A Profile in Courage: Part 1

As young Christian leader, Timothy faced a daunting task in an uncertain world.  Dark clouds were on the horizon.  Not only was official anti-Christian sentiment on a sudden and steep rise throughout the Roman empire, but the clear and present danger to anyone associated with the Christian movement had already begun to take a toll in widespread defections on the part of many who had once professed undying faith and devotion to Jesus Christ.  In such a world it was hard to imagine maintaining the gains that the gospel had already made, let alone the notion of somehow advancing them.  Which makes Paul’s words all the more important and significant.  His charge to Timothy was summarized in a single line, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3).  It is not an image of the Christina life that we often think of today, but it ought to be.  We’ll consider the entirety of that specific charge and its important lesson to us in a two part sermon beginning this morning with 2 Timothy 1:15 – 2:7, in  a message entitled, “A Profile in Courage: Part I”.