Untitled Sermon (27)

Charles Betters

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1 Timothy 1:13–19 ESV

though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,

What does it mean to be a Nothing But Jesus person? What does it look like practically? How does it change your life, my life by committing to being in a church like ours that claims to be about Nothing But Jesus? To be a Nothing But Jesus person, you need to be all-in when it comes to embracing the grace of God found in Jesus. And what does that grace require of you? This may sound alarming and you may not hear a preacher say this often…but the grace of God given to us through Christ Jesus requires nothing of us. It is a free gift. Grace isn’t cheap, grace is free. We sang it last week…Jesus paid it all. Jesus did pay some of it…Jesus paid all of it. Jesus said on the cross It is Finished. So what is required of you? Nothing is required. I always know when a preacher or a Christian doesn’t really get grace when they say grace is a free gift, BUT, you have to get to work. Or grace is a free gift, but it requires you to do x, y and z. When we are truly gripped by grace, when we truly understand the price that has been paid for us, when we truly believe that It is Finished…when we truly grasp that there is nothing required of us…we will then begin to ask the question, since Jesus paid it all and since Jesus doesn’t require anything of us in exchange for that free gift, what will I do with the rest of my life to serve him. Big difference between that statement and grace/but statements. Huge difference. In one, we are compelled and moved and motivated to live our lives for Jesus out of love and gratitude and in the other we are guilted in to measuring up and doing good works. Huge difference. When we say, Jesus died for me, Jesus paid it all,

Mentoring best happens in small groups. The reason for this is because The Apostle Paul writes this letter to his protegee Timothy. Timothy is a younger man in the ministry and Paul is his mentor.

Who are you mentoring? Who would point to you and say that guy that girl is my mentor?

First, what do we mean when we say that someone is a mentor. What does that word even mean?

Sharing your story, strugglesMentoring is pouring yourself into another person—sharing your story with them, sharing your struggles…a mentoree asks questions about life and the mentor shares experiences they have had and shares mistakes they have made and saves the mentoree from making the same mistakes. A mentor believes in the person they are mentoring. They don’t see them for what they are today but for what they will be in the future. A mentoring relationship is intentional and defined. The mentor knows they are the mentor and the mentoree knows they are the one being mentored. There isn’t guess work in the relationship about who the mentor is. A mentor seeks out those to mentor. Like Jesus selected his 12 disciples, a mentor goes out and seeks out his mentorees….he or she lays hands on them and says I want to mentor you, I want to help you grow, I want to pour myself into you. A mentor meets regularly with the mentoree over coffee over lunch, a mentor isn’t the emergency guy that you call when the world is falling apart, a mentor is one who is in the regular week to week grind with you. Everyone Needs a Mentor, but Everyone Needs to be a Mentor as well. Usually the mentor is older than the mentoree, but not always. A young person may mentor an older person. But usually the mentor is older. Again, who are you mentoring? Who is your protegee?

A mentor is one who shares their story, their honest struggles, their experiences with another. A mentoree asks questions about life and the mentor answers them based on what has worked and what hasn’t in their life.

A mentor believes in their mentoree. They don’t see them for what they are today, but what they will be in the future.

Mentoring is pouring yourself into another person—sharing your story with them, sharing your struggles…a mentoree asks questions about life and the mentor shares experiences they have had and shares mistakes they have made and saves the mentoree from making the same mistakes. A mentor believes in the person they are mentoring. They don’t see them for what they are today but for what they will be in the future. A mentoring relationship is intentional and defined. The mentor knows they are the mentor and the mentoree knows they are the one being mentored. There isn’t guess work in the relationship about who the mentor is. A mentor seeks out those to mentor. Like Jesus selected his 12 disciples, a mentor goes out and seeks out his mentorees….he or she lays hands on them and says I want to mentor you, I want to help you grow, I want to pour myself into you. A mentor meets regularly with the mentoree over coffee over lunch, a mentor isn’t the emergency guy that you call when the world is falling apart, a mentor is one who is in the regular week to week grind with you. Everyone Needs a Mentor, but Everyone Needs to be a Mentor as well. Usually the mentor is older than the mentoree, but not always. A young person may mentor an older person. But usually the mentor is older. Again, who are you mentoring? Who is your protegee?

A mentor seeks out those to mentor. You could say that the mentor is the one who chooses his disciples. This was the approach Jesus took. He had 12 disciples that he chose to mentor. A mentor lays hands on others and says I want to help you grow, I want to pour myself into you. So the mentor meets regularly with the mentoree. Mentoring is pouring yourself into another person—sharing your story with them, sharing your struggles…a mentoree asks questions about life and the mentor shares experiences they have had and shares mistakes they have made and saves the mentoree from making the same mistakes. A mentor believes in the person they are mentoring. They don’t see them for what they are today but for what they will be in the future.

A mentoring relationship is intentional and defined. The mentor knows they are the mentor and the mentoree knows they are the one being mentored. There isn’t guess work in the relationship about who the mentor is.

A mentor meets regularly with the mentoree over coffee over lunch, a mentor isn’t the emergency guy that you call when the world is falling apart, a mentor is one who is in the regular week to week grind with you.

Everyone Needs a Mentor, but Everyone Needs to be a Mentor as well. Usually the mentor is older than the mentoree, but not always. A young person may mentor an older person. But usually the mentor is older. Again, who are you mentoring? Who is your protegee?

My Dad is the founding pastor of this church and is my greatest mentor. But even with having a mentor like my Dad I STILL needed other mentors in my life. If I needed mentors in my life and I had my Dad as a mentor, that means we all need mentors in addition to our parents. There were men along the way who grabbed hold of me and said, I want to meet with you regularly and speak into your life. I want to share my story with you so you can learn from my triumphs and failures. I remember one of my mentors telling me that he regretted how absent he was as a father to his daughters. He said that his daughters became adults in a blink of an eye. He told me that when my little girls were little girls. And he did a great job with his kids, but he still said he didn’t spend enough time with them. That made a difference in my life. That honesty, that raw truth helped me and changed my life. I had another mentor who shared that he didn’t really get the gospel until he was 60 years old. This was an elder, a leader in the church, and he said I didn’t really get Jesus until just a few years ago. Preach Jesus. Live Jesus. Be about nothing but Jesus. Those honest vulnerable words had an impact. I have been developing a plan for being more intentinal about mentoring men in our church. And I want to use Jesus’ plan for mentoring. I want to always have 12 men that I am intentionally mentoring. But I want to take it further than that. I want to ask the men to sign a covenant up front that they will pay it forward. That they to will strive to mentor 12 men once they have been mentored by me. Think about how explosive that could be. There is a regular guy—not a pastor—just a lay person, who began mentoring others, and he figured out that he had mentored 120 men. He had each of them sign that covenant ahead of time that they also would mentor 12 men. He figured out that in just five generations one million men would be mentored if each of those who signed that covenant took it seriously. One million men just because one man decided to follow Jesus’ plan for mentoring. Mentoring is missing in the church. It simply is. I bet if we were to poll our church and we were to be honest, very few of us would be able to honestly say that we are mentoring another where that mentoree knows you are their mentor and would say, yes, he is intentionally mentoring me—not that I look at him as an example, but that there is formal regular mentoring happening.

Paul mentored Timothy. We all need Timothys in our lives. We need Timothys as part of our dream team of friends. But Paul could have easily refused to mentor. And that is the approach I want to take when it comes to teaching on mentoring—I want to unpack our objections to mentoring. And as I consider the overarching concern I think I can sum it up like this: what good will truly come from me mentoring? What good things do I really have to offer? What good will it do with people who won’t change anyway? What good can possibly come from mentoring?

First, Paul could have said that he wasn’t worthy to mentor. Not good enough to mentor. What could come from a persecutor of the church—from a guy who had a thorn in his side---from a guy who said at the end of his life, I am the worst sinner I know.

And yet he mentored many men, not just Timothy. Many of you are sitting here and thinking, I can’t mentor…I’m not worthy, I have nothing to offer, I need a mentor myself, I have sin in my life…in other words, nothing good could come of you mentoring, can I really do any good whatsoever in this area, nothing good could come from this….

but it is your brokenness that will be the most powerful means of mentoring. What do I mean?

If you are divorced, you may think you have no right to mentor a young husband on marriage. How can you mentor a young husband on marriage when you yourself failed at marriage. What credibility do you have? You are actually the best person to mentor because you can share the pitfalls of marriage. You have failed in the past, so you can share your failures and how those can be avoided in marriage. You may think you aren’t equipped to mentor someone who is struggling with money because you have gone bankrupt. Actually, you are the perfect person to mentor because you have experienced the pain and regret of mistakes regarding money. Paul had killed Christians. Paul had failed at relationshisp at times…Paul had even struggled being a pastor—the church at Corinth didn’t like him that much. He had a bad relationship with them overall. And yet here we have Paul giving Timothy pastoral advice….I have to wonder how much of that mentoring Paul gave Timothy was a direct result of learning from his own past mistakes.

Another reason why you may not mentor, and this is a big one for me, is thinking that it won’t make a difference. What good will it do? You have lost faith in people’s ability to change (Gospel changes—Paul says I am the worst, and he says it again, I am the worst, but notice what he says in that same sentence, because of Jesus I am the best). Now there is a lot to this. There is a lot of truth to this from a worldly perspective. People just seem like they don’t or wont’ change regardless of what you say to them. When I talk to young people they are intent on changing the world. Many of them—not all of them. And especially young people in their twenties. And I applaud that. But one of the things I will say is that when you are 25 you think you can change the world, when you are 45 like me, you realize it is hard enough to change yourself and change those closest to you, in fact, you can’t do it…so how will you change the world when you can’t even change yourself. So there is a lot of truth in the objection that people don’t change. What good will it do to mentor someone who will turn around and listen to the exact opposite advice that you gave?

Paul struggled with this as well. We have talked about this before, but it is such a remarkable story when Paul refused to take John Mark back on the mission field because John Mark had abandoned them on the first trip. Barnbabas disagreed with Paul and took John Mark and Barnabas turned out to be right. Paul thought John Mark can’t change, Barnabas believed in John Mark and John Mark not only changed but flourished. He ended up writing the earliest Gospel, the Gospel of Mark. At the end of his life, Paul asked for him.

Another reason we don’t mentor is plain old selfishness (Paul here is on his deathbed—and he doesn’t stop—he even asks for his scrolls). The fact that we won’t get anything out of it. The fact that we live in a transactional culture—a what’s in it for me culture. That we are selfish with our time. We need something in return for it. That is the way the world works—I mentor you, you change, or you are there for me. Or I mentor you and what do I get? If I take the risk of mentoring you—if I stop being selfish and stop doing things for myself and I take that risk, will that risk even pay off—will it even pay off in your life. Let alone mine?

Now—what is the remedy for these objections to mentoring? What is the remedy for not mentoring because you think you aren’t holy enough, or not mentoring because you don’t think people will change, or not mentoring because of selfishness? The Gospel is the remedy. Now, many times when we preach the gospel of grace we get objections—usually from church people, usually from long time religious people, long time christinas, never from new Christians or those searching, or mature long time Christians who really get Jesus….and the objection goes like this—what is the practical of Jesus? What is the practical application of Nothing But Jesus. Or related to that is even a negative—if you preach grace, if you preach that Jesus paid it all, won’t that just make us lazy and make us abuse grace. Mentoring is a perfect opportunity for us to answer this question. Because the Gospel IS the practical way to mentor. The Gospel IS the fuel to mentor. The Gospel IS the reason we mentor it is the application of mentoring.

The gospel actually empowers risk taking and mentoring others.

The thing that prevents us from taking risks to mentor people is what? They won't change. We aren't good enough. We are too selfish. So we live life closed off from others. With our cards close to our chest. What is it that most powerfully destroys those three arguments? Three reasons why people will change? A you can do it sermon? Or the gospel?

What is it that gets in the way of even greater risks and investing yourself in another as mentor with reckless abandon

It may not work out.

We need something in return. Vows in wedding. Covenenats in mentoring

What stops us.

Because of Jesus the gospel we can go all out with Nothing expected in return. We can go all out. There is nothing practical that would tell you that you can be a mentor expect nothing in return and in fact expect the opposite and in fact maybe get burned and yet it's ok because you have everything you need in Christ.

The gospel is the only fuel for mentoring.

We can invest freely in others because we have been freely invested in.

And you can transfer this attitude to marriages to parenting. You don't ever need anything in return. It's nice when you get it. Listen to what I just said. Carefully. Because many times people especially long time Christians-new Christians and those far from God love grace-longer time Christians sometimes do but are more suspicious-because you think that a message of grace makes it too easy. It doesn't require anything. It's cheap grace. Easy believism. Whatever. But listen to what I just said. A person who truly gets grace truly makes nothing But Jesus their application in life a person who gets that lives that no longer needs a thank you when they have done something kind. There was a woman in our church who gave a present ok-a gift to a young woman in our church who serves almost like no one I have ever encountered. She serves older people younger people those with special Needs. All the while I'm getting angry talking about it, all the while this young battles sickness. In the hospital out of the hospital, doctors-her family is always serving people. So this older woman who prides herself in being a mentor to younger woman gives her a gift birthday, whatever. Months later she asks to meet with me, because she has some conflicts with some people, one of her conflicts is that she gave this girl a present and the girl didn't write her a thank you note. Never mind that the girl was in the hospital. But in the real world-this would probably not even be an issue. Because sometimes the people of darkness.

Mentoring would be a classic do more sermon if there ever was one. You need to seek people out you need to stop being so selfish you need to give yourself to others. It's the perfect subject for that. You can preach a mentoring sermon and not mention Jesus once. And some

People may be relieved by that even Christians/ you may think ok great he is going to give us something to do because when you hear things like god won't love you more or less depending on what you do and the Christian life isn't about transformation as much as it is about substitution and things like that you are thinking I get it but won't that just make us lazy. Why do anything? How does that motivate obedience and mentoring? And the fact is if you get the gospel it does motivate obedience. Because why don't we mentor-because we don't think people will change, because we are selfish, because we don't think we are good enough but the gospel tells us just the opposite of those we say people won't change the gospel tells

Us we put off the old and put on the new, the gospel

Shows us peter who changed. We say we don't mentor because we are selfish the gospel tells us I came not

To be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. We say we aren't good enough the gospel

Says we are found in Christ.

Because we have everything we need in Christ we can take great risks. We don't need it to work out. We can mentor and be obedient and see the person fall and know we were obedient.

Set the tone by telling your story. Deep relationship son in faith. Hang out at your house.

1) Read 1 Thessalonians. Underline the passages where you see the Apostle Paul mentoring new believers. For example:

He prayed for them (, ; ). He spent time with them and encouraged them (). He encouraged their relationships with each other (; ; ,; ; ). He sent another believer to mentor to them when he couldn't be there himself (,).

Use your gift and look out for younger people to mentor in that context

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (emphasis added).

This primary goal of knowing Christ (not simply developing a cross-generational friendship) does not in any way take away from the affection felt between the two parties. In fact, the better goal of being equipped for the work of ministry actually fosters deep intimacy between the participants in a mentoring relationship. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “You know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (, emphasis added).

Their relationship was not simply rooted in their affection for one another; it was centered on their work together in the gospel. When our desires are set upon the greater hope of knowing Christ, our affections for one another are not decreased, but rather increased. Thus, we should hope for deep devotion between a mentor and mentee, but we also must realize that friendship is only a byproduct of a much more meaningful goal.

What do I want to see in a mentor--darrell Harris. What I saw was a guy who made it even though he lost his dad. A guy who loved to worship. A guy with joy.

Nothing but Jesus chuck

Rodger Schmidt, who not only continues to be mentored but also mentors others in a student ministry at Galilee Baptist Church in Denver, says, "I can't look at someone else's life without evaluating my own. I have people looking to me for answers. It holds me to a different level of accountability. They're evaluating my life. It is very beneficial.

Are you feeling inadequate yet? Not only do we need a nathan but we need to receive a nathan. Not only do we all need a barnabas but we need to be a Barnabas. Not only do we need to be a Timothy, but we need to have Paul's in our lives (each has scripture behind me). Jesus' model for friendship in . The problem isn't that we don't make time for friendships, the problem isn't that we are too prideful or selfish-the problem is that our view of Jesus isn't big enough. We don't need a how to we need to be pointed to one who did it for us. So much of why we don't have these friendships is because we are judgmental of others or feel inadequate ourselves. Both of. Those problems are dealt with at the foot of the cross. You are a royal priesthoodz not an orphan but adopted, you have a miraculous spiritual gift you have stories and experiences that god has brought you through that need to be shared.

Mentor-even with dad need one.

Everyone has something incredible to offer.

First each one of you sitting here has a miraculous spiritual gift.

Jack Mullen. Story.

Sabatoge frirndships Cyndi

Uncle ted type friendship--men busting on each other. Steve Wallace.

Get serious?

“If we serve Jesus, then every act and thought has meaning. Acts of kindness are not just niceties, they become acts of worship.”

-John Wimber

There is no heart God cannot conquer. There is no life He cannot change. There is no past He cannot forgive. - Steven Lawson

We are regularly in danger of having too light a view of our sin and also too light a grasp of what Jesus has done to free us from our sin.

This morning we continue our series called Everyone Needs a Friend and we have seen in this series that Jesus' plan and prayer even for us is that we would experience friendships on the deepest possible level. Jesus said in , want them to be one just as I am one with my Heavenly Father. That is a very high bar for friendships--to be so unified, to be so close to another that you are one with them in the same way the eternal trinity of father, son and Holy Spirit are one. And so we have seen that there are types of Christ, meaning there are people in the Scripture who remind us of Jesus, who point us to Jesus, flawed people, deeply flawed people in fact, who aren't there to be examples to us, but are there to point us to someone else, to Jesus. And so we can learn from them....so we have seen that there is a dream team of friends we need in our lives and that we need to be these types of friends in other peoples' lives. So we have seen that everyone needs a Nathan...a person who can speak hard truths into our lives, especially when it comes to blind spots at any time, for any reason. We have seen that everyone needs a Barnabas, a Barnabas is an encourager. Someone who stands by you even when the chips are down. And we saw last week that everyone needs a Paul...the Apostle Paul was a mentor to many people. Specifically he mentored a younger pastor named Timothy. We all need a mentor in our lives...and this week we will continue the theme of mentoring and see that we all NEED to be mentoring others. Everyone needs a Timothy on their dream team of friends. In fact you should be mentoring more than just one Timothy.

First, I want to look at why we don't want to mentor. I don't know about you, but I question if it will work. I am so pragmatic and the Gospel is anything but pragmatic. We have a hard time believing that our mentoring will mean anything. We have a hard time believing that people will change since generally people don't change. In other words, many times we believe nothing good will truly come of mentoring another. And we could believe that for a variety of reasons. We may think that nothing good can come of those we would be mentoring. Or perhaps we think that we can't possibly be mentors ourselves, that nothing good could possibly come from our mouths to another that would be considered mentoring. Or it could be good old fashioned laziness or selfishness that makes us not want to be a mentor.

Many times we paint the Apostle Paul as almost perfect. Paul was a sinner and even though the words he writes are inspired by the HS and are perfect in that they are true, there are times that Paul's sinful nature bleeds through. Paul didn't believe John Mark would change. Paul had mentored this young man, John Mark, as he took him on his first missionary journey. How much closer can you get to someone than go on a mission trip with them--roughing it. We did a trip years ago to the Dominican Republic to build a school and in the men's dorms where the guys stayed they had showers and they began calling the showers the widow makers because the electric was so close to the shower heads that they risked electrocution every time they took a shower. I believe that going on a mission trip with a group of people for a week can be more profitable than a year long Bible study with the same people. And Paul and John Mark had an even more intense experience as they were the first missionaries, they were literally persecuted, went through a lot together...but eventually John Mark desserted Paul. He left the mission field and went home. And it wasn't the first time, most likely, that John Mark had run away. We see this odd account in one of the Gospels where a young man ran away naked when Jesus was arrested to be crucified. We aren't sure it was John Mark, but most scholars think it probably was. So when it came time to go on the second trip Paul said no way. I am not taking John Mark. He abandoned us. Forget it. Paul didn't believe John Mark had changed. Paul had given up on John Mark. Even when Paul was encouraged by Barnabas to give John Mark another change. Paul said no. Paul said no more mentoring from me to John Mark--it didn't work, it won't work. He gave up on him. We do the same thing when it comes to mentoring. I know I do. I think--will they really change? Will they really stop talking long enough to hear anything I have to say? Will other influences in their lives just tear down everything I try to do? Do you know what that is? That is minimizing the power of the Gospel to change. There is absolutely no place for the attitude that people can't and won't change. That is really from the pit of hell itself.

John Mark did change...he was mentored by Barnabas and later by the Apostle Peter himself. And Paul missed it. Paul missed out on the chance to mentor John Mark who would write the very first and earliest gospel we have the Gospel of Mark. Now God was sovereign over that and we can give Paul a pass since he was Paul, but the point remains...we write people off so quickly. Will it be hard to mentor? Yep. Will some people fail? Of course. Will there be some who NEVER truly get it...I hope not, but probably. Are we still called to mentor? Of course we are.

Another reason why we don't mentor is because we don't feel equipped ourselves. We may feel like a failure, or not spiritual enough, or not wise enough, or we may have our own problems and challenges, how could we mentor someone else?

Paul at the end of his life was writing to Timothy and he said I'm the worst sinner that I know. And yet, he is still pouring in. We are SO hesitant to share our brokenness with each other. Why? Paul said that is when God's strength is made perfect. I have a file called Lessons Learned and I started keeping it about 6 years ago--right around the time we acquired Red Lion Christian Academy and went through extreme challenges on that front, through the time that I was called as the Senior Pastor here and went through those challenges all the way to today. And these files are raw. Some of them really shouldn't be shared, but so much of what I have written was written from dark places, from lessons I was learning about life and how to respond to difficulties, and yet those files are buried...I am so hesitant to share them with anyone. Now that is healthy on one hand as some of it could come across as bitter, I'm sure, but I think the biggest reason why I don't want to share them is because they are moments of weakness in my life. They would destroy the image you may have of me. And yet, I am also 100 percent confident that those lessons learned are a treasure chest. Some of the lessons I have learned--the real ones, not the silly stuff, could really help people. And you are the same way. The lessons you learn when you are struggling or when you have fallen in some way or failed, those lessons are the ones that will truly help others. So you may be divorced, that means you may be the absolute BEST mentor to someone struggling in their marriage, because you have been there. You may have gone bankrupt and you think I can't help anyone with their finances, you may be the BEST person to help with finances because you can help someone else avoid what you went through. You may be someone who has struggled with your temper in years past and maybe now you have mellowed out but you are ashamed of your past so how could you help a young guy?

There is a great scene in the most recent Rocky movie. Rocky is an older man---he has to be, the first movie was in 1978. But he is training and mentoring Apollo's son...a young guy, early twenties--a new generation of fighters. And they are at a press conference just like the old Rocky movies...and the other fighter is taunting young Creed and Rocky says unemotionally, "don't fall for it." And he says don't fall for it because he fell for it so many times and it cost him. And the way he says it is almost as if he knows CREED is going to fall for it, but he says it anyway. Creed falls for it and all hell breaks loose.

Paul on his death bed, bring me my scrolls, I need my books, I need ways to write, send Mark to me, inquire about this person, share the Gospel, peach the Word Timothy. He didn't stop. He has so much to offer. So much of what Paul shared in his letters to Timothy are probably lessons he learned on his own.

Jesus mentored 12 men, Paul mentored many.

Union with Christ is the practical that shows that yes people can change. And yes something good can come out of Nazareth

Why we don't

1. Believing nothing will change

Reward. Getting older. John mark called for on Paul's death bed. Paul missed opportunity to form the first gospel. Didn't think mark could change. Run away naked. Abanonded them.

2. Not being good enough. Paul I am the worst sinner I know. Your mistakes are what help people. Your divorce is why you would be a great mentor to young husband. Rocky. You have great lessons to share.

3. Good old fashioned laziness or selfishness. Have already done it. No expiration date. Dave saadeh was a mentor to me. We were peers and friends but he was a mentor. And at the end he watched a play and wanted to tell us how to do it. With head large wheelchair still mentoring.

4. Don't have the words. I can relate to this. We see mentor as fast talker. Sometimes mentoring is lisening.

No relationship demands more careful word management than marriage. The more intimate the relationship, the more powerful the words.—Max #ThisSacredHome

It's a picture of Christ to mentor someone

Choosing someone

Giving to them without anything in return

The success of a man's life is measured by how much of his life he gives away.

There was another where it was said nothing good could come from hIm. And the people you are mentoring have union with Christ

Can anything good come out of Nazareth When looking down on others

Mentors are t squeaky clean they are real. That doesn't mean they are heinous sinners. It means they free mentees to live according to the actual scriptures

Jesus-wouldn't want son hanging with him wedding wine

Has to say it in a way that invites conversation. Not defensive to push back that is iron sharpening iron.

Rocky to Apollo younger don't fall for it

Knowing your mentee will resist. Can't wash your hands of them. Get in their face more. I'm not going anywhere.

Restore them like Jesus did for peter

Asking paul to give markie one piece of advice. You are missing it. Give them Jesus. What does that look like? That is your faith. Who he was. What that means in your life.

Can be really wise but if not giving Jesus. Can't turn it into keep on keeping on thing. Or give god your best and let Jesus do the rest. God helps those who help themselves. You are

Giving them law. It may be inspiration but it is law.

Grace mercy and peace.

What do you tell them when they ask for help?

Tell them about the mistakes you made. You only start helping people when honest about brokenness. I did this but this is where I found peace mercy and grace

I said earlier that being a mentor means leaving a mark. There was another who left a mark

Cross. Graves, necklace,

Places

Jaroslav Pelikan

If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen-nothing else matters.

Jaroslav Pelikan said, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about Him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries… It is from His birth that most of the human race dates its calendars, it is by His name that millions curse and in His name that millions pray.”

Follow me as I follow Christ

Iron sharpens iron sparks fly

have you taken the things entrusted to you and passed on to others.

Treasure chest some good some bad

How can you live in this world as a Christian man alone

Every time a man is taken down it is one on one by Satan

Jesus in wilderness no prophet came to him

Grace

How can you be proud about something that was given to you

Mercy

Pardons there were multiplied for me.

Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died. On Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me ;

Peace

The maxwell examples of bad friends would be helpful Roadblocks to having a Paul (mentor) -don't take advice -proud -talker -wanting a Cadillac Paul-wanting the pastor when you should look to small group leader as a mentor -not being worth mentoring. You aren't doing anything so no one takes you under their wing. -not doing the things you are told mentors don't like that. Dont want to waste time. -not getting it and being an irritating person. Would fit more as a reject than someone's mentee. Timothy (everyone needs a mentee) (roadblocks to getting a Timothy)

Philippians 3:8–10 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Galatians 2:16 ESV

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

-no one wants you as mentor-they should mentor you and it shouldn't be that way. Eustace and Alyssa should mentor Ron and Cyndi. -sin that is evident to the younger people. Why would they want you? -lack of discipline in life. Why would they respect you? -passive aggressive -being a grump as an old person -talker -not empowering next generation "say yes to next generation" -out of touch -not empathizing with next gen issues. -focusing on stupid stuff hymns, coffee. Totally lose credibility. This generation doesn't care about that. It's foreign to them. And they aren't fooled. They look at the songs they sing and see hymns being sung both old and new just not with an organ. And they don't get it. -not having the wisdom. You Stop learning yourself-what are you reading? Everyone knows when you have nothing to offer. Very easy to see. Get help for yourself.

Have to know you get it. Can’t show you don’t get it. Hymns stuff like that—lose credibility almost instantly. Should it be that way? Maybe not. But it is. They should hang on your words, not waiting for you to stop talking.

For each objection could show how it Is a good objection using exsamples and saying how you can overcome that objection.

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