Sunday, August 31

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Good morning. We are glad to be able to gather to worship this morning. We're going to begin by going to God in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for all that you have done for us. We thank you for how you help us, how you strengthen us, how you lead us, how you teach us. We just ask that as we gather this morning that you would focus our eyes on you, that we would see your grace and your mercy and your salvation that has been poured out to us. That if we are discouraged, you would encourage us. If we're fearful, that you would make us courageous. If we are struggling, that you would lift us up. So be with us as we gather this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If you would be standing with me, we're going to read from the 12th chapter of the book of Isaiah, which leads us into both of our songs this morning, Our God Saves, and On That Day. So if you would, let's read from Isaiah, the 12th chapter together. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song. And he has become my salvation. This is the word of the Lord. We're going to start by singing, "Our God Saves." In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, Lord, we come. We are gathered together. To lift up your name. To call on our Savior. To fall on your grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering. As your saints bow down. As your people sing.

We will rise with you, lifted on your wings. And the world will see that our God saves. Our God saves, our God saves. There is hope in your name. Morning turns to songs of praise. Our God saves, our God saves. In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, Lord, we come. We are gathered together to lift up your name, to call on our Savior, to fall on your grave. Hear the joyful sound of our offering, as your saints bow down, as your people sing. We will rise with you, lifted on your wings, and the world will see that our God saves. Our God saves. There is hope in your name. Morning turns to songs of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. Hear the joyful sound of our offering. As your saints bow down, as your people sing. We will rise with you, lifted on your wings. And the world will see that our God saves.

Our God saves. There is hope in your name. Morning turns to psalms of praise. Our God saves. Our God saves. Our God saves. Our God saves.

I believe in Christ, risen from the dead. He now reigns victorious. His kingdom knows no end. Through His resurrection, death has lost its hope. I know on that final day, Jesus rose. On that day, we will see you shining brighter than the sun. On that day, we will know you as we lift our voices one. On that day, we will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. Amen. Amen. Amen.

I will sing. My Father who is waiting for me. Hallelujah, the higher day it will be. For at home with you, my joy is complete. As I run into your arms open wide, I will sing. My Father who is waiting for me. My Father who is waiting for me. On that day, we will see you shining brighter than their sun. On that day, we will know you as we lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you. We will praise you for your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. On that day, we will see you shining bright as the sun. On that day, we will ignore you as we lift our voices one. Till that day, we will praise you before your never-ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org.

www.fema.org. Jesus said, "Fema.org. I'm going to be a day out of all. I'm going to be a day out of the day. I'm going to be a day out of the day. I'm going to be a day out of the day.

I've never wondered why God begins His words so frequently and His messengers begin their word every time by calling mankind not to fear. In part, it's because of comparative greatness. God, the infinite Creator from eternity past, eternity present, eternity future, all of His goodness and greatness and power in comparison to Him, we are small. But it's more than that. It's not just the greatness of God. It is the holiness and righteousness of God. And we, as sinful and broken people, do not stand before a righteous God. The interesting thing is, in Scripture, it didn't always work like that. In the beginning of the book of Genesis, God creates all things. He declares them good. He places man and woman in a garden to work and to keep it. And in the cool of the day, He comes and walks and talks with Adam and Eve.

But in Genesis chapter 3, beginning in verse 4, things change. "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?' And he said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid.'" And what you find is that sin brings us to this place where we can no longer stand or be near the presence of God. And so every time God comes close to sinful people, any time his messengers come to deliver and we get a glimpse of that glory and that holiness, the response is fear. And our fear shows up in different ways. Frequently, like Adam and Eve, we run and hide because we're afraid.

And then sometimes we try to fix it and make it better, conquer our fears, deal with the source of our fears. Sometimes we just simply pretend and ignore our fears, but the reality is that there is a gulf between the sinfulness of man and the righteousness of God. However, just as there was once a time when there was no fear, there is now a time where we can stand in God's presence without fear. In 1 John chapter 4, it says this: "By this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no longer fear even in the face of the judgment of God. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment,

and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." And John says that for God's people, there is no longer a fear of judgment. There is no longer a fear of the righteousness of God, because of the righteousness of God. And it's not simply that this punishment has been removed and disappeared, but rather this punishment has been given to one who stands in our place. Paul says this, "For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more, now that we are reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." And so John says to us that there is a love that comes and casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment. And Paul reminds us and shows us that that punishment was taken at the cross by our Savior. And because of that, we are reconciled no longer enemies. We are saved by his life, and we are able to rejoice that fear and separation has been replaced by reconciliation and rejoicing. And as we come to this table, and as we break this bread, as we drink this cup, what we are reminding of ourselves on this moment, this morning,

is the fact that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, who stood in our place, who died for our sins, we don't have to be afraid. Let's pray. Father, help us with our fear. We live in a world where fear is so frequent. It's used to grab our attention. It's used to manipulate and to move us in certain directions. And so we ask that as we consider the fact that in you there is nothing to be afraid of, that you would remind us and encourage us and strengthen us and nourish us in the gospel this morning. That we would be reminded that fear has to do with judgment, and because your judgment has been poured out upon your Son, that we can stand without fear. So encourage our hearts this morning. Strengthen us for your work.

And may we remember Jesus. We ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in your Son's name we pray. Amen. If you would partake of the bread with me as Jesus shares with his disciples, let's remember Jesus together.

And let's remember Jesus as we partake of this cup, the new covenant that is in his blood. And as we remember Jesus, we also seek to proclaim him. Paul says, "For as often as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we proclaim him until he comes again." So in just a moment, we're going to be in the second book of Timothy, Paul's second letter to Timothy. Just a minute before we do that, next Sunday we are beginning our fall sermon series, a sermon series in the book of Daniel. So a couple of things about this. One, I am very excited to go into the book of Daniel. You may and are likely familiar with some of the accounts that happen from the test with the food and the conflict in chapter one, to dreams that cannot be interpreted by anybody but God, to idols and fiery furnaces, to conflict, to Nebuchadnezzar losing his mind,

to the lion's den, to that place where we get that phrase, the writing on the wall. And you may be familiar as well with the visions that are the second part of this book, from chapter 7 through chapter 12, where you find this imagery that leaves Daniel at the point going, "I'm not really sure about this," and a little troubled, and he goes and he takes a nap. That's at the end of chapter 7. What you find is the pictures of nations rising and falling and God being at work throughout all of the days, whether that is spiritual warfare, whether that is physical warfare, whether that is the uncertainty and brokenness of the nations that surround us, that God is in control. And so the picture and the purpose of the book of Daniel and what we want to try to emphasize as we go through this is that God reigns,

and no matter what happens around us, we are unshaken. So whether you're in Daniel chapter 1, where everything you once knew is taken away and you're trying to have your life basically disappear into the Babylonian Empire, God is in control, whether that's in chapter 2. With the unknowable things and not having the answers to the questions that you may need, you see that God is in control, whether it's in opposition, standing for what's right, confronting pride, staying faithful, when you could have just simply hidden your faith and kept going, whether it's when nations rise and fall, we want to see that we as Christians are unshakable because God reigns. And so with that, as well, I want to encourage you to sort of read along as we go through the book of Daniel. So on the back, I think there's one left because I think the printer jammed.

When I went down to check coffee a little bit ago, I saw that it did. So there were some handouts for the book of Daniel. So sort of the couple days before we get to Sunday, we'll have some readings. So this week it's three readings from the book of Daniel for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from Daniel chapter 1, with a little bit of background information, a couple questions. The idea isn't to give you homework, but rather to sort of help you think about things, so that when we come together on Sunday morning, we'll sort of all be on the same page in regard to the book of Daniel and be familiar with it. And then next Sunday, we'll all have some discussion things for you to think about, sort of to follow the sermon. And so second half of the week, you prepare for Sunday, and then the first half of the week following Sunday,

we can spend some time with devotional sort of processing that chapter. So we don't want to just study Daniel on Sunday mornings, but we want to try to do it throughout the week as well. So that's what's coming up next Sunday, Daniel chapter 1, and I'm excited to be there. So we're going to pray, and then we're going to dive into these words of encouragement of Paul to Timothy, that not just show us what encouragement should look like as we encourage one another, but they are also words of encouragement to us, especially if we face circumstances and situations where it seems like we might be overwhelmed or overrun. So let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. Father in heaven, be with us this morning. May your spirit guide us and teach us and correct us and convict us.

May we most of all see your goodness and your grace in the gospel, the good news that has been given to us through your Son. So help us as we consider our foundation. Help us as we consider how you have equipped us and help us as we see how you strengthen us to use those gifts in this world. So help us this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I'm going to read our text and then we'll dive into it. We're not going to focus on the entire thing. We're going to pick up in verse 5, but I want to read a little bit of context for you beginning in 2 Timothy 3. 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. I remember your tears,

and I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt 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, as for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. And I want to begin, as we talked about just a moment ago, thinking about fear. And I think one of the great places to see fear illustrated, if you're looking to the animal world, which having kids we talk a lot about animals, and part of our menagerie is in our basement we have a big fat grumpy gray rabbit. And one of the interesting things about our

big fat grumpy gray rabbit is that if you pick her up and she doesn't want to be picked up, she goes into a murderous rage. What's interesting is it's not a focused rage, although sometimes I wonder, I was putting clothes in the dryer the other day, and I looked behind me, and there was just a rabbit standing there staring at you. The likelihood of being killed by a rabbit is low, but never zero. And so when she is angry or upset and goes into that fight or flight mode, and she chooses fight, it is just completely unfocused. Now rabbits also are sometimes known for their ability to flee. In fact, this year it seems like our neighborhood has a bumper crop of rabbits, and so sometimes I'm letting the dogs out at 2:30 in the morning, and sometimes I don't always check, but I do check for skunks.

But as I open the door and the dogs go out, sometimes, right, there's a rabbit right there in the middle of the yard, and it's interesting to see the reaction because sometimes not only does fear provoke this sort of attack that has no rhyme or reason, but it can also just cause you to freeze in place. And so here's this rabbit going, "I hope these dogs don't see me as it sits there and twitches in the middle of the yard." But then the third option, and what fear sometimes results in, in terms of the rabbits, is they do about the worst thing in the world. They run as fast as they can. If they were stood still, dogs probably wouldn't have noticed them, but as soon as they start to move, right, say, "Hey, there's a tennis ball thrown by God," right? And off they go. And it's

interesting because rabbits, in many ways, parallel sometimes how we react to fear. Sometimes our fear comes into our life, and it just sort of explodes out of us in that fight part of fight or flight. Maybe not directed, maybe not focused, just sort of a, we'll scratch and we'll fight, we'll do something because we're afraid. And then sometimes fear causes us just to simply freeze, to stop, to not move. Maybe like in the parable of talents where the fear from that third servant, instead of investing the money the master gives, he just simply puts it in the ground and says, "I'm just not going to move." Keep everything exactly the same, the way it was. And then sometimes fear causes us to run as fast and far as we can go. For example, you see it in the book of Jonah. As Jonah called to go to Nineveh, and people argue about whether

and why he was afraid. Was he afraid of the people? Was he afraid of the reception? Or was he afraid that God would have mercy upon them? For whatever reason, his fear causes them to flee. And as Christians, we find ourselves faced with fear on a regular basis. And the question for us is, "How do we live in a world that is filled with sin and brokenness?" When we encounter the difficulty and the danger of a world that is opposed to Christ, how do we respond? And so many times we respond in fear, whether that's just in wild, uncontrolled action, whether it's freezing in place, whether it's running from that fear. And so the question we want to try to answer and to help our hearts and to encourage our hearts with this morning is to see that God has given us the antidote to that fear. And what Paul is going to

say here to Timothy is he's going to sort of give him three things, ending up by reminding him that God has not given us a spirit of fear. And so there are three letters from Paul that are different than all of his other letters. Most of his letters are to churches, to the church in Corinth, to the church in Ephesus, to the church in Galatia. But then there are three letters that are called the pastoral epistles, and they are to the preacher or the pastor of that church. And so two of them are written to Titus, and we are in the second of Paul's pastoral letters as Paul writes to Timothy. And one of the reasons we read those extra verses this morning before, verses five, six, and seven, is to get a glimpse of how Paul feels about Timothy. And one of the

things you find is that Paul cares very deeply for him. In fact, he says to Timothy that I view you as my son in the faith. And Paul says, "I'm praying for you all day, every day. I'm reminded of your tears when I left, and I look forward to the day when I will see you." In fact, at the end of this letter he says, "Timothy, pack your stuff, grab my coat, get my extra books, and come see me, because I miss you so much." And so I don't want you to think that Paul's instructions and encouragement here are written in sort of a, here's a checklist of things that you're supposed to do. This comes from the heart of a man who loves and is praying for, and in many ways is a spiritual father to this young man, Timothy. And it's likely that Timothy's family becomes Christians when Paul

passes through their area in Acts 14. We first meet him in Acts 16. He comes from a household where his father is Greek and his mother and grandmother are Jewish. Timothy will serve on behalf of Paul in Corinth and Philippi, and at this point he is the pastor of the church at Ephesus. Additionally, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon, Timothy is with him in those places. Now, Timothy in Ephesus is in a difficult situation. Remember, we said that we're talking about being surrounded by brokenness and surrounded by sin, and how do we respond to that? And Timothy's situation is he is surrounded by brokenness, and he's surrounded by sin. He's surrounded by opposition, and Paul's going to give him some encouragement on how to deal with that brokenness.

Now, Timothy is in the midst of the city of Ephesus, a city that worships idols, that doesn't worship the true God, and so surrounding this little church in Ephesus are those who don't believe, and not only don't believe, they are hostile to the church. But as we read through 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, it's remarkable the list of obstacles you can find as you read through these two books. It's not just those outside the church that are the problem, that in this situation people inside the church are the problem. Some have missed the point and have chased after random speculation. Some people are seeking inside the church to have their own needs and desires met. Some are actively hostile to Jesus inside the church. And so there is a massive problem, and to add to this, Timothy is on his own. His safety net, Paul, is in Rome, and it's not just that Paul is gone, but Paul at this point expects to be martyred almost any day. And so Timothy is about to seem like he's truly on his own. Not only is Paul far away, but Paul is about to die. And so Timothy's situation, it likely feels that

he is surrounded on every side, and they are about to be attacked. And so Paul's encouragement to Timothy, as he writes these words to a young man who is surrounded, not just outside the church, but inside the church, and also in his fear of what the future holds, Paul's encouragement to him is so important for him, but it's important for us, too, because we find ourselves in so many areas of life surrounded outwardly, inwardly, and we're uncertain of what the future holds, and how do we deal with that? And so listen to what Paul says to Timothy, "I recall, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well." It's the first thing. He says, "The second thing, he says, 'For this reason, I remind you to fan

into flame the gift of God, which is through you by the laying on of my hands.'" And then third, he says, "For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." And so Paul starts first like this. He reminds Timothy of his foundation. Not just his foundation, but the foundation of his grandmother and his mother who have taught him the Scriptures to make him wise unto salvation. That's what Paul will say later in this letter. And I love the picture that Paul uses. First of all, he says sincere faith, but then he uses one of his favorite pictures for being a Christian in all of Scripture. And it's the picture of living in or in this case dwelt. And so notice what he says, the faith that dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And now I am sure dwells in you as well. And so Paul's one of his favorite pictures in Scripture is the fact that as a Christian,

as a Christian, God dwells in us and we dwell in him that we live in him. In fact, in Romans chapter eight, here's what Paul writes. He says this, you, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone who does not have the spirit does not belong to him in Colossians, Paul will say this Christ in you, the hope of glory. And the picture here in this picture of dwelling that Paul uses is not that being a Christian is not simply a title that is adopted. It's not simply something that we can say or declare and say, look, I'm now a Christian. But the reality of the Christian life is that God dwells in us and we dwell in him. And what it comes to is a total transformation.

And it's not a small thing. It's not simply hanging a welcome sign on our door saying, "Hey, come in if you want to." The reality of Christ dwelling in us, the Spirit living and working in us is a remarkable, powerful, transforming, and sometimes difficult thing. It's C.S. Lewis in his book, "Mare Christianity." And toward the end, in book four, he writes about what it means to be a Christian. He uses an illustration from another preacher, and I just want to read this section to you and what C.S. Lewis says about God dwelling in us. He says this, First, I must borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house, and God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. You knew that those

jobs needed doing, and so you're not surprised. But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably, and it does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is this: he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of. Throwing out a new wing here, putting on extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself. This picture of this faith, this sincere faith that God dwells in you, is more than just simply saying, "I'm a Christian," but it's this picture of God and his transformation that he brings in your life. And so, Paul says, and he reminds Timothy of the reality of what it means to be a Christian, that God dwells in us, and he says this, "I recall your sincere faith."

And there are two parts to this picture of faith. And most of the time, our culture only seems to focus on the first part. And the first part is simply, "Yes, I agree with that." That's not the biblical picture of faith, to simply mentally assent to the truth that is there. It has to practically change and transform our life, which happens through the power of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit. I remember the first sermon that I ever preached, ever. In our preaching class, it was a topical sermon. Everybody drew a topic out of the hat. I didn't know how to write a sermon, let alone a topical sermon. And so I pulled the word "faith" out of a hat, and I said, "Well, what am I going to do? Where does it talk about faith in the Bible?" Hebrews chapter 11, right?

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the certainty of things not seen." And then it begins to list these people who by faith, they didn't just know God, but in faith, they lived for Him. Right? Abraham doesn't just say, "Yes, I believe you're God." Abraham obeys and goes to a place where God calls him to go. That faith isn't just about our head, but it's something that we deeply believe in our hearts, and comes out through our actions in, as Martin Luther said, a whole-souled trust in the living God. You see, you may say to Paul, "Why are you bringing up mom and grandma?" Likely, they faced great difficulty in their faith as well. Living in a Greek household, we know that Timothy, from other accounts, was not able to follow Jewish law, and so it's likely he lives in a household that's divided, and for his mother and grandmother to follow,

first of all, the Jewish faith and then becoming Christians would have been a struggle for them as well. And so Paul says, "Look at their foundation, their sincere faith." Faith, it just wasn't simply agreement, but was a way of living. And he says to Timothy, "I know that this faith dwells in you as well." And so Paul's encouragement to Timothy is, first of all, reminding him of his foundation, of where he dwells, of the fact that his faith is not just words, but it is sincere. Next, he says this, that you're equipped, that God has given you what you need. 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. As kids, one of our family traditions was this weekend of the year, our families would get together.

We would have our Labor Day camp out at the DAR State Park, Daughters of American Revolution. And we would, one of the things that was a highlight, at least for me, like you get to build campfires. So you get to play in the campfire, right? And sometimes the campfire doesn't go very well. And so what you do is you go steal some paper plates off the table, and you begin to wave that paper plate back and forth in front of those coals, and eventually enough air gets to it, and that fire poofs up and gets nice and flaming, and then you stop blowing air on it, and it dies again. And then, fire. What are we doing? Fire. What are we doing with what God has equipped us to do? To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, that God has equipped His people like a body,

that all parts work together, and Paul will say this in chapter 14: "Since you are eager for manifestation of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church." And so Paul says to Timothy, "Remember your foundations. Remember where your hope and trust is. Fan into flame the fact that you are equipped, and to us as well. Remember that our hope is in Christ, that the Spirit is at work in our life, that we have been equipped for service and for faithfulness in the kingdom." And then Paul says to Timothy, "And to us, you are strengthened." Paul reminds Timothy of the source of his strength. I don't know if you've ever been in the middle of a project that you looked at, and you said, "I simply can't do this." "It's too big, and it's too much for me. I need some help."

And Timothy may be saying, "Yeah, it's all well and good. I know I have a firm foundation. I know that God has equipped me, but now what do I do?" And Paul says this, and notice how Paul words this. He doesn't say, "For God, Timothy, gave you a spirit, not of fear." He says this, "For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control." He says, "Not only do you have this foundation, not in your own strength or ability, but in God, not only are you equipped by the power to do what you need to do, you also have this strength, that as you feel like you're surrounded and about to be attacked on every side, that there is hope." He says, "God gave you not a spirit of fear," which means that in our Christian lives, if we are in fear, we're not walking where we're supposed to be.

We've forgotten our foundation. We've forgotten the fact that God gifts us. We've forgotten the fact that God empowers and equips us. And that spirit is not just power, but it's love and of self-control. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, when he preached on this passage in his Scottish accent, which I will not try to duplicate, says, "My friends, we are not left to ourselves. We must not think like ordinary people of ourselves. We are not natural men that God dwells in us. He has given us what we need, and he has strengthened us for the work that he has called us to." I want you to see in this text, first of all, the encouragement that Paul gives. Paul does not hold Timothy at arm's length. He speaks of his closeness, of his peers, of prayer, and encouraging Timothy with the words that he needs to hear, even if for Timothy they may be a little bit difficult.

Paul says, "This is what I'm going to do. I want to encourage you," and then he goes about doing it. Christians, we are called to encourage and strengthen one another, and one of the ways that we are fanning into flame the gift of God in our life is through our interactions with one another, our encouragement. Sometimes those moments where we're called in conviction. And as Paul encourages Timothy, he also encourages us to say, "Where is it that you stand? What is your foundation? Where are you serving?" How are you serving? God has equipped you to serve. Don't forget that he has equipped you. And not only that, he has strengthened you to do so. Our struggle to remember where we stand, how we continue, and the power that we have that equips us. Paul is saying to Timothy, "You're not on your own."

Even though I'm about to die for my faith, you are not alone. And for us as Christians, it's what Jesus reminds the disciples of. It's in the promise of the Spirit. It's in Paul's reminder here to Timothy that we are not alone. That our foundation is not in and of ourselves. Our gifting is not in and of ourselves. And our strength is not in and of ourselves. It rests in the power of God. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for how you have cared for us and how you have strengthened us and gifted us. Help us as we seek to encourage one another that you would show us those opportunities that you would give us those words and those actions to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. And sometimes it seems we're surrounded and the enemy is about to attack. Would you remind us that our foundation is not in our strength but in yours?

That our gifting is not in our abilities but yours? And that our power is not in our power but in yours? We thank you for Jesus and for grace. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing "Firm Foundation." Christ is my firm foundation The rock on which I stand When everything around me is shaken I've never been more glad I put my faith in Jesus 'Cause He's never let me down He's faithful through generations So why would He fail now? He won't He won't I've still got joy in chaos I've got peace that makes no sense So I won't be going under I'm not held by my own strength Cause I've built my life on Jesus He's never let me down He's faithful in every season So why would He fail now?

He won't He won't He won't fail He won't fail Rain came, wind blew My house was built on you I'm safe with you I'm gonna make it through Rain came, wind blew But my house was built on you I'm safe with you I'm gonna make it through Yeah, I'm gonna make it through 'Cause I'm standing strong on you Oh, I'm gonna make it through 'Cause my house is built on you Christ is my firm foundation The rock on which I stand When everything around me is shaken I've never been more glad I put my faith in Jesus 'Cause He's never let me down He's faithful through generations So why would he fail now? He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. We are glad you're here this morning. A couple of announcements. There will be no Wednesday Evening Bible Study this Wednesday.

However, next Wednesday we are going to dive into a new series, taking a look at the truth and the treasure of God's Word. And so that is not this Wednesday, but the following Wednesday. I believe it's September next Sunday. We are moving into our new sermon series on Daniel, as we see the God who reigns in certainty over every moment so that we can live unshaken. So that's beginning Sunday, September 7th. I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer. We'll read a verse of Scripture, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in Heaven, thank You for allowing us to be here this morning. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the encouragement and the strength of Your people. And we ask that You would be with us throughout this week. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ the Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Father, Son, Holy Ghost.