2 Timothy 3 - Living in the Last Days
- Details:
- Written by George Hemmings
Living in the Last Days audio (6MB)
Living in the Last Days - Youth Service Sermon audio (6MB)
2 Timothy 3
2 Timothy 2:1-13 - Share in Suffering
- Details:
- Written by George Hemmings
Remembering audio (6MB)
2 Timothy 2:1-13
It’s great to be with you again and great to be sharing as we continue looking at 2 Timothy. Speaking of sharing, I’ve got something I’d like to share with you today. I'm sorry there’s not enough for everybody, but I wonder who’d like to share one of these with me? In our house it feels like we’re spending a lot of time talking about sharing at the moment! In today’s passage Paul has something he wants Timothy to share in. But it’s not as nice as a packet of Tim Tams. Instead he wants Timothy to join him in suffering for the gospel. In fact, Paul wants all of us to know that we have to share in suffering for the gospel. I wonder how that makes you feel? I wonder if I invited you to share in suffering with me, if you would’ve come up as eagerly?
John 17:1-26
- Details:
- Written by Chris Appleby
The Prayer of Jesus audio (5MB)
The moment of Jesus arrest, trial and execution is fast approaching. Jesus has finished his teaching of the disciples. The hour has come. His work on earth is complete. So complete in fact that he can say with confidence at the end of ch16: "33Take courage; I have conquered the world!" And then he turns to prayer.
Notice that John chooses to bring us a report of this prayer, given in the upper room before they go to Gethsemane, rather than the prayer of anguish in the garden that we find in the other gospels. Why does he do that? Well, it may be that this prayer acts in some way as a summary of all that's gone before in this gospel. Here we find Jesus' obedience to the Father; the glorification of his father through his death and resurrection; the revelation of God in Jesus Christ; the choosing of the disciples out of the world; their unity modelled on the unity of the Father and the Son; and the promise that their final destiny is to share in the glory of the Father and the Son in eternity. It's as though this is the final crescendo, the final movement in a gospel that shows us Christ dwelling among us as one of us but returning to God and taking us with him, a crescendo that climaxes in chs 18-20 with the passion and triumph of Jesus the Messiah.
2 Timothy 1:1-7 Remembering
- Details:
- Written by Ruth Newmarch
Remembering audio (4MB)
2 Timothy 1:1-7
I've been at St Toms for 5 months now, but to come here I had to hand-over my previous role. I had one morning to hand-over the continuing spiritual care of nearly100 kids. I had thought carefully about what to say...it was emotional because I wasn't sure how the new guy would go with some of the kids I'd worked so hard to build strong relationships with. Also, I myself was in grief at leaving, though excited to come here, and a little scared!
Today we begin Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy, and we've called the series Kingdom Olympics, mainly because there's a hand-over, like in the 4v100m relay...where the baton has to be safely passed from one runner to the next. In our Kingdom Olympics however, the baton is a message, and its content is what must be passed on.
John 21:1-25
- Details:
- Written by Ruth Newmarch
Last Things audio (5MB)
John 21:1-25
You know how in some movies, the music tells you the end has come, but sometimes the ending has been so dramatic, that you are still taking it in...the implications and emotions are swirling around the audience. Then credits start to roll, but the director has added in some extra footage, and the familiar characters appear again. And you see them relating in new ways. And then the camera pans out and the figures begin to get smaller, as the landscape opens out, creating some distance...but this extra footage has given some clarity, some perspective and the audience can begin to settle.
Ch 21 is an epilogue, to tie off important loose ends, but it is surprisingly pastoral. It helps settle us in at least three ways: first, it gives us extra assurance for when we are unsettled in our faith, second, it tells us that we need leaders, even if they are not perfect, and third, it tells us to follow the path God has set for us and not be too nosey about other people.
