Retain the Standard of Sound Words

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened with a personal note about preaching his grandmother's funeral the week before, and wove that experience through a working passage in 2 Timothy. The sermon traced Paul's final letter to Timothy, pulling out five imperatives that he argued belong to every believer, not just to Timothy alone. Before getting into the text, Pastor Mark described arriving at the funeral home during...

Read together

1. Psalm 92 quoted at the opening as the source of the song being sung: 'It is good to give thanks to the Lord'
2. Psalm 84 cited as the source of the lyric about a single day in God's courts being better than a thousand elsewhere
3. Colossians 2:6-7 read as an encouraging word about accepting Jesus as Lord and letting roots grow down into Him
4. 2 Timothy 1:1-2 Paul identified as apostle by will of God, writing to Timothy his beloved son
5. 2 Timothy 1:3 Paul thanking God with a clear conscience as his forefathers did, remembering Timothy in prayer night and day
6. 2 Timothy 1:4 Paul longing to see Timothy, recalling his tears
7. 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul commending Timothy's sincere faith that first dwelt in his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice
8. 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul urging Timothy to kindle afresh the gift of God through the laying on of hands
9. 2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power, love and discipline
10. 2 Timothy 1:8 do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord; join Paul in suffering for the gospel
11. 2 Timothy 1:9 God saved and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace
12. 2 Timothy 1:10 Christ Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
13. 2 Timothy 1:11 Paul appointed as preacher, apostle and teacher of the gospel
14. 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul not ashamed because he knows whom he has believed and is convinced God can guard what has been entrusted to Him until that day
15. 2 Timothy 1:13 imperative to retain the standard of sound words heard from Paul, in faith and love in Christ Jesus
16. 2 Timothy 1:14 imperative to guard the treasure entrusted, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us
17. 2 Timothy 1:15 all in Asia turned away from Paul, including Phygelus and Hermogenes
18. 2 Timothy 1:16-18 Paul praying for mercy on the house of Onesiphorus who refreshed him and was not ashamed of his chains
19. 2 Timothy 2:1 imperative to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus
20. 2 Timothy 2:2 imperative to entrust what was heard to faithful men who will be able to teach others also
21. 2 Timothy 2:3 imperative to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus
22. 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 Paul listing his sufferings including imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks and daily pressure of concern for the churches
23. Colossians 3:16-17 read as the benediction: let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan shared that his grandmother prayed for each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by name every day. Who in your life has modeled that kind of faithful, persistent prayer for you, and how has it shaped your faith?
2. Paul tells Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to lean on those gifts rather than shrink back from the spiritual battle?
3. Pastor Nathan pointed out that Paul urges Timothy to retain the standard of sound words and guard the treasure of the gospel against anything that would add to it or take away from it. What are some ways you have seen the gospel quietly drift toward either legalism or license in church life or in your own thinking?
4. The fourth imperative is to entrust what you have heard to faithful men and women who will be able to teach others also. Who are you currently investing in, and who invested in you in that way?
5. Paul lists an almost overwhelming catalog of suffering in 2 Corinthians 11 and then tells Timothy to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. What does it look like practically to embrace that call in your own circumstances right now, and what makes it hard to do so?