SPEAKER_01 0:00

Thank you for listening to an audio resource from Stanwich Church, located in Greenwich in Stanford, Connecticut. The vision of Stanwich Church is to know Christ and make him known.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

The New Testament lesson for today is from 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 3 through 14. This can be found on page 1181 of your Pew Bible. Writing from prison near the end of his ministry, the Apostle Paul urges Timothy to continue to proclaim the gospel with boldness, relying on God's power, purpose, grace, and endurance through times of suffering. A reading from 2 Timothy chapter 1, beginning with the sixth verse. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and of self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering, for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard unto the day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound, words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you. May God add his blessing to the reading of his word.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Well, good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you today as we acknowledge Gina and honor her in what the next level that God is asking her to step into as an ordained minister. As Heather mentioned, Empower is a nonprofit organization that equips women. And we do that by helping women figure out their identity in Christ, what are their spiritual gifts, and where in the kingdom does God want me to serve in my home first, the community, my workplace, and then in the church. We have a new initiative called Emerge, which is for mothers and daughters ages 9 to 14. And I'm very excited about this because we do retreats for the mother and daughter to help them connect to God and to each other. So in the Emmaus room, there are resources for moms, for daughters, for women in general. So Mother's Day is coming, so sign up your ladies for equipping, and uh we would be happy to have them come along for the ride and see what God has for them. Forty years ago, Ron and I lived in Stratford, Connecticut. As he was finishing up seminary, he took a position as a youth pastor, and needing a second income, I took a job with the Connecticut Public School System. And I was excited because I had trained to be an elementary school teacher, but instead of having my own classroom, I went to a classroom, a school, but I went to my office, and every day for seven hours a day, five days a week, I wrote reading curriculum for kindergarten through third grade. It wasn't what I had hoped for. And at times I wondered, Lord, what does this have to do with ministry? But little did I know that later on God would have me homeschool our children, I would develop courses for college and seminary, and I would eventually create empower for women. You see, God always prepares us in each season of our lives to take us to the next level. But we will never know what we need until we surrender wholeheartedly to the current level that he has us. Gina, God has been faithfully preparing you your whole life for this moment. Many of us have seen that and spoken that into your life, and we celebrate this level for you today. I'm here to echo foundational reminders from the Apostle Paul who spoke them here in 1 Timothy to his apprentice, Timothy. Paul to Timothy. My sermon is really directed to Gina as a charge to her, but you all can listen in and perhaps apply it to your own life because at some point as a follower of Jesus Christ, he will call you to the more and to the next level that he has for you. So I want to quickly give you five reminders, kingdom reminders for the spiritual journey. Reminder number one: remember where you've come from. Now, for some of us, remembering where we've come from is the last thing we want to remember. We have happily left behind and we're looking forward to the new things that God has for us. But where we have come from has shaped who we are. It has shaped our worldview, our view of authority, how we handle conflict, how our ability to take risks or our risk aversion. You see, change is external, but transition is a psychological thing that happens inside of us where we're trying to get our head around what has just happened to us. William Bridges in his book, Transitions, illustrates this really well when he talks about the losses in our lives. There are bad endings and there are good endings. When our children graduate from high school and move to the next level, that is a good ending. Could you put up the sign on the of this one, please? When our children get married, that too is a good ending. And when we get a job promotion, that is a good ending. However, it throws us into an in-between stage where things are new and we begin to have a time of confusion and self-doubt and wondering: should I have done this? Why did I say yes? Can I do this? Should I do this? Will I be able to do this? And all of those questions arise. But over time, we see that, you know, I think I'll make it. And then we begin to feel an excitement about this new commitment. We still recognize the work it will take to step up, but we believe we can do it and we embrace the challenge. Gina, you know where you come from. And again, we have seen this in your life and have spoken this into, but at times your own doubts of, but I'm a young woman. But I'm a young Korean woman. But I'm the first one in my family, and women in my family don't fill in the blank. But God wants you to know He is not worried in the least about any of those things. Because He has chosen you, knowing full well who you are and where you've come from. He knows also that you are teachable and willing to learn and trust Him and do everything He asks you to do. So today, which then leads me into my second reminder. Paul says, remember your sincere faith. He says in verse 3, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you. Paul is saying, Timothy, you have a generational spirit of faith that has been passed down from grandmother to mother, and now you, and you have received it wholeheartedly when you accepted the work of Christ in your life. Paul says, I have witnessed your life, I know you are faithful, you believe what you're taught, you study diligently. Gina, you too have that spirit of faith and are diligent to do all that God has given you to do. But faith is not about ideology or religion. You see, our faith is in a person, in the person of Jesus Christ and having relationship with a person. God pursued you, Gina, from the time you were a little girl. And he is with you and for you and on your side and is present and active in everything that concerns you. In this text, it uses the word sincere faith. Sincere here is actually a potter's term that means without wax. Potters of the day would take shortcuts in the firing process during the pottery making. And any pots that had cracks, they would dip them in wax, let it dry so it would become smooth, then paint over it so it looked sturdy, it looked whole. Then they would sell them, knowing full well that when something hot was put in there, the wax would melt and the interior would leak out. The potter pretended to sell a good pot, but he was lying. A sign, sansere, would be put up by the potter's wares. In an essence, he was saying, I will not cheat you. I will not pretend that everything is okay when it's not. I went through every step of the process that is needed to make a good pot, and you can trust my work. You can trust me. Paul is saying to Timothy, I remember that you, Timothy, are not a pretender. Your faith is genuine. Your faith is in Christ alone, not in good works, not in image, not in behavior. Friends, who or what is your faith in today? Is it in yourself? Is it in what you can produce? Is it in the amount of money that you have that you can donate for something? You see, may our faith be sansere without wax, without pretending. Gina, you have this foundational faith. Keeping in it. Our third reminder in verse 6 says, remember to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands. You see, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives the gifts. In Romans 12, 6, we read that we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. But as followers of Christ, it is each person's personal responsibility to fan your gift into flame. And the only way to do that is to develop your gift. You do that by practicing it, by using it, being comfortable in using it. But impartation is also a spiritual principle found in Scripture to give spiritual gifts through the laying on of hands. We see this in Moses when he laid hands on Joshua to commission him to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. We see this in 1 Kings 19 from Elijah to Elisha. But our best example of impartation comes in Luke 9 when Jesus gathers the 12 disciples around them and he lays hands on them and says, I give you power and authority to cast out all demons, to cure diseases, to preach the gospel, and to heal the sick. You see, impartation is a transfer of responsibility, but it is also a transfer of authority to walk in the assignment you have been given as the Holy Spirit empowers you to fulfill your calling. Part of our regularly attending church and church-related activities are also ways to receive impartation as you sit under the leadership of where you go. Here at Stanwich Church, you have chosen, I think, well to sit under Pastor Chuck and this entire pastoral staff who will lead you, point you to Jesus, remind you of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, and spur you on toward love and good deeds, because that is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The fourth reminder of Paul to Timothy is to remember that God gives a spirit of power and love and a sound mind, not fear. In 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3, it says, God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us through His own glory and goodness. Paul is saying to Timothy, do not let your fear stop you. It will paralyze you, block you, shut you down, prevent you from walking in the gifts God has given you, which is, by the way, our gifts are the way God has chosen to advance his kingdom. So of course, these enemy is going to come up and accuse you and harass you and lie to you and tell you that you can't and that you shouldn't, and you better not, and all sorts of things, so that you will back off in the very thing that God has made you for, so that you will not do that because he knows that he is then defeated. Because you are blood-bought sons and daughters who have the full rights and privileges to command the enemy to leave you alone, and he must go. Paul spoke this to Timothy because he knew Timothy would experience fear and rejection and hatred and abandonment and at times think, I just made this up. I don't even think God called me into this. I think I made it up. Every person who has ever committed to follow Christ will always feel at some point I am out of my league. What am I doing here? I don't want to do this anymore. And fear paralyzes you to get you to shut down, hesitate, back off. You see, fear clouds our thinking. And it causes us sometimes not just to be insecure, but we panic, we get anxiety, and in such a state, we automatically go into self-protection mode, and we move from possibility thinking and dreaming into all that could be, into a very narrow view of this present moment. Play it safe, hesitate, ask for yet another sign from God. Friends, that asking for another sign from God is not wisdom, it is fear. It is fear. When Paul says in Romans 12, 2, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is what he was pointing out that we are fighting against. Fear, lies, philosophies, systems that cause us to question who our God is and what he is asking us to do. Paul is saying, Timothy, remember that the power of God, the love of God, the mind of Christ are weapons given you to guard your heart and mind. So let the fire of God set you ablaze to walk in your gifts and calling, because when we do that, we are unstoppable in the kingdom. And as we stand in sincere faith with these blazing gifts of God at work, we receive power, love, a sound mind. To dare to reach for the impossible things that God asks us to do. Things that have never been done before, because God wants you to be the first one to do it. God wants you to step out in faith. The God of the impossible is stirring you up, Stanwich Church, to take the next step. And it will take all of you to do it. But God is with you. You will figure it out with him. But the initial prompting is for you to step into divine alignment with your Creator to bring to life what God has given you to do. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. Paul's final reminder to Timothy is found in verse 14. It says, remember to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. Where you have come from, your sincere faith, your blazing gifts, the power, love, and sound mind of God have all been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit to guard. God Himself has deposited them in each one of us. But Paul says to guard it, because it is again to be delivered the way that only you can deliver it. I am not to preach like Chuck. I couldn't do it. I couldn't preach like my husband. The way God wants the word of God to come out is the way I do it. He wants it to be said in my voice with my personality and the way that I am. He wants that for you as well. However, the presentation and the ministry and the fulfillment of what God has us do doesn't come as wonderfully clear and perfect and laid out. We have some work to do, but we need to write down the vision. Says in Habakkuk, make it plain. It speaks of the end, it will not prove false. Prepare, prepare, prepare in the season. Secret place where nobody else sees, nobody else knows, but let God show you what He has put in your heart to do. Say yes to Him and just come out and do it. He first will show you your motives, and you will have to deal with them. He will have you revisit places of unresolved pain in your heart. He will ask you to work through your list of people to forgive, but he will also ask you to fan into flame the gifts he gave you. And he expects you to receive his love, power, and a sound mind to what has been entrusted to you. Remembering, stepping out, fanning, receiving, guarding our action verbs that are meant to lead to action steps. In James 2, 26, it says, faith without works is dead. You cannot move forward without doing what God has given you to do. Gina, we are excited for you to enter into this level, but it's not the end. By no means is it the end. This too will be a season of preparation for the next thing that God has for you. So keep your eyes open for God's lessons. Keep your eyes open for what he's doing because God always has more for his children. One last story, and then I'm going to ask you to respond. Fourteen years ago, I was asked to create a program for women. I was overwhelmed with the current two jobs I already had. My children, four children were in their early 20s and they needed my presence in their life. And I was taking prerequisite classes for a doctoral program. So it didn't really seem like a good time to add one more thing to create in there. But I felt enough of a check in my spirit that I wanted to talk about it with my husband and have us pray through it. And so as I explained it to him, and I'm thinking, surely he's going to help me say no. And he listened quietly, and then finally I said, So what do you think? And he paused for a moment, a long moment, and then he simply thoughtfully replied, Hun, if you want to do something for women, maybe now is the time because they're actually asking for it. My heart sank. You see, because oftentimes when God calls us to the next level, because the next level is God-sized, we are overwhelmed. We aren't able to do it right now. But actually, all God is looking for is our yes, our alignment to him, and our dependency so that he grows us into the person and leader that he wants us to become. As I fan my gifts into play, I receive your spirit of power and love and a sound mind, and I will diligently guard the good deposit that I have been entrusted with.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

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