Stay On Task Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: July 5, 2006

Date Preached: July 9, 2006

Where Preached: OZHBC (PM)

Sermon Details:

Sermon Series: Idolatry in the Church

Sermon Title: Stay on Task, Avoiding the Idol of Distraction

Sermon Text: 2 Tim 4:1-8 (NASB) read now…

Introduction:

1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,

4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

• Who is this from? Paul

• Who is this addressed to? Timothy

• What is Paul saying to Timothy?

Stay on task…

Carry on the ministry…

Don’t lose focus…

Don’t be distracted…

Don’t be deceived…

Don’t forsake God’s Word…

Don’t allow false teachers in…

Don’t allow the flesh to rule…

Who do these verses mainly apply to? Pastors, Church Leaders, Teachers… but can they apply to all believers, YES!

If so, what are the underlying principles that are universal in their application for all believers?

1. It is a charge is from a man of God to another man of God to carry on… or from one Christian to another to be faithful…

2. This charge is very important…

3. This charge is direct and to the point…

4. The charge is for the main thing to stay the main thing…

5. The charge warns that distractions WILL come…

6. The charge encourages staying the course…

7. The charge reveals the reward to those who are faithful…

Essence of the Text: Paul charged Timothy to stay on task

Essence of the Sermon: God charges all believers to stay on task

Objective of the Sermon: To reveal the importance of avoiding distraction and remaining focused on the task at hand…

Penetrating Question: Why must I avoid distraction and stay on task?

In his book Fuzzy Memories, the fictional author Jack Handey of Saturday Night Live fame writes:

There used to be this bully who would demand my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him.

Then I decided to fight back. I started taking karate lessons. But then the karate lesson guy said I had to start paying him five dollars a lesson. So I just went back to paying the bully.

For far to long the church has had the attitude that it is easier just to pay the bully than it is to pay the price to learn how to beat him…and it is because we are afraid!

However, in our passage this morning Paul tells us how to defeat the bully by being obedient and staying on task by avoiding the idol of distraction.

In this passage Paul reveals to Timothy 4 particular characteristics about the task of taking the Gospel to the lost, the 1st of which is that…

1. The Task is Important (v.1)

1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom…

In v.1 we can see the importance of the task at hand being revealed by the apostle Paul in the tone and context of his writing. Paul says, “…I solemnly charge you…”

The word used here for solemnly is the Greek word diamarturomai (dia-mar-tour-oh-my) which means to affirm solemnly…

But what we need to understand is that this particular Greek word is actually a compound word consisting of 2 Greek root words…

The 1st root word is the Greek word dia which means on account of, because of or through…

The 2nd root word is the Greek word marturomai which means to affirm a matter or to summon as witness to a matter…

So in other words what Paul is saying here is he is witness to and affirms that what he has to say is of the greatest and utmost of importance for Timothy and his ministry…