New Testament | 2 Timothy 2:1-15 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
A Christian’s Daily Prayer by Dave Fournier, Jordan Kauflin, and Matt Merker

Lyrics:
As morning dawns and day awakes
To You I bring my need
O Gracious God my source of strength
In You I live and breathe
Each hour is Yours by Wisdom planned
Each deed empower'd by sovereign hands
Renew my spirit help me stand
Be glorified today

As day unfolds I seek Your will
In all of life's demands
And though the tempter tries me still
I cling to Your commands
Let every effort of my life
Display the matchless worth of Christ
Make me a living sacrifice
Be glorified today

As sun gives way to darkest night
Your Spirit still is here
And though my strength fades like the light
New mercies will appear
I rest in You abide with me
Until our trials and suffering
Give way to final victory
Be glorified today

Passage:
1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
(2 Timothy 2:1–15 ESV)

Musical Reflection:
O Lord, Hear My Prayer by Jacques Berthier

Reflection Notes:
This song from the Taizé community contains a series of pleas: “O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer; when I call, answer me.” The repeated notes emphasize the insistence of the sung prayer, while the descending lines indicate a deep, almost despairing desire to connect.

Prayer:
O God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive, receive our humble petitions, and though we are tied and bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us; for the honor of Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate. Amen. -The Gregorian Sacramentary