Sunday,May 10

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We are thankful that you are here. We're thankful that we get to gather to worship together. We're going to begin with a word of prayer. We're going to read from the 75th Psalm, and then begin our time of worship through Psalm this morning. Let's go ahead and pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your goodness and for your grace. We thank you for all the ways in which you have blessed our lives. We thank you for those who have been faithful through generations, who have had a great impact on our life. And we thank you for those who have served so quietly and so faithfully. We just ask you to encourage us to strengthen us. And as we look at the life of Timothy and his family, we would encourage us to help us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and we're going to read from Psalm 78. We're going to read verses 5 through 7. Let's read together this morning.

and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. This is the word of the Lord. We're going to start by singing about God's faithfulness, followed by singing about his glory and how he works for our kids. So let's start with that.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I had needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hands have provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Let's pray. When I gaze upon His beauty, when I see Him as I should, then my eyes are lifted upward for His glory and my good. There is hope in every trial, for I can trust the Lord. He will turn my heart towards him, and help me bear the thorn. So in faith I follow Jesus, on the road not understood. For I know that he is working, for his glory and my good.

To our God be the glory, to our God be praise, He alone, the name above all, I will all stand ever only in the Lord, my God, for I know His glory is my good.

See the open arms of Jesus Upon the cross that day What they understood His weakness Desserted by every praise For the charge that was against me It was nailed to the Lord Yes, I know that He has sent me For His glory and my good To our God be the Lord My God be the rest, be alone The name above all names I will boast ever only Oh my God, for I know His glory is my good Would I gladly be made nothing That Christ would be made more Would I seek the only kingdom That far outweighs them all I will stand before my Father where the faithful saints have stood, and with joy my heart shall praise Him for in my good. And with joy my heart shall praise Him for His glory in my good.

To our God be the glory. To our God be the grace. He alone, the name above all names. I will boast ever only in the name of the Lord. I am the Lord, for I know His glory is my good. To our God be glory, to our God be great, be the Lord, the name above all names. I will boast ever only in the Lord my God, for I know His glory is my good. Yes, I know His glory is my good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace Turn your eyes to that hillside Where justice and mercy embrace There the Son of God gave his life for us And our measureless death was embraced Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our Christ We adore you, behold you Our Savior ever true Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to you

Turn your eyes to the morning And see Christ the lion away What a glorious dawn Fear of death is gone For we carry his life in our veins Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you Our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Turn your eyes to the heavens Our King will return for his own Every knee will bow Every tongue will shout All glory to Jesus Jesus, to you you lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you, our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our life to you Jesus, to you we lift our price Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you, our Savior and you. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Outlast darkness Hope that's in the blood This future grace that's mine today That Jesus Christ has won So I can face tomorrow For tomorrow's in your hands All I need you will provide Just like you always have I'm fighting a battle You've already won No matter what comes my way I will overcome Don't know what you're doing But I know what you've done I'm fighting a battle You've already won There's mercy in the waiting Nana for today When it's gone, I'll know you're not You are my hope and stay When the sea is raging Your spirit is my help He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ I'll say that it is well Oh, I know that it is well I'm fighting a battle You for anyone No matter what comes my way I will overcome

Don't know what you're doing But I know what you've done I'm fighting a battle You've already won I know how the story ends We will be with you again You're my savior, my defense No more fear in life or death I know how the story ends We will be with you again You're my savior, my defense No more fear in life or death I know how the story ends I'm fighting a battle You've already won No matter what comes my way I will overcome Don't know what you're doing But I know what you've done I'm fighting a battle You've already won I'm fighting a battle You've already won Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Just a few moments ago, probably for you as well, maybe spark some memories of those godly women in your life. I remember when I was just like a new wee baby preacher. This had been back right after the end of the century, moving into the 2000s. And I was doing what our school did to help us get some experience, which is supply preaching, which means that you go, essentially there's churches that need a preacher, and you drive to them. And so I would drive from central Missouri, all over actually the state of Missouri, into the edges of Illinois and one to the southern part of Iowa. And I remember one of the first times that I was doing this, I was super nervous. And I said, you know what, I've got to get there really early, make sure everything's okay.

And so I'm driving from our schools about 90 miles to the church. And, you know, I go through the last part over the bridge to Mississippi into Illinois. I have, like, 15 minutes left, and I'm stuck behind this little 20-year-old little blue Chrysler. And in front of me is just this big poof of white hair. And they're doing, like, 10 miles an hour. This thing's doing 10 miles an hour at the speed limit. I am a young man, very accustomed to the accelerator, and I was like, you know what, I'm just going to pass this old lady. We took one more turn, and I realized that, you know what, there's not that many turns according to the map that I have. I better be careful, because I bet this lady is going to the church that I'm about to preach at.

Sure enough, it was a pretty good guess. There's no other cars on the road. She pulls into the parking lot right in front of me, and I feel really bad for tailgating her very closely for the last 15 miles. Now, this lady was the backbone of this little church that used to be on the banks of the Mississippi River, and the river moved, and the town died. She was there every morning, rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, like the U.S. Postal Service. The doors were unlocked, the heat was on, the building was clean. It's interesting that later on, I would go to preach at this church. They would hire me, and I was there for, I think, two, two and a half years. That two and a half years, the only time I'd meet her to church was when she didn't come to church.

It didn't matter how early I left in the morning, she was there before me. Once we had a guy who worked for Local Correction System, and he's like, hey, I'm bringing the work release guys to clean up the church, which was new for me. And she baked them all pies. So they're out there cleaning it, and she has just a bunch of pies sitting there. And to think about what we want to do and what we traditionally do on both Mother's Day and Father's Day is go to the Word of God and take a look at those men and women who have had such an impact on our lives and on God's people. Sometimes they're really well known. Sometimes they're quiet and faithful in ways that they don't always see. We want to be encouraged this morning, specifically by the lives of God's people.

So before we do that, let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and for grace, and we thank you for those godly women, for their mothers, for those who have chosen to care for children that were not theirs biologically, but who have sacrificed and given of themselves and given of others, for those who have shown us by example in both their words and their actions. So I have, and I've shared this with some of you, I have a sticker on my water bottle that I take everywhere that says be patient with me I'm from the 1900s and it has a little wagon train there as well. And I was thinking about the experiences that I've had that my kids don't always quite get. When I was growing up if I wanted to hear a song I had to listen to the radio until the song came on.

If I wanted to listen to it again I remember at one point sitting with my tape recorder next to the radio recording the songs that I wanted. And they're just like, hey, Google, play whatever song I want. And there it is. And they can listen to it a million times in a row if they want. I remember one of the first times we were somewhere, maybe staying in a hotel, and we were watching a show on TV. And all of a sudden the show stops and commercials start playing. And our kids are like, what are these? We don't have commercials on our streaming TV. Yeah, I don't know. I remember once, actually very recently, the other day, one of the kids asked for something. And they were like, just order it, Dad. And I was like, it's not going to be here in time.

And so it was like 7 o'clock at night. I ordered it on Amazon. Next morning at 6.30, there's a guy in a civic in the yellow vest throwing it on the picnic tables in front of the church over here. And back in my day, right, if you wanted to order something, you had to have a catalog. You had to talk your mom into writing a check for it, borrowing a stamp and an envelope for it. And then you had to wait six to eight weeks for it to get here. And now I can order stuff. And in some cases, right over to the grocery store, you're going to pay for $25 million. It's interesting. This has, I think, maybe a detrimental effect on my patients, right? So I expect this now, because I live in a culture where everything happens so quickly,

I expect it to happen quickly. I planted a pasture a couple weeks ago. Two days later, I'm out there going, huh, must have been a bad batch of seeds because I don't see anything growing. Remember the first time I went and worked out with Dave? I got done. I said, I don't feel any stronger whatsoever. Obviously, this is a waste of time. Now, that's a joke, but sometimes we approach life with that. Everything in life for us so often happens so quickly and so instantly that we become very, very impatient. And it's not just being surrounded by everything that happens so fast. We live in a world that's also filled so deeply with comparison. It's not just that we're used to getting things quickly. It's that we see everybody's good moments. And oftentimes people don't share their bad moments when we're sharing things.

We generally share those things we're proud of that are good and that are great because we don't want to publicize our weakness or our failure. So not only are we impatient, so often we're surrounded by this view that everybody around us, their life is perfect, their life is good, and my life is filled with struggles. And these two things, both being surrounded by constant comparison and being impatient has an impact, not just on our attitudes and our physical life, but I think it has an impact on us spiritually. Comparison makes us feel weak and small. And our impatience tells us that even though I'm working in something, nothing really matters because it hasn't worked out in the end because it hasn't worked yet. And it's so easy for us, I think, to find ourselves discouraged and struggling, not just as we look at our lives, but as we seek to grow spiritually,

maybe as we seek to share the gospel, maybe as we seek to live faithfully, surrounded by impatience and comparison. We're simply being told continually, if it doesn't happen fast, it's not going to happen. And secondly, compared to everybody else, we're doing terribly. This morning, I want us to look at two people, a mom and a grandma. They're only mentioned in the Bible by name one time. In fact, although the mom is referenced in another verse, not by name, though. And in this one short verse we find a deep and encouraging truth, I think, for our people. There is no part of it. Now Paul is writing the letter that we're about to look at from a Roman prison. It's likely his final imprisonment. He knows the end is there, and it's likely this may even be the last letter that he writes.

And he doesn't write it to a church, but he writes it to a young man by the name of Timothy. And he called this young man, like a child, to faith. And one of the parts in 2 Timothy, you know well, is where Paul will encourage Timothy to be bold. Timothy was facing opposition. He was young. Sometimes he was discouraged, so Paul will tell him to fan into flame the gift of God. He'll say, God didn't give you a spirit of fear. But to group and to ground Timothy in the confidence of who God is and what God has done. He doesn't talk about all the great things that Timothy can do or that Timothy has done. In fact, he looks in a completely strange direction. He takes a look back at two women in Timothy's line.

He says, I'm 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. And as we consider those who have changed us and taken back on us, as we consider the legacy of faith, I want us to consider faith that shapes generations. I know it is how it begins, a sincere faith. I am reminded of your sincere faith, Paul will tell Timothy. This is a compound word in Greek, and it just means without a mask. And in Greek theater, actors would wear a mask, they would depict their character, they would speak through the mask. And in Greek theater, this was a normal thing, and it was an accepted thing, right? And it was an understood thing, because they're simply doing their job.

But by the time we find ourselves in 2 Timothy, this picture of wearing a mask in a theater, it had left the theater and had become common part usage in culture of the day. And the word for it goes to wore a mask and spoke for a mask. It had become a word for pretender, someone who performed outwardly that didn't match who they really were. And so when Paul speaks to Timothy about his sincere faith, he is saying, I am reminded of your sincere faith. What he is saying is your faith is genuine. It's without a mask. It's not pretending. And the solution to the trouble that Timothy faces, the fear that he has, wasn't necessarily a pep talk. Timothy, I know you can do this. You're good. You're strong. It wasn't some kind of motivation or guilt trip, right?

Who's going to do it if you don't, Timothy? It wasn't Paul getting behind Timothy and driving him down the road, sort of pushing him to where he would have him go. He says this, I am reminded, looking back, of your sincere faith, without a mask. Faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. In a world filled with impatience, that it needs to happen now, or comparison, I want to look good right now. Let our hearts go to a place where instead of taking off a mask, we tend to put one on. We have an impression that sometimes our faith needs to appear perfect. And so maybe we disguise our weaknesses and try to pretend like we're not struggling. Or on the other hand, maybe we expose our weaknesses

and we spend a lot of time making excuses and explaining. And in both of these things are matters of humility, which sincere humility is very good. So sin, sincere faith, looks like this. Sincere faith shows up beyond just sort of our plan and action. It's easy to sometimes go through the religious motions. Jesus talks about this on the Sermon on the Mount, whether it is praying, whether it is giving, whether it is fasting, that it's easy to sort of go through those motions. The issue is, and one of the ways in which we see sincere faith, is what happens when things don't go according to faith? When you're caught by surprise? What's your reaction? What comes out of you when you're startled? How do you live when nobody is watching? What do you do in those moments when you're struggling?

What do you do when you're struggling? That even with tears in his eyes, he continues to follow Jesus. And here's the testimony of Timothy. And here's what Paul reminds this young man who is likely struggling. He says, a sincere faith. He says this, a faith that dwelt first. In your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, now I'm sure dwells in you as well. What we'll see in these moments is this is not necessarily a polished performance of faith. But their faith was an honest, persevering, trusting God. The kind that shows up in the ordinary and the messy and the difficult situations in life. And that, from these women, became the foundation of Timothy's faith. And it's interesting, in just a few verses over, in verse 14, Paul will say this, By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us,

guard the good deposit that is entrusted to you. That same word for the faith dwelling, the Holy Spirit dwelling, on the same thing, Paul is drawing a line between the two.

that our faith that it welcomes ultimately is brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit. And he sees that in both his grandmother and his father. And so here's a young man, Timothy. We'll learn a little bit more about him in a moment. But when Paul looks at Timothy's faith, he sees not the greatness of Timothy, but he sees God's work in his life brought about by the sincere faith of both his grandmother and his mother and how that has been shared through the generations. And for some of us, we feel like our faith is weak. Or maybe it's not strong enough to share. Or I might have doubts or I have difficulties. What we'll see is that sincere faith doesn't mean that faith is perfect, that it's honest. That Lois and Eunice kept going, even through those difficult moments in life.

It wasn't a faith, it was a void of any kind of struggle, but it was a faith that was on us. And he shows us, called us, what sincere faith does. Sincere faith, called us. Here. Listen to these words from Deuteronomy chapter 6. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind. And these are words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost and on the house and on your gates.

God gives a man to his people. The faith isn't simply about learning the facts, but it's about immersing your family in the reality of this faith. Notice what he says. Talk of them. When you sit in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you go to bed, when you get up, write them on your hand, stick them in front of your eyes, put it on the door of your house and on the gate to your property, That wherever you go, you're sitting, you're standing, you're walking, you're talking, you're sleeping, you're waking up. Every time you open your eyes, the Word of God is in front of you. These commandments aren't just about their actions, but it's about teaching and action. Talk about where you go. The picture of faith in families is life consistently with God.

And this is what Lois and Eunice do. They didn't just speak about God, although that's incredibly important. They've demonstrated what it looked like to trust in God. He heard their teaching and saw their lives, and the reality is both of those things matter. Our struggle is that we tend to prioritize one over the other. We tend to either prioritize teaching or living, and the reality of Scripture is that it comes down to both. We either talk well about our faith or we live our faith well and we're called to go to speak of the truth of God and to live it out. We live powerful lessons all in our lives. credibility to our words but if you look at Eunice's situation she's a Jewish believer she's married to a Greek man we find that in Acts chapter 16 Timothy had not followed any of the law although

he knew the word of God his family hadn't been obedient to it maybe because of the influence of His father, the reality is that his house was not completely tight. The home was spiritually mixed, circumstances were imperfect. And then Paul will write in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, that he will be a sacred right place in the Bible. And what they are doing as they share their faith is they are planting seeds. And the reality is, somebody said when we were first having children, the children are sponges and they soak up everything. And it always comes out at the worst time, right? In the most awkward ways. Our kids see how we respond to disappointment and conflict. I think faith is a seed that is great. Not just in our children, but in those around us who see our lives.

And often we think it's our job to grow the tree, but the reality is that we plant the seed and have given the opportunity to water it. But ultimately, God is the one who gives the angels to the lowest in the midst of the plant in the seeds. He gave them the soil and the roots of the word of God to share it with the Scriptures of the son of Jesus. Oftentimes, when it comes to sharing the gospel, it's a kind of thing that we make it harder than it is. And simply the reality of sharing the gospel is this, to know whom we have believed, to be convinced that he is able, when everything's falling apart, when it's shaking, when home feels like a mess, when we feel weak and hopeless. And that's in Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Every year we have a life, a life, a life, a life, a life, a life, a life, a life. Sometimes we might say, well, I'm trying to. I'm trying to live faithfully, but doesn't even mean to me. Lois and Eunice had no idea the impact their lives had while they were living. They're faithful in their ordinary experiences, in their ordinary lives. And what we would often view is just simply unremarkable. And one day, their child, their grandchild, they had rocked through that ordinary life and became a man who lived through the world's home. They couldn't have seen it coming. That's how legacy works. You plant, you water, you live faithfully, and God brings growth in ways that we might not even understand. Take a look at this. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2, here's what Paul says to Timothy.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will also be able to teach others also. And so Paul says to Timothy, you heard it from me, telling it to you, you tell it to faithful men, they're going to tell it for others, and you're going to see this sort of generationally move through. And it's not just moving forward, right? but the chain goes backwards to his mother and to his grandmother and, in fact, all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy. And you find this picture of generational faith. Lois, we never saw the result. And maybe we never see the impact of our faith in this picture. It does not mean we're not changing generations. Legacy is rarely visible in the moment. We don't always have to see the heart of this in order to keep the belief that we trust in God and in our sin.

And some of us are pouring out faithfully. And you're not seeing any fruit. You've planted seeds that haven't come up like that. You wonder what's happening when God honors faithfulness. His faithfulness in their lives in God.

Let me zoom out just for a moment on this entire story. If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 6, God will tell his people, teach your children. Talk about my words when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down. When you go to sleep, when you get up, write them on your hands, put them on your gates, put them on your front door. And for centuries, imperfectly, exactly that. Right, some faithfully, some incredibly unfaithfully. But through that time, there is a chain that runs of faithfulness to the promises and the commands of God. Generation after generation, in exile and in return, through occupation, through oppression, through silence and through waiting. And then you come, in the book of Acts, to a small town called Lystra. And a Jewish woman named Judas marries a Greek man, and they have a baby, but they're not necessarily tiny.

Faith comes not from both parents, but from one. Grandmother Lois keeps teaching the Scriptures. Grandmother Eunice keeps living out her faith in ways that often aren't easy or simple in a household where circumstances aren't ideal. And then one day a preacher comes to town. He gets stoned from what they think to death. God protects him. He gets up and walks back into town. And then leaves. And that little boy grows up, and the next time Paul comes to town, however many years later, he sees this young man, and he sees something with him, and he says, come with me, and he does. And Timothy becomes Paul's most trusted co-laborer in the history of the early church. Paul writes him two letters. Now think about those two letters. They get carried. They get copied. They get preserved.

They're collected into the canon of Scripture. That canon of Scripture survives the Roman Empire. It survives the Middle Ages. It moves through history, the Reformation. It crosses oceans, and it arrives in Virginia. And here we sit on a Sunday morning. And the impact of the church is going to be one of the most important things. In those moments where it feels like our labor is throwing seeds in the fields that will never sprout, to understand that Lois is faithfully planted in the Word of God in a thousand years, in a harvest. They didn't see it in their life, maybe not in ours, but in God's grace.

That's the end of the story. It's our faith. It's our faith. It's our faith. That's the reality, I think. We have to be willing to take off of it. To address our struggles. But also to listen to what God says. We have to be willing to hear those answers in our questions. Thank you. I want you to understand the power of the gospel. The question is not, again, isn't Lois and Judas, aren't they impressive? will it pour out of me not just in the areas where everybody sees but when I get the moment I'm surprised I'm struggling with my trust I'm struggling with my trust I'm struggling with my trust Father in heaven and I thank you for your grace may you encourage our hearts today that are so often We're going to stand.

When this life of trials tests my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest wounds the time won't heal There's a joy that runs still deeper There's a truth that's more than all I feel I set my hope on Jesus I set my hope on Jesus My rock, my only trust Who set his heart upon me first I set my hope upon Jesus Though I falter in this war with sin I set my hope on Jesus When I feel the fight in sync with Him I set my hope on Jesus Though the shame would drown me in its sea And I drain the wave of justice I will cast my life on country I set my hope on Jesus I set my hope on Jesus My God, my only trust You set His heart upon me first I set my hope on Jesus

Thank you. Oh, Jesus. Though this heart of mine is prone to stray, give me grace enough to finish. Until I worship on that final day, I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust You set His heart upon me first I set my hope on Jesus I set my hope on Jesus My rock, my only trust You set His heart upon me first I set my hope on Jesus I set my hope on Jesus

Next Sunday, our normal time, also in the entryway, there are flowers and pots for all the ladies. So grab one as you're heading out. Take those home, and may they write and encourage you. We're going to have a quick word of prayer. We'll read a verse, and then we will meet his Father in heaven. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for how you care for us. Thank you for these examples of everyday faithfulness, in fact, in generation after generation. May by your grace and glory and glory, the work of your spirit, may you make that a reality. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Deuteronomy chapter 7 says this, Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his covenant and steadfast love for those who love him. He keeps his commandments to a thousand generations.

So as we prepare to leave this morning, may the God who keeps his steadfast love to a thousand generations, may he make his faith at home in you, may the sincerity of your faith come not from our own strength, but from his spirit that dwells within us. So we go in peace with the faithfulness of our covenant. 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 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.