Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's second reading. What do you think? Let's talk about this. The reflection was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;   12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;   13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.   14 Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15 Do your best to present you...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/6/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was 2 Timothy 1:1-14.    This is the first of three in a series on 2 Timothy, which seems appropriate, since our church is named after Timothy. 2 Timothy addresses the faithful life of an individual Christian, Timothy. Here we find a history of Timothy’s faith; beginning with his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice and passed on to Timothy. They were Jewish believers in Jesus. Timothy’s father was Greek, but nothing is told to us of his faith or lack thereof. Some of us came to faith in the way Timothy did, while some of us did not. I often envied those raised in families of faith since I was not. Timothy was a co-worker of the Apostle Paul and a third-generation Christian. The letter has a very personal feel to it. After all, Timothy was one of Paul’s closest companions and most loyal followers. In the book of Acts, you will find stories of their travels together. Paul sp...