Katy

Q4. It is important to Paul for Timothy to come before winter sets in because otherwise he would have to postpone his trip because he would be unable to get a ship out of harbour during the winter months. Paul was also living from day to day, very few friends around him for support or basic needs and I am sure he longed to see his protégé whom he loved and needed as his time to die approachs . He also badly needed his cloak to protect him from the severe cold of his prison cell.. He also hoped to get his parchments and writings. I’m sure he had final thoughts and words to add to them before his departure. He probably wanted to make sure that Timothy was fighting the good fight and holding tight to his faith. Especially in view of the false teachings that were trying to infiltrate the church at this time. He longed to hear first hand of Timothy’s progress in teaching and learning to deal with his timidity. I feel sure Timothy would have gone straight away to Paul. Paul was like a father to him and he probably was aware that Paul had little time left on this earth. Timothy probably knew of the urgency of going before the shipping stopped for the winter. Also the thought that Paul was badly in need of his cloak and parchments would have sent him as quickly as possible. Most importantly he probably wanted to have Paul’s wisdom and insight into spiritual matter for the last time and to be able to encourage and support him as death drew nearer. I certainly would have gone straight away. How important it is to be with people as they face frightening and difficult situations, especially if they ask for your presence.

Q3.When a trusted friend departs our emotions depend on whether it was a parting on good terms or troubled terms. If we have know and trusted someone and they have to go away. It can be hard because a trusted friend is no longer around, no more sharing the good times and the bad times. No more doing things, or going places together. There is a lonely void in one’s life. This can be hard to replace with someone or something else. If a trusted friend has departed on bad terms and you cannot put things right despite prayer and trying to make amends ( if needed) this can lead to lots of unhappiness, and a feeling of betrayal and anger and loss. This situation can be very difficult to overcome and resolve. However we need to trust people because we are made to be in relationship with others. If we avoid trusting people we will live a lonely life and we will be deprived of the richness and beauty of friendship. We need only have a small group of friends close to us but they are precious and we need to nurture these relationships. Although Paul was lonely because his friends and colleagues have deserted him, except for Luke. He had one other presence who was and is faithful that is the Lord who stood at his side and gave him strength.

Q2. The crown of righteousness is the crown made up of Jesus’s righteousness which will be given to those who have longed for Him and have fought the good fight and kept the faith. This will be given to all who have followed Jesus and have longed for and prepared for His return.

Q1. I have fought the good fight, means that I have carried out to completion the job I have been given by God. Despite all the problems Paul faced he did not give up or shirk his duties in any way he kept persevering to the end. Speaking out telling the truth of the gospel, despite the consequences he endured , and now he is in prison and he knows that his time is short. He can look back at his life and be confident that he has done everything that the Lord required of him. For me to finish well, will take daily prayer, meditation, study, adoration discipline and obedience. I must keep my eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and ignore the worldly things round about. To keep the faith means that I know and speak out the truth without compromise no matter what the consequences are for me.

Q4. Sometimes we can become complacent, we loose the passion we had, maybe through discouragement or being tired from being in one situation for a long time. In these verses Paul is encouraging Timothy to fulfill diligently all of his ministry. Maybe Timothy was neglecting some area of his duties. It could have been an area that he found difficult, it is so much easier to do the things that we find easier to do, or it maybe the things that we are good at, to the detriment of other areas just as important. Paul is trying to encourage Timothy to work hard on all the areas of his ministry. Timothy is to keep his head in all situations, not to be misled by false teachings but to be resolute to keep his head and preach the right message. Endure hardship, even if some of the people don’t want to hear the truth of the gospel, Timothy must persist in telling out God’s truth, no matter what the consequences are. He must preach and teach truth from the Scriptures, he must pray for his congregation and be available to them to lead and guide them. Timothy must faithfully fulfil his ministry. The work I do I must do with all my heart in the best way that I can. All to the Glory of God.

Q3. Paul is trying to encourage Timothy to forget about his own shortcomings and to preach God’s word. No matter what is going on around Timothy he must faithfully teach and preach the word. Even when people are not interested, he Timothy must be faithful and persist. Paul tells Timothy he must be prepared whether it is convenient or not. We must all have some words always at the ready to say to non believers. Even when it is not convenient we must obey God and share the gospel of Christ. There seems to be an urgency about Paul’s words, we know he is coming to the end of his life and I am sure he wants to be sure Timothy has overcome his timidness and understands the urgency and the need to faithfully teach God’s word to his congregation and to make sure those who are false teachers do not distort the gospel. His people need to know God’s word so they can discern if they are being taught wrongly. I sense the urgency in these verses to share the gospel before it is too late. We do not know from day to day what will happen either to ourselves or to someone we know and haven’t shared the gospel with them.

Q2. Every Christian is in some form of ministry and must know the Scriptures and what they say about God and how He wishes us to behave in life. Christians in ministry must know the Scriptures to enable them to teach, lead and guide their people. Knowledge of the Scriptures is also needed to rebuke and correct people who are in error.In verse 16, we are told that the Scriptures come from God and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness .

Q1. Inspiration of Scripture means that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture to write exactly what Jesus wanted them to say. There we many writers of the Scriptures all were inspired by God. God breathed means that the Scriptures come directly from God. He has Breathed them out into the minds of the script writers. Because the Scriptures are God breathed they are true and accurate. The doctrine of inspiration is very important because it means that because they are inspired by God we can have confidence in them and know they are accurate and true.

Q4. If we don’t accept the inevitability of persecution, it means we don’t understand Scripture. Jesus was persecuted and if we are His followers we will be also just as He told us in His Word. If we are not persecuted it means we must be hiding the fact that we are a Christian and staying quiet if anything controversial is discussed. This attitude and actions will weaken our witness before nonbelievers. To take up our cross means to face all the difficulties daily that being a Christian entails. If we are true followers we will be prepared to face whatever comes our way. I’m not saying it will be easy but we know we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. We know that no matter how difficult that might be the Holy Spirit will be with us to equip us as needed. I think Jesus is referring to persecution in one form or another. In the West we don’t really know what persecution is like for other brothers and sisters in other countries, but it is only a matter of time before things become more difficult. If this country at the moment the government are trying to bring in a law to permit ‘assisted dying’, they have already legalised abortion and gay ‘ marriage’! If you say anything against any of these things you are made to feel you are bigoted, out of touch, old fashioned, . As time goes on it will become harder and harder to have a say in such matters.

Q3. Although we are sinners saved by grace, we still have our sinful nature which can rear its ugly head from time to time. If we loose our first love for Jesus and slip into complacency we can go through the ritual of doing the things we have always done but our hearts is not in it, we are being hypocritical !! To ensure this does not happen we need to be on the alert every day, making sure we are doing everything with the right motivation and attitude! We need to examine our conscious daily and ask God’s help to see the things that are wrong or half hearted. Our days must include prayer, study and reading of God’s Word, fellowship with fellow believers, good works and attendance at prayer meetings etc. All these things must be done full heartedly and with love for our Lord and Saviour.

Q2. A person trying to help someone who has wrong beliefs must first of all be humble. Whatever they have to say must first of all be done in a humble way, there must not be any ego issues present! The attitude must not be one of superiority or arrogance or argumentative and quarrelsome speech. The attitude must be gentle full of kindness and respect. We must remember we are all clay vessels bringing the word of God in truth to someone, we are the messenger but it is God by His Holy Spirit that brings someone to repentance and to the truth of God’s If we do not act as above, the person will have no interest in listening to us and may never have another opportunity to see their mistakes. This in turn may lead to others being taught things that are not accurate. It can be very detrimental to the body of believers. Most of all it brings dishonour to God.

Q1. We use our good crockery and cutlery at Christmas and Easter and when we have guests. The everyday crockery is used everyday. Paul’s analogy shows us that we are like everyday vessels but God wants us to become precious crockery so that we can be of use to the Master. We do this by turning to Jesus and asking His forgiveness and following Him. We must then work on ourselves and make ourselves into precious vessels by turning away and fleeing from everything that is worldly and displeasing to Jesus. We must be set apart for the Masters use. This is something that we do every day by the choices we make, the things we get involved in, our time spent in prayer and study. The time we spend helping others, the way we treat others. Our aim each day must be to obey and serve Our Master and to live a godly life in His strength.

Q4. A skilled craftsman has served his time learning his craft. This has involved long hours of study then learning the practical skills needed and only after he has been thoroughly tested and passed his exams can he call himself a skilled craftsman. So it is with Christians , both teachers and us., we must daily study and research the scriptures to learn more about God and his ways. Then we can share with others the life changing message of Jesus. This is so important it must be done by a ‘skilled craftsman’ who has and does study, always extending his knowledge and personal experience of God.

Q3. The soldier, athlete and farmer are illustrations of people who have to work hard in life to achieve what they set out to achieve. Likewise we as Christians must do the same thing, our aim in life is to obey and serve our Lord and Saviour. Like the soldier, athlete and farmer we have to endure hardship and suffering. We must be disciplined, up early to spend time in God’s presence before the business of the day begins, be prepared to tell others about our Saviour, despite their lack of interest or indifference to God. We must be prepared to show God’s love to everyone no matter what is going on in our own lives. The soldier, athlete or farmer will not reach their goals if they are half hearted and disobey or fail to train or carry out their duties and so it is with Christians . We will not be honouring to God if we neglect what He has called us to do. The athlete would be the one I can identify with because my children and grandchildren have been and some still are involved in various sports at school/ college and I know the discipline and the suffering even at this level.

Q2. Unfortunately I think the main reason that endurance and suffering are rarely taught about is because we are not prepared for suffering or endurance . Non of us in the first world want to have to suffer anything. We would like a quiet peaceful life with out suffering. Life is full of suffering and we need to have the endurance to go through whatever comes our way. As Christian’s we have God’s promise that He will be with us and He will help us and never forsake us ( Josh 1v9) God will not eliminate suffering because we are His people but He will walk with us through the storm. He will lead us, guide us, comfort us, and give us His peace which passes all human understanding. Timothy was a shy man and appeared to find it hard to put himself forward. He was human like us all and didn’t want to speak out in case he offended anyone and maybe he would find it hard to face any fall out there may be! Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 1v7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self discipline. Timothy was also young and may have been inexperienced and not very confident. A willingness to suffer draws us closer to God and His presence feels very real. As we speak out it reaffirms the gospel in our minds and we are blessed by God.

Q1.It is vitally important to have a strategy within a church to teach and nurture mature godly people to enable them to take up the baton as present pastors and leaders get older or have to draw back for health or other reasons. In this way the church is carrying on spreading the gospel to each generation and further afield.There is nothing more important than teaching and teaching well those who aspire to teaching and who are gifted by God for this ministry. As much time as is needed should be taken to ensure a prospective teacher is adequately trained and capable of teaching a congregation. This time spent learning and being mentored will make the student comfortable and confident in what they are doing.

Q3.Sometimes when we are feeling insecure and inadequate we focus on ourselves and forget that we have the same power within us by the Holy Spirit as did God when He raised Jesus from the dead. Here Paul is diverting Timothy’s attention from himself and his feelings to Christ and the power of the Gospel. In all our situations we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Author and Perfector of our faith and know that He is on our side and that He will help us in our time of need. If Timothy does the same thing he will forget his shyness and shame and will do great things for God through his ministry.

Q2. I confess that I find it hard to open conversations with people I come across in every day life. I have started praying to ask the Lord to give me opportunities and help me to use them. I don’t think I have ever denied my Lord or denied that I was a Christian. My problems arise when my family discusses things such as abortion or gay marriage and these current difficult and controversial issues. It is the only time I disagree with my two non Christian daughters. Actually on reflection there are many things we see from different perspectives. My views are from God’s word, but these days I don’t argue because I have said it all before and now I hope my life will speak to them. The closer we are to Jesus and the more we trust Him and believe in Him the easier it will be to speak in a normal and natural way about Him to others and share with them our testimony and what He means to us. Even if we feel intimidated or afraid, if we pray the Lord will give us the words to say despite our physical weakness.

Q1. I think the first thing to do would be to speak to the Lord, and repent if it is necessary. Explain to Him all that is in your heart and why the situation has arisen. Seek His forgiveness and blessing. Then start anew with small steps forward, not forcing or overly pushing yourself, but at the same time being disciplined enough to keep going even when it is tough. It is important to be in constant prayer and studying the word. Only God can give the help that is needed through His Holy Spirit. We must remember the great source of strength we have in the Holy Spirit and He will help rekindle our ministry if we come in true repentance, with a humble heart and a determination to put things right before God.

Q3. We must obey our government’s laws unless they are contrary to God’s laws. No government is in office without the Lord permitting them to be. An anti government stance brings discredit to God because it is the law of the land to obey. If it is directly opposed to God’s law we must obey God. If we are causing trouble because we don’t want to obey the law of the land we will not attract people to our Saviour. We will be labelled as trouble makers. Gossip and backbiting are sin and we must refrain from doing either. If we are doing either we are involving others around us and drawing them into sin. And so it goes on unless someone has the backbone to call a halt. These sins cause hurt, distress, and harm to relationships which in turn badly affect the atmosphere and unity within the church.

Q2. The two purposes of Christ’s redemption are: To redeem us from our wickedness and sin. Jesus wants to set us free From the bondage of sin in our lives, and also to turn around our lives and move away from being wicked. He also wanted to Purify a people who are eager to do good works. We need to be pure to do good works otherwise our motives will be wrong, we won’t be doing them to draw attention to Jesus and bring Him glory but we will be doing them for what we can get out of it, and to draw attention to ourselves and how great we are for doing good deeds.

Q1. I should be writing that I would not change anything in my life if I was convinced that Jesus was soon to return. But I know that my life is not as perfect as it should be. My priorities would be different if I lived daily in expectation of Jesus return. The daily routine of life so often distracts from these more important things to come. We have a blessed hope , which means that we are especially favoured, with an expectant hope that Jesus is coming back as He has promised to take us home to live in His presence for eternity. When Jesus was born , He came quietly and lived in humble circumstances, but His second return will be different. All nations and people will be aware of His return, no one will miss it. The last trumpet will sound and His glory will be seen by all. There will be hosts of angels with Jesus as He appears in the clouds. No one will be in doubt about His power, majesty and strength.

Q4. We have been given wonderful grace from God when we accepted Him as Our Lord and Saviour. We have been given freedom, but this freedom is from all our sins. This grace and freedom is not given to us so we can be careless about the way we live. This grace is given to us to live Godly lives that are pleasing and honouring to God. The more we live honourable lives the easier it will become to continue this way of life and the more offensive it will be to us to do anything that is non pleasing to our Lord and Saviour.

Q3.The young woman needed to love their husbands and children, otherwise they would be thought to be neglectful of their responsibilities. They were to be mindful of being pure and moral always, or their behaviour wound reflect badly on the church and ultimately on God. Young women were not to neglect their household duties, to be kind and do good in their communities, this goodness would come from their moral goodness. They were to be submissive to their husbands as head of the household. In all these things if done as they are taught by the older ladies they will bring honour and glory to God and attract nonbelievers to ask questions. The young men as to be instructed in just one area and that was self control. They were to stop and think through things before diving straight in with planning etc. They were to be reasonable in everything that came their way in life. All employees are to work to the best of their ability, not to be lazy or doing enough just to get by. They should be respectful to their employer and not be smart, answering back etc. They must never steal, if they do their employer will not trust them, and will not have any desire to know about Christianity. It would be a great insult to God. Very often people will pay attention more to a leaders actions rather than what they are preaching. That goes for all Christian’s our lives must reflect what we are saying and what we are saying must reflect our words. They can never be different. While we are here on earth we are God’s representatives, therefore anything we do or say that is wrong, unkind, judgmental or unloving will reflect badly on God and we are responsible!

Q2. The older men were to be taught by Titus to be first and foremost Temperate. It appears that the older men were drinking too much alcohol and this was affecting the way people thought about them and of course the church. Paul urges Titus to teach them to be worthy of respect. Respect must be earned and of course if they are consuming too much alcohol, they will not earn any respect. The old men must also learn about self control, which is very much needed if they are going to limit their intake of alcohol. The old men must also ensure they are taught about the soundness or healthy Christian virtues of agape love, sound doctrine, which needs study and application to God’s word on a regular basis. They must also be taught the importance of being patient and enduring whatever comes their way. It appears that the older ladies may have been indulging in too much wine. This of course will have led to behaviour that was displeasing to God. Titus must teach the older women the importance of living in a reverent way, a way that would please the Lord. There is no place for uncouth and coarse behaviour in a Christian women’s life. We must be good examples to the younger generation of women coming after us. The older women have a role to play in teaching what is good , and to know what is good needs prayer and study of God’s word.