Passing On Your Faith

Text: 2 Timothy 1:3-7

Title: Passing On Your Faith

2 Timothy 1:3-8 3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore 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,

I. Pass On Your Faith

a. Through Prayer

b. Through God’s Word

c. Through Encouraging Them

d. Through Protecting Them

Today I am taking a short break from our series in Colossians in order to honor all you mothers. Motherhood is an extra special calling and it deserves our recognition.

I want to turn our attention to honoring mothers on this Mother’s Day.

1. Most recent mother

Who has had a baby in the past year?

Past 6 months?

Past 3 months?

Past 2 months?

2. Oldest mother

How many mothers here are 80 or older?

85 +

90+

91+

3. Who has the most kids?

Who has at least 4 kids?

5, 6, 7, 8

How many of you guys are mamma’s boys? I think that I can make a solid case that every guy is a mamma’s boy. Whenever you see the TV camera pan over to the bench at a football game what is the first thing that those big mean football players say to the camera? Hi mom.

Whenever you got hurt who was the first one you ran to? Mom. If you ran to dad he would just say, “That’s what you get” and then tell you to walk it off or something.

If you are in trouble who is the first one you go to? It’s always mom. She will love you and forgive you no matter what. Dad will let you sit in jail for a few days so you can think about what you’ve done.

The importance of a godly mother is something that we all instinctively understand, but I think that it is important for us to take some time and really think about it. What better occasion to focus on the importance of mothers than on Mother’s Day?

The Bible has a lot to say about this subject. There are many, many examples of godly mothers who where used by God in some amazing ways.

God used Sarah in her old age to be the mother of Isaac. Hannah, the mother of Samuel dedicated her son to God before he was even born. God used a young, humble girl to be the mother of Jesus. And as Jesus was dying on the cross he was concerned with the wellbeing of his mom.

In our passage today we will read about a couple of other mothers who had a significant impact on the life of Timothy. Follow along with me in 2 Timothy 1:3-7…

The first thing that we learn from this passage is that godly mothers pass on their faith. I love the way Paul words this section. He says, I know about the sincere faith that lies within you. It didn’t start with you though. It was passed on by your grandmother, Lois, and your mother Eunice.

Paul mentions these ladies by name. He fully understands that faith doesn’t grow in a vacuum. It has a starting place. For every one of us our faith was passed on to us from somewhere. In this case, Timothy was able to inherit the true faith of His mother and grandmother.

Timothy’s mother was Jewish and his father was a Greek. Even though this was somewhat of a unique match, Timothy received solid instruction from his mother from an early age. Timothy’s mother had a faith that came from her mother. She had also been instructed well throughout her life.

There is no doubt that families pass on their beliefs from generation to generation. This is true for the good qualities and the bad. There have been plenty of studies that show that alcoholism and substance abuse are to some degree genetic. There are some people who are more likely to become alcoholics because of their family history. Just like there are some who are more likely to get cancer or some other hereditary illness.