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[0:00] right into 2nd Timothy and you're correct even though I wasn't 100% certain on that so take your Bibles turn right into the book of 2nd Timothy we'll be in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 I didn't really say yes I will go or no because I leave it up to the Lord's leading but we're 2nd Timothy and we will make our way through this book so we'll introduce it a little bit this morning we'll get into the first 7 verses verses 1-7 in our time together here some of it will be introduction some of it will be introduction there but we'll be making our way now through the book of 2nd Timothy this isn't saying well we did 1st Timothy we have to do 2nd Timothy there's not anything that binds me in that and my thinking just really is praying where the Lord would want us to be and really just studying through scripture over the last couple weeks I really feel like this is one that is applicable to us as well a lot of great truths that come out of every portion of scripture but really excited about the opportunity to preach through 2nd Timothy because it really has application to the individual as you'll see in just a moment whereas 1st Timothy has a lot of application to the church so there's a beautiful balance there that connects the two so if you're physically able and desire to do so

[1:16] I'm going to ask if you would join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God found in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 we'll be in verses 1 through 7 and then we will go to the Lord in prayer the word of God says Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus to Timothy my beloved son grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord 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 longing to see you even as I recall your tears so that I may be filled with joy 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 for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands for God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power and love and discipline let's pray

[2:27] Father thank you so much for this day we thank you for the joy of gathering together with brothers and sisters in Christ coming together to lift up our song to be able to worship through the giving of our tithes and offerings but Father we praise you that we can worship you through the reading and hearing of your word so we pray that as we have seen it and read it and heard it this morning Lord now that you would speak to our hearts and our minds that it would be you who reveals to us the truth of scripture that that revelation would find application in our lives and it would be for the glory of the Savior we ask it all in Jesus name Amen you may be seated we could not find a bigger expanse between two books that are so connected to one another than we can in first and second Timothy really their setting their context and even their intent though they are authored to the same or given to the same individual and addressed to this one man

[3:34] Timothy could not be greater indifference than any other portion that we would turn to in first Timothy we notice that Paul is writing while he has been displaced in another region among his missionary endeavors and he's writing back to Timothy whom he has left behind at Ephesus to raise up elders and deacons and leaders within the church Paul had to leave the city of the Ephesians earlier than he wanted to because of the persecution that he experienced there in that own city and yet he left behind Timothy so that Timothy would strengthen the congregation he would encourage the church so when he wrote first Timothy he was actively involved in his missionary endeavors planning and starting churches raising up elders and he is writing to an individual telling him how the church should be the church first Timothy 3 14 15 and 16 I'm writing these things so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the church which is the pillar of support of the truth he writes so that Timothy could pass this on to others so that they would know how to be the church we flip over the page when we get to the end of 1st Timothy chapter 6 and we go right into 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and yet we find something completely different because now we have turned the page and we are at the very last book which Paul wrote before his death we don't find

[5:03] Paul actively planting churches raising up elders rather we find Paul in this letter sitting in a Roman prison cell many historians Bible scholars will tell you that Paul suffered two Roman imprisonments and I think that they're right we can see that from his letters one of which he was held under house arrest we find at the end of Acts the book of Acts where he has some freedom and people are coming to him and he's encouraging them and he's under house arrest but yet he's given freedom and the book of Acts ends with the gospel being unhindered and then there's this second one this second one that historically if you wanted to know when it was was during the reign of Nero and if you remember the fire in Rome there's this great play that's written on the fiddler on the roof this fire in Rome and all of Rome is burning and Nero blames it on the Christians and the part that's blaming it on the Christians was trying to push down the spread of the gospel so because of the results of that the persecution against the

[6:07] Christians are heightened and many people believe that it is during this time that Paul is imprisoned the second time because when he was given house arrest the first time she'll be okay I promise she's with her mama I saw you're all concerned she's okay that poor baby listen it may be that poor mama okay it's all right you get so easily distracted no I mean you know we have four kids we know they're okay our kids were really all of our kids were really young when I started preaching and they cried a lot too and my wife was walking out with them people were like oh you're a poor kid it's poor mama she's okay they'll be okay let's digress right we go on many people believe that Paul was in this setting now suffering under the persecution of the Nero Empire and no longer under house arrest but rather he's in the dungeon he's in the depths of Romans prison cells we get it from the end of the letter 2nd Timothy tells us that he's cold he's in a dark cell he's isolated and he's alone and he writes this last letter to Timothy and he's asking him to come there's a lot of things we get from this text there's a lot of things we'll get as we make our way through there he wants his cloak that he left behind because it's cold in that dark cell he wants the parchments and the manuscripts he wants the records of the gospel he wants to be encouraged he's still learning he's still pressing on but we also know that his death is imminent he says he's already being out as an offering his race has been run he has finished the fight he has at the end of his life and he knows this he understands these things whereas in the first imprisonment he writes hoping to see the believer soon no longer is he writing hoping to see because he knows that the very next one he'll see will be his Lord Jesus

[8:02] Christ he still has a concern for the churches he still has a concern for the bodies that he's risen up but he's writing to Timothy no longer writing so that he would know how to be the church now he's writing to Timothy and if I had to put a theme over it it would be be the man or the woman be the person that Christ has called you to the key verse I believe in all of 2nd Timothy would be 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 1 where he tells Timothy you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus it is at a time of rampant persecution it is at a time when people are denouncing their faith it is at a time when the government is against them but yet it is a time that is ripe for the gospel ministry and what he is doing is encouraging those believers

[9:02] Timothy in particular here and believers everywhere to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus because the need of the moment is not for weak Christianity but rather for strong believers to stand in their place to be able to defend true doctrine everyone may run away from them people may abandon them people may do them much harm he speaks of this reality there are people who do him great harm there are people who abandon him there are people who leave him behind there are people who belittling but yet we understand what he says be strong be strong so this letter is really more applicable to the individual when things don't always seem to be going right and when it is difficult to be that believer to hold on to something that society itself is really against the freedoms that Paul had earlier in his ministry are no longer there he's not certain if those freedoms will ever come back so he's encouraging those he leaves behind to be strong knowing that the reward and the effort is worth it there's much hope there's much encouragement in this letter but there's also much reason to be discouraged for an individual therefore he undergirds them and I want you to see this morning with all of that context in mind

[10:29] I want you to see this morning the foundation of our hope how can we stand as hopeful individuals how could Timothy live with hope when he sees what is going on in the world in which he lives Timothy is not readily accepted among the Jewish believers because if you remember much about Timothy you know that his father is Greek and his mother and his grandmother are Jewish so he's a half Jew he wasn't compelled to be circumcised it tells us in the book of Acts and Paul writes even to the book of Galatians that when he's there Timothy is not even compelled to be circumcised so we understand that Timothy may not fit in so much with the Jewish believers because he doesn't have a lot of Jewishness to him right he was raised in a Greek home he was raised outside of the land of Israel and his ministry has been confined with Paul among the Gentiles but now that ministry among the Gentiles is becoming very difficult because the leaders of the

[11:31] Gentile world are now persecuting the Christian church and he needs to stand strong he needs to continue to push in and press in we don't know anything about Timothy other than what is revealed to us about this individual in scripture there's no historical records there's no extra biblical text that you can find and study the life of Timothy we are confined to what we know of him as revealed to us in the word of God but Paul saw fit that it was important that we know that he's encouraging Timothy at this time to be strong and he lays out the very beginning a foundation for hope when everything else seems so hopeless here is the foundation Timothy has for hope first the foundation we have is based upon our calling our calling we cannot really study much of scripture especially in particular the new testament and separate ourselves from this matter of calling this reality that is always present it is the calling in which we stand and exist as believers in

[12:38] Jesus Christ which gives us great hope and even confidence to be strong in the grace look at what he says Paul as with every other letter Paul tells you who's writing he tells you why he's writing he tells you what he's going to write and then he goes back and tells you everything he's already told you I love the way Paul writes by the way he tells you who he is he tells you where he stands he tells you who he's writing to he tells you what he's going to say and then when he gets done telling you all that he says what he already told you he was going to say he's a man of repetition he's a man of order and he says it in a very clear manner This is a very, by the way, Greek style of writing a letter, but it is also ordained by the word of God, the spirit of God, moving the hand of the man of God.

[13:22] He says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, by the will of God. Paul first introduces himself as an individual with at least some apostolic authority, right?

[13:37] He is writing some great truths here that Timothy needs to hold on to. Now, we know that Paul does not boast in his apostleship. He does not boast in the authority which he possesses, yet he rather clearly states it.

[13:49] Now, the reason we know that is because when we track the writings of Paul, very own in the early writings of Paul, Paul refers to himself as an apostle born out of due season. He came to Christ later than others.

[14:01] He met with Jesus Christ in the wilderness of Arabia for three and a half years. He had all these things. He first met him on the road to Damascus. He's an apostle born out of due season. And he sees himself as that.

[14:12] He is then, as he writes a little bit later, the least of all the apostles. So he sees himself a little bit less. And then by the end of Paul's writing, he refers to himself as the chief of all sinners.

[14:23] And it is this reality that the longer Paul walks with Christ, the less he sees of himself. And that should be true of each and every one of us, right? The more we walk with Christ, the less we see of ourselves.

[14:37] It is not by walking in Christ, all of a sudden I feel better about myself, right? The more I walk in Christ, the less confidence I have in myself, the less assurance I have in my own abilities.

[14:48] And the greater my position and assurance is found in him. Because I can assure you of this, my brothers and sisters. I need a Savior today more than I ever needed him when I first called out to him.

[15:00] At least in my own understanding. He said, oh, but you were lost and you were without hope then, right? As wretched man that I am, I know that I still am without Jesus Christ.

[15:11] Because the more I study scripture, the more I see of the reality as he reveals to me my own insufficiency. And yet Paul here reminds us that he's an apostle of Christ Jesus.

[15:22] So he's writing one that has something to declare. But notice what it says, by the will of God. By the will of God. And he is here alluding to his calling.

[15:33] Now, this is important, I believe, because in context, everything that Paul is going to say, People abandon him. People neglect him. People debase him. They defame him. He is left alone, isolated, cold.

[15:46] Only Luke is with him. And he needs a physician with him because, you know, the environment's not that good. He's in a Roman prison underneath the ground. It's dark.

[15:57] And yet in all of this, he knows that he's there by the will of God. See, he did not choose to be an apostle.

[16:09] He was called to be an apostle by the will of God. Now, friend, your understanding of salvation and who you are in Christ, it doesn't matter much when everything is what we call peaches and buttercups.

[16:28] But it really matters when it gets hard. Because, see, if you chose Jesus and you chose him because you could use him at that moment, and it was a decision you made because it was a decision that was beneficial at that moment, so you tried everything else, so now it's time that I tried Jesus, and it works for a moment.

[16:45] But then all of a sudden, what about when it doesn't, quote, unquote, work? What about when life gets difficult? And what about when everything falls apart? What about when you lose a job after you've chosen Jesus?

[16:56] And what about all of a sudden people begin to make fun of you? And what about when all of a sudden people begin to persecute you? See, if you chose Jesus to try him out, then you'll choose to leave him when things get difficult. But if you know that Jesus called you by the love of God to the Father and drew you to himself to redeem you in spite of you, and he called you because he loves you, now when everybody else is against you, it really doesn't matter because the King of kings and Lord of lords loves me.

[17:26] Now I know that these things are happening because he called me, not because I chose him. It was because he redeemed me, not because I made a choice or raised my hand. It is this reality that I am there because God called me to himself through Jesus Christ, his son.

[17:43] And in that calling, it has positioned me at times, Jesus says, to be antagonistic against the world, to be against the world, and the world is against me. And now all of a sudden, I can understand, I'm not here because of the voice I made.

[17:56] I'm here because of a calling I answered. And when I know that I have been called by the will of God, then I also know that the God who called me is the God who sustains me.

[18:08] And the God who calls me, Scripture tells me, Brother Jamie reminded us of some of the attributes of God and just who God is, that God created everything and holds the world in the palm of his hands, and that that God who called me and positioned me, now he is with me when everything else has fallen apart.

[18:24] And since he called me, he must love me. And since he called me, he must want me in his presence. And it doesn't matter the circumstances that go on, because this is according to the will of God, not the will of God.

[18:39] And the calling is absolutely essential. Because I can assure you that you will only do something you choose to do as long as it feels good.

[18:54] And the moment it begins to cost you, you'll stop. But when you know you've been called, and you have this sense of calling and this urging and this leading upon your life, I mean, just in a personal application, you don't know how many times.

[19:12] And most pastors would agree with this. In my mind, I resigned from being a pastor. Most pastors will tell you, I've resigned hundreds of times, but I always made it a point not to resign on Monday, because that's just not the best day for a pastor to resign.

[19:28] Why? Because Monday, your brain is gone. Most, you know, most of the times that's the day following, not necessarily always the greatest day. You say, Sunday's the greatest day. It is until, you know, it's not.

[19:39] And then, anyway, so you make your way, and most pastors say, I've resigned hundreds of times, but the thing that keeps you there is the reality that you have been called. I heard a quote this past week, which was a great quote.

[19:54] He shared it to me, my brother in the church. He shared with me this podcast, and I was listening to it. And his quote was, that the pastoral ministry is a high calling, but it is a terrible vocation.

[20:08] That if an individual chooses it because they just want to make a choice to do something that will be fun, it's not always going to be fun. But that application is not just for pastoral ministry. That is for living in a Christian life, because I believe in the priesthood of the believers, right?

[20:21] You begin to minister, you begin to share, you begin to proclaim the gospel. That's a high calling. And at times, it can be tragic. And unless you have this sense of calling, this reality that this is what God has called me to do, you will find no hope in the midst of that circumstance.

[20:44] But he says, I am Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. That's why I am. But look at what it says. According to the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

[20:56] Paul is saying, I'm an apostle of the gospel. So when I proclaim the gospel, I'm proclaiming the promise of life in Christ Jesus, right? Now, this is kind of an odd way to introduce a letter, but it's not an odd way to introduce a letter if you understand that he's waiting on his physical death.

[21:16] He says, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. My day of departure is coming soon. I am a sacrifice unto the Lord. I will see him. My race has been run.

[21:27] My fight has been fought. It is finished with me. But finished doesn't mean the end because he is an apostle of life, according to Christ Jesus.

[21:39] In Christ, he knew, and we know that coming to Christ, we are called to the promise of life. One of my favorite verses is found there in the gospel of John.

[21:51] I love sharing that verse when I had the opportunity to preach at a funeral of a believer where it tells us that Jesus says, he who has believed in me has already passed out of death and into life.

[22:03] And Jesus is saying that word to a bunch of individuals that will someday die physically. But he declares to them, he who believes in me has already passed out of death and into life.

[22:17] The moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have the promise of life. Even when the body is laid down, you're alive. It is the hope of the calling.

[22:31] What can you do? We've always said, what can you do with Paul? You beat him? He says, I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus Christ. You kill him, he says, to die is the gain.

[22:42] You leave him alone, he says, but to live is to preach Christ. If you leave him alone, he preaches. If you kill him, he goes to glory. If you beat him, he rejoices in suffering. What can you do with a man who has the promise of life?

[22:53] Nothing, because he's already met the prince of life. See, this is our calling. Hope is not circumstantial.

[23:05] Hope is personal. And it's found in the one who calls us. It is our calling. Number two, not only do we have the foundation of our calling, number two, we have the foundation of our connections.

[23:19] Of our connections. Look at this, to Timothy, my beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[23:33] Notice what he says here. Paul is leaving. Timothy will remain. We don't know how much longer Timothy remains, but Timothy will remain.

[23:45] And Paul here is encouraging Timothy to be the man, to stand strong in the grace of Christ Jesus. And he reminds Timothy that he has a deep connection with him.

[23:58] He says to Timothy, my beloved son. Timothy has the connection with Paul. Paul not only took him on, Paul at least ordained him. It tells us by the laying on of his hands, Paul says that he prays over him.

[24:10] It is a connection of one who is concerned for him. He says, I pray daily for you. It is a connection that is genuine because he is mindful of the tears that Timothy shed last time they were together.

[24:23] It is a connection that means something. One of the most beautiful things that we find in Christianity is that when Jesus Christ calls us to the Father through himself, he immediately connects us to others around us.

[24:40] Those who become the hands and feet of Christ Jesus actively involved in our lives. He does not call us to isolate us. He calls us to connect us. He calls us out of the world, Ecclesia Church, remember that right?

[24:54] He calls us out of the world to connect us with others. It is this whole reality. We said this when we went through the Old Testament in the book of Exodus, that we do not properly understand the salvation event until we understand the Exodus event, that God called them out of Egypt, but God didn't call them out of Egypt to go wander around in the wilderness, right?

[25:18] He brought them out of Egypt in order to bring them into Canaan, right? He took them out to bring them in. He had a purpose behind that. He calls us out of sin and slavery to Satan to bring us into the fellowship of the body of believers.

[25:33] He has brought us out to connect us in, and it is that connection that matters. Paul says, I'm praying for you. But look at what he says. Not only is your connection one of our brothers and sisters in Christ, but he says grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

[25:52] Notice the our word right there. Not only is he connected to Paul, he's also connected to God who is his Father and Christ Jesus who is their Lord.

[26:04] There is the connection that now moves to the higher plane. It is the connection of a brother. It is connection of a heavenly father and a very present savior.

[26:15] But he goes on. He keeps going down in verse five. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. He reminds Timothy of his familial connection.

[26:28] See, Timothy may seem to stand alone in a world that is antagonistic against him, but the reality is, is there is a lot of people around him to support him. Paul may depart.

[26:41] There's the influence of the home. There's a heavenly presence in glory. It tells us in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, that there's the grand host of heaven that is looking on the events of the church on earth.

[26:54] It is good to be reminded of our connection. Because our connections help us in moments of isolation, helps us in moments where we feel like people have abandoned us.

[27:05] It helps us when it seems like everybody turns away from us. Paul has someone he could write to. Timothy would have someone he could write to. Friend, listen to me. We need one another.

[27:18] That connection is important. Because there are moments where things don't go real well in every one of our lives, and we need to be reminded that we are not going through it alone.

[27:31] Foundations of hope are based upon our calling, our connection, and finally, number three, our confidence. Notice here our confidence. Paul says, Because I am mindful of the sincere faith.

[27:44] That means unhypocritical, genuine, authentic faith within you. He reminds him that though his faith may be tested, it is indeed a sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure he emphasizes this again, it is in you as well.

[28:07] Oh, listen to me, brothers and sisters, every now and then, you need someone to stand beside you. This is what we talked about this last week, why it's so important to make a public confession of Jesus Christ.

[28:19] This follows on the heels of that, because there are moments where you may doubt your faith. You say, Oh, pastor, isn't that wrong to doubt your faith? Only if you're not human, right?

[28:30] And say, Well, there may be times where in your mind, you're saying, Do I really believe? You need someone standing beside you, saying, Brother, sister, listen to me. Your faith is genuine. I've seen it.

[28:40] I've heard it. I've watched it. I've observed it. Let me tell you the fruit that's in your own life. You're going through a moment of trial. You're going through a moment of difficulty.

[28:51] You're going through a moment where Satan's darts seem to be hitting the mark all of a sudden. Let me tell you about the fruit that I've seen. Let me tell you about the love that is present. You need someone to remind you that you really do believe in Jesus Christ.

[29:06] Not to try to talk you into it, but to testify to you of how they've walked beside you time and time again. From all accounts, Timothy is not doing too well.

[29:18] When we read 1 Timothy, he seems to be a little timid. He seems to be ashamed of his youthfulness. By the time we turn to 2 Timothy, he has to be told to kindle afresh the fire that is within him. He seems to be kind of backing off because the persecution is there.

[29:30] So in case we think that Paul is writing to someone doing it right and doing it perfectly, we need to correct that. He's writing to someone who seems to be kind of failing a little bit and he's not wagging the finger judging him. What he's doing is he's coming beside him and saying, I was there.

[29:44] I know the testimony you made. I know the faith you exhibited. I want to encourage you, my brother. You believe and profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and now live like it. He's walking beside him.

[29:59] He's not giving him excuse to sin. He's not saying, all these sins are okay. He doesn't do that. That's not Paul, right? But he is encouraging him. When it gets difficult, I am mindful of the sincere faith that's within you.

[30:11] Well, there have been times where I've had people come and sit down and say, well, pastor, I don't know. I'm really doubting my own salvation right now. I'm doubting my faith and I appreciate those times of transparency.

[30:22] And we sit down and we just start looking at fruit, right? We start looking at past fruit and we start looking at Ebenezer's and we start looking at all this. And what did Jesus say? That no one can claim that Jesus Christ is Lord without the Spirit of God present in their life, right?

[30:35] There needs to be times of reminders. There needs to be times of remembrance. This is why Samuel said, we set up this Ebenezer stone of help because when we get out there, we're going to forget.

[30:47] We need to look back and see that pile of rocks and say, no, but we are the people of God. Put some piles of rocks in your life and the biggest pile of rocks you'll ever find are the spiritual stones around you that Peter says that we are the stones which build up the house.

[31:00] Put up a pile of people around you that you can look back and they can testify to you and say, you are my brother. You are my sister. People that can walk beside you and give you the confidence to face the battle that is present in your life.

[31:14] Not to make it easy and give you an excuse, but to be beside you and encouraging you. And he says, for this reason, because I am mindful of the sincere faith that's within you, for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

[31:30] He says, don't just keep going on in this complacent manner. Stir the fire that is there. For God, here's our confidence, for God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

[31:45] The word discipline there is self-discipline. He says that when you came to Christ, Christ did something new in your life. Christ did something amazing in your life and he imparted in your spirit his Holy Spirit.

[31:59] Some people believe that it should be the Holy Spirit here. Whether it's the spirit of the man or the Holy Spirit, it really doesn't matter because the Holy Spirit indwells the man which therefore shapes and moves his spirit. And he shows them that his confidence is in the fact that God has done something new.

[32:13] That the spirit of God is not a spirit of timidity. It doesn't mean we go around like Peter, swinging the sword and cutting people's ears off. But it means we have the confidence of Peter that when they're persecuting him saying it doesn't matter what you say, we have to preach the gospel.

[32:29] Right? It's not the Peter in the garden, it's the Peter in the temple that we want that power. We understand this, what he says, but of power and love and self-discipline.

[32:40] This is not self-confidence, but rather this is confidence in Christ to discipline oneself. You say, Pastor, you don't understand, I've got so much that's coming against me, the world seems to be pressing against me and it's hard, I just don't know if I can walk in obedience, but by the power and presence of Christ you can, my friend.

[33:00] You have the spirit of self-discipline. It's just whether or not we're exercising it. We cannot make an excuse, oh, this is just the way that I am.

[33:11] Not in Christ you're not because behold, all things have become new. And if you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you can stand confidence in the work he's doing, not in the work you have done.

[33:26] These are our foundations of hope even when the world seems to be against us. It was the foundations that Paul gave to Timothy and it's the very foundations that he gives to us today.

[33:38] Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the opportunity of gathering together with brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank you for the challenge of your word.

[33:50] I pray now, Father, that we would respond accordingly to it. If there be one here today who does not know you, Lord, they have no foundation of hope. They're standing on the shaky ground of this world.

[34:02] I pray that you would reveal that to them. I pray that you would help them to turn their hearts to Christ. as you draw them by your love and concern.

[34:15] Father, we ask for those of us who do know you as our Lord and Savior that you help us to stand boldly, confidently in the grace of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[34:26]  We ask it all in Christ's name. Amen.