- Well, good morning. Great to have you here. And we're gonna have a chance to warm up our hearts a little bit despite how freezing it is out there. So thanks for being here together. What I'm gonna ask you to do as we begin a brand new series called Multiplying Disciples, it's a study in the Book of 2 Timothy, go ahead and take your Bibles out. And I want you to go to 2 Timothy 1:1, and that way you're ready to go as we get ready to launch into our time together. So let me just say another word of prayer as we open up God's word together. Lord, we thank you for the power of truth that is communicated to us through your word. And we thank you for the book that we are embarking on today. We ask that you would open our eyes to see your truth and you would give us hearts that are willing to obey in light of the subject that Paul communicates to us. So Father, by your Holy Spirit, do your work in us that only you can. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus." There is so much packed into that phrase. It is absolutely remarkable because it describes an epic life. It was Paul the Apostle that met Jesus Christ on his road to Damascus. And he did so right around 35 AD, which was just a few years after the resurrection. It was in AD 47 that Paul the Apostle embarked on his first missionary journey. And he writes the book that we're gonna be looking at in 67 AD. This was at the end of his life. So for 20 years, 47 AD, 57, 67, in 20 years of ministry, so he had a ministry of 20 years, he embarked on at least three missionary journeys. He logged over 20,000 miles by land and sea. He visited every major city in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and he planted churches in most of them. He discipled dozens of leaders and church officials and individuals throughout the Roman Empire, and he wrote a substantial amount of our New Testament. Paul the Apostle finished strong. At the end of the Book of Acts, Paul was in jail, under house arrest. He was able to see individuals. They could visit with him, bring him things. He was able to move around with preferential treatment. He was anticipating his release. Now it was after the Book of Acts that we're not exactly sure all of the details around Paul's life. He was released around 64 AD, and this book was written at the end of his life in 67. So there's a gap there. However, when we piece together some of the verses that are found in the New Testament and also church tradition, I think it's highly likely that the scenario went like this: that he met Titus in a city called Nicopolis. He mentions this in the Book of Titus 3:12. He invites Titus to join him there. Titus was written right before 2 Timothy, which was the last book that Paul would write. And I believe it was there that they put together a team and he headed off to Spain, which would have been a fourth missionary journey. Clement of Alexandria mentions that Paul would have visited, and he actually did visit Spain. And it was Paul the Apostle who would go to Spain from 64 AD to 66 AD. By the time he was finished spreading the gospel around Spain and planting churches, he entered back into the eastern part of the Roman Empire. However, everything had changed. Nero was the emperor on the throne. And we know by historical accounts that a fire broke out in Rome in 64 AD. A rumor has it that Nero started it. And in order to take the focus off of himself, he blamed the Christians and he began an unprecedented time of persecution and he made Christianity illegal. And it was Paul who landed back into this setting whereby he was probably eventually arrested in the city of Troas, which is where he left his books and his parchments, which are mentioned in this Book of 2 Timothy. And it was a very different time though. And so he was probably taken from Troas to Rome and he was put in a prison, but it was a very different prison than household arrest that we find at the end of the Book of Acts. As a matter of fact, by the very verses that appear in this Book of 2 Timothy, we find out some interesting things. We find out that the believers would have failed to support Paul after his arrest. That was unlike the Book of Acts. No one supported him at his first defense before the imperial court. He was abandoned by most everyone. He was in a cold Roman cell, and that's why he asked Timothy to bring his coat. He was abandoned by everyone, almost everyone. And he was considered an evildoer. And he was without hope of acquittal in spite of the success of his initial defense. And it was under these circumstances in a cold cell that he wrote this final book of his life in 67 AD, 2 Timothy. And whether or not Paul ever made a fourth missionary journey to Spain, again, we can't know for certain, he ended up in a prison in Rome. Dr. Luke was able to minister to him. However, it was different, like I said. He had barely enough food and water to survive. Family and friends could bring him things, but they had to bribe the Roman guards in order to eventually get it in. And at some point in time, towards the end of his life, right after he wrote 2 Timothy, he was transferred to what tradition calls the Mamertine Prison. It was really a cistern, he was dropped through a hole in the roof or the ceiling, I guess. And he was left there for a couple of days just prior to him being executed under Nero. And this was Paul's final letter. And it was to Timothy. Paul's goal was to pass down his truth, the God's truth and the passion of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to one he had discipled, one of his key disciples. And that was Timothy. Timothy was the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother. There's no mention of his father being a Christian, but no doubt Paul perhaps met him in the city of Lystra and led him to faith in Christ. Again, we don't know for certain, but by the clues that we find in this book, he calls Timothy his beloved child in verse two. And I think it's highly likely that Paul met him, shared Christ with him, and he came to Christ and became one of his closest friends and protege. And in many ways, Paul was his spiritual father. He was left in Ephesus to be the pastor of that church. And I think Paul at the end of his life could have been very discouraged. 20 years of ministry, I mean think of all he had done. It was of epic proportions. And he could have sat in this cold cell saying, "God, I don't understand what's going on." But he didn't view his life that way. He viewed his life through the lens of what God had called him to do. And it was his last message, his last words, that focused on the truth of the gospel and passing on the faith to Timothy. Why is that the case? Because what matters more than anything is the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ and discipling others who can disciple others until Jesus Christ comes again. And that's why Paul was encouraging Timothy to hold on to the truth and to guard the truth. So we've entitled our series called Multiplying Disciples because it's at the core of this book. And it's really at the core of what is beating Paul's heart all the way to the end of his life, whereby he finished strong. Now we have a mission statement here at Rockpoint Church, which is really totally in line, it's a hand in glove relationship with the theme of what is taking place in 2 Timothy. And our mission statement, what drives us as a church, is this. You can memorize this today. You could walk out of here and say this. It's multiplying disciples in a healthy church. You sit down with somebody over lunch and say, "Hey, what's Rockpoint about?" "Well it's multiplying disciples in a healthy church." Now there's two parts to this. There's multiplying disciples, and then there's the second part, a healthy church. We studied 1 Timothy, which by the way comes before 2 Timothy. I don't know if you got that or not. 1 Timothy talks about a healthy church. We started there. Why is that the case? Because we don't want to grow individuals who are disciples and followers of Jesus Christ and then place them into a family atmosphere called a church if it's not healthy. Now we're not a perfect church here at Rockpoint, but we definitely wanted to understand the biblical principles of what it means to be the church the way God wants the church to be. Then when we start talking about growing disciples, we enfold you within a family whereby we're following God's plan for understanding the good news, understanding the gospel, and then passing that off to others who can do the same. Because you need to ask yourself the question, "How do we multiply disciples in a healthy church?" Well, these three words are probably familiar to most of you because you see them almost every single week when I come up to preach or before the service starts. I should put it that way. And we give it in three words. That's all you got to remember. So today, when you walk out of here, you're gonna be able to say, "Wow, what's the point of Rockpoint?" "Multiplying disciples in a healthy church." How do you do that? Three words, first one's know. We want everybody who hears us online, everybody who walks through the doors, everybody, and here's the goal, who meets you to know, and that means trusting Jesus because of his grace. What that means is we want everyone to understand that there is eternal life and that eternal life is found through Christ and Christ alone. And that happens when you believe, finally acknowledging what God already knows is true about you, that you are a sinner and in need of saving and forgiveness. And the moment you turn, which means repentance of self and sin to Jesus Christ, and you place your trust and faith in him as a person, that he died on the cross for your sin and rose from the grave. You're committing to him as your savior. And as you trust him as savior and Lord, you enter into a relationship with God, the Father through Jesus Christ, and everybody needs to know this. That's at the core. And it's done by his grace because the gift of his death on the cross on behalf of your sin was a gift. You didn't earn it, you didn't work for it, but you receive it by his grace. But your relationship with Jesus didn't stop there. That's why we've come up with a second word. That means grow, it means growing in Jesus' word and truth. That's why we come here. That's why you get in small groups. That's why we join together in this path of following Jesus Christ. It's knowing who Christ is, but then it's growing in that relationship. And we're here to help you do that. But then again, it doesn't stop there because it gets to the third word, and that means go. We want you to know, we want you to grow, and then we want you to go, which means helping others do the same. Yes, you are a follower of Christ. Yes, you are a disciple, which means learner. But yes, you are given an opportunity to grow and then help others do the same. To be a disciple and to help others follow Christ, to know Him and live for Him. And so today we embark on this subject, and that is to fan the flame. Paul wants to fan the flame in your life like he did with Timothy to take the message of Jesus Christ to your world and to disciple others who can do the same. Paul wants us to understand the gifting that he's given to us so that we can stoke that fire and never forget our mission and our calling as individuals, and yes, as the church. So he says in verse 1, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God, the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience 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. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelled first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. 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 gave us a spirit not a fear, but of power and love and self control." Today, we're gonna focus on verses 1 through 6. I read all the way through 7. We're gonna come back to seven next week as we begin a sub series, a three part series on the topic of fear. So we're gonna spend a lot of time dealing with that subject because it fits right in the context of what is happening not only in Paul's life, but Timothy's life. So we'll come back to that. But I want to focus on the first six verses. And we begin with, again, this epic statement. "Paul, an apostle of Christ." Now let me explain something there. The word apostle, there are two ideas to this word. First, it's the big A Apostle, capital A, okay? And then there's the small apostle, small letter A. Big A means the office of apostleship. That was given to some pretty unique individuals, 12 of them that followed Jesus Christ, and then Paul was considered the 13th. These were the Apostles by office, by gifting, by calling. And Paul says in the book of Ephesians that they were used by God. The cornerstone is Christ, but they were used by God to establish the foundation of the church. They had special gifting, special calling. But the idea behind the word apostle also applies to the rest of us that I believe are small A apostles. And the reason is this: The word actually means that someone is sent with proper credentials to represent someone else. So really at the core of this is the fact that yes, Paul had the big A apostle; yes, he was writing to Timothy; yes, this was gonna be read to other people in the church. They needed to understand his office, his title and who he was on this epic journey being used by God to spread the gospel and write most of our New Testament. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us don't have application here. Because the word means that you've been given the message of life and it needs to be transferred to others. If you'll notice, it says that, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus," big A and small A, "by the will of God, God's command, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus." Jesus said in John 14, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And what Paul is saying here is this: That he received a message that transformed his life on the way to Damascus. That message is now the reason why he's sent out. He is sent out as a representative of life that is found only through Jesus Christ. And here's the other nugget I want you to understand here. And it is that plumb line of the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ. That is the yard stick, the plumb line for everything that Paul does. In other words, he's had his life changed. He's received the message. He is sent out and he is also the one that evaluates every place he goes, every ship he was on, every road he's ever traveled on a Roman road, everything he's ever written, every conversation he has ever had, that is the yard stick. Did it communicate the gospel? Did it advance someone's life as a growing disciple of Jesus Christ? It's at the core of everything he held to. The gospel message was the message given and it would be the message that would measure everything that Paul would do so that he would finish strong. And so I love this verse in Acts 20:24. I mean, if you've ever wanted a life verse, this is a life verse. "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself," nothing in my life matters as much as this, "so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of God's grace." That was at the core of his life. Now we have that same calling. We have that opportunity to be a messenger. And that's why I believe what Paul is saying right out of the shoot in this book is that you are called and commissioned to be a messenger of Jesus Christ. That's what he's doing with Timothy so Timothy would pass that on to others. We are sent out with that message. All are messengers with the message of Jesus Christ. Now Jesus started this in Matthew 28:19, 20. This is what is oftentimes referred to as the great commission. Now the word great is important. It means it is at the top of the list, okay? That's the idea, this is the commission. You see, when you stand before God and you meet Jesus physically on the other side of the grave, I don't think he's gonna be talking to you- Well he might be if it's negative, okay? "Why in the world did you buy that car?" "Why in the world did you spend all that money?" Or, "Hey, I'm so glad you got a success in that life and you did this." We get so caught up in so many other things. Do you know one of the subjects that's gonna come up? The mission he gave you. When you talk to Jesus, this should be at the core of it all. Why? Because he told us exactly what our mission in life should be. Go. "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations," or all people groups, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." It's the great commission. This is a couple of verses that really provide the foundation for our mission statement of multiplying disciples in a healthy church. It goes right back to this. It also goes back to another couple of verses found in Matthew 22, starting in verse 37, which is the great commandment. See, we hold to great commission and great commandment living. That commandment should be at the top of the list as well. You know what it says? Love God and love one another. As you go and make disciples, you do so by loving God and then loving one another because we make disciples in a healthy church by going, but we do so by knowing and demonstrating life on life what it means to love God and love one another. That's the foundation. Now it's fascinating to me that an important point comes up here, because in Acts 11:26, it says there of the people that were following Jesus, which were referred to as being a part of the way, that it was there in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Isn't that fascinating? That disciple and Christian are really synonymous terms. The word Christian means "Of the party of Christ." And the reason why I bring that up is because I think oftentimes we think, "Ah, we're Christians, you know, we trust in Christ as savior and Lord, but only the professionals are disciples. Only the hardcore Navy SEALs of Christianity are the disciples." But that's not what it says. Never in the New Testament was there a distinction between being a Christian and following after Jesus Christ in obedience. Never was there a distinction between following as a disciple and being a Christian or a follower of Christ. Those things were just naturally assumed. And the point here that he's after is to make a disciple, as Jesus says, it means to walk with others in relationship as a part of who I am, following Christ, learning and growing together, because the essence of the word disciple means learner. And as I learn more about Christ and respond to him, I continue to grow as a disciple. I know I'm growing and I'm going. My main point here is that you are a messenger. You've been given a message of life and death. Now if someone's dying physically, what would you do? You would do everything you possibly can to help them out. You'd save them, you'd call somebody up, get a doctor, get 911, do something to help this person out. Well, the message you have is gonna save lives for eternity. There's a lot at stake here, folks. And it's changed you, and it's transformed you. And it needs to show up not just in your words, but in your life. And then Paul says to Timothy, "My beloved child," because I do think he probably was the one that led Timothy to faith. Even though it doesn't explicitly say that, I think it's implied. He greets him with three key words that once again revolve around the topic of the gospel. These are his last words. He's going right to the core of what the most important thing is in life. And he says "grace," grace is what? Unmerited favor. It's what you need the most, but you deserve the least. It's unmerited. You're given a gift that you didn't deserve, but you needed it the most. And then he says "mercy," which actually means helpless, deserving of punishment. And the whole point is God did not pour out his wrath upon you. He did it upon Jesus Christ on the cross for you. He paid for your sin. And as our substitute, he offers his death on the cross in payment for your sin so that you can find forgiveness for all who are willing to receive it. You've been given grace. It's a gift to put your trust and faith in a gift given. You didn't earn it. There's nothing in you that says to God, "They deserve my salvation." No, it's anything but that. And yet He offers this gift because He loves us so much and wants to be in a relationship with us. And by embracing His grace, we understand that His wrath was poured out on Jesus. Putting our trust in Christ as savior and Lord, we have the third word, which is peace from God. Peace with God and the peace of God. Peace with God, peace with one another. That's the result of embracing Christ as savior and living with his forgiveness. And then Paul says in verse three that he thanks God and worships this God that he serves as his ancestors did. Now this is a fascinating parallel here. Paul is saying, "My ancestors who were Jewish lived by faith," and that's really everything we have in the Old Testament. And those who lived by faith trusted God. They walked in obedience looking forward to the promise of the Messiah that would come. Paul is saying, "My life with a clear conscience," and that is important. "With this clear conscience, I'm doing the same thing they did." In other words, "I'm living by faith, walking in obedience. But with a clear conscience, I'm here to tell you that Messiah has come and His name is Jesus." His point is everything he does in life is a continuation of what was promised by his ancestors in the Old Testament. The Messiah has arrived. Now notice the parallel with Timothy. He does the same thing. He says, "Timothy, you were raised in a Jewish house. You were given that faith, walking in obedience pointing to the Messiah," and then it was Paul who eventually, I think, led him to Christ. And once again, you see the continuity of life here. And then Paul encourages Timothy because he wants everybody to know of what has happened. And when you put all of this together, I think we arrive at the second point I want you to see, and that's you are called and commissioned to pass on your faith to others. You're called and commissioned to take this message out to people you know and then to pass that on to others. Timothy did this, others that Paul discipled did this, and they did it all the way to the point to where Timothy discipled someone or Titus discipled someone and they discipled someone and they discipled someone. And almost 2000 years later, somebody talked with you about Jesus Christ and you put your trust and faith in Him. And if they hadn't done that, you wouldn't be here today. You wouldn't have eternal life. The whole point is, Paul is saying, "Look, this message goes from person to person to person, and they did this so that you could find forgiveness and have everlasting life." And I think the nugget here is don't let that stop with you. You have an opportunity now to take your faith and communicate that to others. As a matter of fact, if you look at 2 Timothy 2:1, just look at the first two verses. "You then, my child Timothy, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus that he's already been given. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." You see the pattern of passing on the torch. See, you and I have the privilege of discipling other people. Paul points to this. Discipleship or influencing others is illustrated in two ways. First Paul illustrates it in the home environment, and that's why he brings up Timothy's mom and grandmother, and also outside the home. And the reason is because, again, Timothy had a Greek father, that's all we know, and a Jewish mom and a Jewish grandmother. We don't know who actually led him to faith, but we do know that it's probably likely that Paul did and became his spiritual father. But Paul illustrates that regardless of whether it's in the home or outside the home, you can influence others so that they can be followers of Jesus Christ. Now, I want to camp on the home just for a few minutes here because I do believe that the home is one of the best discipleship environments to pass on your faith. Both with parents to kids and both with grandparents on down the line or great grandparents if God allows you to live that long. But we really want to focus on it because it's a big part of what we do here. Now over the past several months, we've been given several hours, I'll just put it that way, with our kids at home under quarantine, okay? Now I understand that for some of you parents, you're ready to send them back to school and if they don't go back to school you're considering sending them to the moon. I get that, okay? But the point is we were given an opportunity to learn some really important lessons and develop some really good habits about spending quality time together. Now for some of you, you may feel a bit convicted with, "I didn't do that really well." It's okay because there's no time like the present to start. You can always look back. We all do it, right? "I messed up here, I can start making some changes along the way from this point forward." But it is a God-given opportunity for us to spend some quality and quantity time with one another and begin to develop our child's heart for the Lord Jesus. See, the issue is not behavior modification. The issue is going after a kid's heart so that they can begin to follow and serve Jesus Christ. And that happens when a parent, a grandparent surrenders their heart to Jesus Christ, a mom and a dad beginning to guide life on life in the context of a home so that kids can be treated the way God treats us with his amazing grace. And we want to come along you and help you do that. And that's why we've developed to my right in the gathering area our family resource center. So after this service, if you're interested in finding out more about how we can partner with you, please go there. We will have some pastoral staff there. They would love to visit with you. We will illustrate to you our faith path. We'll talk to you about our grace-based principles of how we can come alongside of you. See, I want you to understand this. Our primary job is not to raise your kids to follow Jesus. That's your job as a parent. We want to come alongside of you and help you walk down that road. Why? Because you're there when they didn't make the football team. You're there when they fell flat on their face. You are there spending hours upon hours upon hours walking with them through life. And really the essence of passing down your faith is life on life in the midst of the seasons of life. As a matter of fact, it's illustrated by probably what happened in Timothy's house with his mom and his grandmother. They probably lived their life according to a wonderful passage, I want you to dive into this next week, in Deuteronomy 6. The essence of Deuteronomy 6, it's in the Old Testament, fifth book of the Bible. It actually says that in the midst of life, in the midst of the seasons of life, pass off your faith to your kids. It's exactly what Moses is saying there. And we want you to do the same. And so we are here to help you and support you and walk with you and do everything we possibly can to enable you to do that. Now, this raises another issue that I think is really important because obviously Timothy's dad was Greek, not a follower of Christ as far as we can tell and obviously may not have even converted to Judaism. Now, there are some of us that did not grow up in Christian households or households that worship God in any way, shape or form. We've got students that come to Rockpoint, kids that come to Rockpoint who haven't had that. And that's why I've said discipleship is really a sphere of influence both in the home and outside of the home. And why the wonder of this passage raises all of these issues because there was a spiritual father that stepped into Timothy's life and guided him into a relationship with Jesus Christ. The point is yes, discipleship happens in a home, but it can oftentimes happen outside of the home. And it raises the issue with the relationship with Paul to Timothy. And here it is. The role of male leadership in our culture, our society, in our churches and in our homes. And I want to camp on that just for a minute. You see, we've got a ton of kids walking around, looking for hope in life, and I'm gonna tell you what. You know what they need? Now women, you play a very important part of this whole process, but this gives me some leverage right within this passage to elevate an issue that I feel passionate about, and that is this. We need male leaders in the home and male leaders in our culture today than we ever have before. They need to step forward, and it's time, guys, for us to step up to the plate. Paul did it in the life of Timothy. You know why? Because he saw somebody who needed to hear about the message of Christ. You may find some kid walking around Rockpoint. Doesn't have a Christian mom and dad. May not have a dad. It's our opportunity as men to step into their life. Not only help them grow in their relationship in their home, but in life itself. Now here's a couple of next steps for you. Number one, I want you to listen to the podcast that's coming out on Thursday. I just spent a couple hours with Vince Miller. He's the founder of Resolute Ministries. And so the first podcast comes out. You're gonna want to go. I thought they came out really well if I were to say so myself. And so I want you to get that podcast and listen to it. Then if you want to plug into some ministries here, we can help you within our men's ministry. But I also want to encourage you to go to his website, beresolute.org, because it is this process where he is committed to helping men grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. It's important to understand that. And whether or not it's in the home or outside of the home, we all have spheres of influence. Whether you're a coach or someone else, it doesn't matter to me. We are here to disciple others. One of my mentors used to say that everybody needs a Paul. Everybody needs a Timothy. Everybody needs someone building into their life. I've got about four or five people in my life. And then everybody needs to have some others that they're building into. And we need to be able to communicate Christ to our world in that way. And it also means that we understand that we're ready to give an answer for what we believe. That's why 1 Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15, "Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that's in you; yet we do it with gentleness and respect." And if you need to find some ways to share your faith, you're not sure how to begin to even begin this relationship of discipling and working with others, please let us know. We will provide resources for you and help for you. It's our job as pastors to serve you. That's our calling. And so we will provide that information for you so that you can not only get in a small group with men or women or a life group, but you might have never been shared, "How do I really grow with the basics of my faith? I've never had a one-on-one or one-on-three relationship with someone where they've walked me through what a prayer life is, what it means to read God's word." We will link you up with someone to do that. And then we will encourage you to learn how to do it with someone else. Now, Paul goes on because the next privilege here is the privilege of discipling others, but also the privilege of being an intercessor. He says he prayed for Timothy over and over again, night and day. We've embarked on a 21 day prayer adventure here at Rockpoint church. I hope you're a part of that. It's been a great journey thus far, today was day 12. And it's an exciting time as we place really prayer at the center of everything we do going forward as a church. And I hope you've picked up the book. I see that there was still a few of them out at the connection center. Stop by, pick that up, join us. Paul was praying for Timothy, and it gives us an opportunity to pray for those that are in our sphere of influence to come to Christ and begin to grow in their relationship with Christ. And then as we are called to pass on our faith to others, we have the privilege of being an encourager. Timothy says over and over or Paul says over and over about Timothy, who he is, his gifting, his calling, why? Because Paul knows this letter is gonna be read by many different individuals. And he's encouraging him. "Don't forget to call out the gifts of others you're working with so that they have a sense of encouragement publicly with others that God is working in their heart and in their life." And that's the part of this entire process of building a relationship life on life. And notice how many times Paul says in these six verses, "I remember, I remember, I remember." What's he doing there? He's saying, "Look, we have a relationship. We've spent time on the road together. We've had some miserable experiences. We've had some great experiences, but we've had a life on life together." And that's his point. Well, he wraps it up in verse 6 with this final point. And that is this. You are called and commission to use your gifts. That's where he says, "Timothy, I want you to fan this flame. I want you to continue to use the gifts that God has given to you to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ." And there's a couple of next steps for us. If you are not serving here at Rockpoint, we've talked about this over the last couple of weeks. Again, it's at the heart of what Paul is saying to Timothy. Use those gifts. We want to encourage you to serve in a variety of different ways. It doesn't matter what, we'll find a place for you. You say, "I want to serve," we'll find it. The best place to start figuring out how God's wired you to serve is just find a place to serve. And then we'll help you along that process. Again, that's why we're here to help you. I also want to encourage you if you're interested in finding out what your spiritual gifts are. You read the New Testament. You say, "Wow, I'm wired, my personality is this way. But God talks about these gifts that are given that are called spiritual gifts." Well, there's a link on our website whereby you can download a spiritual gift survey. It'll help you begin to figure out what some of these things are if you're interested. And please let us know, we'll walk you down that journey. But I'll tell you what. In my mind, this is where everything comes together. See, it doesn't matter what your profession is. It doesn't matter what your age is. It doesn't matter the season of life you are in. Here's the statement I want you to understand. You and I are both in ministry together. Ministry is not just for me. Ministry is for you. Ministry is not just for our pastors. Ministry is for you. You have been given a sphere of influence and that is your calling and that is your ministry commissioned by God to go and make disciples. The message of Jesus Christ should be at the core of your life so that you're communicating him and helping others do the same. That's the point. You might be involved in the business community. Do you realize that is your mission field, that God has wired you and gifted you to be in that community so that you can bring redemptive value to the work environment? Whether that's part time or full time, it's living out biblical principles within the work environment. And I've got to tell you what, I think one of the greatest revivals to come in the next few years is within the business environment because that's where most of us live. That's our mission field. If you're a healthcare worker, do you understand the incredible opportunity you have to be a part of God's healing hand in someone's life both physically and spiritually, whether you are a doctor or whether you are a nurse? You can be a coach, you can be a teacher. You can be a student, you can be a fellow teammate. The point is this: God has placed you in a sphere of influence. That is your mission field. And he says to you, as Paul says here, "You are an apostle of Christ Jesus sent with the message that's changed you so that you can communicate that to others and help them do the same." It's not a complicated process. Everything in your life should be measured against this grid, as it was with Paul. You have gifts and abilities that Billy Graham could not exercise in your sphere of influence to reach those people for Christ. He's dead anyway. That's your job. That's our job. That's my job. To move into that sphere that God has given to us so that they can find Christ and grow in their faith. Now here's the things I want you to walk out with. First thing is this. So simple I don't even need to put it up on the screen. I want you to begin to pray. I want you to begin to pray as we're on this 21 day prayer journey, "What, God, do you want to say to me through this book?" Then I want you to pray for the people within your sphere of influence. The only way they're gonna trust Christ as savior is if God begins to work in their heart and draw them by conviction of the Holy Spirit, and that happens through prayer. So I want you to begin to pray for those individuals and then pray for an opportunity to come up so you can communicate Christ to them because that's your mission field. And then pray for them as they begin to walk with Christ. That's the point. So pray, pray, and pray. And then if you're not involved in a community of relationships, because that's at the core of discipleship, we'll help you get into that community. And if you've never been discipled, you don't understand the basics of faith, please let us know. We'll walk you down that journey. And then my closing comment to men. Guys, it's time for us to step up to the plate. It's time for us to figure out what it means to be a man of God who follows Jesus and serves Him. And let's lead the way. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for the power of your word. Lord, bring the conviction that you choose, the encouragement that you choose, but by way of your Holy spirit, would you take this truth, would you move it in our hearts and move it in our lives as we seek to go out and multiply disciples? Not just in our healthy church, Lord, but throughout our community. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.