Opening Illustration: The conversation before my knee surgery. This is a first for me. I’ve never sat down and preached a sermon. We’ll see how this goes. Who knows, maybe we’ll just start having some fireside chats every Sunday morning. Maybe we can get one of those fake fireplaces in here…I had knee surgery about two weeks ago. BTW, you all have been an amazing church family. Thank you all for all the love and support you have given my family. There was a moment when they were prepping me for surgery. The surgeon, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist were all in the room together. The surgeon asked me, “Do you have any questions for us? Up until that point, I had been so busy trying to get everything done before the surgery that I hadn’t really thought about the surgery. I told the surgeon, “I really don’t. In fact, I feel like I’m coming in here blind. I don’t know what to expect.” There was a pause for probably 3 or 4 seconds as all three of the medical professionals looked at each other. The surgeon then looked at me and jokingly said, “It’s probably better that way.” And then he walks out of the room! I had a good solid 30 minutes to sit there and for the first time, I thought about what was to come next. I had a moment where I asked myself, “Do I really want to do this?” I had to wrestle with my fear. Thankfully, they came in pretty quickly after that and gave me the happy juice. You can do anything when that stuff is pumping through your veins!

We all have these moments in life when fear smacks us in the face. The problem is that fear directs our lives far more than we care to admit. We often let fear direct our lives rather than directing the fear in our lives. I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve made plenty of parenting decisions out of fear. I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m been so afraid of being uncomfortable that I’ve made poor leadership decisions for my family. And we see it in our spiritual lives too. We are afraid of being rejected, being offensive, or being labeled – so, we don’t move forward as we should. Today, in our Bible passage, God addresses the spiritual fear and shame that we often let direct our spiritual lives. God uses a man named Paul writing to a young man named Timothy to show us what it means to be courageous. To show us what it means to burn bright for Him. And that’s the truth we will see this morning: God is ready to use the courage of those who are willing to burn bright for Him. Let’s open our Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy. It’s about halfway through the New Testament. As you turn there, I want you to know my heart is excited about our time in this book. I’m calling this Sermon Series: Take Heart: The Faithfulness of God. Here’s why: God has given us two major messages as a church family this year: Jesus is better, so stay close to Him (Hebrews). To live out our relationships in life we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians). God has given us the “why” and “how” – and now it’s time for the “what”. We are to keep moving forward. For God will be faithful to us as we move forward. God’s Word is alive and powerful, let’s read it now with expectancy. Read 2 Timothy 1:6-12. Pray. 

Doug, one of elders at TCSH, did a great job of laying the foundation of 2 Timothy last week. Paul is writing to his “son in the faith” – this is a deeply personal letter. Timothy is with the Church at Ephesus. Christian persecution has broken out because of Emperor Nero. False teachers are on the rise. The church at Ephesus is trying to figure out how to respond to it all. We covered this last week, but I want to pick up with Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in verse 6. It really helps us understand verses 8 through 12. Here’s where we start: If you want fire, then start with the flame. 

1) If you want fire, then start with the flame. (vs. 6) Look at verse 6 again: ⁶ This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. This verse is the foundation for the rest of the letter. Paul, in this letter, says over and over to keep going – to keep enduring:

• 2 Timothy 2:3: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 
• 2 Timothy 2:15: “Do your best to present yourself . . . a worker who has no need to be ashamed.”
• 2 Timothy 2:24: “And the Lord’s servant must . . . patiently endure evil.” 
• 2 Timothy 3:12: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 
• 2 Timothy 4:6: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” 
• 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight.”

The only for Timothy to live out what God is calling him to do in the rest of this letter is to do what verse 6 says: “Fan the flame”. So what does that mean? There’s no indication from the letter that Timothy was faltering or that his spiritual flame was dying out. Rather, this was a call to continuous action. Paul was reminding Timothy to keep feeding the flame. Illustration: Starting a fire on the beach. I love Doug’s comment from last week about how whenever a man start fire, he always grabs a stick and keeps poking the fire. I have found that one of the hardest places to start a fire is on the beach. And it’s something we do every time we go the beach. A smore on the beach just hits differently. It’s much better than a smore in the mountains…It’s harder to start a fire on the beach because the ocean breeze rarely stops. It’s a constant battle against the wind. So, what do you do? (Well, what does this city boy do?) You bring out all the pizza boxes from the leftover pizza and you keep feeding the flame. The hope is that you can fire hot enough that it will catch the wood. If you want the fire, then you have to feed the flame.

What flame are we fanning? The spiritual gift God gave us. Every follower of Christ is gifted with something from God that can be used to serve the body of Christ. God’s spiritual gift to you must be kept burning. I believe there is a misconception about our spiritual gifting. I think there is this idea that our spiritual gift will catapult us into a dynamic ministry overnight. And I’ve thought this before. “If God gave me a spiritual gift, then God will use it this big, mighty way overnight”. “So, maybe the reason I haven’t been used in this big way is because I haven’t understood my gifting.” That’s not what Paul tells Timothy, is it? Timothy knows his gifting, and Timothy is to keep it burning. My preaching. I believe God has given me a gift to teach and preach God’s Word. One of the reasons I know that is because I don’t like public speaking. From day one, I have had to be intentional about exercising this gift. Your spiritual gifting requires work, effort, and intentionality. If you want the fire, you have start fanning the flame. 

The reason Paul starts with fanning the flame is because he knows it’s necessary for what’s next. Paul goes back to where we started: fear. As Timothy fans the flame of his spiritual gift, he’s going to encounter a lot on the way. The church at Ephesus is facing and will be facing all sorts of opposition. And this is usually where things fall apart for us too. Fear and shame smack us in the face and there goes the fanning of the flame. Here’s what Paul tells Timothy and here is what God is telling us: The power to fan the flame is free and available. 

2) The power to fan the flame is free and available. (vs. 7-10) Look at what Paul writes in verses 7 and 8: ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. ⁸ So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. If I would have stopped with the first point, it would seem like as if the exercising of God’s gift in your life is dependent on you. Here’s the good news: God's gift isn’t held hostage by man’s weakness. In those two verses, we see that God has given us more gifts. What are those gifts? Power, love, self-discipline (sound mind) (vs. 7). Strength (vs. 8). All four of those gifts are used for God’s spiritual gift He’s given. That means, the power to fan the flame isn’t your power – it’s God power. God gives you a spiritual gift that needs to be fanned. And the power to fan is given to you by God. What’s the rookie mistake that a parent makes on Christmas morning? Forgetting to buy batteries. When you give a child a gift that requires batteries, but don’t give them the batteries, it takes all the joy away. No parents gives a child toy that requires batteries and says, “go power it yourself!” I know I tell on myself as a parent, but I won’t stoop to that level. God gives the gift and God gives the power for the gift. 

How do we power the gift? How do we feed the flame? Look at these next two beautiful verses: ⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. ¹⁰ And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. How do we feed the flame? First, you have to make sure we have the flame. Some of you might need to experience the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time. Look at what verse 9 says – it was God’s plan from before time began to save you. It was God’s grace to give you spiritual life. GOSPEL PRESENTATION. od’s grace is free available – receive it today.

Second, some of you might need to experience the power of the Holy Spirit from God’s continued grace. Illustration: My quad muscle has stopped working after surgery. What’s interesting about my knee surgery and my knee being a brace is that my quad has been “deactivated”. It’s one those things that was better I didn’t know, I guess! My quad stopped working because I’m not using it right now. I’ve started going to physical therapy and during one of my visits, they hooked up this machine on my leg that started shocking it. It was this “Electric Activation”. The physical therapist said “All this is doing is waking up your muscle. It’s up to you to actually start using it.” God’s grace is our daily wakeup call. If you want the activation and power to feed the flame of your spiritual gift and have the courage to burn bright, marvel at this free gift of salvation every day. Marvel at God’s promises. Marvel at God’s Word. Marvel at the work of the Holy Spirit. Marvel at what Jesus did on the cross for you. Marvel at God’s grand redemptive plan for you. Marvel at the love of Savior that wouldn’t let anything get in His way for you. Preach the gospel of Jesus to yourself every single day. And watch what happens to your flame! 

Here’s what Paul has written so far: God has given you a spiritual gift. You need to fan the flame of your spiritual. The power you need to fan the flame comes from God’s grace and strength. All that’s left is the courage to burn bright. God is ready to use the courage of those who are willing to burn bright for Him. Here’s what happens when a church family starts to decides to burn bright for Jesus: The bigger the fire, the farther the light shines. 

3) The bigger the fire, the farther the light shines. (vs. 11-12) Paul reminds Timothy of God’s calling on his life in verse 11: ¹¹ And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. Paul then tells Timothy that his work for God isn’t easy. In fact, in verse 12, Paul says the calling on his life has brought suffering. Look at the first part of verse 12: ¹² That is why I am suffering here in prison… But this second part of verse 12 is powerful! ¹² That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. For Paul, it doesn’t matter about the shame, the fear, the suffering, his fire is going to burn bright! For Paul, it doesn’t matter what other people will do to him or say about him, he’s going to courageously burn bright for God! What gives Paul this confidence? He knows God! “for I know the one in whom I trust,” He knows the character and the promises of God. For Paul, this isn’t about his reputation, or safety, or comfort, it’s all about the gospel of Jesus! Paul thinks of himself as a nobody. Paul is nothing and Jesus is everything. Paul wants nothing more than for Jesus to elevated and if that means Paul must be demoted, then so be it! I love this quote: “God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.” -- Oswald Chambers. 

If we look back 20 years ago at the Church, there was a trembling that took place. The Church was facing theological, doctrinal, and biblical challenges from the world. Well, the trembling church is starting to shake. The more churches that allow the world to deconstruct, disavow, and dismember God’s truth, the more these churches will fall apart. But here’s the good news: The gospel of Jesus Christ will never fail. 

“Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel, shall not faint
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me”
That truth will never fail

The question we must ask ourselves is this: “Will I have the courage to burn bright for God?” The fear and shame will always be there. Courage is not the removal of fear. Courage is action in the midst of fear. I’ll close with this…Fear can’t direct our lives. I’ll be the first to admit, fear has more of a place in my life than it should. But here’s what I have been doing in recent months: I’ve been telling God “thank you”. I’ve let my heart be fueled by gratitude. The only reason I’m apart of the body of Christ is because He took this nobody and made me a somebody in Jesus. We really don’t have much fit for a king except for a heart singing hallelujah. Let your fear turn into gratitude that God will turn into courage. The world needs our fires to burn bright. We need each other fires to burn bright. When our let our fires burn bright together, the farther the light shines. Let’s all have the courage to burn bright because Jesus is worth it. Let’s pray.

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