Timothy: What Spiritual growth looks like

Okay, we had eight questions and they covered Paul's travels with Timothy and the discipleship or training that Paul gave Timothy. So we're going to just work through these questions together. I want to read through the background real quick just for the sake of our visitors and anyone that may have not had the opportunity to study through it. We'll read under the background section.

While in Lystra, Paul and Silas take with them Timothy, who remains involved in ministry with Paul to the last New Testament book written by Paul. Timothy is of a Greek father, but a Jewish mother, who had become a believer in Christ. Though the marriage of a Jew to a Greek would be forbidden by Jewish restrictions, Timothy had gained a knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures through his mother and grandmother. Paul did circumcise Timothy, which may at first be a bit surprising, but this was not thought of as being for salvation, nor even for Timothy's sanctification, but to avoid causing a stumbling block to the Jews. The accompanying table will provide a chronicle of some of the known points of time and events in Timothy's life.

We should take notice of a few key points about Timothy's role as well. While you may hear of some calling Timothy a bishop, scripture does not actually give him that title, and it is clear from the New Testament that an elder, bishop, and pastor are synonymous. The title bishop, as one ruling over multiple churches, did not come into existence from any designation that came from the apostles and his man-made tradition. Timothy is not actually referred to as an apostle either, at least not in any formal sense. Let's skip down to the last paragraph there.

In the end, it appears that Paul gave Timothy some final instructions and charges before his own departure from this life. 1 Timothy to some degree and 2 Timothy most certainly can be viewed as Paul handing off the torch, so to speak, to Timothy. When Paul's life came to an end, Timothy was to carry on as instructed and as charged by Paul. While Paul called Timothy his son and regarded Timothy as if Paul were his father, there came a point when Timothy had to carry on with what he had been given.

So the questions that we studied out this week have to do with Paul's relationship with Timothy and his training. So let's look at question one. I'll read through the question and then just speak up and share with me what you discovered there. The first question, what spiritual foundation had Timothy been given before Paul first came to the area where Timothy was located in order to found a church? Would you call the spiritual foundation that Timothy had received up to the time of Paul's first coming ideal? So was his upbringing ideal? If not, what would have been ideal or at least better?

So if you can see up on the map, Timothy That's faint. Timothy is from Lystra, which is over... Let me get this other laser pointer. So Timothy is from Lystra, apparently. And so, Paul traveled through Lystra on his first missionary journey. So, before the Gospel would have come to Lystra, what type of upbringing did Timothy have?

What did you guys find? Timothy's mother was a Jew and his father was a Greek so his mother brought him up with the Old Testament scriptures. Actually, were not the scriptures that he was brought up with really the same as all that have been brought up, or he knew the Old Testament. He didn't, until his conversion on the road with Anastas, he didn't appreciate and know in his heart those scriptures, but he knew them intellectually. Yeah, so Timothy was taught the Old Testament Scriptures by his mother.

So was that an ideal home setting situation? To be raised by his mother and grandmother, or at least have spiritual input from his mother only? I would say it's the best possible way for him to be where he is. Okay, so you're referring to being raised in a home where he's taught the scriptures. That's right.

So, in Timothy's case, his mother was the one that actually provided, from what we can tell, his mother was the one that provided the teaching to him. And in an ideal home, the father would be the spiritual leader and teach his children. But, where a father is either not saved or is not walking with the Lord, then the mother would need to be the one that is teaching your children the truth. But at least he was taught the truth, and that's the point.

Do you guys have anything else on number one? Yeah, absolutely. That's right. Because he wouldn't travel with Paul. That's right. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, that's great. Because later on he spent quite a bit of time in Ephesus in Asia Minor, which is just further west. I shot myself over here. Good observation. Okay. What was the difference between a great deal of rural and a great deal of community? That's a good question. I don't know if I can answer that without looking it up. Vern, do you have a quick answer to that? Well, just a couple of thoughts.

Often, like it's taught in our own culture, in the secular realms, the Greeks looked at matter as eternal. Whereas the Jews, they start off the Old Testament, in the beginning, God, who was eternal, created the heavens and the earth. So that right there is a switch. What lasts forever?

So that would be one big difference. The Greeks would look at speculative philosophy, speculations coming out of the mind of man as being the real God of whereas the Jews would look at what was revealed in the Old Testament as being robotics. So there's a couple of major differences. And then spiritually, the Greeks were polytheistic, had many, many gods, and of course the Jews were monotheistic and worshipped Jehovah. Supposedly. They were supposed to only worship Jehovah, right?

Well, let's look at number two, question two. What spiritual opportunities and environment had Timothy had to grow in from the time of Paul's first coming until the time of Paul's visit recorded in Acts 16? Did Paul choose Timothy randomly, or was there something that caused Paul to select Timothy for service and travel with him?

Hey guys. So, we'll look at the first, there's three questions there. Two. First, what spiritual opportunities environment had Timothy had to grow in from the time of the first visit to the second visit of Paul? Well, we learned in the first visit of Paul that he had run into conflict. Okay. So there was a disagreement there. Right. That's right. Yeah, I have that verse right here.

It says, they traveled back through the area and told the believers there, apparently in the various cities, that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. They appointed elders in every church, prayed with fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed."

And so it was among those churches that Timothy served and taught, or was taught for approximately three years before Paul came back through. Probably less than that. Okay, so Timothy was involved in the local church. So Paul didn't send him off to a seminary somewhere, but he was involved in the local church. Because when Paul came back through on his second journey, the Bible says that Timothy was well spoken of among the believers at Iconium and Lystra. So Timothy was involved in at least those two churches.

And Lystra is 21 miles from Iconium. We were trying to figure that out this week. What about the second half of that question? Did Paul choose Timothy randomly or was there something that caused Paul to select Timothy for service and travel with him? Paul wanted Timothy?

Right and why is that? Okay, cool. Yeah, that's right. It says Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren. One more thing I thought about is that Timothy would have received the book of Galatians that Paul wrote when he returned from his first missionary journey, and that's when a lot of people think that Paul wrote the book of Galatians. And so Lystra is right in the middle of the Roman-Galatian region, and Timothy would have also received that instruction. Okay, anything else on number two? Because of the inspiration of Scripture, wouldn't all the characters be foreordained of at least what He and God's will and what He and His knowledge and wouldn't be by chance?

Speaking of Timothy being a character in the Bible, sure. Yeah. That's right. But I don't think that we can... Yeah, that's right. I think the point in talking about that is in our present environment in a lot of the churches, Let's say a group would come through from a mission agency.

Let's say they come in and talk to a local church somewhere and then at the end they would ask for volunteers and somebody would raise his hand and if it works out that person gets shipped off to the mission field. He's not sent out by the local church. The mission agency doesn't know anything about him, but they'll send him overseas. So I think that's why we're mentioning that. Here we have Timothy who was actually involved in the local church, and Paul chose him because he had a good reputation. It just wasn't a, I want to go send me, and okay, without thinking, Timothy gets sent off to Ephesus.

That kind of thing happens a lot these days. Alright, let's look at number three. Did Timothy just immediately join the group that traveled with Paul as they were moving along, or what transpired first? And why was this so important? You guys find what happened before Paul took Timothy from Lystra. Yeah, Timothy was circumcised.

Yeah, let's read, if you have your Bibles, let's look at 1 Corinthians 9. Verse 19, look at a couple verses here real quick. So Rake said the Jews would have questioned Timothy and Paul if they would have seen that Timothy was not circumcised. That's right.

Here in 1 Corinthians, which Paul writes when Timothy is with him, he says, For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, though not being myself under the law, so that I may win those who are under the law. To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ. so that I may win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. And then here's his summary. I have become all things to all men so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may be a fellow partaker of it.

So the reason that Timothy was circumcised is not because Paul was under the law or operating under the law or afraid of what the Jews might think so he should act like he's under the law. Because, of course, Paul is the main one who taught that believers are under grace and not law. So, the reason that Timothy was circumcised is because where was one of the first places that Paul went to? What location would Paul go to when he would arrive at a new city?

Synagogue. Yeah, it was usually the first place he went to. was the Jewish synagogue. He would talk to the Jews there and try to convince them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. And they would often beat him and stone him. And then he'd go talk to the Gentiles in the city. And then he'd go back to the Jews. But anyway, so that was the reason that Timothy was circumcised. So that Paul would have an open door to talk to the Jews when he would go to their synagogue or to their city.

Does anyone have anything else they found on that question? You know, in Corinthians when it's talking about not eating meat, sacrifice to idols, things like that, I believe that's the context. You know, if there are believers that, well, believers, okay. If there are people who are, who have a sort of a weak conscience or they're not as comfortable with certain practices, I think Paul was talking about refraining from doing things that would offend someone. Because if you offend somebody, then they just shut you out and you don't have an opportunity to share God's truth with them.

Without studying it, that's the first thing that comes to mind. A really plain example may be Let's say you know your neighbor's a vegetarian. You want to have him over for dinner. You're not going to fix steak and try to talk to him about the gospel over dinner. I don't know. Maybe that's a pretty lame example, but maybe Paul's talking about.

I can recall years past, we used to live on a farm way out, and behind us there weren't very many people, but there was a hippie commune, and we would have them over for dinner and bonfires and things like that. And that's exactly what we did. We stayed away from things that would stumble them. Number four.

Did Timothy just stay right by Paul's side every step of the way, or did Paul have Timothy out on assignments by himself all the time? What combinations of arrangements did Paul have for Timothy? Who were some of the others that Timothy worked alongside, aside from Paul? What would be the value in having Timothy work alongside different associates at different times?

So now we're talking about Timothy's training, his involvement. He's already a believer. He's already walking with the Lord. He knows the Old Testament Scripture as well. Apparently Paul's taught him a lot of the New Testament truths. And now he's learning how to teach, how to shepherd, how to work with other believers. So, what was Paul's method of equipping and teaching Timothy here? What did you find? Did Paul ever send Timothy away temporarily? He did. That's right. He had him deliver the letter to the Corinthians. lead to the first Thessalonians as well. We'll look at that in just a second. a personally delivered First Corinthian.

On their second, on Paul's second journey, and that's the journey that he picked up Timothy and Lystra and Timothy carried on with he and Silas, they traveled across, I have it right They traveled across Thessalonica, Macedonia here, and when they came to Berea, Paul left Timothy and Silas in Berea, and then Paul went on down to Athens.

And of course, then Paul spoke with the men in the Areopagus. Meanwhile, Timothy and Silas were up in the Macedonian region, spending time with the churches. Paul then sends for Timothy and Silas and tells them to come back down. But by the time Timothy and Silas travel back down to this area, Paul is already over in Corinth. And so that's where they presumably hook up with Paul. And actually it says specifically that Paul was making tents, working hard day and night, preaching the gospel in Corinth. And then when Timothy and Silas arrive, it says Paul has more time, it says Paul devoted himself just to preaching now. It makes you wonder if Timothy and Silas didn't help him make tents and allow Paul to go out and teach constantly. Okay, so that's one example of where Paul left Timothy with Silas, another believer.

And what's the value of spending time with other believers? They support each other in different ways. Yeah, we need each other, that's right. We all are gifted differently. Even here at Holly Hills, for example, guys will team-teach with each other and then we change the person whom we're teaching with. We learn different things from each other. Yeah That's right Yep That's right, and I know I've done that a lot Throughout my Christian life growing up. You know you focused on one person and so if you're if you're forced to work with someone else, then you're not always going to be looking to that same person. That's a good point. Be forced to look to the Lord, hopefully, and trust Him, and then learn from each other and value each other, but focusing on the Lord all the while.

That was the second journey where Paul left Timothy and Silas up in Macedonia. But then on the third journey, they came back through the Galatian region again, started out in Antioch, headed through Galatia, and then they went to Ephesus. And Paul did a similar thing. This time he sent Timothy and Erastus on ahead of him to Macedonia. And Paul stayed on at Ephesus, which is over here, for a little while longer, and then Paul came to Ephesus and joined him. So here, what's that?

Paul came to Macedonia. So this time it's Timothy spending time with Erastus, and working among the churches in Macedonia, and Paul then comes and joins with him later. Around this time, Timothy was also sent to Corinth to deliver Paul's first letter. When Paul then travels to Macedonia, he then, at this time, sends the second letter to the Corinthians.

And then on this third journey, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and others travel down through Corinth And then the Jews start looking for Paul and there's word that the Jews are going to try to capture Paul, so the believers tell Paul, get out of here. And so Paul sends his traveling companions on ahead of him up to Troas, and then Paul himself travels back by land around and meets up with the other believers in Troas. And then together they travel back down this coast and then back to Jerusalem.

Okay. So, in summary, Timothy does spend time with Paul, one-on-one, and with other believers, along with Paul, but then Paul ships him out, or Paul leaves Timothy with Silas, Paul sends Timothy out with Erastus, and then with other men. Okay. Did you guys find anything else? on number four.

Yes, Timothy, let's see here. Okay, after Paul is in prison, Paul and Timothy both go to Ephesus and And this is from 1 Timothy, I think it's verse 3, you can detect this, that Paul and Timothy were at Ephesus together, Paul leaves for Macedonia, and then presumably when he arrives in Macedonia, he writes Timothy this first letter while Timothy is in Ephesus. And then later, Paul is arrested again, and Church tradition says that Nero kills Paul. And when Paul is in prison, that second time in Rome, right before his death, he writes his last New Testament epistle, which is 2 Timothy. And Timothy at that time is somewhere in Asia Minor. It's hard to say if he's in Ephesus or if he's in Troas. It's hard to detect exactly where Timothy's at. But he's somewhere in Asia Minor at that time.

How did they find each other? They didn't have pagers or cell phones? DPS? Yeah. Yeah, that was interesting, I'm sure. Okay. You know, sometimes you do read descriptions where they had to spend a lot of energy and time looking. You didn't have all those things, so you just had to go beat the bushes, asking people, looking.

I wonder if Timothy and Silas had that problem, because on the second missionary journey, when Paul leaves Timothy and Silas up in Macedonia, Paul goes to Athens, and it says that when Paul's traveling companions dropped him off in Athens, at that time Paul said, okay, go back and tell Timothy and Silas to come on down. He'll send Timothy and Silas down, and so they have to travel back up the Greek coast. When they get there, they send Timothy and Silas to Paul. And then we don't find those three guys hooking back or connecting until Corinth. So they may have had to look around a little bit. Okay, question five. Let's look at that together.

It says, we do not read about Timothy experiencing a long series of difficulties as we do with Paul. And 2 Corinthians 11 is one location where Paul in detail lists the different persecutions he had endured. Does this mean that Timothy was spared struggles and difficult circumstances during the course of his ministry alongside and as assigned by Paul? What difficulties do we know about that Timothy did endure. Is there anything in Acts or other New Testament books that tell us that Timothy did suffer?

Yeah, and there aren't any other details given than that in Hebrews. It just says Timothy has been released. So he was in prison, that's right. Yeah. Anything else? I think just because they're not recording doesn't mean it didn't happen. It doesn't say anything. OK. OK. Good point. So it seems like they're not recording you so much, assuming that it didn't happen. That's right.

In the first interview, Paul talked on essentially that Paul's teaching. Because it's not like the false teacher to say, oh thank you for telling me. He got all kinds of abusive treatment, at least verbally. Remember when Paul visited Iconium Lister Derby for the first time? He told them when he left. He says, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. So he's telling them at the beginning, you're going to have persecutions, tribulations.

And what Laban said is right on as well, just because there aren't any other verses that tell us specifically that Timothy suffers. that doesn't mean we should assume he didn't, because actually we should assume the opposite. In Philippians, and Timothy was with Paul in Rome in prison when he wrote Philippians, he tells the Philippians, "...for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake." In 2 Timothy, which Paul writes from prison, from his second imprisonment, right before he goes home to believe the Lord, he tells Timothy, somewhere located, somewhere in Asia Minor, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. Later in the same book, he says, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and then Also in 2 Timothy he says, Now you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecution. So Paul is recounting what Timothy had gone through with Paul, what Paul had taught to Timothy.

And one of the things he includes is persecutions and sufferings. Such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Most likely Timothy is suffering right now when he gets this letter.

Paul, he's called a young man and Paul tells him, you know, don't let anyone look down on you because you're young. And, you know, why is Paul writing him that? Is it because people in Ephesus were, you know, ignoring him and looking down on him because he was young? Probably so. So Paul's writing to him to encourage him for that very purpose. By the time that Paul writes that, don't let anyone despise it, he's approaching 40. Who, Timothy? Paul was born probably just before 5 AD. So that by the time he's writing here, Paul's... Paul, by the end of his life, is approaching sixty, something like that, about sixty.

Younger than some. But older than others, John would have been one of the younger ones. So yeah, that would have been part of his difficulties, talking to people who were older than him and didn't want to hear anything from him, but yet he had the truth. Paul had committed to him the gospel, and it was his responsibility to preach to unbelievers and teach believers, whether they were older than him or younger than him.

Is that more of an issue than the culture or the faith? Out of that, I don't know. Well, yeah. Because today, we have all the scriptures, and they didn't have all the scriptures. I just mean because that is... The age differences in the culture. Yeah, I would think so. Because there was a focus even in the Old Testament Scriptures on the elders. If you weren't 40, you weren't worth listening to. with a cultural attitude. And that's why he told Timothy, don't let him despise your youth even though he's approaching 40. He's not 40 yet. Okay, let's look at number six.

What were the things that Timothy was to be learning, just academic? or just practical, or exactly what was the nature of what Timothy learned? What was important? We're running low on time. Let me go ahead here. I passed out something, three pages, that weren't in your packet last week. They're something that the church here has been taught before. I think A. B. Burnham has gone through this in Philippians. I'm not sure exactly when he went over it.

But there's two Greek words in the New Testament that speak of copying the life of another. They're Mimitis and Tupas. Mimitis is the meaning to imitate the behavior of another. Tupas is to be a pattern or an example for someone else. And then here are the different places in God's Word and specifically the New Testament Scriptures where those two words show up.

And what we see then in Timothy's life and in his relationship with Paul is that for a period of time. Timothy is, you see this timeline at the top? For a period of time, Timothy is just learning from Paul, just watching, just observing Paul and other believers in his local church. And then there comes a time when now Timothy starts to practice, with guidance, the things he's learned and the things he's seen. And so Paul lets him do, gives him more responsibilities in the in the churches that they're spending time with. Paul even leads him at the church and then Paul sends him to other churches and in the end, Timothy is a part from Paul, putting into practice what he's been taught. So you can actually take this timeline and apply it to Acts and see where Timothy goes through these steps with Paul.

In the beginning, Timothy's being mentored, and in the end, Timothy's mentoring others. He's being taught in the beginning, but in the end, he's teaching others. Here in the beginning, he's imitating mature believers, mimetests, but in the end, he's living as an example. Tupac, he's the example for other younger believers.

I think that's pretty helpful. In direct answer to the question, Timothy was taught doctrine orally, so Paul just didactically taught Timothy what the truth was and told Timothy how to relate to other believers in the local church, told Timothy how to relate to false teachers outside of the church, but then also Timothy was given opportunity to be involved with false teachers, to be involved with other believers in the local church.

So it was a mixture of both the academic and the practical. We're talking here about discipleship and about training and about being equipped to do the work of the ministry. And what an opportunity the local church provides for that. When guys want to go off to a Bible college or seminary to be a pastor, what type of instruction are they receiving in the seminary? academic.

There isn't hardly any practical training at all. But here in the local church, it's a perfect balance. It's pretty exciting. Do you guys have anything to add to question number six? I wanted to bring up one more Bible verse. It's actually in Philippians, which again, Timothy may have been peering over Paul's shoulder as he's writing this letter to the Philippians in prison.

Philippians 4.9 says, The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. So that's applicable. The things that the Philippians had learned from Paul, received from Paul, had heard from Paul, and seen in Paul's life, Paul tells them, now practice these things.

And the same instruction was given to Timothy as well. Okay, number seven says, we know that Timothy was taught the Old Testament Scriptures by his mother and grandmother. What opportunities did Timothy have to know about, become exposed to, and to learn New Testament scriptures as they became available? We've mentioned a few of them. Mr. Paul.

And then he invented, along with Paul Haynes, the aiding and curbing of the other. That was Paul Haynes. And then he was a member of the British General Assembly. He was probably at Athens, and that was Paul Haynes. And he delivered something. And he delivered something too. It's amazing the range of things he was involved with. Right on. Cool. Well, for sake of time, that's a pretty good summary. Let's jump to question eight.

It says, as Paul came to the end of his life, it was clear that Timothy was to do some things with what he had been taught and had learned. What were they? What was Timothy to do with what he had been taught and learned? There came a time when Paul was to be gone from the earth along with the other apostles. What was to remain and be maintained by those believers who were left on earth, including Timothy? And this relates to the previous question. What was Timothy to do with the things he had been taught by Paul and learned from Paul?

Put them into practice. Right? I'm sorry? Spread it around. Teach it. That's right. Share it. to duplicate what had been done for him? That's right. Let me find this. Okay. 2 Timothy 2.2. In 1 and 2 Timothy, if you guys had time to go through those two books in relation to this question, you'd find all kinds of verses that talk about the truth that had been given to Timothy and what his responsibilities were.

But 2.2 of 2 Timothy is apropos here.

It says, The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses Entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." So right on, he was to pass it on. He wasn't just to collect a library of Paul's New Testament epistles and keep them in Ephesus, safe from the Roman authorities. He was to spread this stuff, teach these truths.

By 2 Timothy 1 verse 13, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Hold fast to it. Sound words means healthy words. Words of hygiene. Okay, so we used to hold on to it, not to change it, not to alter it, but to hold on to it, guard it. Protect it. Don't let it be changed by others.

And then also, in 2 Timothy, Paul tells him in chapter 2, verse 14, remind them of these things. So this goes back to the responsibility to pass these truths on. But remind them, the believers in that Asia Minor region, of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words which is useless and leads to the ruin of hearers." And then he tells Timothy directly, "...be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be shamed, accurately handling the word of truth." So Timothy is to accurately handle the word of truth as well.

Okay, one more. This is pretty exciting in 1 and 2 Timothy. There's all kinds of passages. 2 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 5, Paul says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word. So there is responsibility to preach it. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. These healthy words, the sound doctrine that I've given to you, the time is going to come when they won't want to hear about it. They won't put up with it. But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. Paul's giving them the responsibility to share the truth, but then he's telling them at the same time, and they're not going to want to hear it.

But then he wraps it up and says, but you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. So, pretty big responsibility given to Timothy. But again, it's all in the context of God's grace. Timothy knew about the Lord Jesus who lived in him, the Holy Spirit who would manifest Christ's life. And so Timothy was to depend upon the Lord and accomplish his task given to him by Paul.

It's pretty exciting. Do you guys have anything else to add to that one? Barbara? Well, not necessarily with that, but in general, talking about Timothy and what's on the up there, I think it's easy for a person to kind of stay on the left-hand side of everything, of going to church and seeing what other believers are doing, It does take a lot of effort. There's a lot of shades that kind of go out and do the right things.

It's easier to come to work and then put knowledge into practice. Yeah. And that's the reason why we're learning and being equipped and taught so that when we are prepared, we can be involved. That's right. We're not supposed to just stay passive all the time and protected from other people in the church even. Yeah.

Right on. That's all I had for you. Do you want to share one other thing there? Flipping page, man, madly. Okay. All right. All right. Well, let's um, let's pray. Dear Father, thanks for letting us go over Timothy and Paul's time together and the methods that Paul used as he trained and equipped Timothy. And I pray that We would remember these things as we're involved here at Holly Hills and elsewhere for visiting. And I pray that we would glorify you and wherever you have us in this timeline of being equipped and being prepared for future ministry or if we're already equipped, I pray that we would do that by faith and by your grace and dependence upon you. And thank you for saving us and for giving us your Holy Spirit to permanently live within us. In Jesus' name, amen.