Faith's Family Tree

tonight's lesson might be in many respects a continuation of honoring our moms and i'm guessing that the moms in the sanctuary won't mind a little extra attention but be that as it may if you're not a mom and especially the men i encourage you not to check out because this message will certainly have application to all of us in sunday's service the mother's day service i was gratefully asked to talk just a little bit about my own mother and her story and i mentioned that during kind of a chaotic time in my life spiritually speaking she would leave my bible open and have verses underlined and i thought for sure that the verse i'm about to read to you she had underlined but when i went to the bible i used in that period of my life it wasn't there but i think now what she did was make a copy of this verse and she made a few notations on it it's in second timothy chapter one verse five and i believe that this lesson tonight also fits into our overall theme be the church at least one aspect it may not focus so much on the evangelistic aspect of being the church but certainly the part of being those that make disciples ii timothy 1 5 this is the apostle paul writing a letter to his son in the gospel timothy and he says when i call to remembrance the genuine faith or the king james version says unfeigned when i call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you which dwelt first in your grandmother lois and i think my mom inserted the word catherine there my grandmother on her side and your mother eunice in this case marsha for me and i am persuaded as in you also and in that instance with my own mother she was trying to get across the message to me that i had been handed a tremendous heritage and i should not squander it i should not let it go so this evening i want to talk on this subject and i didn't get a title slide i need to get fancy one of these days but uh faiths f-a-i-t-h faith's family tree and this is based on a book entitled notable women of scripture by ken gurley he's one of our upci pastors in the texas state of texas texas district and i give credit there but wanted to look at this topic tonight faith's family tree eunice

and lois who are mentioned in this verse that i've read to you really aren't revealed too much to us little is known and we actually gain a lot more insight from their son and grandson as to about them uh i guess we learned most of what we know in the verse that i just read to you particularly that they were women of faith and transferred that genuine faith to their son and grandson timothy but then also in acts 16 1 we're told that paul came to derby and lystra on a missionary journey and behold a certain disciple was there named timothy the son of a certain jewish woman who believed but his father was greek or a gentile and timothy it notes here was well spoken of by the brethren the church brethren who were at lystra in iconium and so we learned here that eunice was the mother of timothy a believing jewish who was married to a gentile man and presumably from all we can understand did not hold to the faith and so spiritually speaking she was kind of a single mom and that's pretty much what we know about them eunice and her mother lois were distinguished by their unfeigned faith which means sincere undisguised and without hypocrisy unfeigned faith and paul commends the mother and the grandmother as having this kind of faith and probably this we don't know either lois and eunice were converted during paul's first visit to lystra acts 14 if you want to read about that later we're just drawing some insights from that the conclusion from the second letter to timothy tells us paul was talking to timothy or writing to timothy about the fact that timothy fully knew the persecutions and afflictions which came to him at listris so clearly timothy was there and presumably lois and eunice and their conversion to the christian faith they obviously have been holding to the old testament teachings up to that point but their conversion seems to have happened at that time and as mom and grandmother eunice and lois trained timothy in the fear of the lord and in the knowledge of the scriptures of the old testament that's what they had until the new testament came along and the introduction of christianity as we know it and in second timothy chapter 3 i have several verses to read to you and i think they'll be on the screen but ii timothy chapter 3 beginning at verse 10 paul writes

but you have carefully followed my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering love perseverance persecutions afflictions which happen to me in antioch at iconium and at lystra what persecutions i endure and out of them all the lord delivered me yes and all who desire to live godly in christ jesus will suffer persecution but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but you timothy must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them now i don't think there's any question that things were taught to him by the apostle paul but clearly from the next verse eunice and lois had a great hand in this it says and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in christ jesus clearly we see the influence of a grandmother and a mother in the life of timothy it was out of their love for god their love for their son and grandson that they left a legacy of faith for timothy that continued on into his life and this occurred at least in the instance of his mom eunice it occurred with her being married to someone who wasn't in the church is the way we put it today and i find that rather significant that she was still able to instill in timothy this love for god and love for truth even though her husband didn't share a love for it timothy had the same according to paul now same sincere and genuine faith that his mom and grandmother had and that mother's influence of course was very far-reaching and i'm glad that moms do have a far-reaching influence in our lives in this instance we see it in timothy another good example is that of moses if you remember his mom when they were enslaved in egypt she actually broke the law in order to keep her son moses safe and preserve his life and evidently in those early years when it tables turn and she actually got to keep him and train him she did a lot of teaching in the jewish faith for him tony campalo is a author

and he's been a teacher in universities in the past there was a little story told about him to point out that too many times mothers are made to feel that they should apologize for being a mother first particularly if they choose or can not work outside the home and of course any moms that do that my wife's been one of them for years if you have to work outside the home you have to work outside the home that's just the way it is but you shouldn't be made to feel bad for that but at the same time those that stay at home shouldn't be made to feel bad right and in this uh illustration or example uh tony campolo and he was on the faculty of university of pennsylvania they would sometimes have gatherings of the faculty to which the spouses were invited and according to this story inevitably uh one of the spouses other females my a woman might be a lawyer a sociologist or some other career person and they would inevitably confront tony compalo's wife with the question and what is it that you do my dear and his wife who was one of the more brilliantly articulate individuals had a great response i've got to read it to you because i didn't memorize it and i don't know that i could she said if they asked her what she did she said i am socializing two homo sapiens in the dominant values of the judean christian tradition in order that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the teleological prescribed utopia inherent in the eschaton which translated is i'm a stay-at-home mom and of course when she would say that when they followed up she when she followed up and what is it that you do saying i'm a lawyer didn't have quite the impact that it might have once she got through with them but clearly moms do have a powerful influence if you were blessed of course to be under the direct influence of your mom and i know not everyone was you know the influence of her in your life the faith that she taught you if she was in the church education work ethic morality good old plain manners at the table and elsewhere all those kinds of things mom had a great influence in our lives and of course other than your mother and your father other family members or even other unrelated people have affected you

and had a great influence on your life and for that we should certainly be thankful in fact whoever deserves honor and gratitude in those areas i think should be given it if they're still living and hopefully you did that this past sunday hopefully you do it on a regular basis if it's someone other than your mom and you have those opportunities with eunice and lois there was a faith transfer from one generation to another they taught timothy to succeed in life with a foundation of scripture as they had it then and from then he was able to derive a faith that allowed him to face life or live his life in a way that pleased god and as we age i guess all of us are concerned about a quote-unquote secure future uh to the extent we can do anything about it i guess and uh particularly when it comes to finances we as we get older we work hard we save we invest we employ different financial strategies to help us ensure a secure financial future or as i like to put it i'd at least like to know if after i retire that i could have an ice cream cone now and then so we have those strategies and we work toward that but spiritually speaking we should also think about the future when it comes to the transfer of faith our natural family yes but also even the church family and certainly god's church is not going to be defeated he's going to have a church whether you and i are a part of it or not and so we don't have to have that worry it's not going to disappear however though one generation does have the responsibility scripturally to pass along a godly heritage to the next generation and i'll be giving you some chapter and verse for that in just a moment and for us to do that to pass on the faith from generation to generation it does take time we have to be invested we have to give ourselves to it and really a love for truth and a love for that next generation is the answer that's what will drive us and motivate us to do so and we don't necessarily express our love in dollars by the things we buy and the material things that we give or provide but love is usually defined or spelled t-i-m-e we just spend lots and lots of time

and ideally we should start early with the coming generation spending lots of time with them and certainly giving great love to the ideal of passing on a spiritual legacy but whenever we start i think you would agree it is a worthy pursuit because delivering the faith to the next generation is absolutely vital absolutely vital that we pass it on whether you have children or youth as a parent or grandparent or whether you are a long-term member of the church the next generation is worthy of our investment in fact we've got to do it the fact that you eunice and lois are credited with passing along the genuine faith the two of them to me suggests teamwork they work together to see this done and certainly teamwork can extend beyond the immediate and extended family naturally speaking and it can include the church it could include the aspects of the church christian education the christian environment of the many analogies used at the church i think the one i like best is calling the church a family i just like that parallel or that analogy of a family and if you'll think about it we as a church are in a position to influence one another and particularly our young people i was just giving a little bit of thought and being privileged to grow up in the church i can think of teachers you know beyond my parents who had the most direct influence on me for obvious reasons but beyond my parents i can think of teachers in fact i can name for you every sunday school teacher that i've had in this church and possibly in some instances pull out things that they particularly shared with me or are left imprinted on my heart and mind pastors leaders long time members of the church are disciples of christ i can tell you about sermons that have had a direct impact upon me and changed my perspective my outlook all these kinds of things come together whether it's in public or one-on-one these are all influences in my life and whether you've been in the church a long time or a short time i think you've already experienced what i'm talking about and certainly we can be grateful and my point is this we're a team we work together yes the immediate family is the the focus of everything but we are a team as the church and we work together and especially as adults to help the coming generation with our example

and the things that we teach and so on and so forth there are a couple of passages of scripture one's in the old testament and one's in the new testament and both of them point out that the older generation is to transfer truth or the faith to the next generation and let me share these with you these particular passages i'm reading from the english version which is known as the king james psalms 78 and verse 1 the writer says give ear o my people to my law incline your ears to the words of my mouth i will open my mouth in a parable i will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us we will not hide them from their children showing to the generation to come the praises of the lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done verse 5 for he established a testimony in jacob that is who became israel of course a testimony in jacob and appointed a law in israel which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children so it was a command to do this that the generation to come might know them even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their children that they might set their hope in god and not forget the works of god but keep his commandments and so there clearly we see in the old testament there is this directive from the lord that one generation should teach train the next generation and then in second timothy going again back to paul's letter second timothy chapter 2 the first couple of verses paul's telling timothy this thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also so there clearly you see that progression paul says timothy i've taught you certain things and now you need to turn around and teach them to those that are following you so that they can then turn around and teach those following them and on and on and on it is to go so clearly from these two passages of scripture we as a church family do have an obligation a responsibility

and i don't mean to have those words sound uh demeaning or heavy on our shoulders it's something we want to do but there is an obligation and there is a responsibility for us to share this gospel to hand on the faith to others and whatever our sphere of influence whatever the degree of it we can all play a part in the grow and growing faith family tree that is the spiritual aspect of our family tree and i recognize that not everybody here is a parent or a grandparent yet many of you have nieces and nephews or you have youth that you have chosen to quote unquote adopt i just i think it was just this past week i came across a term i'm probably the last one to know about it but i guess because i had over the mother's day weekend uh something called a bonus parent or a bonus mom or a bonus father meaning that they're not your blood relative but you have adopted them maybe a young person would look to say you're my bonus mom or my adopted mom and we can of course do that in reverse and have bonus sons bonus daughters people that we take under our wing as it were to help so i recognize that we may not all be parents and grandparents but my point is we all have a sphere of influence with younger people and the generation that's coming on not all of you have youth directly under that influence but at the very least the very least all of us are examples to the youth of this church and it might be surprising to us to know just how closely they're watching even if it is primarily within these four walls during a church service i think we can safely say that they are keeping an eye on us in our example is important whether we know it or not there might even be i don't know this for a fact but there might even be some young people that have picked you out particularly as an example and said i'm going to keep my eye on him or her and just see how they act and react and worship and get involved etc and let them be my example and if that's the case we certainly want to recognize that our continued faithfulness to serve the lord helps transfer the truth to the next generation

and god will help us i think it's safe to say might not be my place but i think it's safe to say that apc's goal for our young people is that they would love the truth and stand for it i think that's a safe statement and not because they're told to do so but because they want to do so because they fall in love with it and it's no longer my mom and dad's way of life but it's my way of life that's really our goal and i'm sure it could be stated in different ways and it should jesus terry longer we want to make certain that there is a next generation of apostolic believers amen we want to make sure that somebody succeeds us somebody follows us someone carries on the faith because once our influence is gone and sadly that they will come we want them to stand for righteousness we want them to uphold the principles of god's word and advance his kingdom and the reason for that is we recognize that faith devotion and the belief of others cannot be substituted for those of today's youth or to put that in other words salvation is not by proxy is it those of you that are parents in this room i am convinced that you would do as i would do if i could be saved for my children i'd do it if i could experience salvation for them and ensure that they were ready to meet god i'd do it but i can't do it i can't repent for them i can't be baptized for them can't receive the spirit for them can't live a life for the lord for them i can influence and guide and point and encourage and all of that but i can't do it for them so salvation is not by proxy nor is a love for god and his word it has to get in each individual's heart and thankfully we can encourage that we can exemplify it but at some point each person has to get it for himself each person has to fall in love himself or herself i heard this taught years ago and i thought i would share it in the context of this message it's a process for shaping young believers just uh three points here it was shared to me in fact back when i was a youth leader i attended various seminars in that and someone presented this and the first step of this process uh

and this can be used of course just not by parents grandparents but sunday school teachers and youth leaders and just elders in the church we could use this little formula to influence younger people or even to interact with them and the first one is let them inside your life let them inside your life and of course if you have children you might think well i've got no choice for the reaver they're there whether i want them or not no but let them inside your life what i mean by that is letting them know what you think what you feel in certain circumstances and how that fits into the ideal of scripture are god's word the disciples if you think about them for a moment the disciples of jesus they saw him in many different situations they saw him struggling with grief they saw him experience anger they saw him dealing with family natural family in certain instances they saw him uh faced with a hectic schedule people pulling at him and wanting all kinds of attention and time and go here and do that they saw him in these everyday life situations and the point is that in terms of transferring faith discipleship is not learned from a platform is it but if you can let them inside your life and let them see how everyday living is guided by the faith that we have in god by the truth of his word just let them see you live your life in action and i know we have some limitations on that if they're not your own children or grandchildren if you're working with young people it's a limited setting but to the extent you can let them inside your life and let them see you in various settings and experiences and emotions and of course the key is that we do things properly i guess if we blow it and make a mistake we might as well admit that right so hey i didn't handle that so well and this is a teaching point for both of us so there's all kinds of opportunities and our youth certainly need to see that biblical val values are lived out in everyday conditions chuck swindoll who a lot of you have probably heard of he told a story i won't give it in quite as much detail but he said four scholars were arguing over bible translations and one of them said well i prefer the king james version

and he gave his reasons why the language such another one said well i prefer the american standard bible and he offered his reasons for it and yet another one said well i like the the version by james moffat and his translation of the scriptures and he explained what he liked about it and finally the fourth scholar admitted you know i personally have preferred my mother's translation and the other scholars kind of chuckled and he said yeah she translated the bible she translated the bible into life and it's the most convincing translation i've ever seen so in other words she lived out the life before him she was in effect the bible for him because she lived by the principles of it and remained true and that point is well taken for us another step in this process of the process of shaping young believers is take them where you go and i realize again we have some limitations on that but this emphasis is on uh literally letting young people uh see you in action in terms of ministry particularly or service for the lord deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 and 7 and now i'm back reading from the new king james version it says and these words which i command you today shall be in your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up so you see there just the process of everyday living you're to be teaching training exemplifying and so forth and that's the idea here that just in that normal case course of living and engaging in ministry you should uh when you can take them with you whether that's having people go with you on a ministry assignment so to speak or whatever it's fine uh one thing buddy delong's not here they're on vacation but he's been our hospital visitation coordinator for years and one thing that i really admired about him particularly when his kids i guess all of them are grown now and out of the house but when they were very small he would have them tag along to make hospital calls and just let them see him in action ministering to the sick and praying with them reading scripture in fact one time he brought brad along our youth pastor to visit my mother who was in the hospital i think over at old saint anthony's

and uh he he was younger than 12 i know and brad came along watching his dad in action and brad had his bible and uh terrible me i i asked brad if he would read a verse of scripture i said brad would you read psalm 22 verse one it's one of my mother's favorites and so he dutifully looked it up and started reading my god my god why hast thou forsaken me and you should have seen the look of my mother's face see uh i wasn't quite sure what to think and of course i got a good one over him but he still remembers that to this day but the point is but he brought them along and and they saw their dad in action in ministry and they learned firsthand this is how you work with someone who's sick and facing decisions maybe about surgery or or whatever part of their health and uh even family members that would be there with them could also be reached and so those children grew up seeing their dad in action and that's kind of the idea and again i know we're limited and can't do that each and every time but to the extent you can bring someone alongside you and take them with you in ministry and then a third one in this process of shaping young believers is to challenge their faith in a good way but challenge it jesus once did this with his disciples in matthew 16 you might remember that about halfway through that chapter there he just paused and said whom do men say that i am and so they start spouting off the polls you know the survey results well some say you're elijah some say you're john the baptist others say you're another one of the prophets but that wasn't what jesus was looking for he didn't want the poll results so he brought it home directly he said but who do you say i am who do you say i am and of course that was a crucial moment for the disciples we know in hindsight that simon peter spoke up for the group and said thou art the christ the son of the living god and so they were getting it in other words and the youth of the church point of this is they may be able to spout off the expected answers about doctrine or teachings but it doesn't hurt now and

then to insist that they explain it in their own words to ask them you know tell me how would you explain this to somebody that never heard it before be it one god or the plan of salvation or whatever letting them talk about that in their own words would be helpful i had a uh interesting and embarrassing experience years ago i uh right out of high school i took a missions trip up to toronto uh canada a little suburb of it actually there was a church getting started and a bunch of us uh i think there were about five of us from the us and the rest were canadian youth we met there and we were gonna obviously do street evangelism and other things trying to give this church a boost and before i ever got there i got into the toronto airport a day early and actually spent the night in a little efficiency room there and the next day as i was waiting for the youth president to come pick me up i was in the waiting room and there was another guy about my age and he had a guitar and uh come to find out he was of a religious background a mormon in fact he was getting ready to go on his two-year mission for the the mormon church and so we got to talking and uh of course that faith being of the trinitarian persuasion in terms of the godhead and i've been brought up one god all my life and uh so we got to talking about that and the the interesting and embarrassing thing was that uh we both knew what we believed but when it came time to explain it scripturally we were both stumped and here we were going out to save the world right but it was an interesting moment very eye-opening for me and i i since that time corrected it and you know got down to business and figured out what i needed to know but it was so interesting that we were both explaining a concept of the godhead we believed it with all of our hearts we really did he believed what he believed i believe what i believe but we couldn't really you know get it out in plain language to share and understand and so helping our youth do that challenging them in their faith of course is a good thing just asking them or helping them define and support biblical based doctrines

and maybe even just playing devil's advocate sometimes and say they'll make a statement and say well why is that or support that or or defend that and that kind of thing can help them so those are just a few thoughts i came across that some years ago that might be of help to you if not with your own children grandchildren than maybe with other youth that you'll be involved in but eunice and lois did a great job with timothy teaching him the scriptures from childhood acts 16 says that timothy was well reported of by the brethren so mom and grandmother did a great job he had a good testimony among the believers in lystra in iconium a good reputation that was above reproach and i wanted to offer this little note kind of an acknowledgement and encouragement both parents and other family members can do everything right in training their children in the ways of the lord only to see some of them choose not to serve the lord that could be the elephant in the room here tonight i want to acknowledge it we can do everything right and still have children and grandchildren that choose not to serve the lord as a church again back to teamwork we can do everything possible we can send them to sunday school and give them the best of teaching youth ministry children's church and brother mcguire said earlier all that stuff's going on here tonight we're doing our part we can do all those kinds of things and still some won't live for god it's just the way it is i know as a youth pastor standing here now in my few years of doing that sadly there are young people that aren't serving god tonight that were in my youth group i don't like that i find that bothersome but a couple of things to point out one if that's the case with a family member or with someone that you've worked with as in my case as a youth pastor we can't beat ourselves up or despair over that but you have to come to terms that there are many factors that contribute to a person's decision to serve the lord or not serve the lord and if you've done your best it's my opinion it's not wise to beat yourself up or despair

and certainly the other thing to learn is we can't give up right we can't give up we can't quit we've got to keep loving keep praying keep living the life because who's to say that that young person won't return to god at some point in adulthood and we have examples of that very thing happening so don't give up don't quit don't stop praying don't despair but know that god has his eye on them and just keep doing what you know to do because there are examples of them one day coming back and furthermore who's to say that another influencer or or guide in their life might pick up where you left off especially if a child moves away geographically physically from home and to another part of the country uh you you know you don't have nearly as much influence in that instance who's to say but what they'll not come into contact with someone who will kind of take up the baton and carry on that mission of influencing and discipling them so uh that's just my thinking on it uh to not beat ourselves up and uh you know we we're not perfect any of us and we try our best and do our best and sometimes uh young people just don't make the decision to serve the lord i hate that i don't like it and i'm not excusing anything but um it's reality right and so we have to recognize that and and especially let me emphasize don't give up and don't uh stop reaching out and praying and loving because things can change amen things can change and so in kind of a pickup where mom and grandma left off fashion the apostle paul invested his life in this young man named timothy they had a very close relationship paul called him my beloved son timothy was one of his chief associates in missionary journeys he first joined paul in acts 16 there after he visits the city of lister and then we see him being a faithful friend in paul's imprisonment in rome and the highest commendation i think was given to timothy by paul in philippians and i have these verses to read philippians chapter 2 verses 19 through 13. paul writes but i trust in the lord jesus now here he's writing to the church of philippi okay

but i trust in the lord jesus to send tamothius shortly to you this beloved son that i also may be of good comfort when i know your state for i have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state for all seek their own not the things which are jesus christ but ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father he hath served with me in the gospel him therefore i hope to sin presently so soon as i shall see how it will go with me if you notice in that midst there about halfway he said i have no man like-minded out of all of my associates he said there's nobody except timothy that gets it the way i see it or thinks like i think when it comes to ministry this is my beloved son in the faith and i've got no greater one that i can send to you to check on you who's going to be concerned about your welfare in the spiritual realm and work with you and what a high commendation of the great apostle paul for his son in the gospel timothy no man like-minded and in wrapping this up ultimately the credit of course goes to eunice and lois for preserving faith's family tree but we've got to remember the gift of faith is not hereditary just because i'm in the church doesn't guarantee my kids will be right or my grandkids the power of a godly loving example cannot be overemphasized and that's what we do have within our reach to provide they did their job of planning a love for god in timothy's heart giving him the truth and then they saw it branch out where it could in turn reach others through timothy and those that he influenced so when the coming generation here's the crux to it i suppose when the coming generation thinks of the truth of the bible as my truth or my beliefs or my lifestyle or my values you know you've probably heard time or two well that's what pastor thinks well what do you think what's in your heart my beliefs my lifestyle my values not those of my parents or pastor when we hear them talking in those terms then face family tree stands strong and we will have on our hands modern day moses modern day joseph modern day esther modern day daniel naboth it's in their hearts they're not just going through the motions

but they are living for god loving him with all of their heart soul mind and strength and because it is something they want to do so god help us to do our part to preserve faith family tree whether it's your natural family or your part of the team in this spiritual family we all have a role to play and something that we can do and the good news is god is in our corner he's going to help us he's going to help us as we make ourselves available so if you would let's conclude this with a time of prayer and just ask the lord to meet with us if you don't mind standing not that you can't pray seated but i'll give you a little change of pace and if you would reach out and maybe individuals have come to your mind or maybe things that you could do or say have been triggered in your thinking tonight and just ask god's help and to open doors for you to do your part would you do that all across the sanctuary asking his help lord we appreciate so much your blessing and help to us thank you that you've given us this glorious truth this gospel we ask in your name that you would help us all as individuals believers to be those that make disciples and point people to you encouraging and exemplifying the life of faith and truth use us as parents and grandparents use us as members of apc lord as adults here to be a good example for our youth and to help guide and instruct and tell them the things that they need to know and be with them in their times of need and questioning i pray your grace and help through your word through your spirit do these things for each of us and through us and when you come again that there be a strong vibrant assembly found here at apc uh all generations having chosen to live for you and serving you and you can help us do that we ask that you will in the precious name of jesus christ amen and amen would you lift your voice in thanksgiving for the church of jesus christ and that you get to be a part of it let's thank him together