The Lord Stood With Me

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached the final passage of 2 Timothy, a closing section dense with personal names, and used it to weave together what he had just seen on a trip to Kenya with what Paul was saying to Timothy from a Roman prison. The argument he made is that Christian life, whether in first-century Rome or a garbage dump outside Nakuru, is always about people and always about the nations. Paul is...

Read together

1. Psalm 36 Read aloud at the opening as a psalm of God's love, faithfulness, righteousness and refuge
2. Isaiah 40 Quoted after a song: those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, mount up with wings like eagles, run and not get tired, walk and not become weary
3. Psalm 22 Cited as an Old Testament promise that all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, all families and nations will worship before Him
4. Psalm 67 Referenced as a spreading-circle psalm with the refrain let all the peoples praise you, oh Lord
5. Psalm 96 Quoted as a command: tell of His glory among all the nations, tell of His wonderful deeds among all the people, say among the nations the Lord reigns
6. 2 Timothy 4:9-22 The main preaching text for the sermon, covering Paul's closing personal greetings, instructions and benediction
7. 1 John 2 Quoted on not loving the world: if anyone loves the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in him, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and boastful pride of life
8. Acts 15:36-39 Quoted to show the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over taking John Mark, who had deserted them in Pamphilia
9. Galatians 3:8 Quoted to show that God would justify the nations by faith, preaching the gospel beforehand to Abraham that all nations would be blessed in him
10. Matthew 28:18-20 Quoted as the Great Commission: all authority given to Jesus, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, teaching them, with the promise I am with you always
11. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 Quoted on momentary light affliction producing an eternal weight of glory, looking not at things seen but at things not seen, for things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray pointed to Demas as someone who had served faithfully for a long time and then walked away because he loved the things of the world. What do you think makes a person most vulnerable to that kind of drift, and what has helped you stay on course?
2. Paul asked Timothy to bring Mark, the same person he had once refused to take on a missionary journey because Mark had deserted him. What does it tell us about Paul that he could make that request, and is there someone in your own life you have written off who might deserve a second look?
3. When Paul stood trial, the Lord strengthened him so that, as he put it, the proclamation might be fully accomplished and all the nations might hear. How does it change the way you think about a hard situation when you consider that God might be using it to get the gospel somewhere it would not otherwise reach?
4. Pastor Ray described visiting families near the Giyoto dump and how natural it was in that community to receive a blessing or a word of scripture at the door, while noting how differently Americans tend to relate to their neighbors. What would it look like practically for you to be more open to that kind of connection with the people around you?
5. Pastor Ray closed with the question of whether we are all about all the nations, and said that every Christian is either a goer or a sender or both. Where do you see yourself in that, and is there anything concrete keeping you from leaning further into whichever role is yours?