Investments in the Future
Deuteronomy 4:9, 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 4:12. Acts 16:1-2, 2 Timothy 1:2 - 5, 1 Timothy 1:2,
Acts 16:3-4, Acts 17:14 - 15, 18:5, 19:22, Romans 16:21, 1 Corinthians 4:17, 16:10,
2 Corinthians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, 2:19, 2:22, Colossians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 3:2
2 Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Timothy 1:3 , 1;18, 1 Timothy 6:20 - 21, 2 Timothy 1:6-8
May 16, 2004
I. I have said many times that the Christian life is founded on relationships and how we deal with those relationships will determine the effectiveness of our life as a Christian.
A. The whole foundation of being a Christian is based on the condition of our relationship with God.
B. God wants a relationship with us. He thought a relationship with us was to die for, because he chose to come to Earth as a man and die on a Cross to make a relationship with us possible.
C. And the only way that we can have the kind of relationship with God that we’re suppose to have is to trust Him enough to accept that what Jesus (God in the form of a man), did on the Cross is enough to take away our sin, and make us right with God and able to spend eternity in a relationship with Him.
D. But it doesn’t end there. Because the only way that our relationship with God can be all that is suppose to be, is for our relationships with other people to be the way they should be.
E. We are to love each other, and we’re to support each other, and we’re to help each other as we work to grow more in our relationship with God.
F. Everyone of us who is a Christian is suppose to help others grow to know more about God and our relationship with Him.
G. And especially, every one of us is to be responsible in the gift of salvation that we have been given, and help our children learn about God and His love for them and the relationship that he wants to have with them.
(Deu 4:9 NIV) Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
(Deu 6:1 - 6 NIV) These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
II. Today I want us to look at a relationship between a man and a young boy, because it is a model for the role that we’re to play in the lives of all the people that we come into contact with, but especially with those who are younger than us.
A. The older man in this relationship is the apostle Paul, and the other person is Timothy.
B. There are some things about this story, that we don’t know all the details about, like how old Timothy was. But, we know that he was young. Even after he had been with Paul for several years Paul wrote to him and told him not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth.
(1 Tim 4:12 NIV) Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
C. It is very likely that Timothy was a teenager when he first met Paul.
D. Another thing that we don’t know for sure is details about Timothy’s family life. We know that his mother was a Christian, and that she was a Jewish woman, but all we know about his father was that he was Greek.
(Acts 16:1-2 NIV) He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
E. Those verses give us an insight into some things about Timothy’s life.
1. First, it is very likely that his father was not in the picture anymore, and that he was a child of a single parent family.
2. There is no way for us to know if his father had died or if he had left Timothy and his mother.
3. If he had left them, he left Timothy in a bad situation. In the day that they lived in it was very hard for a woman to make it in society, because there was very little way for her to support herself and a child, and Timothy may very well have had a tough time growing up.
4. Secondly, the fact that his mother was Jew, and his father was a Greek also made life harder on Timothy. That meant that he would not be completely accepted in the Jewish community or the Greek community.
5. So Timothy had some strikes against him, and those factors could have made his life go in a bad direction.
F. The bible also lets us know that Timothy had some good influences in his life too
(2 Tim 1:2 - 5 NIV) To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
(1 Tim 1:2 NIV) To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord
G. Those verses let us know that Timothy had been influenced by his mother and his grandmother, and that they had passed on to him a knowledge of God.
1. The fact that Paul calls him his son in the faith, probably means that Paul had something to do with leading him to the Lord.
2. So Timothy had the help of a Godly mother, and grandmother, and Paul had taken the time to be a positive influence in his life too.
H. As Christians one of the most important things that we can do in this life is to first have a relationship with God that we model for our children, and to be a positive influence in helping them come to know God and have a relationship with Him too.
I. But it doesn’t stop there! There are a lot of children and teenagers in this world and this community that don’t have the support at home that they need, and there are a lot of single parent families and the influence that we can have in the lives of younger people in our community can be vital.
J. It doesn’t matter if you 10 or 90 there are a lot of younger people that you can have an influence on.
1. Those of you who are older, can fill the gap that needs filling in the lives of people who are younger than you because you have been where they are and you have experience and knowledge that can help them learn the things that they need to know, to help them get a better start in life.
2. Those of you who have younger brothers or sisters, I know that they seem to enjoy being a pain to you more than anything in life, but you better know that in spite of all that, they look up to you, and they are most likely going, to be following in your footsteps.
3. Moms and Dads, your children are most likely going to follow your lead, and they desperately need your leadership in their lives and they need to see that God is important in your life, for Him to be important in their life.
K. All of us, have someone that is looking up to us, and all of us have someone that needs to see that God is a priority in our lives. We have been given that responsibility by God.
III. Paul took that responsibility with Timothy. He took a teenage boy that didn’t have the influence of a dad, and who was probably not accepted in society, and he set out to make a difference in his life.
A. Paul took Timothy under his wing as we say.
(Acts 16:3 - 4 NIV) Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
B. Paul began to develop Timothy into a leader for the future. He circumcised Timothy, not because he had to be circumcised to be a Christian, but because he knew that if he didn’t it would hurt his witness for God, and his ability to be a leader.
C. Paul had already taken a stand on the fact that circumcision was not required to be a Christian, and the apostles in Jerusalem, had agreed, but the decision that Paul made was made because of the negative effects that it could have had on the ministry that they were trying to carry out.
D. Timothy went along with it, because sometimes we have to do what is necessary to adhere to the customs to be able to be the witness for God, that he wants us to be.
E. We have to realize that our choices affect more than just us, and we have to make choices that make us the best witness that we can be for God, even if they are not always the easiest things for us.
F. Paul made that choice in the life of Timothy, and Timothy made that choice for the good of the people that he was trying to minister to. Timothy chose what was best for others over what was best for himself, because that is what Christians are suppose to do.
G. From that point in Acts we can see two things, Paul invested a lot of time in Timothy, and Timothy became more and more of a leader and a vital part of Paul’s ministry.
(Acts 17:14 - 15 NIV) The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
(Acts 18:5 NIV) When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
(Acts 19:22 NIV) He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
(Rom 16:21 NIV) Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.
(1 Cor 4:17 NIV) For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
(1 Cor 16:10 NIV) If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.
(2 Cor 1:1 NIV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
(Phil 1:1 NIV) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
(Phil 2:19 NIV) I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.
(Phil 2:22 NIV) But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
(Col 1:1 NIV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
(1 Th 1:1 NIV) Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
(1 Th 3:2 NIV) We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
(2 Th 1:1 NIV) Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
H. In the books that Paul writes to Timothy his instructions show that Timothy was an important helper to Paul.
(1 Tim 1:3 NIV) As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
(1 Tim 1:18 NIV) Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,
I. In the letters that Paul wrote he always mentions Timothy.
1. We can see from the instruction that He gives Timothy in his writing that Timothy was an important part of the ministry that was being carried out.
2. We can see that Timothy became a devoted, mature servant of God who had his priorities in the right place.
3. We can see that Timothy touched the lives of a lot of people in a lot of places.
J. But two things happened in the beginning that made that possible.
IV. The first thing that happened was, Paul took the time to invest his life in the life of a young boy.
A. Paul took the time to be a friend, and a mentor to an young boy that didn’t have that influence in his life.
B. It would have been easier for Paul to have said, hey, I’m a busy man with a lot of places to go and a lot of things to do, and I don’t have time.
C. Just from what we have read today, try to imagine how different the bible would have been, if that was the attitude that Paul had, and he had not invested the time in Timothy that he did.
D. Each and everyone of you here today have some one that is looking up to you. You have someone that needs you friendship, your example, your knowledge, and your experience.
E. They might be your children, they might be another adult, they might be a young person in this church or this community, and they might be a vital leader for God in the future.
1. But whoever they might be, they need to see Jesus in you, and they need to see that God is a priority in your life.
2. They need for you to devote time to learning about God so that they can learn about God from you.
3. They need to see that God is a priority in you life, so that they can learn to make God a priority in their lives.
4. They need to see your obedience to God, so that they can develop an obedience to God in their lives.
V. Today we are here to honor seniors. To those of you who are seniors this year, you are in a transitional place in your life.
A. It is time for you start making your own way, and building that life that God wants you to have, and you have had the benefit of some people who have worked to give you some of things that I have been talking about.
B. Those of you who have been involved in this church have had people who have given of their time to try to give you a foundation to build on.
1. You have had Sunday School teachers who have given their time to prepare week after week to try to teach you, and help you to learn about God.
2. You have had people who have tried to be your friend.
3. You have had youth leaders who have given part of their lives to help you learn and take you places, and be there to listen, because they wanted to help you have a foundation to build on.
4. There are people who have sponsored you in fund raisers so that you could go to Youth camp, and participate in activities.
5. And, although you have not always wanted it, you have had people who have tried to give you advice, so you could learn from their experience and knowledge.
6. You have had people who have loved you when at times you have given them reason not to.
7. And, they love you enough that they will continue to be there for you, but the time has come for you to use the things that you have been given to serve God.
C. You have reached a place in life when you will have to make more decisions on your own. You’ll have more and more choices that you have to make, and as you make those choice I want to ask of you some of the things that Paul asked of Timothy.
(1 Tim 6:20 - 21 NIV) Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.
1. I want to ask you to guard those things that have been entrusted to you by the people that have invested a part of their lives in you.
2. I want to ask you to guard your choices. Guard your decisions. Hold on to the things that people have invested their time to teach you about God.
3. Make the choices that will allow you to develop into the man or woman of God that God wants you to be.
4. Align your life with the will of God so that you can become and example to people, and a leader for God in the future that will make a difference in the lives of others like others have made a difference in your life.
(2 Tim 1:6-8 NIV) For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
D. I want to ask you to fan the flame in your life that God has gifted you with, and use the talents that you have been given for God.
E. I want to challenge you to show the same kind of love to others that others have showed to you, and to be self-disciplined, and make the right choices in life.
F. Use the things that others have devoted their lives to teaching you to teach others.
G. Pass on the knowledge of God that others have given their time to pass on to you.
H. You are going into schools and work places where people need to know about God, don’t be ashamed to stand up for God and invest yourself in them the way people have invested themselves in you.
I. Make God a priority in you life, and serve Him the way others have served Him to give you the foundation and the start that you have.
J. I want to ask all you who are seniors to make a commitment today to align your life with God in such a way that you will be able to give back some of what has been given to you.
K. And I want to ask rest of you, regardless of your age, to make a commitment to being and example for others, and to devote the time to your relationship with God that it takes to show others his love and the importance of having a relationship with Him and to give of yourself to make a difference in this church and community, by giving of yoursleves.
