Who is Timothy
Courageous Faith • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsIn today’s message we will see a young man named Timothy join Paul’s traveling group. We will learn about the importance of investing in others and valuing God’s direction over traditions.
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May 7th 2023
Series: The Book of Acts
Sermon Title: Who is Timothy - Acts 16: 1-5
Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.
Key Passages: Acts 16: 1-5, 2 Timothy 2: 1-5, Acts 15: 1-2, Philippians 2:8, Matthew 16:24, Luke 6:46
Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we will see a young man named Timothy join Paul’s traveling group. We will learn about the importance of investing in others and valuing God’s direction over traditions.
Sermon:
Hello Family Church!!!!!
Family Moment
Welcome back to our study through the book of Acts!
Grab your Bible and open it up to where we left off….
We finished Acts 15 last week so we will be in
Acts 16
As you are getting there….
Let me catch up any guests we have today.
The book of Acts is all about the church that was launched by Jesus shortly after his resurrection and return to heaven.
Last week we a disagreement happen between two great men of God…. Paul and Barnabas….
And like we talked about last week…
ALL of us get into disagreements with others….
And we ALL need to remember our goal is NOT to be RIGHT…
Our goal should be to find reconciliation when we get into disagreements….
To get back to a place where we can work with that person again…..
But as you will see today…..
That has not happened, yet, with Paul and Barnabas.
This week we see Paul grabbing two different people to come with him on his missionary work now.
PAUSE
Let’s read and then unpack somethings…..
Acts 16: 1-5 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.
2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Let’s pause there and dive deeper into what is going on here….
So, Paul goes back to two towns we have talked about before in this study through the book of Acts….
When he goes back to these towns he is looking for people to help him..
And in one of those towns, he meets a guy named Timothy.
And I want to point something out to you….
This is the THIRD time Paul has visited Lystra now.
This is the FIRST time Paul notices Timothy.
And I want to encourage some of you with that.
Some of you feel passed over….
Some of you feel like no one notices you….
Some of you feel like all the good jobs are taken….
Some of you feel like everyone else gets the breaks but not you…
Some of you feel like you’re a nobody….
Some of you think you will never amount to much in life…
And I want you to see….
Timothy didn’t catch Paul’s eye on his first visit.
Timothy wasn’t noticed as a leader by Paul on his second visit.
Timothy, as I read this, I don’t think was even noticed by Paul on his third visit!
Look at your Bibles…..
It says….in verse 1….
Timothy whose mother was a Jewish believer….
Verse 2…..
Whom the believers spoke well of….
What that sounds like to me was…..Momma wanted Paul to invest in her son!
Momma wanted her son to become a great man of God…
Momma wanted her son to go with Paul so she rounded up the church to encourage Paul to take her son on mission…..
It sounds to me like it was NOT about Timothy being this great guy…but having a GREAT mother that lead to this happening…..
And you might think that is a stretch…..
But let me show you something said in 2 Timothy that I think shows this……
Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy in a letter years after what we are talking about now…..
2 Timothy 2: 1-5 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Did you hear what Paul just said?
Paul said I am REMINDED of your faith because of your GRANDMOTHER and MOTHER!!!!
Paul said I am reminded your foundation came NOT from your timothy!
Not from your FATHER….
But from your amazing MOTHER!!!
And I think Timothy became this great man of God because his mother saw something in Timothy that Timothy did not see here in the book of Acts….
And was something that Paul had to remind Timothy of as an older man…
Paul had to remind Timothy what his mother….and grandmother saw in him…..
And I love this seemingly insignificant point because I know so many mothers and grandmothers that can see things us men….choose not to see.
Add an example here of a woman in your life-affirming your call….
Take me as an example….
I was once a young man….like Timothy….
I will never forget when my mother told me when I was in High school that one day I would be in ministry…..
To which I said that will NEVER happen….
And look at me now…..
Students listen to me…..momma is always right….there is no point in fighting here……
How about if your mom or grandma is in the room by you….
Turn to her right now and just say….mom your right….
Come on!!!!!!
PAUSE
Eunice and Lois fulfilled their calling.
Their faith in Jesus was passed to the next generation!
If Eunice and Lois’s faith were fake….
Timothy would not want to do anything with it.
But genuine faith is contagious.
And this attracted him to the Lord.
PAUSE
Parents….
Grandparents….
They greatest legacy you can leave is a trail of children who love Jesus MORE than you!!!!
PAUSE
Fathers, I want to encourage you here as well…
Don’t be an absent father.
Don’t be a father that is not involved in the spiritual lives of your kids.
Don’t be the father that work comes before everything in your kid’s life.
Dads….your sons need you!
Grandfathers….your grandsons need you!
Please men….invest in your children so that they can grow up to love Jesus more than you do!
PAUSE
Now all that being said….
I will say…..
Timothy must have been committed….
Because if going on a missions trip as an adult male means getting circumcised and your not already…..
I would be OUT!!!!!
I think pastor Bob would have a rough time recruiting men to go anywhere!!!!
And that is all I am going to say about that because we have kids in the room!!!!
LOL
PAUSE
But I want to take a few minutes here and talk about Timothy because this is the first time we meet him and as we hit major charters in this book I want us all to make sure we know who they are….
Paul saw Timothy’s potential as a great spiritual leader.
Paul chose to invest in helping Timothy develop into the fullness of his calling.
Here is the question I want you all to ask yourselves….
Has God placed a younger believer in your life to encourage and guide as Paul discipled Timothy?
Repeat
And note it says younger BELIEVER.
NOT younger person.
You can disciple people that are older than you.
I mean there are a TON of people at this church older than me….
Yet I disciple you ever week in your relationship with Jesus.
This is NOT an age thing…..
It is a faith thing….
PAUSE
And I want you all to know….
Part of my goal for EVERYONE listening to this message is to one day help EVERY ONE of you become people that disciple other people!
That is the goal of Pastor Adam’s entire doctoral studies!
That is why we hire Pastor Erik to help us all grow in that area!
We are a church that wants LOTS of Paul / Timothy relationships!
Because our staff understands that as we ALL disciple in other people we will ALL become more like Jesus!
PAUSE
As Paul planted churches around the Mediterranean and converted thousands to Christianity…..
Paul realized he needed a trustworthy person to carry on after he died.
Paul chose Timothy.
Timothy, an unlikely person from a mixed marriage.
His Greek, pagan, father and his Jewish mother.
PAUSE
Paul also taught Timothy about church leadership.
The role of a deacon.
The requirements of an elder.
Many other important lessons about running a church.
These were formally recorded in Paul's letters, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy…..read them later this week!
PAUSE
And if you are wondering….
Why is he spending some much time on Timthoy….
Well it is because after we get done with the Book of Acts and move on in the New Testament we will hear a LOT from Timothy!!!!
Timothy acted as Paul's scribe and co-author of the books of:
2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon!!!!
Not to mention the two books of 1st and 2ndTimothy which Paul wrote to him!!!!
Which means like 30% of the New Testament has Timothy intimately involved in it!!!!
PAUSE
Timothy converted an untold people to the Christian faith.
PAUSE
Church tradition holds that after Paul's death, Timothy served as bishop of the church at Ephesus until A.D. 97.
In AD 97 a pagan group was celebrating a feast (Catagogion) where they carried images of their gods about the streets.
Timothy met and scolded them for their idolatry.
They beat him with clubs.
And he died two days later.
PAUSE
Church…..
Can I encourage you…..
As you read the Bible….
DIG DEEP!!!
As you read about people that you know little or nothing about.
Rather than just move on….
STOP….
Do some research and choose to learn….
Choose to engage in the Bible because things like this help the Bible become so much more meaningful…..
PAUSE
If you struggle with being young and in leadership….
Study Timothy because so did he!
And Paul wrote to him about that!
If you struggle with fear or being timid…
Study Timothy because so did he!
Paul had to encourage him to not give into his fears!
PAUSE
Church….
It is amazing to think about what you just learned….
This young man….
Who was passed over by Paul twice….
He would go on to be such an incredible man of God when it was his time….
He would go from a no-buddy kid from a time island that no one cares about….
To a MAN of God who over 30% of the New Testament would be impacted by!!!!
WOW!!!!
PAUSE
You know what that says to me????
There are some of you here today….
That you think God will NEVER do anything BIG in your life….
That God is wanting you to see today….
That he will!!!
You just need to wait on God!
And your time will come!!!
Keep following the teachings of your parents and grandparents.
Wait on God….
And know God has a plan for your life!!!!
PAUSE
Write this down….
I am never too young / old for God to do amazing things through me!
Repeat
PAUSE
Let’s keep reading and see what happens when this young man takes off and begins becoming this future MAN of God…..
So they take off on their missions trip to do what….put verse 4 back on the screens….
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
Which that is talking about what we talked about for the last two weeks in Acts 15….
Which I find of hilarious…..
Because look at what the disagreement was about….
Acts 15: 1-2 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.
And what did Paul just make Timothy do church????
Do you see the irony?
It sounds to me like Paul was on the side of circumcision and Barnabas was not…..
Remember Paul is a Pharisee and in Acts 15 the Pharisees argued FOR circumcision…..
They lost the argument….
The church landed on NOT requiring it….
The church landed on NOT being legalistic….. which is awesome!
We could use less legalistic churches today as well!
PAUSE
So why did Paul do this????
I do NOT think it was Paul trying to buck the system…
I think it was Paul being sensitive to the audience they were trying to reach….
It say in verse 3 that they were reaching out to Jews…
To Jews that is a BIG deal….
To Jews that was the sign that you were a part of their belief system…
And Paul knew…..if Timothy was going to effectively reach Jews they need to look at him NOT as a Greek but as a Jew……
PAUSE
And I do NOT think Paul was doing this out of dis-obedience because look at the end of verse 4 again….
Acts 16:4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
For the people to what church?
Obey….
How many of you will be honest today and raise your hands if you do NOT like being told to OBEY?
I will be honest….
I struggle with that as well…..
Obedience is SO HARD….
Did you know almost 70 times in the Bible we are called to obey.
Let me share just three verses that I think will paint a very clear picture for us today…
Obedience is an essential part of the Christian faith.
Philippians 2:8 says Jesus Himself was:
Philippians 2:8, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus was obedient to….and called his followers in Matthew 16:24 to be the same…
Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Obedience to Jesus lifestyle…..
The Bible says that we show our love for Jesus by obeying Him in all things…
John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
A Christian who is not obeying Jesus’s commands can rightly be asked,
Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
If we love God, we will obey Him.
We won’t be perfect in our obedience, but our desire is try our best!
Here is the point….
God calls us to obedience to his call not to traditions.
That is the struggle here…..
They want to keep traditions…
They want to elevate traditions ABOVE God’s direction.
And if we are honest……
We can ALL struggle with this…..
We ALL can struggle with wanting our traditions to NEVER change…
But sometimes…..we need to set aside our traditions in order to win more people for Jesus…
Because sometimes our traditions actually keep people from Jesus….
PAUSE
I mean if you think about the majority of the FIGHTS in churches….
The fights are NOT about how to win more people to Jesus.
The fights are usually around how to keep the church traditions.
Think about dress code in church….traditions…
Think about music style in church…..traditions….
Think about building designs and decorations…..traditions….
We have the same kind of battles today…
Unless we choose to learn from the Word of God and apply it.
PAUSE
And church look at what being obedient to God’s leading led to….
Verse 5….
Acts 16:5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
There is the 21st time in the book of Acts God has talked about the church growing…..
Because of obedience the church was strengthened and grew.
PAUSE
Let’s wrap this up with a life application today…..
And for those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.
We love to end our messages with an application point to your life.
Something that you can take away from the message and apply to your life this week.
This week’s life application says this……
Life Application: Timothy’s mother and grandmother guided him toward Jesus. Paul continued that investment. How could you do the same as a parent / grandparent / guardian / friend / co-worker / team mate? As a result of today’s message, I will ____________________________.
Let me encourage you to write down one simple thing you WILL do as a result of what you learned this week….
And watch what God does!!!!
Let’s Pray…..
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