Be Strong | Doug Sauder | 2 Timothy 2

Let's go. Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Is anybody grateful for Jesus this morning? His name is the name that saves, heals, redeems and restores. We're going to sing and make much of him this place. Come on, we sing. Back in silence, roaring waves, I know a name that can empty out a grave. I know a name, yeah, and it's the only name that saves, and it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, Savior, worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name, I have a king with dominion over death. He holds the keys in his holy nails, God has. He is the year, oh, yes, he is, that has crushed the serpent's

head, our resurrected, great identity. I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, healing, risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, Savior, worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name, chains break, tribe holds weight. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, chains break, tribe holds weight. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, hey, oh, every time I call your name, hey, oh, every time I call your name, chains break. We sing, where, oh, death, is your sting? Where, oh, death, is now your sting? And where, oh, grave, your victory? And where, oh, death, is now your sting?

And where, oh, grave, your victory? And where, oh, death, is now your sting? And where, oh, grave, your victory? Death is come alive, death is come alive, death is come alive in the name of Jesus! Deprt is come alive, dead is come alive, dead is come alive in the name of Jesus! Death is come alive, death is come alive Oh, I call you Jesus I call you, I call you healing Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus ♪ Jesus, I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, chains break, troubles awake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shut ♪ ♪ Every time I call you, dead things come alive ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive ♪ ♪ In the name of unbelieving, dead things come alive, oh ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus, hey ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ Yeah. ♪ No longer I who live, but Christ in me ♪

♪ For I've been born again, my heart is free ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind, hallelujah ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life ♪ Thank you. ♪ I won't forget the moment I heard you call my name ♪ ♪ Out of the grip of darkness, into the light of grace ♪ ♪ Just like Lazarus, oh, you're my savior, oh, you're my God ♪ ♪ Oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ Where there was dead religion, now there is living faith ♪ ♪ All of my hope and freedom, I found in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Just like Lazarus, oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life ♪ Is anyone thankful for the Lord this morning? ♪ No longer I who live, the Christ in me ♪ ♪ For I've been born again, my heart is free ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind, hallelujah ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind, hallelujah ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life ♪ ♪ When something says I am guilty, I'll cling to the price you paid ♪ ♪ When something says I'm not worthy, I'll cling to that empty grave ♪ ♪ Just like Lazarus, oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ No longer I who live, the Christ in me ♪ ♪ For I've been born again, my heart is free ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind, hallelujah ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life, hallelujah ♪ ♪ How can I begin to thank you for all that you've done for me? ♪ ♪ Jesus to fully praise you, he will take all eternity ♪ ♪ Just like Lazarus, oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life, oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ Oh, you brought me back to life, oh, you brought me back to life ♪

♪ Oh, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ No longer I who live, the Christ in me ♪ ♪ For I've been born again, my heart is free ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind, hallelujah ♪ ♪ You brought me back to life, no longer I who live, the Christ in me ♪ ♪ For I've been born again, my heart is free ♪ ♪ The hope of heaven before me the way divine ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you brought me back to life ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ Jesus, you are so good. You are so good and faithful because only you could raise us back to life. Only you could take dead things, broken things, and transform them into something new. We are living witnesses of your goodness, living witnesses of your grace, your mercy that reached us when we were so far gone. Thank you, Lord. We praise you. We praise you because you are a God that heals. You are a God that saves. You are a God that transforms. You take things that are broken. You do the impossible. If anyone walked in here today and their situation is impossible, that means they are in a good place and they know a good God. The story is not over. Whether it's a diagnosis, a marriage issue,

whatever the case, whatever looks impossible, whatever mountain it is, you are bigger than that mountain. Thank you, Jesus. We don't sing these songs just for show. They're not just things we say to make ourselves feel better. It is truth. We have lived it. We've seen it. We've experienced it, God. And so we say that, Lord, just to lift up the faith of those who may have walked in here and are discouraged and are broken and are hopeless and don't have the answer. They don't have the next step, but we know that you do. We know that you do. So we ask that you would continue to move, continue to lift up our faith, continue to use us to be instruments of your grace and glory to a world that needs it, to our neighbor, maybe the person sitting next to us who needs it, God. But we ask this in your powerful name, knowing that you hear us and knowing that you are able. Thank you, Jesus. And it is in your name that we all say together, amen. Amen, church.

You may go ahead and have a seat. Amen. Have you ever thought you were stronger than you actually were? You ever have that sense of overconfidence when you get into a moment and you realize, wow, I underestimated that moment. I remember that moment for me when I was 29 years old and I was working out with a bunch of weights and I was in my garage and 300 pounds got stuck on my chest and there was no one home. And I imagined in that moment them finding my body and I'd be on Channel 7 News as that stupid 29-year-old who thought he was stronger than he actually was. I mean, I'd done it the week before so I knew I could do it and I thought, what could go wrong? Because when you're 29, you overestimate. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You see, there are times where physically you think you're stronger than you actually are and your body fails you. Athletes discover this and there's a phrase where it's called hitting the wall, where your body stops responding the way it's supposed to because you push it past its own limits. But you know you can also do that in your mind. In high moments of competition, people have these moments where they choke, where their body physically is in perfect condition but their mind freezes because of the pressure

and that one free throw when all the TV cameras are on in that moment, their body doesn't respond because their mind doesn't have the strength to press through that moment. Not only can you experience that physically and mentally, you can experience it emotionally where you're carrying so much emotional stress that you have what's called an emotional breakdown, a breakdown where you just can't do it anymore and you just sort of fall apart. And it can also happen spiritually when you push yourself past your own limits and you have a moral failure where you're practicing something in your life that doesn't line up with everything you've said you believed and things that you aspire to. And in all these ways, there are moments in our lives that are bigger than us. And the longer you live, the more you realize there are moments in life that are bigger than you. And in those moments, where do you find the strength? The physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual strength? And Paul is gonna speak to Timothy, his young apprentice, his spiritual son, who's in an assignment that's bigger than him. And 25 times, Paul is gonna speak to him about being bold and being strong and stepping in to really difficult moments

and not backing away. And he's gonna use imperative verbs. That's like a verb with an exclamation point. And today, the command is be strong. But it's not like the Tom Brady kind of be strong, like do better, be better. It's no, no, there's a strength that you don't have in you. That you can only find in God. And so you dig deep, not in yourself, but in your relationship with God, and you'll find a strength, not just to get through this process, but to watch yourself thrive in the process. So today, if you need strength physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, then you've come at the right weekend because this is gonna be God's word spoken to you. Let's look at chapter two, verse one. This is Paul's last letter. He writes this to Timothy. You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Let's stop right there for just a second. You see the phrase, be strong. And again, we know this idea that you can be physically strong, but have a weak will.

Samson's a great example of that in the Bible, a man who's physically the strongest man in any room he goes in, but his will, his emotions, his thoughts are very weak. He's driven by every single thing that moves, like a walking impulse disorder, just kind of following everything. And in chapter three of the same letter, Paul says, hey, there are weak-willed women in Ephesus. They might look like community leaders or church leaders. They might be wealthy and popular, but they are weak-willed women. They follow sin and desire and slander and gossip, and their whole life is disordered because they don't have the strength to say no to those temptations, and those disorders are causing chaos in their lives and in the church. So you can be physically strong and have a weak soul. You can be socially intuitive, but not be self-aware. You can have wisdom for other people's life, but not a spiritual maturity for your own life, and all these things are true all the time. And so we wanna go, well, then how do we identify that? And then what do we do about it? Because strength is not just physical power. This definition of strength, a power, a steadiness, a resilience, an ability to withstand great force or pressure and not quit. This is what Paul is talking about, Timothy.

This type of strength is not in you, but you can find it in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Now, it's this invitation to say, whenever we find ourselves up against something that's bigger than us, there is a strength we can find in our relationship with Jesus. Paul says it like this in the book of Ephesians. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. So it's like this invitation. When you run out of love, God's got plenty of love. When you run out of strength or self-discipline or kindness or patience, he's got plenty of those things. It's a reservoir he has that's unlimited. And every time you pull from it, it's never gonna be depleted. It's always gonna be there. And if you learn, Timothy, to find your strength in your relationship with Jesus, then there's never a moment you won't have everything you need. In Ephesians chapter six, he's like the belt of truth. He can give you a sense of truth, a helmet of salvation to understand you can't earn your salvation, but you know you're going to heaven because of what he did for you, a breastplate of righteousness. You experience the righteousness of God, not because of what you've done,

but because of who he is and what he's given to you. And all these things are true all the time. And that idea of grace, that we find our strength in the grace of Jesus. Typically, we think of grace as sort of the soft side of God. You know, like there's the mercy of God, the grace of God, the peace of God. But that feels sometimes soft, sometimes weak. I mean, some people are attracted to the power of God and the justice of God and living in the fear of God and the almightiness of God, but the Bible doesn't make any such distinction. In fact, the same grace that saves you, the undeserved gift of God, is the same grace that empowers you to live a life of strength and courage. And here's how Paul describes this grace to his apprentice Titus. For the grace of God has appeared and offers salvation to all people. That's the grace that saves us. But it also teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Let's think about that. The grace that saves us. We call it to God, God save me. We can't earn or deserve salvation. It's because of Jesus' death and resurrection that we can be saved.

And we receive the honor. undeserved gift of God. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Anybody? That's our story. That's our song. That's our testimony. But it's not just everything's forgiven. And here's all these gifts. No, it's not. Now, now that I've received this grace, there's an inner strength that I can find that helps me to say no to temptations that have owned me my whole life. A strength to walk away from things that I know are not right for me. A strength to know if I believe something and I want to live by it, I can have the courage to actually do it and not live in that place where I want to be something that I don't have the power to be, you know. Paul says that same grace that saves you also gives you great strength. And so when he says, Timothy, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Well, that's a grace we're all invited to lean into in our Christian walk. And then he says,

and I want you to teach reliable people, just like I taught you, I want you to teach faithful or reliable people in the church to find their strength in Jesus, just like I'm telling you, just like I'm training you to do as a father to a son, as a coach to an athlete. And he says, I want you to entrust this message, not to the popular people or the wealthy people or the good looking people or the influencers. I want you to find faithful people, people who take what you've given them and they pass it on to someone else. And notice in verse two of chapter two, we have a model of discipleship. We have a model of Paul saying, what I taught you, so from Paul to Timothy, what you teach to reliable people from Timothy to them, and that they could also teach others from them to the next generation. Four generations of passing faith on, four generations of teaching the next group of how to live like a Christian or what it means to live for Jesus. And that's why we talk about this idea of discipleship, of following Jesus, not just a person who says, Jesus, I'm all in, but a person who also says, I'm all in and I've received some things for you I wanna pass on to someone else.

And so we constantly say this here, a disciple is a fully devoted, reproducing follower of Jesus. And maybe you're at the place where I am fully devoted, I just got baptized, I'm all in, I'm reading my Bible, I'm coming to church, I'm sharing my faith, but I've never really identified someone else to invest in, to talk to, to pray with, to walk alongside. And if not, then that's the next step of this process. And Paul is training, again, his young apprentice Timothy to live in this way. And he's gonna give him three pictures of what it means to live this type of life, to develop the type of mental tenacity, the type of resilience to operate under great pressure and not fall down, not quit, not back away. And so he offers these three illustrations that you can be a Christian who follows Jesus with a mindset of a soldier, of an athlete, or a farmer. And so we're gonna look at each of these three, and then we're gonna reflect, how is this true of me? Now, Paul and Timothy, neither of them were farmers or soldiers or athletes, but these illustrations are powerful to help us see what does it mean to follow Jesus in this way. Look at verse three. Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs,

but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown, except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of crops. Now reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this. All right, so Paul's saying, hey, Timothy, you need strength that you don't have. You're not gonna find it in yourself by digging deep. You're gonna find it by going to the reservoir of the grace of God. And so I'm gonna teach you how to think about this, like if you were a soldier, or if you had the mindset of an athlete or a farmer. And I want you to reflect on these examples, and God will give you insight as you reflect, as you mull it over, as you think it over. And so we're gonna take these three one at a time, and we're gonna dig into what God might be doing to give us insight. So here's the first one. Be strong like a soldier. So what is the mindset of a soldier? The mindset of a soldier is there's a battle, there's a war, there's a real enemy, and I don't wanna give way to fear or distraction or rebellion against my commanding officer. And so let's look at some of these mindsets

of a soldier that could give us strength. The first one is a soldier knows how to embrace sacrifice. If you are in the military, or you have friends or family in the military, you talk to people in the military, they're not going like, hey, so, at five o'clock, I punch out because my job's over. No. Or I joined the military for all the benefits. And no, if you're a soldier, if you're a... a special option, you might get a call at six o'clock saying, pack your bags, get on a plane. We're not telling you where you're going. We're not telling you when you get back. Say goodbye to your family. Say goodbye to your friends. And there's a deep sense of calling. I signed up for that. There's a deep sense of gratitude for people who we celebrate the freedom of this country because of men and women who do that. Can we just celebrate the men and women who serve in our military, and there's military families and all that sacrifice? See, Paul says, if you're gonna be someone who follows Jesus, you're gonna have to have this mindset of embracing sacrifice. And suffering is what you sign up for. In some ways, you risk your life. The second thing is, as a soldier, you expect difficulty.

You'll never see a soldier in a battle that asks this question, why are they shooting at me? But often, Christians get confused when spiritual attack happens. A soldier's never confused, why are they shooting at me? There's a war, there's a very real enemy, there's a very real objective. In fact, one of my favorite miniseries is called Band of Brothers. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks did this miniseries called Band of Brothers. It's about Easy Company and the 101st Airborne in World War II, and they're in Nazi Germany, and they're doing some really difficult things, and these men train together in boot camp, and they all thought they were really good at it. They're in boot camp, and they all thought they were ready, but for Private Blythe, the moment was bigger than him. And in the moment of combat, next to his brothers, he froze, and he hid in a ditch, and he watched some of his own brothers fall as he stood there, paralyzed with fear. And he felt so much shame, and self-loathing, and hatred of himself, that he finally summoned the courage to talk to his lieutenant. And he said, in the battle, I froze. And his lieutenant said to him, you know, your problem is you're trying to be a soldier, and you're trying to achieve the goal of self-preservation, but you can't be a soldier

and have the goal of self-preservation. See, the reason why we fight is not because we're not scared, we're all scared. The reason we fight is because in our minds, we're already dead, and so we don't try to avoid fear. We run toward the fear. You know, you can't get past fear by avoiding it and running from it, because it chases you, but you can, as a soldier, turn and go toward what you fear, and find this sense of courage. And that's thinking like a soldier. I'm gonna embrace sacrifice, I'm gonna expect difficulty, and I'm gonna choose courage. In those moments, I'm gonna be willing to lay down my life because I'm committed to something bigger than myself, and I'm gonna practice vigilance. I'm not gonna be distracted by civilian affairs, by what everyone's saying, and as a Christian, I've got that decision. Do I wanna please my commanding officer, who is Jesus Christ? You know, we only have one commander-in-chief. As a Christian, his name is Jesus, and he's the one who gives us our marching orders. And so whatever pundit or influencer says isn't really that important compared to what Jesus says, because a soldier has the mindset, I'm not gonna get all caught up in all the stuff of the day and civilian affairs. I serve one commander-in-chief, his name is Jesus, and I live in submission to him, which is the last idea.

A soldier doesn't decide in the middle of a special op, oh, I'm gonna do my own thing. No, the commander who's in charge creates the plan, and there's this order of, we submit to the authorities and the structure of this military, because if everyone does their own thing all at the same time, then people will die. And so there's this sense of, a soldier understands difficulty and sacrifice. They embrace suffering. They don't get distracted, and they choose courage. So here's the question. In your Christian life, do you think like a soldier? And so I'm just gonna give you a moment to reflect. So I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes, and we're just gonna, I'm just gonna walk through some questions, and Paul says, if you reflect on this, God will give you insight. So here's the first question. Is there an area of my life where I need courage? Is there something happening to my family, my job, that's rattling or discouraging me? Right now, what's distracting me from my mission, my purpose as a Christian? Where am I being tempted to do my own thing? Because maybe I think God doesn't understand. Reflect on this, and God will give you insight. So whatever just came to your mind, maybe in one of those particular questions, I want you to write it down with a pen, with a pencil, maybe on your notes app on your phone. And just pay attention, because that's not just a random thought that went through your head.

So here's the beautiful thing about God's Word. God's Word is living and active. And it's at work in thousands of ways. There's a couple thousand people in this room, and God's speaking and working in a couple thousand different ways with a couple thousand different people in thousands of different circumstances. And He can do that all at the same time, because He's God, and we're not. We're finite, and He's infinite. And so we want to trust when we reflect, and when God invites us. If you reflect, I'll give you insight that He's actually speaking to us in moments like this. Again, whether you're in this room, or driving your car, or watching from home, God is at work in your life and wants to speak. And Paul invites Timothy to think about where he can find his strength. So be strong like a soldier. The second one, be strong like an athlete. An athlete is training. An athlete has to compete by the rules. An athlete has to make sure they don't quit, even when it gets difficult. And this is one of Paul's favorite examples, likening the Christian faith following Jesus to what it's like to be an athlete. In 1 Corinthians 9, he describes what is like the modern Olympic Games, but back in the day. And look how he describes how Olympians train, the highest level athletes, how they train for their sport. He says, do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize. Because everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body. I make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. He describes the mindset of an athlete, this mindset of training that when everyone else is sleeping at 5 a.m., I'm up.

When everyone else is eating ice cream, I'm not eating ice cream. And so what would that look like in our Christian life? Well, here's what the highest level athletes do. They do hard things. They set crazy goals. And if you think of the highest level athletes in any sport, you think of Bird or MJ or Kobe, and you hear stories about them. They were always the first in the gym. They were always the last to leave. Even after full games, they'd go back and shoot around for another hour because after 10,000 hours of practice and repetition, not only were their bodies physically tuned to compete, but their minds were also pushed to the limit to be able to focus in moments of greatest stress so those moments were not bigger than them. And one of those athletes that's done hard things, this woman named Katie Ledecky, the most decorated U.S. athlete in the Olympics. She's won like 14 medals in the Olympics, 30-plus medals in the world. And when she won her first medal in 2012, first gold medal, you'd think she'd be like, oh, I'm at the top of my game. But when she came back and she watched film and talked to her coaches, she realized she had so much room for improvement. So she started to set crazy goals for herself. And she would train, even during COVID, when everyone stopped, she found a 20 by 40 pool in someone's backyard and trained every single day, never taking a day off. And it's described, when people look at Katie Ledecky, they say, you know, it's not her physical attributes, her physical giftedness, even her mental toughness.

It's her ability to work hard, to take the most of what God has given her. And she describes this work ethic as, it's the journey is where you find the joy. And wow, that's a different way to think, to never take a day off, to forego the things your body wants, a pulse to beat your body in subjection so you can be ready for the moment. In fact, the book of Proverbs says this, diligence is a man's precious possession. What does that mean? Solomon thinks your most precious possession, your most precious gift is not the gift you have. It's what you do with the gift you have. So check this out, think with me. The greatest gift you have is not the gift you have. It's what you do with the gift you have. Your most prized possession is what you do with the gift that God gave you. It's a responsibility. So by age 27, Kato Dedeke in training had swam enough to swim around the entire world in practice for a race that would just last a few minutes. And she was ready for that moment. Athletes do hard things. Athletes are also teachable. You have to be teachable. You have to have a coach who can look at you and see what you're doing and then give you specific feedback.

How many people here love when people come up and correct them? Most of us don't like to be told we're doing something wrong. You talk too much, you talk too long, you interrupt, you talk about yourself. You have that coping mechanism. You make excuses. None of us wanna hear that type of feedback for ourselves, but the reality is the only way we grow is to embrace feedback. An athlete's like, show me, coach, what did I do wrong? How can I improve? Here, give it to me straight. I wanna be better. I trust this coach is gonna help me become the person that I can be to get the most out of me. And all the greats have had great coaches and a teachable spirit to grow. And what if, as a Christian, you say, I'm gonna do hard things. I'm gonna set crazy goals. And I'm gonna allow people to speak in my life. Who speaks into your life where you're not defensive, where you don't make excuses? I mean, Paul is doing this for Timothy. He's imparting all of this to his spiritual son, Timothy. The third idea we see as an athlete is play by the rules. The rules apply to everyone. There's no shortcuts.

We all know the athletes who took the shortcuts. We know their names, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong. We know these athletes who, at some point in time, were the most respected and revered athletes in the world until people discovered they were doping and they were lying about it. And now they're not famous, they're infamous. Paul says, if you're going to compete, you have to compete by the rules. As a Christian, you can't have this life that everyone sees and a secret life over here because that's gonna undermine everything you're trying to accomplish. And if you have a secret today, and no one knows it, there's only one way out, and that's confession. That's facing it. Instead of thinking you could put it off and no one will ever find out, Paul says, no, if you think like an athlete, you have to compete by the rules. And then he says, and athletes don't quit. Even when they feel like quitting, even when their body's screaming at them to quit, they keep on going. And they don't play three quarters. I mean, the best athletes know, you might have a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter but you don't coast because that's when comebacks happen.

So what would it be like if, if you're a Christian here, you've been following Jesus for 30, 40, 50 years, and you're like, oh, thank God, I ran my race. Now these young kids, they can do all the stuff. I'm just gonna cheer for them. No. No, as a Christian, that's not one, if you're gonna think like an athlete, that's not one of the choices. Listen to how Paul, as an old man, described his race. I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. He's not coasting to the end. He's got, I'm running through the tape. I'm not gonna coast to the last few years of my Christian life. I'm gonna actually get more intensely focused on passing this on to the next generation. And what would happen if all of us were in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, we're like, man, this is not the time to coast. This is time to go hit the accelerator, invest in the next generation, do what God has called me to do. That would be thinking like an athlete. So in your Christian life, do you think like an athlete? Well, Paul says, reflect on this

and God will give you insight. So I'm gonna ask you just for a moment, close your eyes and let's talk through it. As a Christian, am I doing anything hard right now? In my Christian life, have I developed a mental toughness so that I don't quit when things get hard? Where am I struggling to play by the rules? Where do I need to train myself and apply energy to develop good habits? Am I coaching myself to be a better person? Am I coaching myself to be a better person? Teachable, who speaks into my life? Paul says, reflect, and God will give you insight. And that's what we're practicing right now, 2,000 years after the letter was written. So Paul says, be strong, like a soldier, be strong. Be strong, like an athlete. And thirdly, be strong like a farmer. Any farmers here? One farmer. We had one farmer at every service. Not a lot of farmers in South Florida. Listen, I grew up down here, but I would spend summers in the Midwest where there's lots of farmers, corns, beans, cows, all the things. And one of the things that struck me is farmers wake up early. Like, I don't know, when I was a kid, I just thought eggs and bacon and milk came from Publix,

but apparently it comes from a farm, right? Who knew? And farming can be tedious work. Farming is outside of the view. Like, soldiers can have some really beautiful, glamorous moments, and so can athletes, but farmers, it's not really like a glamorous thing. And what can you learn from a farmer? Well, here's the first thing. You work hard even when you don't see results. Farmers do a lot of things that they don't see results for. They plow the field, they see no results. They plant the seed, they don't see results. And for months, they're doing all this stuff, and they don't see anything. And how quickly are we as Christians to go, man, I've been praying and fasting and reading the Bible, I've been doing, and nothing's happened in my life. I quit. But if you develop the mindset of a farmer, no, it's gonna take some time. Second thing is, farmers embrace the tedious. You might even say they embrace the boring. No one's cheering for them when they wake up early, when they're in the dark, when they're pulling weeds, when they're fixing the tractor, when they're doing all these things that no one can see. And the shocking thing about the Christian life that most people have to come to at some point

is most of my life can seem mundane. There are moments of great exhilaration, worship moments, breakthroughs, prayer, transformation, but most of my 24 hours of my day are just quiet little things that no one notices. Like, will I pick up that piece of trash at my workplace and put it in the garbage just because I want it to be a better place? Do I read the Bible at 6 a.m. when no one's looking and no one will really know? Do I do what's right when no one else is watching? All these little unglamorous things. Maybe there's a coworker and you're like, someone told me to kill them with kindness because they slander me. And they talk about it behind my back. And I've been so kind to them, but they haven't died yet. I don't know what's happening. Listen, if you continue to show kindness to someone, it may or may not change them. But here's what I know for sure, it'll change you. It'll give you a strength and an inner fortitude that no matter what people say about you or to you, no matter what lies happen, you have a strength that you find in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And that's the strength that Paul invites Timothy to think about. A farmer understands that you can do the right thing for a really long time and not see the fruit of it,

but that's not the end of the story. So embrace the tedious and the mundane. Be faithful in those small things. Right now, God may have been placing something in your heart like he's called you to lead or teach his word or have some role of prominence. But before all that happens, it's all the little things. Like I know there are people in a room this size that are called to be pastors and leaders. And you can either sit here and go, I hope someone asked me, or you can begin to prepare a Bible study every week. When no one else is watching, dig deep into the word, do the work. And then maybe you share it at Calvary Kids with fourth graders or with kids at six, seven, eight, middle school. Listen, if you can teach middle school kids, you can teach anybody. You see, you don't go from here to here as a farmer. You do the steady, slow, tedious work and develop a strength of heart and mind that helps you to get to the harvests. And as a farmer, you have to learn to endure setbacks. Think about all the things that are out of control for the farmer. You plow the field, you plant the seed, and if it doesn't rain, everything's gonna die. And if the bugs come, they're gonna eat everything. And if the price of corn or beans

in the global market changes, you could have an incredible windfall or you could go completely broke and all these things are out of your control. Your only thing you can control is how hard you work and do what's right and trust God and the process, right? That's the mindset of a farmer. And then last, a farmer has to live with the long view. The long view, meaning it's not just. How about one harvest? Because that one harvest could be the worst year because it's drought or economic issues going on, and so you're like, this is not worth it. But a farmer has to step back and say, in 40 years of farming, I'm gonna have ups and downs. I'm gonna have all different types of seasons. There is spring and there is summer, and there is fall and there is winter. And the mindset of a farmer is, I'm not gonna let the seasons catch me off guard. I'm not gonna let the highs or lows throw me off. God has given me a field, and I'm gonna faithfully work in that field. And there's something about that long view mindset that farmers have. So as you approach your Christian life, do you have the view of a farmer, the strength of mind of a farmer? Well, let's take a moment and reflect. What is my field, or as God called you?

What right now in my life feels tedious, sucks the life out of me. What work in my life right now feels like a waste. It's not doing anything. And what area of my life am I stuck with a short view of things? Reflect on this, and God will give you insight. Whatever came to mind, write it down. And maybe there was a part that he gave you when we were talking about the soldier and a part of him that he gave you when you were a kid. We were talking about the soldier and a part that he gave you. We were talking about the athlete and a part that he gave you when you're talking about the farmer. Then write that down and be curious. God, how can you now help me to act on the insight that you've given me? As Paul says this about the Christian life, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Farmer does not abandon his field when it gets hard. Continues to do what's right. And trust God. And that's a strength of mind and heart that only God can give. And now Paul continues, he says in verse eight. So remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead,

descended from David. This is my gospel for which I'm suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. And here is a trustworthy saying. If we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure with him, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us. And if we're faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. Paul starts with Timothy. The task is bigger than you, but not bigger than God. So find your strength in him and think like a farmer and a soldier and an athlete. And I want you to remember, and that verb is keep on remembering. Every day, call to your memory who you're doing this for. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He conquered sin and death and hell. That's where your strength comes from. And he's a descendant of David. All the prophecies and promises of God are yes and fulfilled in Jesus. And Paul says, this is my gospel. It's personal for him. He's not saying this is the gospel for other people. It's my gospel.

You know that song, Blessed Assurance? This is my story and this is my song, praising my savior all the day long. That's an anthem that says it's not just a song about who God is to other people. It's true of me. This is my gospel. And he talks about this great passion to continue to share the story all the way to the very end. But what sticks out for me from this section is verse nine. He's like, I'm chained like a common criminal. Paul is not living in some kind of like happy, happy land that doesn't express the reality of what he's in. He's like, I'm in this dark, cold dungeon. I've got chains on me. And these chains are because I'm following Jesus and I'm sharing his message. He's not saying he doesn't have chains, but watch the mental, spiritual tenacity. Watch him say, I'm chained, but God's word is not chained. And you can see that he's not just telling Timothy about his strength that Timothy should have. He's telling him about his strength he's found in Jesus. I am tired. I am lonely, I'm being denied basic human privileges, and yet God's word is still going out. You know, if you go to Rome today, you'll see these catacombs where Christians and others were buried, and sometimes Christians would gather there

during persecution. And one of the most common engravings on the walls of those catacombs is this phrase. God's word is not chained. What a powerful testimony from persecuted people who were denied all of these basic privileges of what it means to be human, people who were hunted down, whose families were separated, who didn't deny the reality of suffering for Jesus, but they said, you know, it might be difficult for us right now, but God's word is not chained. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of God lasts forever. Listen, as a Christian, you don't have to be embarrassed by God's word or try to defend God's word to all your friends and families. As Charles Spurgeon said, the word of God is like a lion. Just open up the door and let the lion come out. God's word can do its work in people's lives, and so let's not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus. Then Paul breaks out in song. This is the fourth time in these two letters, Timothy, he breaks out in song because good theology leads to doxology, meaning what we believe about Jesus leads us to worship, and so he closes with this ancient hymn.

If we died with him, we'll live with him. In baptism, we represented our death to our old self and rising to the new man in Christ, and now we live with him. If we endure with him, we're gonna reign with him. The hope of ultimate victory, no matter what's happening in your life, you have ultimate victory in Christ that no one can touch or take away, and we don't wanna be people who disown him because if we're ashamed of him on earth, he'll be ashamed of us in heaven, but even when we fail, he says, even if we are faithless, he will remain faithful because he will always keep his promises, and this is the best news of all. Even in our weakness, even in our failure, even when we don't get it, he is still the one we worship, and so I want you to imagine this moment in this jail. Paul is weeks away, maybe months away from his own execution, and I can just imagine him lifting up his hands and the chains and worshiping because Jesus is worthy of his life and the one who gives him ultimate victory, and so we're gonna practice this now. We've reflected, and now we're gonna allow this to lead us to worship. Who is Jesus to you? And we're gonna sing about this amazing grace.

I'm gonna ask you to stand, and we're gonna respond as his grateful people with this anthem and with this worship because he is worthy. Let's continue to respond to what Jesus is doing in our hearts. Thank you, Lord. ♪ It was my cross you bore so I could live ♪ ♪ In the freedom you died for ♪ ♪ And now my life is yours and I will sing of your goodness ♪ ♪ For you are my life and I will sing of your goodness ♪ ♪ Forevermore ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ Sing it out. ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ All glory to God ♪ ♪ Now my shame is gone, I stand amazed at you Lord ♪ ♪ Your love undeniable ♪ ♪ Your grace goes on and on and I will sing of your goodness ♪ ♪ Forevermore, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name ♪

♪ All glory, all power to you, Jesus ♪ Lift it up to him today, right now. ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names, yeah ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ He's right here, right now. Thank you, Jesus. ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ Let's get some more. ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪

♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ I could sing your name for all my life ♪ ♪ And still find more to love each time you walk by my side ♪ ♪ I could sing your name for all my life ♪ ♪ And still find more to love each time you walk by my side ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name ever on my lips ♪ That's our prayer today. ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry wholly ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're worthy ♪ ♪ You have been the friend who never left ♪ ♪ I won't forget Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name ever on my lips, worthy one ♪ ♪ You're sweeter every time that I call on You ♪ ♪ There's just something about Your name, Jesus ♪

♪ There's just something about Your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about Your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy, that's our response ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're worthy, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ ♪ There's just something about Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ There's just something about Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ There's just something about Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy, that's our response ♪ ♪ There is no other name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're worthy, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ Maybe today you came in and you are lacking strength, you're lacking hope. I wanna encourage you today that simply uttering the name of Jesus is enough. As we worship and as we pray, the name of Jesus is actually our most powerful prayer, it's our weapon, it's our defense. So today, I wanna encourage you, call upon the name of Jesus. Speak the name of Jesus over your family, over your home, over your current situation, because at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that the name of Jesus, any storm can be stilled. At the name of Jesus, any situation can be turned around. So today, cling to Him. Let's remind our hearts of this truth

as we sing it together. Jesus, Your name is like the morning light, we declare it today. Fill us with faith, God, as we declare these lyrics all across this room. Join with me. ♪ Jesus, Your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one that darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the life ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, Your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ Your name can make the storm go away ♪ ♪ You never fail and You never will ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, the bread of life ♪ ♪ Broken for us, the wounded and the wounded one ♪ ♪ The first for life is soon to come ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, the King who overwhelmed the grave ♪ ♪ The Lord who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The name, the word, for love and praise, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ That gets all the wounded away ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ That gets all the wounded away ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Yes. Jesus, yours is the name that gets all the glory. Jesus is the name that gets all the glory, church. Can we just lift up a shout of praise to Jesus? Thank you, God, thank you, God. And the reason why we can sing these words is because it's only Jesus who brings the dead to life, amen? All of us in the room, if you belong to Jesus, you know exactly what that moment felt like. When Jesus woke you up, when his grace touched you and you were never, ever the same. Aren't you grateful that God brings the dead to life? Thank you, God. There was a moment where we were lost, but his grace reached out, made us new. He gave us a new name. Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound, amen? Come on, let's sing that together. Amazing grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. And I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. That's a good place to celebrate, amen? It was grace. It was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. Oh, how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. This is our anthem. You're surrounded by people singing on the left of you, on the right of you, in front of you, behind you. I've experienced this moment of transformation. And the same grace that saved us now helps us to live in strength and power. You are surrounded by people who have the mindset of farmers and athletes and soldiers.

We are all running our race, and we're not doing it by ourselves. We're doing it in this beautiful community of faith. And there's something about when we sing this song that's individual but also corporate that helps us. It gives us courage and hope to live the next day and to continue to serve Jesus together. And so this beautiful moment, we celebrate the faith that Jesus has brought to us, the salvation and hope he's brought to us. But we also want to take this moment to invite anyone who's been watching all this and you're like, I don't have that yet. You see, because to receive the amazing grace of God is a decision. To receive the gift of salvation that Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for your sins and in your place. It requires you to receive that gift, not something you can earn or deserve. Grace is the undeserved gift of God. But all of us are given a choice. And some of us, for me for a long time, I did no thank you. I'll take it from here. And I'll call you when I need you. There came a moment in my life where, like the song says, God taught my heart to fear. There was a moment of conviction. A moment of I'm apart from God. And if the Bible is true, I'm in trouble. And that deep sense of conviction led me for the first time in my life to look up and pray, God, I need you in my life. One of the most powerful things you could ever pray is God, help. God, help. The Bible says if we call on the name of the Lord, we will be saved. It's not about the perfect words or the perfect phrase or the perfect speech. It's about a heart that's ready to say I've lived my whole life on my own. Now I want to live it with you at the center.

And so we want to give you an opportunity to make that decision. It's not a decision your mom or dad can make for you. It's not a decision I can make for you. It's the only decision you can make. It won't just change your life here on earth, but change your eternal destination. And so I just want to invite you right now. We're going to sing the chorus again of amazing grace. And as we sing, if you know that's you, you feel that sense of conviction, I'm going to ask you to step into the aisle and walk this way. And we're going to pray a simple prayer. We're going to celebrate with all of heaven as you come to know Jesus, your Savior. This is our story. We want it to be yours. If that's you right now, come this way. And we will celebrate with all of heaven as you come. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. And I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see T'was grace that taught my heart to fear And with my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed My chains are gone, I've been set free My God, my Savior, has ransomed me And like a flood, His mercy reigns Unending love, amazing grace Come on up, come on up. We are so glad that you're here. We are celebrating. You can hear it in our song, in our applause.

Because we know what this moment was like for us. The moment we couldn't see, and the moment God helped us to see. The moment we felt that deep sense of lostness. And we realize we've been found because Jesus has been pursuing you your whole life. Even when you didn't know it. Even when you didn't believe it. And He knew He would meet you here on this day, April 19th. That you would stop running away from Him. And start running toward Him. And this is going to be the best day ever, because not only are your sins going to be forgiven, and the guilt of those sins, but the shame of those sins, He's going to take away. He's going to write your name in this book called the Book of Life. He's going to fill you with His Spirit. He's going to adopt you as a son or daughter into His family. And this is just day one of following Jesus. Then the work of new creation begins. Taking that ball of yarn and all the stuff in your life and beginning to untangle it a little bit at a time and watch you experience redemption. At some of the most difficult moments of your life, He's going to begin to use as the raw material for a calling He has in your life. And you're going to look back on this day like, that's where it all began. And that's why we sing amazing grace. We don't deserve this. This is what Jesus does.

He treats us better than our sins deserve. So I want you to know today, you are so deeply loved. And we are so honored just to be a part of this moment for you. This is world changing, life changing, eternity changing stuff. So I'm going to lead you in a prayer. But before I do, I just want to create just one more moment. We're not going to sing another song, but I always know in a group this size, there's procrastinators and you thought, you know, I missed my moment. Maybe I'll do it next week. Listen, the best day to pray, to invite God into your life is today. It's not tomorrow because tomorrow never comes. Today is the day of salvation. And so if there's that pull and that desire to be here and you think you missed it, I'll just give you one more moment. You're already standing. People will move if you're in the middle, just step into the aisle and walk this way because we want you to join this group. We want to celebrate. We want heaven to be full. We don't want you to miss what he's doing in your life. And so if you know that's you, step into the aisle and walk this way. We'll just wait another moment. He loves you. He loves you.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. This is where a new life starts, and we are so excited for you. So excited. Come on. Come on up. Come on. Amen. Come on up. Come on up. All of heaven is witnessing this moment, and there's a beautiful celebration happening right now in heaven that you hear echoed in this room, because if one sinner comes to repentance, all of heaven breaks out in song and celebration. So good, so good. Welcome. Welcome to the family. And so church, I'm going to ask you just to extend a hand. We're going to pray over these men and women, and I'm going to ask you at the front altar just to repeat this prayer out loud after me. Say this to God. He's listening. Say this. Lord God, I open my heart, and I invite you inside. Forgive my sin. Today I repent. Now fill me with your spirit, and I will walk with you all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Guys, congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. Hey, so before you go back to your seats, I want to ask you for five more minutes. You just made the most important decision of your life. I'm going to ask you to follow me and the crew over to that open door where I would love to meet you personally. We'd love to give you a Bible. So guys, let's go this way. Church, let's give them a hand as they go. And church, if you need prayer for any reason at all, this altar will be open to prayer counselors. We also invite you to join us on Tuesday night as we pray together. And on your way out, say hi to someone that you're going to spend the rest of eternity with in heaven. God bless you, and go in the peace of Christ.