{"id":7430,"date":"2018-09-30T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T13:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=7430"},"modified":"2019-06-29T12:49:37","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T16:49:37","slug":"a-leader-is-not-ashamed-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/sermons\/a-leader-is-not-ashamed-of-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"A Leader is Not Ashamed of the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><iframe width='100%' height='100' frameborder='0' scrolling='yes' src='https:\/\/drive.google.com\/a\/scbc.com\/file\/d\/1ev_bRqZ-UOELIG7F-HCsVTzjN4hUSrfZ\/preview?usp=drivesdk' allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><p><span class=\"gdm-drivefile-embed\"><img src=\"https:\/\/drive-thirdparty.googleusercontent.com\/16\/type\/application\/pdf\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/a\/scbc.com\/file\/d\/1mN8ABBgvTCYN-wZ7IaVeAaCVb9z08B5e\/view?usp=drivesdk\" target=\"_blank\">View\/Download Sermon PowerPoint<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What topics do you find yourself enthusiastically talking about with your friends? What do you share, without hesitation, through social media? Do you talk about your latest and best meal or where to find the best deal on clothing? Do you constantly talk about your last vacation and where you plan to travel next?<\/p>\n<p>The young pastor Timothy had a list of things he loved to talk about with his friends. But one topic was always left off the list \u2013 the truth of Jesus Christ. He was timid (2 Timothy 1:7) and sometimes embarrassed by the truth of the gospel. So Paul, his mentor, has to write to him and say, \u201cDo not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.\u201d (2 Timothy 1:8).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not hard to imagine Timothy being ashamed of the truth of Jesus. After all, at the heart of our faith is the truth that Jesus died on a cross. This is scandalous! The cross was a means of death for the criminal, the rebel, and the cursed. (see Deuteronomy 21:23) It was the supreme symbol of shame and dishonor. You can easily see the difficulty the young preacher had as he sought to tell the truth of God coming in the flesh but who ended up dying on a cross. Some would ridicule him saying, \u201cThe idea is foolishness. How can God save us by dying on a cross?\u201d Others would mock the whole idea saying that the great God of the universe would never stoop to such a low. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25) Timothy was ashamed of the gospel.<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, but Timothy was ashamed of the greatest proclaimer of the gospel, and his friend, the apostle Paul. People would ridicule him saying, \u201cIf your message is so great why is your leader in prison, chained like a criminal?\u201d (2 Timothy 2:9)<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you identify with Timothy\u2019s timidity and his reluctance to share the truth. If so, continue to read the next verses of 2 Timothy 1 and listen to how Paul instructs his timid friend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life \u2013 not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.\u201d (2 Timothy 1:8b-10)<br>\nPaul seeks to help Timothy overcome his timidity by reminding him of the wonder of God\u2019s grace in Christ and the ultimate result of it all \u2013 the destruction of death and the reality of life to the full. Surely this is good news worth sharing. It is not a message that we need to be ashamed of. It is a wonderful gift that we are called to share with everyone and even be willing to suffer for.<\/p>\n<p>If you find yourself talking about everything but the gospel with your friends it is because you have forgotten that it is the best message the world has ever heard.<\/p>\n<p>May we never be ashamed of the message of grace and eternal life in Christ, Pastor Tom.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 Timothy 1:1-14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[161],"ctc_sermon_series":[452],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[105],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/7430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7430"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/7430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8437,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/7430\/revisions\/8437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=7430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}