Final Orders - No Reserves...No Retreat...No Regrets...

So when I was um in uh uh i in Moody, uh I already um Was in ministry. I was an area director for the South Side of Chicago for Youth for Christ. And initially I didn't have a car. And so I had to take public transportation. And if you know Chicago, uh Moody 's here in the loop and and then and then there's the north side. Most of the city is down here and I was down here So I had to take, you know, uh uh subway and bus and bus and bus and you know take all these transfers and all of that. Boy, did I learn time management? Woo! Did I learn how to do homework on a subway or on a bus? I did. The problem was sometimes it was late when I was going back. And uh so uh and I might even have a couple packages with me, sometimes in a kind of uh, you know, sketchy neighborhood And you're waiting for the bus and and it's late and you're alone and it's weird and uh you see the bus come in the shadow of the bus, you're like, Yay, all right, I'm rescued, I'm going home. I'm not You know, and uh back to Moody and the bus pulls up and you see that little sign in the front. Out of service I don't know if anybody had that experience. You ever, you know, lived urban like that, but uh that is the most depressing thing. Let me just tell you this. The Apostle Paul never hung that sign up. Never did he have an out-of-service sign. We're going to look tonight at what I consider to be one of the more emotional and passionate. It's the actually the final chapter. It's chapter four. We're going to kind of go in reverse and and do chapter three tomorrow, but There are reasons for that. And Paul, quite the contrary, though he's in prison, though he's on death row, though he's miserable physically. Listen to what he says in verse chapter 4, verse 6. I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. He's still pouring himself out. If you look at the end of the chapter, he's talking about all his guys that he has dispatched. It reminded me of the Leadership Center. You know we talk about it being a launch pad for leaders. Well that's what happens. We get to send them out to different ministries, and he talks about the guy who's in Galatia and the guy who went here and the guy who's taking care of things there. And his team is deployed and he's trying to stay in touch as much as he can. But in the process, he named some people, a number of people, near the end of the book, and I looked at it and I thought, this is four examples of the kind of people that play on Team Jesus. And either you are one of these or you know one of these. And if you think of a name for this one, the modern name of this kind of person, uh write it down because you might know one. For example He mentions a guy who named Demas. There is a Demas to grieve. Because in chapter 4, verse 10, think about this, Paul says. Demas, by the way, Demas is named in two other of his letters as one of his guys. He's named with Timothy and some of the others. So he is he is a pretty Good guy on Paul's team. But listen to this. He deserted me because he loved this world. Demon said, you know what? I love Jesus, but you know what? I found I think I just am interested in this present. I'm interested fine to get a reward later. I'm gonna do now. I'm gonna live for now. Maybe you know a demos. Write their name there. That's a prayer request, isn't it? Demas, so he's grieving one guy. Then secondly, there's a Mark, a guy named Mark, to celebrate. Now you may know a Mark. Mark, if some of you will remember, was a cousin of Barnabas, the first associate of Paul's that he traveled with. And um when they were going on their missionary journey, Mark had kind of kind of flaked out on their first time out, and he he had not proven really to be a dependable uh associate. And Barnabas says, well, let's still take him, give him another chance. Paul said, we can't have a guy we can't depend on. We've got too much at stake. So he says, forget. And so Mark, Mark, and Barnabas go off on their own. Barnabas leaves Paul. And uh you know that story. And so it's like Mark is sort of the um, you know, he's kind of been the loser, he's kind of been uh the guy you couldn't depend on. But listen to this, look at this, at the end of his life, Paul says Get Mark. What? Get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry. Isn't that cool that this has come full circle? You got in Mark is the Mark is the guy who it looked like he was a failure, but failure is never final with Jesus Failure is never final with him. And he comes back and he says, I need Mark. Mark goes on to write a book with his name on it, The Gospel of Mark. So maybe you have a month to celebrate. That's a kind of a happy full circle story. And then there's there's another guy, an Alexander to forgive. Yeah, Alexander is the man that that the verse says, let's take a look at that verse. Alexander the metal worker did me a great deal of harm. We don't know what he did, but he really hurt Paul. The Lord will repay him for what he's done. He'll have to deal with that. And he says, you two should he's he he know he wants Timothy not to make a mistake on his staff. You too should be on your guard against him because he strongly opposed our message. Well, this guy's really been a bad guy, but let's go to the next verse. He says that he don't don't charge it to his credit. And because he finally decides to forgive Alexander , And uh as Jesus has forgiven him. So do you have an Alexander to forgive that somebody's hurt you? If Paul can forgive him from his cell. At the end of his life, could you forgive your Alexander? And then there's another one, of course. There's a Timothy to challenge and encourage. You got one of those? You got somebody in your life that You are a voice in their life to challenge them and encourage them. You know what? These people are still around, aren't they? They just dress different and have different names. So those are some of the some of the people on Team Jesus. Now, let's go back to Paul. He's near the finish line. Any minute now. Timothy still has a lot of his race ahead of him. We know he lived for probably 40 more years. So he's got almost a lifetime ahead of him And this could be Paul's final words. What he is writing now, he's winding it up. These could be Paul's final words to his much-loved son in the faith. and to whom he is entrusting a lot of his legacy. So he begins by introducing the audience, whoever's going to read this. For this amazing moment. Now, here's what I'm picturing. There are times, and I don't know if it was true in that cell, there are times when Paul, because of his uh physical issues had what they called an emanuensis, somebody that he dictated uh scri uh scripture to. And so it's possible I just picture, this is my imagination. You saw the cell. I picture him pacing back and forth. This is like this is the this is the slam dunk. This is like the final ch challenge. And I see him pacing back and forth. And he goes, and you can put the verse up there from verse one, but uh he he's he's up there and he says In the presence of God. So God's watching this, Timothy. And in the presence of Christ Jesus, too. So God's watching. And Jesus is watching. This must be important stuff. And then he says, who will judge the quick and the dead? The one who's watching is the one who's going to judge us. Oh, and in light of his appearing, he's coming. He's coming back. Oh, and in light of his kingdom. Well, could you could you have a more dramatic context for what you're about to say? He's like, so Tim, God's watching, and Jesus is watching, and the one who's going to judge us all, and and he's coming back. And he's going to have his kingdom and he's going to rule all. I give you this charge. Man, drum roll, please. What is he going to say? Preach the word Oh, and be prepared in season and out of season. Be prepared to correct, to rebuke, and to encourage with great patience. And careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them. This now you can really do this online. You just, you know, get all those followers. They will gather around them a great number of teachers. To say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear the truth. And they will turn aside, they will trade the truth for myths. But you But you. That's that 's what they will do. But that ain't gonna change what you do. No, no, you keep your head In all situations. And it's going to get tough. So endure hardship. Don't quit. Oh, and do what I've done my whole life. Do the work of an evangelist. And later traditions about him, they will call him an evangelist, by the way, Timothy. And discharge all the duties of your ministry. I want to go back and take this apart a little bit. These are heaven's imperatives. He's like with God watching, Jesus watching, Jesus coming, Jesus judging, and Jesus kingdom coming. These are heaven's imperatives. First of all, I just preach the word. I call it open your mouth. This is Hutchcraft, the uh Hutchcraft translation. Yes. This is open your mouth In other words, that word preach is public declaration. It's don't don't just show your faith, say it. In fact, it's the word herald You say I thought his name was Timothy. No, it's not the man's name, Harold. It's H-E-R-A-L-D. In those days a herald was there was no breaking news. CNN was not there. But some would consider that a good thing. And so the the guy would come riding into your village on a horse and a Roman soldier and he would unroll the scroll uh and and he would read it was always something important And maybe the king had had a son, and so he would uh and everybody gathered around and they would listen. He was the that's what the preach word is. He says, you're a herald. Now remember he's shy, he's timid. So he's going to be outside his comfort zone to do this. So here's what I thought you know about being a herald is uh you have important information. And uh it's to be delivered publicly and be delivered reliably. Joseph of Arimathea is a very interesting character. I always thought that was Joseph of Arithmetic. I don't know why. And not being fr math not being my friend, I didn't like him, but um he he had a brother algebra. And Uh Joseph of Arithmetic was a uh that was terrible. Some there's something up here wrong. Um So, uh, but it says this of Joseph of Arimathe. He was in the Sanhedrin, the ruling body that helped condemn Jesus to death. And it says this: Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus. Yay! But secretly. For fear. Well, in his crowd, you can see why There's a lot of Josephs today. Maybe you're a disciple of Jesus, no doubt about it. But secretly. There's some people you've never told about him. For the same reason. For fear. That's a 2,000-year-old issue. He says, Timothy. You be a herald. You have got information from the king to deliver. Preach it, man. And you say, well, I'm not a preacher. No, you're a herald. You have got information to declare Doesn't mean you have to come in on a horse and it has to be a big meeting. At least one person ought to get the news from you. So you're delivering God's news. Here's Paul, what Paul says about his unfinished mission. Look at this, 2 Timothy 4. 17. He says, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed. See, he's thinking. I got this message as mine to deliver. It's been trusted to me. Remember the trust? Timothy's been trusted with the same message. So have you. That through me the message might be fully proclaimed. And all the Gentiles, that's all the folks who have never really had much Bible or anything, might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. So uh Paul's unfinished mission is that the mission gets fully declared. And his his by the way If your mission is rescue, and it is, like the front of the booklet said that you had today, to seek and to save the lost, Well that word, that word saved, is a rescue word. It's about, it's a life or death word. He said, Jesus came to look for and rescue the dying So we're we're we're life. What were the if we don't do this, this is life or death. And so he says, I went to the people who had who had never had a chance at Jesus. And his great passion was that everyone had a chance, just like I hope ours. I read an interesting quote from Martin Luther King. He said, the priest and the Levite, you know the story of the Good Samaritan? The priest and the Levite ask, if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? The Samaritan asks, if I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him? We're so concerned about what will happen to us if we open our mouth about Jesus. How about being more concerned about what will happen to them if you don't? Paul gives this great majestic buildup to say, preach the word, man. It's an urgent assignment. It's an ambassador assignment. And I will tell you, the devil has done and will do everything he can to stop you from it, because that's the only hope for somebody to go to heaven. So, like it says in your notes, we cannot remain quiet and passive because the lies are loud and bold. Am I right? Those lies are all over the place. They are bold. Nobody's timid. They're not timid, and they got lies. There's no life in what they say, but they're bold about that. So the good news must be pervasive. It's got to be available all over the place, and it's got to be persuasive, like the bad news is. Folks, gospel silence is no longer an option. And maybe you've been holding back too long Time to decide you're going to take some people to heaven with you. You're sitting on something that the eternity of someone near you depends upon. Not any longer. Preach the word to Missy. Declare it. Now um Then the the next so if it's uh if it's open your mouth then uh I'm uh in in uh my uh wacky translation, the next one is stay in the game Stay in the game. 2 Timothy 4. 2. Look at what he says. He says, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. 1 Peter 3. 15. But in your heart severe Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer. Always be prepared. Always, that's what he's that's what Paul said to Timothy. Peter says, always be ready. Don't go off duty, honey. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do it with gentleness and respect. He says, Timothy, you're gonna be some days you feel good, and there's gonna be some days you feel crummy. There'll be days you'll be in a good mood, there's gonna be days you're in a bad mood. There's gonna be days you feel it, there's gonna be days you don You're gonna be always ready. Stay in the game. Don't say I'm not I think I'll sit out this uh quarter I think I'll sit out to these next downs. No you no, I'm sorry. Get in the game stay in the game. Don't just get in it. Stay in it At Walmart, in the hospital, in the nursing home, at work, and when repair man comes, when you have a flat tire, you're always Representing me, representing him. Um David took Mr. Day off He didn't have that instruction to be ready all times. He was supposed to be at war. That was his job. Instead he stayed home once. And I will tell you, if you go off duty, there will usually be a bathsheba of some kind. So, uh, and then he says this, challenge the believers. That's where that that rebuke and courage. Let's go back to that part of uh verse 2. I'm kind of jumping around a little bit here. uh with great patience and careful instruction and it says to re correct rebuke and exhort and encourage now here's the Hutchcraft translation shape up Wake up and cheer up. Shape up, that's what the Greek word basically means If you're correcting someone, this is a red light. This is going to some people you need to be the one in their life that slows uh shows them a red light. You've got to stop this, man. Then there's a yellow light. That's that that's uh to correct rebuke. This is rebuke. That is more of a warning. The the uh the the the other first one they're already doing it. Here they might be doing it, and you say, here's a yellow light you you need you need to wake up in. And then the last one's encourage. This is this is the cheer up. He says, but when you do all that, those are your three jobs with people's lives, do it with patience. Don't it's gonna you may have to stay with it. They're not gonna change just because you said it once And careful instruction, don't just give him a should, give him a how. Okay, another thing he says is be a thermostat. Oh, he doesn't say that But there were no thermostats. But let's take a look at chapter 4 and the first part of verse 5. Keep your head in all situations. In other words, he's saying, listen, everybody else may be going crazy. You got to be the steady hand. You could be a thermostat or a thermometer, which were you? See a thermometer reflects the temperature around it. So you're cool, I'm cool. You're hot, I'm hot. You're nice, I'm nice. You treat me nice, I treat you nice. You're you're a jerk? I'm a jerk. Whatever. That's a thermometer. He says, I want you to be a thermostat today. Say I want you to be a thermostat You're the one who sets the temperature. You set a Jesus temperature everywhere you go. How you doing on that? Okay, so that's a that's an interesting challenge there to be to act and not react. That's what he's saying. I want you to be an actor, not a reactor. And then the next thing is take the hits. Take the hits. 2 Timothy 4, 5, again, endure hardship Marathon runners hit a wall. Timothy will too. Your body's shutting down, you say, I can't run another step. But the champions say, I'm going to blast through that wall. He says, don't give up when it's hard. It will get hard, Timothy. And it did. Don't quit. You know , Hebrews says that when it got hard, Jesus did not quit And when it got expensive. So I can't quit on him. Because he never quit on me And then rescue the lost. He says, do the work of an evangelist, because their hope is in our hands. Their hope is in our hands. Now he doesn't mean stand up in a stadium and preach to everybody. When you think of evangelists, you may think of that. It's simply somebody who tells the good news. It doesn't say anything about a crowd. This is because we know what happens to people who don't know the truth of the gospel. I was just talking to Suzanne today. She said I I um took my sister to the Titanic today, which is uh kind of a funny sentence. I mean uh C context is everything, isn't it? Bon voyage, sis. Anyway. So Um but uh it's pretty it's very, very uh I mean you really experience a lot and they give you a name uh when you go in. They they have all the names of all the people, first class, second class, third class and crew, and you get a name and when you get to the end you find out When they set sail, there were four groups, first, second, third class, and crew. On the night of April 15th, 1912, there were only two classes, saved and lost, just like us. And uh and uh everybody you find out whether you were one of the saved or one of the lost. Everybody you know is on one of two lists. And it's not first class, second class, third class. It's saved or lost. Now the lost people in the Titanic, nothing could change that, but the lost people you know. They're still breathing. They still got hope. And it might look like you. Do the work of an evangelist He says keep at oh and then and then this this last thing he says um is uh work till it's done Yeah, well he says, fulfill all the duties of your ministry. A. T. Robertson is a major Greek scholar And uh remember studying him at Moody and he says he tricks translates this and it really does have this meaning, kick up dust. I like that. You're working so hard and so fast. Kick up dust, man. I mean this is this is a guy who is working so hard he's he's making a he's pig pen, making a dust trail behind him. So uh take he says Work till it's done. So those are the divine imperatives. Now, 2 Timothy 4, 6 through 8. Paul starts to write his own epitaph. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness. Which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his appearing This poured out life. That's not just Paul's calling. That's our calling. I'm not holding back anything. I want nothing left at the finish line. I don't want Jesus saying, what are you doing with all that? Unused. What are you doing with all that in the bank? No, he says I'm poured out. I got nothing left in the container. Run your race all the way to Jesus' arms. Here's spiritual accelerant number five. Selfless boldness. That's Paul. Selfless boldness. I don't know if you notice this, but there's there's um there's something missing in um in Paul's uh final epitaph here. Paul gives his singular goal, and just go back a little bit to those blanks I didn't get to, in Acts 20, 24. He and Luke was there by the way. He said Luke was with him in this in the cell. Luke was the one person that was with him there at times. And Luke was the author of Acts. So he was there when Paul said, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. And he knew what it was, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. And he would do that even when it meant running alone. Verses 16 and 17, and we'll come back to Paul's epitaph in a minute. And my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me I love his grace here. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength So that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it, and I was delivered from the lion's mouth. You talk about this for a minute, because it means a lot to me. He had had a heartbreaking defection with Tima Demas, right? So that broke his heart Demas has been seduced by the lure of now, since he wanted this present world. He was like an Esau. He traded the bounty of his birthright for a bowl of stew. So I wonder, here's a question. Will I run when I'm the only one running? Will I run when no one else is? So it often comes to that. I'm the only one. Paul said, I'll run alone if I have to. I will run alone if I have to And Paul felt the darkness in that cell. Just try to imagine it. Death row, dark cell. Possibly chained. There was a pole in there. It's mostly not there now where people were beaten. He's alone. He's betrayed. He's running out of time. He uses the word forsaken. Do you know where else that word is used in the Bible? My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? It's the same Greek word. How Jesus felt on the cross. But there's three game-changing words when you are in your darkest hour. But the Lord. Those are always the game-changing words. But the Lord. Stood by me with his presence and his power On May 15th, 2016, our oldest grandchild Jordan, graduated from high school. Karen and I had a very special night that night. He was valedictorian and gave a wonderful Christ-honoring speech at graduation in the football stadium. Karen and I were sitting down. I had to leave as soon as I could because I was going to speak in another state the next day and I had some guys waiting to take me. Actually, one of them is here. Gary 's here. And um they were going to drive through the night because it was too late to catch any planes there. Um and uh so I, you know, I said uh I said, I love you, honey, and gave her a kiss, and she said, I love you. And then I noticed the tears in her eyes, which was uncommon, because we've said goodbye a hundred of times. And um And she said, I said, well what's going on? And she said, I'm really going to miss you. And I said, oh, it's only going to be a day or two, no problem. I was wrong So the next day, I got the call in Ohio from the kids. Massive heart attack I uh moved heaven and earth to get back home that night because the father needed his family and the family needed their father. And they met me at the Little Harrison Airport, and then we went to the farm. And uh the blue recliner she was always spent a lot of time in. And her crown of clown uh crown of glory, her beautiful hair, um, they weren't there. And uh the kid said, Dad, you need to stay with us tonight. Um you didn't come over to any of our houses. I said, you know, thank you, that means a lot. But I think I I think Jesus and I will stay here tonight. And though I have a very loving family, there's a sense of aloneness that no one can compensate for. I know a little bit about how Paul felt. But the Lord stood by my side And gave me strength. That's the word Brad told us about this morning. The word dunamis. And Dunamao. He divinely powered me. Oh, as Brad said this morning, when no one's there, Someone is there. But the Lord. And whatever you may, whatever you may dread in the future, just ask Paul or ask me But the Lord. But the Lord. It's all the difference. Um on a happier note Lewis and Clark, who I know you were just thinking about the Lewis and Clark expedition exploring when Thomas Jefferson double the size of the country or something with the Louisiana Purchase, trying to figure out what was out there. Um stopped, met fifty tribes along the way and Um, but they they were they mo they were giving up for dead because it took so much longer. They had lost one of their guys. They had tremendous trials. And they was trying to they were trying to get to the Pacific Ocean, obviously. And long story short, they ended up on the Columbia River finally, after many, many daunting challenges. And uh And at one point, uh Commander Clark, William Clark of the expedition, stood up and he said, Oh, sheen in view! Everybody screaming. Back home in St. Louis, they thought they were dead. And when he wrote in his journal then, ocean in view, all the joy, great joy in camp, we are in view of the ocean. The great Pacific Ocean, which we had been so long anxious to see, put heaven in that statement. Heaven in view, oh the joy. We are in view of that great city which we have been so long anxious to see. That's he said I got a reward coming. I'm looking at the finish line And he said, you know what, the reward is going to be off for all those who have loved his appearing. Imagine how Demas is going to feel. He's dreading that appearing. So um it's a it's a I told you it was a pretty emotional chapter and and it really is. But he says I'm willing to go alone if I have to. Now let's go back to where we were as he is working on his epitaph. He said it's going to be worth it all at the end. And now notice what's missing from his statement. He said, I fought a good fight. I have finished the race. I've kept the faith, and as you write, I've read that I don't know how many times in my life, but this time, really dwelling on it, I was like, wait, there's something missing. He doesn't say anything about winning. It doesn't say he won the race. Since he finished the race. He ran the race It it doesn't say he won the fight. It says he fought the fight. And he at the end, his faith was intact. I kept the faith. Well that's interesting. And I really began to ponder, what what what's a what is this, why isn't winning in there? Well, go to the next verse. And there is in store for me the crown of righteousness Which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. Stop with me for a minute. The crown, there's two Greek words for crown Stephanas is the Greek word there. And that word is the Olympic winning crown. It's the gold. They didn't give him gold then. They put the special crown on them. So the crown he's going to get is through a winner. But all he says is he fought. And you finished. What's the deal here? Well, here's the deal. Jesus has a different definition of winning. Somebody needs to hear this. Jesus' definition of winning is fighting and finishing It's fighting and finishing. He says you won. You won because you fought until you could fight no more. You finished the race. You kept the faith. You fought till it was over. You ran till you couldn't. Until you ran into my arms. And he said, you know what? Jesus has got a crown with my name on it. He said, reserved for me. And he's going to be the one who puts it on me. And I'm not far from it. I'm not far from the finish line. Not because I won, but because I fought and I finished And I will be crowned by Jesus at that finish line. Do I hear an amen? Oh my goodness. I bought I don't know. Shouted and jumped and scared people. Because in a race there's only one winner. But there are going to be many champions at heaven's finish line Because they fought. Because they finished. That's where Paul is in his final words. Jesus says to all of us, Timothy 's. Run for the crown that's got your name on it. And don't stop running till you see Jesus at the finish line There was a time some years ago and some of you will remember it when there was a major energy crisis in the country, they were We were told all turn off our lights when we weren't using them and turn down the heat. It was a lot of fun. Um And um so they were going through the White House and turning off lights, you know, to be a good example, and some of you remember that. There's a Christian college in Massachusetts that has a cross on the top of their chapel and it's illuminated. And they said, well, you know what, that we can save a little electricity, so they turned off the light. And not long after they did, they got a frantic call from Logan Airport in Boston. And they said, we have an international flight coming in, and uh they're very low on fuel And they navigate, they come in, these planes come in and navigate by that. And they said if they can't see the lights on the cross, they can't land safely. And neither can we. Your job is to live in such a way that you keep the lights on the cross. All the time. So we've been walking a a journey here together And if you add it all up where we've been so far, we started off talking with the fire, didn't we? And that rekindled fire was really the first step, the first accelerant in a in a really powerful faith Have you decided yet whether or not your fire's where it ought to be? I don't I don't know what titles you've got. I don't know how many offices in church you've held or How many people think you're you know the best Christian in the church or whatever? Between you and Jesus It used to be warmer. It's a little colder. Used to be closer and it's a little distant now. Used to be more passionate. Now it's more official. Repetitive. Um a little more business as usual. Um maybe God wanted you to visit Timothy and Paul and that cell, along with me. And maybe it's your time to say, Jesus, I don't want to I I want this fire to burn like it's never burned before. I'm not content like this For all the stuff I know and all, you know, it's kind of left brain, it's kind of cognitive and knowledge and Good practices, but it's not fire. I want the fire. And we talked about that entrusting thing. To live in such a way that the things that you really matter are now out of your hands and you've relinquished control over them. That's part of getting the fire going So when when you do that, you release what God can do, which enlarges your life and makes the rest of your life larger than the life up until now. And Doug talked to us about being God's holy instrument. So when God goes to his toolkit and says, I got something important to do, he reaches for you. Because you're clean and available and ready, offering yourself on a daily basis for the purposes of your master What do you got today? Pretty exciting way to live. And if you say I can't, all you gotta think is about that dunis power You download that and your camp turns to I he can. You we yeah, yeah you can see can And the boldness of Paul, with every reason in the world to quit and just make it to the end, fighting to the very last breath. That's selfless boldness. So for some of us there's a very exciting turn in the road coming. Because we're saying I'm holding nothing back. Lord, my plans, I'll trade them for yours. I'm not afraid of your plans. And like when Peter Parker got all those strange powers, he makes the statement. For me to live an ordinary life is no longer an option. Yeah For us to live an ordinary life. Not with what we've got. Is no longer an option. Let's pray. Well your head's bowed, you know. Um Turning points in life where you can only hear something from God so long without choosing it. It really and y you believing it, that's nice, you believe it and say that's true, that's nice. But choosing it to say that's how I'm gonna be, that's how I'm gonna live, that's That's another thing. So maybe the Lord's brought you here and given you a holy discontentment with where you're at. You're not at a bad place. But you're not at a great place. And he said, Timothy, I want to leave you with fire in your heart. Fear no longer the deciding factor. Clean and ready to be used by God in any way he chooses. So this is just a quiet moment right now. Um, for you to have a conversation with your master And say, Jesus, in a new way, I've surrendered before, but there's more me now, more life now. And Here I am, two hands up. They're both empty because I'm let go of everything. And my hands are up to receive whatever you want to give me Let's rekindle the fire, Lord. I want a passionate future in Christ. This is holy time. I'm not talking. You're going to talk to him. Lord, in this quiet moment, I. In the confines of our heart. You are stirring, you are speaking. I'm sure you are. And you are calling our name and calling us to something stronger and more powerful and more passionate, more caring. More on fire. More open to sharing you. Move past our fear. And go for the boldest years of our life in Christ. It's a time for boldness. I thank you for these who are standing and others who aren't doing that, but they You know what they've just told you. I pray, Lord, that you would help them to know what the next step is. For each one, what does this mean? What would be the first action step? To activate this new commitment. Show us what we need to repent of, apologize for, forgive. Get rid of, stop watching, stop listening to, start doing Having some really intimate Jesus time with our heart, not just our head. Get some of the junk out of our mind, our life. Whatever, Lord, help us to know what the next step is. And I pray for each of my dear brothers and sisters in this room who've come to mean so much to us. I pray they will live in such a way that they will fight and they will finish and they will keep the faith. And they will meet you at the finish line waiting with a crown with their name on it We may never settle for less. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you for the life of Paul and Timothy, and thank you that Paul wrote a letter. It's a letter to us too. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you