Remain Faithful
What We Pass On
As we think about passing on our faith we realize that we are NOT called just to pass it on to our kids. We’re called to share our faith with our neighbors, our city, our country and the world!
This isn’t just about generations, this is about nations!
But in order to do that we have to ADMIT that…
We pass on what we want others to carry on.
My wife and I met in Nashville, TN in college. We started dating each other within the first three weeks after we got to campus and I knew pretty quickly that she was the one.
But before we got too serious, long before the engagement or any conversations about the future, about a wedding one day or anything like that I had to ask her a question. She didn’t know this question was coming.
You and I know what I had to ask. I’m not sure why she hadn’t thought of it yet. But I knew that if this relationship had any chance of a future we would have to talk about this. I didn’t want us to be a house divided. I don’t know how marriages survive like that. I had to make sure we were on the same page about one of the most important things any couple has to wrestle with and agree on in their relationship.
So finally I got up the nerve one day to ask her, “Where do your college football allegiances lie?”
Some of you cheer for this team or that team, that’s fine by me. But I was raised in the deep south, in southern Alabama, and at my house we pulled for the Auburn Tigers.
Alisha had been raised in Mississippi and her family cheered for some poor school over there, I’m not sure which one. But as for me and my house we say, “War Eagle.” Not so much this season, but you know… we’re no fair weather fans.
Thankfully, she was willing to change her colors and wear orange and blue and we’ve been happily married for more than 24 years! And we’ve been able to pass on this passion to the next generation. At least to my son, I’m not sure my girls really care.
We pass on what we want others to carry on.
A burden or a joy?
Sometimes we forget this, but we live in a world that needs the gospel.
A world that doesn’t know God, that has never heard the name Jesus. And we have a responsibility, an opportunity, to pass on our faith which is Good News to people who have yet to hear this good news.
That word gospel, in the original language it’s the word “euongelion.” It’s the word used to describe what happened when a king and his army won a battle, a messenger would run from town to town, from city to city, to announce the Good News about the victory that had been won! And people, upon hearing this Good News, would celebrate!
We have Good News about a battle that has been won! Our enemy has been defeated! Christ has risen from the grave!
But more often than not we live like this Good News is not our reality.
More often than not we are not the bearers of Good News, we’re not messengers running from city to city, from place to place, saying have you heard the Good news…
Why is that?
Maybe we’re too wrapped up in the things of this world. Maybe we’re too focused on ourselves. Maybe we’re too caught up in the things this world has to offer. Or maybe we’ve just forgotten how Good the News is we have to share.
But passing on our faith to nations and to generations is mission critical.
The problem for many of us is that we’ve made passing on our faith, sharing the gospel, a command.
Somewhere along the way we have forgotten the joy in sharing the Good News with others! The excitement in seeing someone come to Christ! That amazing moment where someone by grace through faith steps into life in Christ!
Passing on our faith isn’t a burden, it is a JOY!
We have Good News to share!
And we must remain faithful to share this Good News with great joy about eternal life! Abundant life! Life in and through Jesus Christ!
We pass on what we want others to carry on.
Throughout this series we’ve been leaning into and learning from some of the Apostle Paul’s last words to his son in the faith, Timothy. And I want you to hear what he says near the end of 2 Timothy.
Some of you grew up hearing these words, some of you may hear them for the first time today. But these words are game changers for those of us who believe in Jesus!
Paul writes…
2 Timothy 3.14-17
14 But you [Timothy] must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.
You must remain faithful….
In other words, don’t give up, don’t give in! In the words of the all time great song by the band, Journey… “Don’t stop believing!”
Don’t stop living the Gospel. Don’t stop loving. Don’t stop obeying. Don’t stop holding onto the words you know are true, the truth you have been taught by your mother, your grandmother, by me, and by so many other trusted voices in your life!
You must remain faithful….
Remain faithful to what?
15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood…
You must remain faithful to the holy Scriptures.
Now if you’re reading this and you pause for a moment to think about what Paul is actually saying to Timothy, this is fascinating. When you think about the holy Scriptures, you probably think about your Bible! And you should. But Timothy didn’t have the same Bible you and I have. In fact, the New Testament hadn’t been written and put together yet in the form that we have it today.
So what is Paul talking about?
The obvious answer is that Paul is talking about what you and I call the Old Testament. The Jewish Bible. These are the Scriptures Timothy was taught from an early age! And you may think, that’s not that interesting or that fascinating. But then you keep reading and you see what Paul says next…
15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood… and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
Everything Timothy had learned from the holy Scriptures, from the Old Testament, from his mother, from his grandmother, and from Paul points to JESUS! Points to the saving plan God had in mind from before time began for the salvation of the world that would come through people putting their trust in Christ alone!
Not all of us have been taught the scriptures from our childhood, and that’s ok. We all have different starting points, and that’s ok! But for those who have learned the scriptures from others from an early age, from parents, grandparents, or parents or grandparents in the faith, what a GIFT!
Whether we’ve had this gift or not we want to give this gift to our children.
We want to teach our kids and our grandkids the Scriptures from their childhood. But don’t miss this, our hope is not in the Scriptures! Our hope is not in the Bible. It’s not in a book. The Good News we’re talking about, our hope, is in a person. Scripture points us to the one person who saves us! Our hope is in the one all of scripture points us to! JESUS!
The Good News revealed in ALL of Scripture is that “salvation comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.”
Paul wants Timothy to “Remain faithful… to what you’ve been taught from Scripture… about our salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.”
Inspired
And then Paul gives Timothy the WHY behind the WHAT. This is WHY you can and you should remain faithful. This why you need to hold on to what you’ve been taught from Scripture. This is why you can have faith that salvation comes by trusting in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because…
16 All Scripture is inspired by God…
Why can you trust the Scriptures? Because, they are inspired by God. It’s not that they’re inspirational. They are inspirational. But it’s more than that. They are inspired.
People sometimes struggle to know what that means, but the greek word used here literally means breathed by God. Scripture is God’s breath on a page. If you want to breathe in the breath of God, breathe in God’s Word! Breathe out God’s praise!
This is why your personal worship is so important. When you take time to breathe in the Word of God, when you respond to the breath of God on the page in worship and you breathe out His praise, you are literally inhaling and exhaling the life giving breath of God!
This is why our collective worship is so important. When we take time to breathe in the Word of God, when we respond to the breath of God on the page in worship and we breathe out His praise, we are literally inhaling and exhaling the life giving breath of God!
If you’re struggling right now, if you’re feeling like your under water, if you feel the weight of the world on your chest compressing your lungs, can I encourage you today to take a deep breath! To breathe in the breath of God on the page, and then to breathe out His praise!
God’s inspired Word, God’s breath on the page, here’s why it’s so important that we breathe it in deeply, because…
…[it] is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Just like breathing in clean air into our lungs oxygenates our blood and gives us life, breathing in the breathe of God oxygenates our lives so that we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, constantly being made alive and well, prepared and equipped to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world!
Just like God breathed air into Adam’s lungs in the Garden of Eden, just like Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into his disciples before He ascended to Heaven, when we breathe in deep the breath of God on the page we are made alive, we are made ready for the work God has created us to do, and we are prepared to fulfill the calling God has placed on our lives!
What are you passing on?
What are you passing on? Is it what you want others to carry on?
We pass on what we want others to carry on!
What we want most is for people to carry the name of Jesus! We want people to learn about the saving love of God revealed in Christ Jesus, the One ALL of Scripture points to, and to trust in His Name!
And here’s what you need to know…
Your faithfulness paves the way for others to find faith!
So today, can I call you to remain faithful to trusting in the name of Jesus, to sharing this message about His saving work at the cross, to be a part of what God is doing in the world to bring people into relationship with Him?
This is our calling, our opportunity. Is it our mandate? Our mission? Yes! But even more, it is our JOY!
How can you do that? Maybe you need to tell someone in your life about Jesus. Maybe you need to invite them to church. Maybe you need to consider what you can giving towards missions. Maybe you need to consider going on a mission trip, get in the game, and be a part of what God is doing in and around the world.
We live in a world that desperately needs the gospel. Take one look at the news, see what’s happening here in our part of the world or learn about the devastation and war that’s wreaking havoc in other parts of the world. We live in a world that desperately needs the gospel.
It’s my prayer that in our families, in our churches, in our city, and yes… to the ends of the earth the legacy we leave will be one that points people to Jesus.
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