Foundations of Faith: Continuing in What You’ve Learned

Thank you very much for that, ladies. If you have your Bibles, turn to second Timothy, chapter number three. Second Timothy, chapter number three.

I really appreciate having some teenage girls who are willing to get up and sing in that setting. It's much different if you're going to come up and stand in the choir loft, then actually have to hold a mic that you know is going to pick you up.

But I appreciate their willingness to sing tonight. Second Timothy, chapter number three. We're looking at just a few verses tonight. We're going to start in verse number 14.

The Bible says, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Let's pray and we'll talk about the topic of continuing tonight. Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Lord, thank you for our seniors and their families.

Lord, thank you for your grace in all of our lives as you've brought us this far. Lord, I pray that you would hide me behind the cross tonight. Lord, I pray that you would help me to say only the words that you want me to say.

Lord, I pray that something I say will be of some help to someone tonight. Lord, I pray that you would encourage our hearts through it, Lord, in Jesus name I pray. Amen. How many of you like a good road trip?

We have road trippers in here. I like a good road trip, but a good road trip is like three hours, right? I need enough time to stop at a gas station, get some snacks.

You know, snacks that you would never normally eat unless you're on a road trip. Is that just me? I don't know. I'm not a road. Certainly not a beef jerky guy, because I don't have beef jerky money, right?

But on a road trip, beef jerky's on the table, right? I like short road trips. The long ones, they get me a little bit. The longest road trip I ever took was from Lancaster, California to Tampa, Florida.

I was 18 and I was by myself and I stayed with a friend at his house there in Lancaster for a couple days after graduation while I was trying to figure out where I was going. And I got in my car. It must have been, I don't know, maybe six Five o' clock in the morning. Right.

Because that's the appropriate time to start a road trip. And I got in the car and I drove.

And if you drive from Lancaster, you drive down the 14 and you drive into LA and you hit all the LA traffic and all that. Yeah, all that stuff there. And then you get on the 405 and you take it over and then you get on Interstate 10.

And if you're a big maps person or geography person, Interstate 10 is a lawn one.

And I will never, ever forget, my playlist was empty because I already finished every song that we already had because I sat in LA traffic and I had already used all my skips on Pandora and I hit the little loop that comes off of 410 and I got Interstate 10 and Siri came over my phone or my car speaker and said, for the next 975 miles, continue straight. Whoa. And it just hit me like a ton of bricks what I had gotten myself into. The Christian life is not unlike a really long road trip.

It's not something that can be ran in a day. It's not something that is done in a week or a month.

There may be periods of our lives that are more impactful than others, but really it's a slow marathon here. In this passage, we have the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy and he's giving him his final encouragements before Paul was to be killed.

And you often wonder maybe what you might say in those situations. Read the book of second Timothy, because that's what Paul said to Timothy in that situation.

However, I think some of it's very applicable, not just to our seniors, but to. To all of us tonight. And I really just have three things that we ought to continue in, three things that we ought to continue in.

First off, tonight, we ought to continue in the things we learned as a child. Verse 13, it says.

Verse 14, it says, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them, and that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures.

You see, Paul was talking to Timothy here, who was raised in a godly home, and he had a mother and a grandmother who instilled the Scriptures, specifically the Hebrew scriptures, into Timothy, and he knew the right things from the wrong things. And can I just tell you seniors tonight, don't stray away from what you've learned as a child. Remember the people who taught you.

If we sit back and we think about, especially those of us who have grown up in church, and I know there's some People in here who have grown up in church who are even further down the road than I am. I can recall things that Sunday school teachers told me as a kid that were impactful to me. If you're like me and you grew up some other churches.

I also remember things that Sunday school teachers told me that were, like, way off, right? But I remember things that people told me that were impactful to me.

I remember specific conversations that I had with my youth pastor, specific conversations that I had with my pastor that were impactful to me as a young person. And if I can just encourage you, remember those conversations and remember those people.

I'll never forget when I asked Pastor with what he thought about west coast, and I was like, 50, 50 on where I was going to go, and I was down between Heartland Baptist Bible College and West Coast Baptist Bible College. And if I'm being really honest with you guys tonight, the reason I wanted to go to Heartland is because it's cheap. It's really cheap.

And I remember I was really nervous to talk to Pastor, and he was standing right outside under this port, a cachet here. And I went to him and I was like, hey, Pastor, you got a second? And he said, yeah.

And I said, all right, I'm thinking about going, you know, to West Coast. What do you think of that? And he gave the spiel that he gives, probably everyone with it. And he said, well, he's like, I agree with West Coast 95%.

And he started going into the 5% that he disagreed with. And I said, okay, well, what do you think about Heartland? And he goes, I agree with Heartland 100%.

And he started talking about some of the differences there. And so, like any good Christian, I left. And I was like, I think I'm supposed to go to West Coast. But remember the people who taught you.

I'm using some silly examples here, right?

But as I've grown up, gone through college and have continued to study and have continued to learn, I can honestly say that I've come back more grounded in the things that I was taught here in this church. The things that I've learned, I've become more sure of. I've become more positive in what you guys have been taught is not just opinion.

It's not just, well, my way or the highway.

What you guys have been taught and really what our church has been taught from this pulpit faithfully for 20 years or more is the truth from God's word. Let's not shy away from the things that we were taught as children. So, number one, we ought to continue in the things we learned as children.

But number two, we ought to continue in the Scriptures.

One of the things I so appreciate about Pastor and one of the things I so appreciate about this church, and really, every single person we have in this pulpit will tell you to go home and read your Bibles. It's one of the things. It's a reoccurring theme.

You hear it all the time in every ministry, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And one of the most important things about that is one, yes, it's good for you spiritually, you will grow. But it backs up what's being said here.

If you think that there's something different, go look for yourself. It's here. The guide for life is right here, written for us. I'm kind of a sentimental guy. I have three Bibles.

I have one that's almost brand new that I bought specifically for preaching that I've never used. I have one that I used through all high school and all of college, and I cannot use it anymore.

It is falling apart so much that Hebrews is in the Old Testament now, and we just. We're causing some issues there. And then I have this Bible. I've had this Bible forever.

But one of my friends stole this Bible and wrote in the front of it the little acronym for Bible. I know you guys have heard this before. Basic instructions before leaving earth. Written right here in the front.

You know, the Scriptures are truly the cornerstone, the guide for our whole life. It's the foundation upon which we build not just our beliefs, but our worldview. See, worldview is more than just beliefs. It's all encompassing.

A Christian worldview takes what you believe and applies it to every area of life. And the scripture can give you this worldview. Can I tell you that the Scripture is authoritative? All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Let me tell you, I've done some study in the last few months on this word, inspiration. It is so cool. If you have time, I recommend you go and do a little word study there.

The Greek word, which I can't pronounce and don't even want to try the Greek word there. Inspiration is actually a word that comes from the Odyssey, that story. And the word there was originally used as a wayfaring, a seafaring word.

And it means to have the boat be guided by wind. That's how it was used. So when you have a sailboat and your sailboat's going, it's guided by that wind.

And really, you have some control, but not really a whole lot there. And this whole verse here, all scripture is given by inspiration.

It says literally God was driving the boat that the men were using to write the scripture. It's authoritative. Not only is the Bible completely true, it contains all truth. It contains all practical truth for your life.

Everything that you could possibly know, everything that you could possibly need to know in life is here in the book. But not just its authority. It's applicable. It's applicable.

This isn't just something that we read and study to gain more head knowledge, it's heart knowledge. As we read the book, the book gets into us and it ought to change us.

The mark of a Christian life is one who studies the Bible and lets it change them.

Second Timothy, earlier on in this book, Paul implores Timothy, he says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Why? Because he rightly divides the word of truth. The Bible's authority in our life has no bounds. You want to know what you should do for college?

Look in the book. Want to know who you should marry? Look in the book. Want to know what we should play on the radio? It's in the book.

Want to know how we should dress or. I was going to say what color the church carpet ought to be, but I don't think that one's in there.

You see, it gives a plan and a guide for every area of our life. So not only should we continue in scripture, but if I can encourage you guys tonight, continue in your calling. Continue in your calling.

I find it interesting and enjoyable, sometimes humorous, to sit down with some of our juniors and seniors and start talking with them about their plans for college and beyond. Some of them are very sure of themselves by that time and they know exactly what they're doing.

They say, I believe this is what God's called me to do. And I'm gonna go be an ICU nurse. And I say, God bless you. That's a lot of school. Not for me. Go you right?

Sometimes I'll sit down and talk with them and they'll say, well, I want to do this. And usually my follow up question is, well, what does God want you to do? And I find it interesting sometimes those two don't match up, right?

They'll say one thing for what they want to do and then I say, well, what does God want you to do? And they'll say, well, God wants me to do this. Can I tell you? God has a calling on each and every one of Our life.

It's something that is written on our hearts.

I have been told this and it said a lot to ministry students, especially as you're in Bible college, they'll tell you, they say if you can go do anything else, go do it. It's not really good encouragement. Right. But the reality is is they want you to know it's a calling.

But if I can say it this way, whatever it is you're going to go do, if you could do anything else, go do it. You ought to be so sure in what you are going to go do is God's will for your life that you couldn't possibly do anything else.

We talked just this morning in youth group about the Widow with no Name. It was an awesome lesson. It was titled no Name, no Money. It was awesome.

But as we talked about the widow who gave her two mites, it's probably the best outline I've ever heard for discerning God's will in your life. And it's opportunity and obligation. When God presents opportunities in our life and I'm obligated to do it.

I could give many examples and I did this morning. One of the most prevalent examples in my mind is when Pastor approached me a couple years ago and asked about working in the youth department.

And I told him I would pray about it. And that was a opportunity presented to me. And I sought counsel and I got counsel, kind of both directions.

I had some people tell me to do it, some people tell me not to do it. But as I thought about it, this opportunity that was in front of me, I felt obligated to do it.

And it was God's way of confirming in my heart his calling. You ought to feel obligated to what God is wanting you to do. You ought to continue in your calling. Why?

Because verse 17, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. You see, as you build your life, you continue in the things that you have learned as a child. You don't depart from them.

Not to the left, not to the right. You stay in from there. You continue to build your life on the scriptures. You seek the Book. What does God want for me?

What does God's revealed truth to humankind have for my life? And if you build your life on the Scriptures, at the end of it, you have a calling that you can be short of.

It's something that you can be faithful where you're planted, whether that's Crown College, whether that's pcc, tcc, Texas Women's University, whatever it may Be wherever you are. You ought to be faithful where you're planted. Can I tell you tonight? Wherever you are, let's be faithful where we're planted.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. We're all here where we're at for a reason. Let's be faithful here. We ought to be fruitful with purpose.

We got to seek to follow the Lord and do our best in it. We ought to continue, seniors, you ought to continue. Time would be too far gone to really dig into this.

And as I'm thinking up here, I'm thinking through many conversations I've had with, with each and every one of you and thinking through the conversations I had as a teenager with some of you in their spot. And I feel like we're all just kind of telling each other the same thing to stay faithful. And that's what a church family does.

It's a place for you to call home, for you to return home to, that we can encourage you. We're excited for you. We really are. We want you guys to go and do great things, but come back home. We miss you guys.

So we can encourage you and tell you to continue and stay faithful like you've done for me and so many others. I really believe we're grateful to be in one of the best churches in America. I never thought I'd be on staff with one of my old youth pastors.

Little literal there, but it's okay. Some of the kids in my youth department were in the same youth department with my youth pastor.

It's a big cycle goes over and over where we encourage you to continue. But can I tell you, it's your turn. Give it a couple years over there.

Some of the kiddos out here, they're gonna be right where you're at, and you're gonna be sitting out here. It's your turn. You gotta encourage them to continue.

But if I can just close with this as pastor comes, the only way you can encourage them to continue as you have is you have to be there. If you're not there, you can't encourage them. If you don't stick with it, you can't tell them to continue.

It's a big cycle it, and you're just a part in it. But now it's your time to take the truth that God has given you and run with it and continue in the things which thou hast been taught.

As pastor comes.