Endurance / Discipline / Patience

Good morning! Well, praise the Lord. Would you stand with me and take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are in the New Testament book of 2nd Timothy this fall, so open to the very last book of the Bible called Revelation, and turn to the left. You will find 1st and 2nd Timothy and then Titus.

We are very slowly moving through chapter 2. I have only made it about a verse a week for the last couple of weeks, but we are going to pick it up in chapter 2, verse 1, to get a little bit of context of where we are at. There, Paul writes to Timothy in 2nd Timothy, chapter 2, verse 1: "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things."

Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffered trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. But the Word of God has not been chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Father, as we open the Scriptures, that last word, "eternal glory," is a good reminder that what we have received from You in salvation is the promise of eternal glory—to be with You forever. The Scriptures say that in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I don't know that there's anyone alive who wouldn't desire that. Lord, we thank You that...

That is the absolute certainty we have as a result of the hope that we have in You, that we will be with You for eternity. I pray, God, that until that day when we see You, when we stand in Your presence, You would enable us to do exactly as this text exhorts us to do. We are going to see here this morning what it means to be followers of You, to endure, to be disciplined, and to have patience. Speak to us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agree said, "Amen." You may be seated.

I don't think there is any simple way around it: winning the war, obtaining the prize, or partaking of the harvest requires effort. There is a level of hard work and determination that is required. Certainly, as we look around at those who compete or those who seem to succeed in life, or just at the various challenges we face, there are some people who seem to have an almost unique inherited endowment of strength, tenacity, ability, or talents—whatever it may be—to face those challenges.

While it may be true that some have special endowments of those inherited traits, without the proper exertion of effort, those endowments may never result in any sort of reward. Natural endowments can actually be squandered, and we have certainly seen people who have not lived up to their potential, despite the great gifts they have been given.

I don't think there is a person alive who wouldn't love it if their talents, abilities, and strengths just took over and immediately resulted in success. However, that is not how it works. We know that some effort is required. That is why many times those abilities or talents are referred to as raw gifts or unrefined talents. There needs to be a level of refinement.

Working those things out to where they actually produce a good outcome is essential. Our giftings and talents, though we may possess them, do not possess us or take over; they do not overcome us. This is why Paul, in writing to Timothy, tells him in 2 Timothy 1:6, "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you." There is an acknowledgment by the Apostle Paul that Timothy, the recipient of this letter, had a special gifting by the Spirit from God.

It is absolutely perfectly fine for me to say that any one of you here today who is a believer in Jesus, who has trusted in Christ for salvation, also has giftings by God's grace and by His Spirit. Timothy had a gift, perhaps many gifts, that God had given to him. Some of those were very specific gifts for the commission and mission that God had called him to through the Apostle Paul's ministry. Yet, though he had those gifts, they were not going to just, by default, take over and rule him. He had to stir up the gift of God that was in him.

Timothy, you have this supernatural gift, but now you need to utilize it. In 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul says, "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Another English translation, the English Standard Version, says, "Be strong by the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Every Christian is a recipient of grace from God, yet we still have to utilize that grace. We have to make a determined choice of the will, a volitional move, to use those things because they will not overcome us.

This brings us to point number one on our outlines: we must choose to use the strength and gifts that God has graciously given to us. This was exactly how it was for Timothy 2,000 years ago. He had to make a choice to utilize the strength and gifts that God had graciously given to him. In making this point, I think it's important to highlight that there is evidence in Scripture, specifically in the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, that we can opt not to use the gifts that God has given to us. If you would, turn to 2 Timothy.

To the left of the Gospels, specifically the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is about a third of the last third of the Bible. Starting in Matthew chapter 25, beginning in verse 14, Jesus is telling a story, which is how He often taught—through parables, through stories that had meaning and an important rule or truth that He was seeking to bring out to His followers.

This is what we read in Matthew chapter 25, verse 14. Jesus says, and maybe it's in red letters in many of your Bibles, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. To one, he gave five talents; to another, he gave two; and to another, one, to each according to his own ability. Immediately, the master went on a journey."

He who had received five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. Likewise, he who had received two gained two more. But he who had received one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his lord's money. After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."

He who had received two talents also came and said, "Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."

But then he who had received one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours."

But his lord answered and said to him, "You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received my own back with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him

Gnashing of teeth. This is one of those challenging and striking passages of Jesus, and there have been a lot of people who have stumbled at this teaching of Jesus from Matthew 25, what's called the Olivet Discourse, teaching there on the Mount of Olives just before He would be crucified. People are really challenged by it because we see this stark contrast to the sweet, gracious, meek, and mild Jesus that we often think of.

This picture of Christ as the master of a kingdom, who one day is going to bring an accounting with His servants of all that He had given to them and how they had used those things, is striking. Those who had used them wisely and, in effect, used them for the work of the kingdom will receive a reward. However, there is a judgment spoken of here for the one who effectively squandered that which the Lord had given to him.

It's challenging, but it's an important passage for us to hold on to because, as a follower of Jesus—what we call a disciple of Jesus, someone who has trusted in Him—you have been given by God abilities, talents, spiritual gifts, supernatural strength, and grace. All of these things are given so that we can effectively fulfill the mission that He has given to us: to go into all the world and make disciples, to preach the gospel to every creature. These commissions, given to us in the Gospels, show that God has called us to that, separated us for that, and commissioned us for that. He has gifted, equipped, and empowered us for that.

Yet, with all that we have from the sovereign God, we still have a choice to make. We have to choose to use the strengths and the gifts that God has graciously given to us. With this in mind, Paul is instructing Timothy, who has been gifted by God and called by God and commissioned to a task. He is exhorting him to press on in that task as Paul hands the baton to him. Paul has already run the race; he has fought the good fight. He is now finishing that portion of the ministry that God has called him to, and soon after Paul would write this letter, he would be martyred for his faith in Christ. Timothy would be one of the next individuals to carry on the work.

So, Paul instructs him in 2 Timothy, chapter 2. We just read it a few minutes ago: "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Timothy, no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier. Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

Competes according to the rules, and the hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider, Timothy, what it is that I am saying to you, and the Lord give you understanding in all things.

We just saw that teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25, where Jesus often spoke with parables or stories. That was his method of speaking to the larger multitudes of people. Paul also employed speaking with pictures and stories. Here, Paul uses three different pictures as a way of exhorting Timothy to do this work. He uses the picture of a good soldier, a competent athlete, and a faithful and fruitful farmer. In these, there are some really important truths.

First, the good soldier. Oftentimes, people can get a little squirrelly when the Bible uses militaristic terms to speak about the kingdom. It is important that we understand that God has not called us to a militaristic moving forward of the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus said, "If my kingdom were of this world"—the implication being that his kingdom is not of this world—"then would my servants fight." So, we have to be careful to understand that this is a metaphor being used whenever the Scriptures employ this language. However, the illustrations are still really helpful and important.

Timothy is in this work that God has gifted and called him for, and Paul says, "You must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." There are three important things in verse three for us to consider. First is the word "therefore." Paul begins with the word "therefore," and as I have cited many times before, any time we come to the word "therefore" in the Scriptures, we have to backtrack a little bit to see why it's there and what it is therefore.

We need to step back a little to understand the impetus for Paul now giving this teaching. What did he say before to lead us into this? The immediate verse is verse two, where he says, "And the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful individuals who will be able to teach others also." We could see that as the thing that's leading into this: "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." But if you step back just one verse before that, in chapter 2, verse 1, you see that he uses the exact same words again: "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

Verse 3 is connected to the "you therefore" of verse 2, which pushes us back to chapter 1 in a section of Scripture we've looked at quite a bit over the last several weeks. In 2 Timothy 1:6, look at what Paul says. He uses the word "therefore" again: "I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."

Therefore, there it is again. Paul continues, "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God." He then moves down a few more verses to verse 13: "Hold fast, Timothy, the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us."

There is this series of exhortations where Paul is encouraging Timothy, who seems to lack courage and be a little timid. He is encouraging him to press on in the mission that God has called him to, that God has gifted him for, and that God has set him to. He says to him, "Stir up the gifts that God has given to you and hold fast to all that was committed to you." Then he adds, "You must be strong by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

This leads into all of the exhortations that Paul is giving. The first thing is the "therefore" in verse 3. The second thing is this concept of being a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I can't help but hear in my head, "I'm in the Lord's army, yes sir!" I was well raised in children's ministry and remember all those songs. You know, "I may march in the infantry, fly..." or the whole deal. If you don't know that song, you should go sign up for children's ministry right after service so you can learn it, because these are good songs.

When I think of being a good soldier for Jesus Christ, I don't know anyone who wants to be a bad soldier for Him. I mean, you don't want to stand before Jesus on that day when you see Him face to face, and He kind of just shakes His head and says, "Well, you know, could have been a little better." That's not what you want to hear, right? We're not there.

We want to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to be a good soldier? How can we achieve this? Let's look at verse 4: "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier."

To become a good soldier of Jesus Christ, we must recognize that we have been enlisted into a battle. We can please the one who enlisted us by not becoming entangled with the affairs of this life, but by being engaged in the warfare.

I recently saw two powerful, newly produced World War II era movies: one called "Dunkirk" and the other "The Darkest Hour." The interesting thing about these two films is that they both take place during the same period, in May 1940, yet they offer different perspectives on the exact same events.

"Dunkirk" focuses on how the British Army was trying to amass a civilian force to evacuate their soldiers from Dunkirk, France, back to England. They were under threat of being completely annihilated by German forces. On the other hand, "The Darkest Hour" shows what was happening in Parliament with the newly appointed Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. He faced significant opposition from his entire war cabinet.

In a pivotal scene, Churchill dispatches the British infantry brigade to position themselves between the advancing German armies and the British forces in Dunkirk. He orders the deployment of those four thousand men into a position that he knows will likely lead to their total annihilation. Despite the objections of his war cabinet, he makes this decision to save those trapped in Dunkirk. As a result, 300 of the brigade were killed, 3,500 were taken as prisoners, and only 200 returned home, wounded.

It’s important to consider that the commanding officers and many of the troops who were dispatched into that position did so knowing the risks involved.

A probable outcome would be, why would they go and do it? Well, they would go and do it because they were enlisted in the British Army to serve at the pleasure of the king. They knew that this was what they had enlisted to do, and it’s an amazing thing—the sacrifice that they were willing to make. I stand in awe, as someone who has never served in the military, especially with Veterans Day soon approaching. I am grateful to many of you who have served in that capacity.

They stepped into that role and went fighting, not being hindered by the entrapments of this world, because they had been enlisted to do that. In the same manner, we have been enlisted into the work of God, into this battle. This battle is first and primarily a spiritual battle. We do not war against flesh and blood, as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6; we fight against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. We are in a spiritual battle. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God for the tearing down of strongholds, as Paul states in Corinthians.

Now, that battle at times manifests in the physical realm; it can manifest in actual suffering. Paul is saying we must endure hardship. We are going to go through difficulty. For Paul and Timothy at that moment, it was actual physical opposition that was coming against them. We may never experience that, but we might experience the spiritual battle, an emotional battle, or a social sort of battle as we move forward in this.

We need to understand that to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we cannot be ensnared by the trappings of this world. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life. We are committed to another Kingdom and to a King of that Kingdom. Paul says we have to endure hardship. That is the third thing in verse three that we want to look at. You must endure hardship. Paul uses this word two more times in Second Timothy. I mention this word because, although in our Bibles it is rendered "endure hardship," it is just one Greek word that this is translated from.

In Second Timothy, chapter 2, verse 9, Paul speaks about his work as a gospel proclaimer and preacher. He says, "For which, for the gospel, I suffer trouble." The words "suffer trouble" there are the same words that Paul uses when he says we must endure hardship for the sake of the gospel. He suffers trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. He is experiencing physical harm, but the Word of God has not been chained.

Two chapters later, in Second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 5, he uses the word a third time. He says, "Timothy, you must be watchful in all things; endure afflictions." The same Greek word is used there. We must endure afflictions to do the work of an evangelist and to fulfill our ministry. We must do this work as evangelists, and in that work, we might endure afflictions and suffer trouble. However, we must endure as good soldiers.

Point number two: the successful servant of Christ experiences success through steadfast endurance. We have received grace and an apostleship; that is a commission. Paul says in Romans, chapter 1, that we have received grace and an apostleship. God has gifted us by His Spirit, and yet, though we have this calling from God, the grace of God, and the gifting of God, we must have steadfast endurance. We must commit to moving forward like good soldiers in this work.

Moving from the good soldier, Paul then uses another illustration of a competent athlete. In Second Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5, he states, "Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." It seems that Paul liked to use this athletic metaphor because he not only uses it here in Second Timothy, but he also uses it in First Corinthians, chapter 9. You don't have to turn there, but I want to read from First Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 24. There, Paul says, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain the prize."

Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we do it to obtain an imperishable crown.

An embarrassed will crown. Therefore, I run, not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight, not as one who beats the air. Here’s the important verse: verse 27. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself become disqualified.

It’s those words that sometimes cause us to cringe or maybe stumble because there is a word there that our makeup, our flesh, just doesn't like: discipline. I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. Literally, that means I discipline my body. Another translation says I beat my body and make it my slave. If you’ve been walking with Jesus for any length of time, you know that this is a reality.

One of the things that Christians experience is a battle—an internal battle that Paul speaks of as a battle between the flesh and the spirit. The good things that you want to do, you don’t do, and the bad things that you don’t want to do, that you practice. It’s described in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and in Galatians. Paul says, “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” There is the flesh, and there is the spirit, and these two are contrary so that you do not do the things that you wish.

You have this internal drive by the Spirit of God dwelling in you and reviving your spirit to do the things that are pleasing to God. Yet, you have this other problem of the flesh that doesn't want to do those things and wants to do things that are contrary to what God wants. Does anybody have this experience? Maybe. Yeah, we have that experience.

So, Paul had this experience, and he said, “I have discovered that to fulfill the mission that God has called me to, I need to discipline my body and make it my slave.” I’m not ruled by fleshly desires or appetites; I’m ruled by the Spirit of God.

Now, this verse is really important to me personally because there are a lot of you here who are not who you were 20 years ago. But if you were here 18, 19, or 20 years ago, you knew me then. I weighed 300 pounds when I was 20 years old. I don’t weigh 300 pounds anymore. Between when I was 20 and 23, I lost 125 pounds. I got down to 175 pounds.

During that period of time, especially in the last year or so of losing all that weight, people would come up to me almost every single week and say, “Man, you have lost a lot of weight.” They’d always ask the same question: “How did you do it?” I could tell in the asking.

Of the question, they were hoping that I would say something like, "Well, I took this pill and I just woke up." That's what they were hoping for. But what I would tell them is this: I would literally say that it might be offensive to me, but I literally ran my butt off. They didn't like that. Why? Because it involves discipline, and our flesh does not like discipline.

Point number three: the victorious disciple wins by determined discipline. We cannot negate what we've already discovered in point number one, that we have been given strengths and gifts by God's grace. We need to understand that we have been gifted by the grace of God with abilities, talents, and gifts. However, those things can lie dormant; they can be squandered if we do not choose to function in the gifts and grace of God by His strength. If we don't exercise determined discipline, we will not see these things help us accomplish the mission.

As I find myself returning to this so often, because it's so clear to me when I read the Scriptures, there is an aspect that is incredibly important: God's sovereignty. But that goes hand in hand with the aspect that you must be determined and discipline yourself. You see, the gifts of God that He had given to Paul— and I have no doubt that Paul had amazing gifting, talent, and ability, an endowment from God that was phenomenal— are significant. Many people reading his letters assume that he is maybe one of the most intelligent individuals who ever lived. Yet, without a determination to use the gifts that God had given to him, there would not be thirteen letters in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul.

There is the Spirit of God and the grace of God working in the life of an individual, and God wants to work in our lives. He has gifted you and me with a multitude of gifts, and we have a stewardship as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We need to use the gifts that God has given to us, and that will require some effort, endurance, and determined discipline. Paul, to the church at Philippi, said in verse 12 of chapter three, "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I..."

Press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things that are behind and pressing on, I reach forward to those things that are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I love that he says he wants to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of him. The implication is that God saved you and me for a purpose, and Paul says he wants to lay hold of that purpose for which he was saved. It does not appear from the Scriptures that God is going to say, "Okay, I saved you for a purpose, and now I picked you up and took you from where you are and placed you there. Boom! Now you're done." No, there is a place in which we are pursuing and laying hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us, as good soldiers, as competent athletes, and thirdly, as faithful farmers.

You cannot be a fruitful farmer without being a faithful farmer. Look at verse 6 of 2 Timothy 2: "The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops." At first reading, I don't know if you noticed it, but it seems to not fit with the logic of what Paul has already said in the previous verses about the soldier and the athlete. The soldier must endure hardship, and the athlete needs to compete according to the rules. Then it seems to say, "Well, the farmer is the first to partake of the crops." Yay!

No, there is something that's missing here. It's interesting when you start to look at some of the other commentators or some of the other translations. There is another plausible way to render verse 6: "The farmer must work hard before partaking of the fruits." That fits with the context. The farmer must work hard before partaking of the fruits.

Point number four: the farmer becomes fruitful by persistent patience and faithfulness. My kids, my wife, and I were over at my parents' house yesterday morning, and we walked just a little bit down their street to a farm stand to go harvest pumpkins for the kids. It was a little nostalgic for me, not because we were harvesting pumpkins, but because that farm stand, when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I don't remember exactly...

I worked there for four dollars and twenty-five cents an hour. It was great. I worked at that farm stand, and what they had me do was farm a couple of fields there. Now, I'm not a farmer; I don't have much of a green thumb. By God's grace and the help of the guy who owned the place, I was able to actually produce something.

However, here's something I discovered in that one season: aside from realizing I'm not a farmer, I learned that there is no harvest without faithfulness and patience. At the very least, you have to be faithful every single day to ensure that it's well-watered, weeded, and taken care of. There is a necessary component of faithfulness and patience. It doesn't happen overnight; it takes time.

Therefore, we need three things: endurance, discipline, and patience, if we are going to fulfill the mission that God has called us to. Yes, we have the gifting of God and the empowering of God, and we could not accomplish the mission without that. But as an added component, we must endure, be disciplined, and be patient.

Paul says in verse seven, "Consider what I say; meditate on this; ponder this." Maybe this week is a good time to consider: Am I one who endures? Am I disciplined? Am I patient? Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. May He enable you to grasp this so that you would be able to press on with endurance, discipline, and patience.

While you do this, look at verse eight: remember that Jesus Christ. I think that's a good place to be often—remember Jesus Christ. What do we find when we remember Jesus Christ? Did He endure? Yes. Was He disciplined? Yes. Was He patient and faithful? Yes. Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, who was raised from the dead according to my gospel, the gospel that I preached.

Paul says, "For which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains." But the Word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things. This is really intriguing to me because in verse ten, you would almost assume or expect that Paul would say, "Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of Christ." That's what you would assume he would say, especially after he just talked about remembering Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Instead, he says, "Therefore, I endure all these things for the sake of the elect." This is intriguing because of what Paul says in this.

I endure it for the sake of the elect. Why? So that those whom God is choosing and calling may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Why does Paul continue to press on, though it means enduring and suffering trouble for the sake of those who need to hear the gospel? Why did Jesus die on the cross for us who needed the gospel? He endured. He was disciplined, patient, and faithful. He did that for the sake of us who needed to hear the gospel so that we would receive salvation.

Paul tells Timothy, "I continue to endure these things for the sake of those who need to hear the gospel of salvation." So, Timothy, you need to endure as a good soldier. You need to be a competent athlete and a faithful farmer. In doing this, we are patiently walking out this word, even if it means suffering trouble for the sake of those who need to hear the gospel.

Remember Jesus Christ. This is a perfect setup for us because I’m going to have the worship leaders come back up, and we’re going to spend the remainder of our service this morning in an attitude of worship as we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in a very tangible way. Just as He instructed us to do 2,000 years ago, we will partake of the bread, which represents His body, and the cup, which represents His blood that was shed for us.

Jesus, on the cross, endured. He disciplined His flesh and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "If there is any other way, let this cup pass from me." He was disciplined to faithfully and patiently go and endure the cross.

The worship team is going to lead us in a song, and our ushers are going to distribute the bread and the cup. As you receive them, just hold on to them because, in a few minutes, we will pray and partake together, remembering His body broken for us.

Let’s pray together. Father, I pray that you would remind us in this time, as we are going to worship and as we hold the bread that reminds us of your body and the cup that reminds us of your blood shed for us, that you would remind us of your endurance, your discipline, your faithfulness, and your patience on our behalf. You did this for the sake of us sinners when we were dead in trespasses and sins, when we were at enmity with you. You endured for us.

God, there are things that you are calling us to endure in this life that will be challenging, often in the context we live.

In Lord, it’s just maybe social opposition, but God, those things press in upon us. It makes it sometimes so we, like Timothy, feel like we lack courage; we’re timid. But God, would you enable us by your grace and strength to take that step, to endure, and to be disciplined? Help us to make our bodies our slave by your grace, that we would patiently and faithfully do the work you’ve called us to.

So God, speak to us now as we prepare for communion about what you did for us. Stir us with that reality to press in on this, Jesus.