Having a healthy local church Series – part 3
Preached at Minden Baptist Church
(3/3/2019 → 30/6/2019)
Paul wrote his second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, just before he was about to be executed in a Roman prison by Emperor Nero in AD 67. The whole flavour of this letter for us today like for Timothy is to harden up because of the persecution that we face as Christians. We will suffer to some degree for being believers in Christ and Timothy was to some degree a bit soft. He was a timid man who suffered from physical ailments. In the context of the "healthy church" series, we need to know how to fight the good fight so to speak because we will have opposition. Satan is not going to let us just grow into a healthy church and just take the ground without a fight. He will fight the church and the Christian tooth and nail. He hates God, he hates the church and he hates you.
We need to learn how to be healthy in ourselves because Satan wants to take us down and become ineffective.
Paul's great concern was not for himself but for Timothy and the success of the gospel ministry. Paul was worried about Timothy who was still ministering as a pastor in the city of Ephesus. Paul was worried because he knew that he was about to be executed by Nero and that his children in the faith would be without his encouragement and support. You see, Timothy was prone to let others take advantage of him and not assert his authority as a pastor.
The situation had changed drastically from the first time he had written to Timothy. All Paul's associates in the ministry were gone and there was only Luke at his side to assist him. Paul was facing a dark hour and the church too has faced dark hours in its history.
Attached Files
| File | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. 2 Tim. 1:1-7 "Take courage Christian" | Download |
| 2. 2 Tim. 1:8-12 "Be not ashamed Christian" | Download |
| 3. 2 Tim. 1:13-18 "Be loyal Christian" | Download |
| 4. 2 Tim. 2:1-7 "Having a healthy identity" | Download |
| 5. 2 Tim. 2:8-13 "Remember Jesus Christ" | Download |
| 6. 2 Tim. 2:14-18 "Approved or ashamed" | Download |
| 7. 2 Tim. 2:19-26 "Empty, clean and available vessels" | Download |
| 8. 2 Tim. 3:1-9 "What to do before it all ends" | Download |
| 9. 2 Tim. 3:10-17 "What to do before it all ends - part 2" | Download |
| 10. 2 Tim. 4:1-4 "Preach the Word before it all ends" | Download |
| 11. 2 Tim. 4:5-8 "Fulfill your ministry to the end" | Download |
| 12. 2 Tim. 4:9-22 "The most important lessons to take from Paul's life" | Download |
