago we did a sermon series — here at Gateway — on how to pray. You can find it on our website and our church app. The series is titled A.C.T.S.
But what about listening to God during our prayer time — how does that work? This takes us back to my earlier prayer — that we would be men and women under God’s Word and empowered by his Spirit. What do I mean? We most clearly hear God’s voice in his Word to us. So read God’s Word — or listen to it — and hear God speak to you. Pause and reflect on what you’ve read. Ask God’s Spirit to show you where you can grow in what you’ve just heard from him. Or maybe there’s something you need to repent of. Or words that will encourage or comfort you. Or something you need to obey — ask God’s Spirit to use God’s Word to speak to you.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought this but — sometimes — when I start reading a book that’s been on my shelf for some time — I first think, “Man, this is some good stuff.” Then I start to think about how these words have been on the pages the whole time the book’s been sitting on my bookshelf.
The author’s been waiting to speak to me through his or her words — I just haven’t picked up their book to hear them.
And the same is true for God’s Word. This book does you no good if it just sits on your shelf or is an app on your phone that’s never or seldom opened. You must open it and read it and listen to God’s Word to you. But do so — not like an academic — but as someone in a relationship with the Author who’s spoken these words. Open with a listening ear — desiring to hear from your God who is speaking to you.
IDENTITY IN CHRIST
And finally — for the next generation — and for all of us — I pray that our identity would be in Christ.
I regularly meet with a group of pastors and we’re doing a book study together. Here’s something the author writes about identity — this is what culture is teaching all of us — this culture of exile we’re living in.
He writes, “To be human is to have an identity. And the contemporary understanding of humanity decrees that each of us has the freedom and responsibility to define that identity…We might even say that self-discovery is our contemporary hero’s journey.” But here’s the sentence he writes that’s meant to remind us that this kind of thinking — about identity — is exile thinking. He writes, “People haven’t always experienced identity crises as normal. In fact, where modern people suffer from an identity crisis, earlier societies suffered a spiritual crisis.”
What was once a spiritual crisis is now viewed as an identity crisis. This is why I pray for us — for you and me — that our identity would be in Christ. Why? For starters, when our identity is in Christ, we sin less. If you’re a Christian, you sin when you forget who you are in Christ. You pretend to be someone you’re not — someone who’s in sin — when you’re someone who’s in Christ.
When our identity’s in Christ, we’re safe in him. Though we live in exile, we know that we’re safe in the One who was cut off from Israel when he was killed by his people. And he died bearing God’s judgment for the sins of all who turn to him in faith. Thus, in Christ we’re safe. For he bore the judgement for our sins in our place.
When our identity’s in Christ, we’re connected to others who are also in him. Though we’re in Christ — individually — being in Christ we’re connected to all who are in him. We’re united to Christians — of all generations and geographic locations. And we’re dependent upon each other because together — collectively — we’re the church. Thus we make being part of a local church a priority because it’s impossible to be disconnected from other Christians while being in Christ — at least not for any length of time — because God’s Spirit in us gives us a longing and a desire to be present with other believers.
And when our identity is in Christ, we grow in Christlikeness. And we do this as individuals and corporately as a church. I need you to help me grow in Christlikeness. You need me. We need those who are seated around us.
Paul — to young Timothy — once again writes, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:12-16 NLT)
These are words for all of us. Be an example to others in what you say and how you live, in how you love others, in your faith, and in your purity — your holiness. Read the Scriptures. Encourage fellow Christians. Teach them. Don’t neglect the spiritual gifts you’ve been given — use them to build others up in Christlikeness. And Paul tells Timothy that the result of such focused and intentional living in Christ is the salvation of himself and of others.
And the result of such focused and intentional living in Christ — on our part — on your part — will be the same. The salvation of many in the next generation and in all generations.
CONCLUSION
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at the remainder of my prayers for us as a church. My hope is that we’ll be unified in our prayers for us as a church. That we’ll all take time to reflect on how we’re helping us to be the church that’s an answer to these prayers or how we’re hindering these prayers from being answered. My hope is that we’d all see that we each have a part to play in answering the prayers we’ve looked at today.
- To be a church that raises up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders.
- A congregation of people who live under the authority of God’s Word and are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
- Who recognize our dependence upon God for all things and are committed to prayer.
- A congregation whose identity is in Christ alone.
For we all — all of us who belong to Gateway — have a part to play in being the answer to these prayers. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, what a church you desire us to be! One that raises up the next generation of Christians, pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. What a responsibility. What an opportunity. What a reason to belong to Gateway.
Holy Spirit, I ask that you would instill in all who hear my voice a confidence in knowing that — through their faith in Christ — their identity is now in him. Help us to be a people who live under the authority of the Word while being filled with your power. Remind us that we’re dependent upon you for all things — and help us to be men and women of prayer.
And — Jesus — we thank you because none of these prayers would even be possible without your love for us as displayed in your sacrifice for us on the cross. You lived your life fully submitted to God’s Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit. You were confident in where your identity was found. You were dependent upon your Father and a man of prayer. And because of your love for your Father and for us — even in your darkest hour — you remained faithful to the work you came to do. And our reward is that we have found where we belong — for we belong to you. What grace for us. What hope we have. What a calling — to be the people of God — faithfully living in a land of spiritual exile. Help us all to live faithfully. We pray all of this in your name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
May you go with a passion to see the next generation raised up in our church — knowing that you have a part to play in these prayers being answered. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.