How to Follow Jesus Faithfully in a Difficult Day
Download MP3Well, last words are lasting words. Whether or not it's the last words you speak to a spouse before they head out the door for work in the day, or the last words that you speak to your child before they head off to school, or the last words you speak to a parent before you head back to school for the semester, or the last words that you say to yourself, before you go to bed every night. Last words are lasting words. This has become more of a reality for me over the past year and a half. My wife and I have a one and a half year old, his name is Tate.
Cole Ragsdale:And every day Tate and I take about a twelve minute commute his school right behind the UAV softball fields. And as Tate and I make this commute, this is our little routine where Tate and I have a father to son conversation. Where I'm trying to remind Tate of who he is and whose he is and encouraging him to be a certain type of man. Most recently I've been pleading with him to stop biting people. But my hope would be is that this conversation between a father to a son and these last words would in fact be lasting words in Tate's life.
Cole Ragsdale:So why do I start there this morning? Is today we're gonna look at the book of second Timothy, which is going to be the last words of a spiritual father to a spiritual son. And as Paul, who's the author of almost two thirds of our New Testament, pins his final words to his spiritual son, his spiritual protege, he's hoping that these last words will certainly be lasting. That he wants to remind Timothy of who he is and whose he is and the call on Timothy's life in order that he would follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day. Because Timothy's day was a difficult one.
Cole Ragsdale:The church has just been born, there's heresies abounding that of Gnosticism, whether or not the resurrection of Jesus is real or has even happened. And Paul is wanting to remind his spiritual son. He's wanting to teach his spiritual son. Here are some of the main things that I want you to know Timothy, in order that you would follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day. And my aim this morning is exactly the same.
Cole Ragsdale:Is that I want for us as a church, us as sisters and brothers in Christ to follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day. Because we do live in a difficult day, don't we? Where there's this pressure to bow to public opinion, whatever it may be, it seems like that target is constantly moving. Or maybe we even, it's not gnosticism, but we still experience this moral and theological confusion around where our identity comes from. What is truth?
Cole Ragsdale:Is there a capital T truth? Or even what our purpose is? Is that something that we come up with on our own? Or is it something that's bestowed upon us? Or maybe it's this pressure to conform to the spirit of the age, which is one of individualism and self reliance and self sufficiency.
Cole Ragsdale:That I need no one and nothing to live a full life. It's this spirit of the age. And maybe you don't necessarily feel like there's this need to conform, but if anything there's this slight hint or this flavoring of cowering back from our faith. That when there's an opportunity to proclaim ourselves as followers of Jesus, or for the gospel to be on our lips. That there's something in us that kind of wants to shy away or to retreat.
Cole Ragsdale:I necessarily wanna go there with this person. And so it is a difficult day, but thankfully God's word is not silent on how we can follow Jesus faithfully in our difficult day. And so together I would love for us to study second Timothy chapter two verses one through seven, Where Paul tells Timothy how he can follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day. And thankfully that the spirit is inviting us to do the same. And so as we make our way through these seven verses, I see three distinct movements in the text.
Cole Ragsdale:In verse one, we're gonna see that Paul is gonna give Timothy the means for him to follow Jesus faithfully in the difficult day. The fuel, the method. How how are you to do this well, Timothy? And then in verse two, Paul is gonna give Timothy the mandate of how he is to follow Jesus faithfully in this difficult day. And because I love alliteration and you're gonna remember it, is that Timothy's Paul's also gonna give Timothy the mindset of how he can follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day.
Cole Ragsdale:So the means, the mandate, and the mindset. And hopefully through the spirit, we will follow Jesus faithfully in this day. So before we go any further, let's pray together and ask for God's spirit to speak through God's word. Father, I thank you for sacred moments like this, where your people are gathered around your word. And so we plead with you spirit, would you speak to us now?
Cole Ragsdale:God, pray that your voice would be the loudest voice in the room. And so if you would in your seat, would you pray and ask for God to speak to you this morning? And if you would, would you pray for your sister or your brother on your right and ask for God to speak to them today? And if you would, would you pray for your brother or your sister on your left and ask for God to speak to them? And lastly, if you'd willing, would you pray for me that I would be helpful to you in this task?
Cole Ragsdale:Father, we pray these things for the glory of your name, through the strong Son and by the sweet spirit. Amen. Well, if you've got your copy of your scriptures or, the worship guide in front of you, second Timothy chapter two starting in verse one. Redeemer, this is God's word for you this morning. It says this, You then my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
Cole Ragsdale:Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. This is the word of the Lord. So looking together at verse one in this passage, our first two words are you then. This could also be translated as for you or you therefore. And basically this is pointing us back to the entire first chapter of second Timothy.
Cole Ragsdale:Unfortunately, I do not have time to walk through all of the first chapter, but beautiful stuff. Basically here is Paul's summary statement to Timothy throughout the entire entirety of chapter one. He wants to remind Timothy of his calling in Christ. That second Timothy one verses six and seven say, for this reason I remind you in order that you would fan into flame the gift of God which you have received through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given you Timothy a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and self control.
Cole Ragsdale:He says this gift of God, this salvation, this calling, don't let it go dim, Timothy, instead fan it into flame. And then he goes on to say, would you share in the suffering of the gospel of God? Not being ashamed of the gospel or of me his prisoners. Like, Timothy, I want you to get in the game. I want you to participate in this calling and I don't want you to shy away.
Cole Ragsdale:That this call and command to Timothy is one of intensity. It's one it's asking a lot of Timothy. And then in chapter two, Paul begins to make this turn. He says, You then, and then he speaks this term of endearment to Timothy. He says, You then because of this calling, my child.
Cole Ragsdale:It's the Greek word technon. You could almost the tone of this word is more so like you could hear my son, my daughter. That Paul does not come at Timothy with shame and pressure, but instead he comes with endearment and love. You then because of this calling, my child, Timothy. He says, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:If you were to underline or highlight or circle two words in this passage, I think I would encourage you to say the circle that be strengthened. This is a present passive imperative verb, which essentially means that if it's passive that, hey Timothy, this strengthening that you are to do, or this is not something for you to do, this is something for you to receive. But I want you to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That I want you to receive this strength Timothy. That it carries on this connotation with it being a present passive imperative.
Cole Ragsdale:Is it's like this idea of keep on being strengthened, Timothy. Keep in touch with this strength, Timothy. Like stay in contact with this strength. Because I mean, hear this, this is the message of Christianity. Not that we are strong, but instead we are weak.
Cole Ragsdale:We are helpless and Jesus is strong. That what he does not say, you need to like try harder, work better. But instead he says you need to be strengthened by this grace that is in Christ Jesus. So what is he strengthened by? The text tells us by grace.
Cole Ragsdale:Now, if you've been around church, hopefully you've heard about this gospel of grace. That God saves sinners. That it's not of our own doing or our own work, but it is the free gift of God. That our salvation is by grace through faith in Christ always. But this good news of this passage is that grace is not only what is needed for salvation, but grace is what is needed for Christian service.
Cole Ragsdale:That in the same way we need grace for our salvation, we need the grace of God for our Christian living and service. Think about it this way. Grace is not only the diving board by which we experience life with Jesus. It is the swimming pool in which we live. That grace is the thing that is all consuming, it's all around.
Cole Ragsdale:That this divine gift is not only meant for the start of our faith, but there are entire journey with Jesus. That this grace, this strength that we're supposed to have, it's supposed to be continual and it's something that we receive. And where do we get this grace? The text tells us that it's the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That he, the person of Jesus is the locus, the location, the object, the source by which we receive this grace.
Cole Ragsdale:That there is no other name. There is no other place that we can receive the grace needed to follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day other than the name of Jesus. So what is this first means by which we can follow Jesus faithfully? It's the means of being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Maybe think about it this way.
Cole Ragsdale:How do you guys know those like giant inflatables in front of used car lots? You know, one who gives us one of these guys? There was actually a step sing show this year at Stanford that was called Wobbles. And that their entire show was built off of these inflatables. And I've been thinking about it ever since.
Cole Ragsdale:Is that these inflatables only work if they are connected to something outside of itself. That there has to be a source, there has to be a generator of air that allow for these things to draw, to make your eyes go to them in order that you would come and buy a wonderful used car. And in the same way, if we are to live this life that we've been called to, we must be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We must be connected to a source outside of ourself, namely the person of Jesus Christ. So that is how we can be strengthened.
Cole Ragsdale:Because if not, instead of being connected to the source it's like us trying to blow up that giant inner tube for your kids. And you just end up out of breath and frustrated. We have a source and his name is Jesus. Now this verb be strengthened also does have this idea of keep on being with or staying in touch with. And so I was thinking this week of what is something in our lives that we're constantly connected to that would be this like kind of reminder of us like keeping in touch with.
Cole Ragsdale:Think about one. Let's think about your day. A day in your normal life. Here's what I If I could wager a guess of what it might look like. That you wake up to a device that is blaring And you check it, and you put it down and go take a shower.
Cole Ragsdale:Then you check your phone and get dressed. And then you check your phone and go downstairs and make breakfast. And then check your phone and feed your kids. And check your phone while you're feeding your kids. Then you check your phone and get in the car and drive to work.
Cole Ragsdale:Check your phone while you're driving to work. Check your phone at the stop sign, put it down, get to work, check my phone, emails, check my phone, meetings, check my phone, thirty minute lunch, phone, phone, phone, phone, phone. I think you get the idea. Is that we are constantly connected to the device. I think this passage is calling us to be constantly connected to the divine.
Cole Ragsdale:For there to be constant communication between us and God in which we are strengthened by the grace that is found in Christ Jesus. That hear this, we are helpless. In fact, we are useless apart from the grace of God. I mean, the words from John fifteen:five, that if I if you abide in me and I abide in you, you will bear fruit, bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing.
Cole Ragsdale:That we are useless apart from this grace. If we want to faithfully follow Jesus in a difficult day, we must be strengthened by the grace that is that is found in Christ Jesus. That this life of intimacy, this life of connection is what we were made for. There's a pastor in Oregon, he says it this way. He says, The problem is not the work of compassion, mercy and justice.
Cole Ragsdale:Rather, the problem is the pursuit of fruitfulness apart from an equal pursuit of intimacy. Our lives are about intimacy. Fruitfulness is the collateral gain of that intimacy. So practical application for you to consider today. What would it look like for you to receive strength that is found in Christ?
Cole Ragsdale:For you to stop trying harder and to start walking closer with Jesus. Not to whiten those knuckles and pull up those bootstraps, but instead to walk closer to this Jesus, to receive strength in Christ. But here's what I know is I can't really expect for you guys to go through the rest of your day and right before your head hits the pillow, you're gonna be like, know what? That pastor guy said that I should be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. So what I'd love to do is just to create like a little window of time here for you to do that.
Cole Ragsdale:So if you would, like would you mind just kind of opening your hands and maybe closing your eyes? And would you hear God's word read over you? You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then, my daughter, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then, my son, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:You then, Kate, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then, Eric, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then Matt, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then Erica, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then Ben, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:You then Sarah be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Amen. And so I would just consider or I would invite you to consider this week. And those moments when you begin to feel stressed or weak or to grab the device instead, open your palms and be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:This is the means by which we follow Jesus faithfully in a difficult day. And now in verse two, Paul is going to tell Timothy what his mandate is. Let's look together at the text. It says, And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. If there was a verb or a word for you to underline circle in this, it would be entrust.
Cole Ragsdale:That Paul commands Timothy, what you have heard from me in the presence of others, what teaching, what gospel, what scripture you have heard from me. I need you to entrust it to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. This word men here, it's actually the Greek word anthropos, which is a more of a generic for men, which would mean women and men in this context. And what are they called to do but to entrust this teaching to faithful women and men. This word entrust, you could literally translate it as to give over for safekeeping.
Cole Ragsdale:To physically hand something over, to commend something to them. You can almost think parents, you maybe you've got this in your will somewhere that if you were to pass away, who would you entrust your kids to? Your most valuable possession, to whom would you hand it over for safe keeping? What Paul is saying to Timothy is that we have the treasure of the gospel. That he who knew no sin became sin on our behalf in order that we might become the righteousness of God.
Cole Ragsdale:That God saves sinners like me in order that I would know God personally and intimately now and forever. That this gospel, this treasure is not to be kept to ourselves, but it is to be entrusted to faithful women and men. That this is the way that the church grows. This is this picture of apostolic succession that as Paul passes to Timothy, and then Timothy passes to his disciples, and those disciples pass to more disciples. I mean, I can almost imagine that you are in the room today because a faithful woman and man entrusted the gospel to you.
Cole Ragsdale:I mean, I've been thinking this week about Leslie Croft entrusted the gospel to me. David Hall, Alan White, Nick Person, Mike Lynch, Dorian Cooper Cox, faithful women and men who loved me enough to say, Cole, here's the greatest news in the world. And it changed my life. I'm forever indebted to them. So even now who are those women and men for you?
Cole Ragsdale:Total aside, shoot them a text this week, tell them thanks. But this is the mandate that we are to entrust this gospel to the next generation. You could almost think about it this way. I grew up in Atlanta in 1996, the summer Olympics were held there and right outside Turner Field where the Atlanta Braves played, there was the giant Olympic torch. And I always remember my dad telling me about how this torch got lit.
Cole Ragsdale:That there was a previous games and that they would take that burning torch and it would stay lit from location to location to location until it made its way to Atlanta. And in the same way we have been given this treasure, this flame of the gospel, and we entrust it to the next generation. Who entrust it to the next generation. Who entrust it to the next generation. Now, I imagine this idea of evangelism, of sharing our faith, of entrusting the gospel may not be new news to you.
Cole Ragsdale:But I do think there are two common pitfalls that we can fall into when it comes to this mandate. The first one is this, at my seminary there was this legendary professor's name was Professor Howard Hendrix. And everyone would tell this story of him sharing his raspy little voice and he would say something like this, women and men, you cannot impart what you do not first possess. That you cannot give away what you do not first have. That you cannot extend what you have not first embraced.
Cole Ragsdale:And so I would just ask you today, sisters and brothers, have you embraced the gospel? Have you experienced the gospel in a way that you would be able to then extend the gospel? Because the gospel embraced becomes the gospel extended. Grace embraced becomes grace extended. Love embraced becomes love extended.
Cole Ragsdale:That in order for us to impart the gospel, we must first possess the gospel. I think the second pitfall and this is probably the most dangerous for a room like this, is that what sociologists refer to as the bystander effect. Now the bystander effects this idea that if you have a large group of people and a problem is presented to that group, here is the assumption of everyone in the group. Someone else will do it. Someone else will take care of it.
Cole Ragsdale:And there thereby you become a bystander. A part of the bystander effect is also this idea of a diffusion of responsibility. That instead of saying I am the responsible party in this task, someone else will do it. Someone else will take care of it. And may we be careful not to say that when we sit in a room like this and you hear something like entrust this gospel to faithful women and men who will be able to teach others also, that our first cue would be someone else will do it.
Cole Ragsdale:Pastor will do it. People on staff will do it. Small group home group leader will do it. When in fact it's been entrusted to you. That this is a mandate not given generally but specifically.
Cole Ragsdale:Here's a question to maybe consider. If every Christian on planet earth lived life as you lived, would the great commission ever be fulfilled? If every follower of Jesus lived life as you did, did evangelism, discipleship, church life as you did, would we see the great commission accomplished? Where every tribe, tongue and nation would be met with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings and life of Jesus? Or would it fail?
Cole Ragsdale:So practical application, hope this is helpful. Entrust the gospel to someone else. This is the command of scripture. And so maybe even right now, here's a decision you could make. Answer this question, who?
Cole Ragsdale:Who is the person that you can entrust the gospel to? Is it your neighbor? Is it your coworker? Is it your middle school daughter? Is it your high school son?
Cole Ragsdale:Who do you need to entrust the gospel to right now? Decide who is it? And then maybe this week I would just challenge you to make a plan. What would it look like for me to entrust this gospel to faithful women and men who will be able to teach others also. May we not be the generation by which the gospel ceases to go out because we do not take seriously our mandate to entrust it forward.
Cole Ragsdale:We have the means strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We have a mandate to entrust the gospel to faithful women and men. And in verses three through seven, Paul gives Timothy the mindset. Let's look together at the text. It says in verse three, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. It's here in this bit of this passage that Paul gives us three mindsets, three illustrations, three metaphors, three word pictures, three object lessons of what it looks like for us to follow Jesus faithfully. He tells us about the soldier.
Cole Ragsdale:He tells us about the athlete, and he tells us about the farmer. Now if you're at all familiar with Apostle Paul's writings, you may hear some familiarities in here. That actually in second Timothy chapter four verse seven, one of his quite literal last words, Paul says this, I have fought the good fight, soldier. I have finished the race, athlete. I have kept the faith or another translation, cultivated the faith, farmer.
Cole Ragsdale:That Paul's last words are him saying, I have been the soldier, the athlete and farmer. And Timothy, hope you hear this. I hope you catch this. These are the last words that I pray would be lasting words. May you as well be a soldier, an athlete and a farmer.
Cole Ragsdale:And in these three illustrations, he shows us the metaphor, then the hardship that they must endure. And then lastly, he gives them an outcome. So let's let's look together at those three metaphors. The first one is our good soldier in verse three. It says share in the suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. So what did we just learn about the soldier here? It tells us that he doesn't get entangled in civilian pursuits. That he's focused on pleasing the one who enlisted him. That this is the undistracted soldier.
Cole Ragsdale:This is the single-minded soldier. That this soldier has an undistracted devotion to his duty. That he knows the one who has enlisted him and it is his primary aim. It is his target by which is I want to please the one who has enlisted me. You could say that this soldier is wholehearted.
Cole Ragsdale:That he, with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength, wants to please the one who has enlisted him. That he's not entangled in civilian pursuits. So I just begin to ask you today, would you be able to define your faith, your following of Jesus, your discipleship under Jesus as an undistracted soldier? That if we were to lay our calendars open today and see all those different colored boxes, would we be able to say with a clear conscience, I am an undistracted, single-minded, wholehearted soldier. Now this does not mean in any way that we're not to be involved in anything that's outside of the church or not involved in anything that you can't slap a Jesus sticker on.
Cole Ragsdale:There's a difference between involvement and entanglement. That entanglement slows you down. Entanglement takes your eye off the ball. Colossians three twenty three tells us, the way we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, whatever it may be. Are you a single-minded soldier?
Cole Ragsdale:The hardship that this soldier endures as he lays down everything at the cost and the goal of it pleasing the one who has enlisted him. And what does he get? The pleasure of the one who enlisted him. That they are well pleased with this soldier. Will it be said of you that you fought the good fight?
Cole Ragsdale:Let's look at our second analogy. It says in verse five that an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. Now this competing according to the rules. Now of course this means when they're in the arena they're they're not cheating, they're obeying. But there's even a deeper piece to this idea of obeying the rules.
Cole Ragsdale:That an old second century geographer, I'm not gonna attempt to say his name. He, this was the custom for athletes. He says this, it was the custom for athletes, their fathers and their brothers, as well as their trainers to swear an oath upon slices of boars flesh that in nothing will they sin against the Olympic games. This is the important part. The athletes take this further oath also that for ten successive months they have strictly followed the regulations for training.
Cole Ragsdale:That this disciplined athlete has submitted herself, submitted himself to the process of training. Like that gruesome process of preparing yourself for the arena. They're not just showing up at the moment of competition saying, I'm gonna try my best. But for nine months, I have prepared. I have been prompted.
Cole Ragsdale:I will continue on. And that way when I show up in the arena, I will be prepared. This is the disciplined athlete. And so again, question for you, would you be able to define your faith, your life with Jesus as a disciplined athlete? Have you submitted yourself to the process of discipleship?
Cole Ragsdale:Have you submitted yourself to the authority of church leadership? Have you submitted yourself to the accountability of a home group? Have you submitted yourself to the like the true weight of God's word? That this is the role of a disciplined athlete. And then lastly, the hardworking farmer.
Cole Ragsdale:Says, it is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Now to farm lots of skill. But I think what we would also agree with that there's not only is there lots of skill in farming, there's lots of sweat in farming. You can almost like picture a farmer in your head, like the sunburned neck, the calloused hands, the constant maintenance and process of planting and watering and protecting from the elements and from animals, that there's this hard work that's taking place here. The reward of the farmer is he gets to to take and eat of the crop.
Cole Ragsdale:But it's this faithful consistency that defines the life of a farmer. And so in the same way, would ask again, would you be able to define your life as a faithful farmer? Your relationship with Jesus. That this is the mindset that Paul has laid out for Timothy in order that we would be able to say that Timothy would be able to say that I have fought the good fight. I finished the race and I have kept the faith.
Cole Ragsdale:Now, if at this point in the message I may begin to grate against you, I think that makes sense. And here's why. Is that what we're talking about here, these three mindsets, I think run-in direct opposition to a lie that has permeated our culture. And the lie is this, that if something is hard, then it must be wrong. That if something is not easy, convenient, even passive or emotive or comfortable and convenient, then it must be wrong.
Cole Ragsdale:Then it must not be right for me. It would be inauthentic for me to pursue that thing. That if something is hard, then it must be wrong. Friends like the pages of scripture, personal experience, I think we can all say following Jesus is hard. Can I even just say like making like Sunday church a normal rhythm in your family is hard?
Cole Ragsdale:Get your kids out of bed, make your way here, parking spot, car, get like, it's hard. To be physically present in your home group week after week is hard. To be spiritually present in your home group week after week is hard. To give sacrificially is hard. To parent in a Christ like way is hard.
Cole Ragsdale:To pursue purity in your dating relationship, hard. To open up this book every morning and dive into it is hard. To be have a consistent rhythm of prayer is hard. To memorize scripture is hard. To finish the Redeemer reading plan, hard.
Cole Ragsdale:But I think we would all agree that following Jesus is the most worthwhile task in the world. That it's full of beauty and wonder. It's better than anything this world could offer, but it's hard. And so often I'm afraid that we are so afraid of legalism that we opt out of obedience. That we don't pursue the hard thing because I don't wanna be legalistic, it'll be inauthentic, but there is obedience to be had.
Cole Ragsdale:Think of the soldier, the athlete, the farmer. So for you this week, even right now, practical application, hope this is helpful, is these three mindsets. Right now, would you pick one? I can't do a lot of things at once, pick one. This week are you going to be the single-minded soldier?
Cole Ragsdale:This week are you going to be the disciplined athlete? This week are you going to be the faithful farmer? And maybe tomorrow morning when you wake up it's as simple as saying, what would a faithful farmer do? What would a disciplined athlete do? What would a single-minded soldier do?
Cole Ragsdale:And none of this is possible outside of the means of being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We do not try harder, we walk closer. We receive, we are strengthened by this grace. And this strength gives us the power and the ability to fulfill the mandate. To entrust the gospel to faithful women and men in order that we would see the gospel go forth in our city, and see the gospel go forth to the nations.
Cole Ragsdale:And we also have this mindset that hard work and something that is hard should not be avoided. But instead we choose obedience even when it's hard. So as we kind of like close this morning, I would just love for you to imagine for a second, what your life would look like. If instead of doing it your way, you were strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Would you like just envision for a second like what our church would be like?
Cole Ragsdale:If we were a people who threw off the shackles of self reliance and were strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I want you to like imagine, picture what it would be like if you in your life took seriously the mandate to entrust the gospel to faithful women and men. Imagine what our church would be like if every one of us took seriously this call. And then lastly, just like in picture it for a second, like what what your life would look like if you embraced a mindset of a soldier, farmer and athlete. What our church would look like if we did that together.
Cole Ragsdale:And may it be said of us when we draw our last breath that we fought the good fight. We finished the race and we cultivated the faith. Let's pray together. Father, we pray that whatever was from your spirit would be sealed in our hearts now. And God, I pray that just by one degree to the next, that my sisters and brothers and myself would be conformed to the image of your son.
Cole Ragsdale:So God, as we respond in worship, may you be pleased and may your name be lifted high. And Father, we pray this through the son and by the spirit. Amen.
