THE Café Church Service at Crediton Methodist Church on Sunday, July 7 was led by Monika Noronha.
This was the final in the series “You have mail”, looking at the epistles of Paul, on this occasion looking at his second letter to Timothy.
Cathy led a quiz to recap where we have been looking at the epistles of the apostle Paul over the last few Café Church services.
Paul wrote the letter, possibly from Macedonia, to give encouragement to Timothy whom he had sent to Ephesus to counter some false teachings that were around in Ephesus and to give practical advice.
Saul had hoped he would return to Ephesus but this would not happen.
In the second epistle, in AD60, Paul is in prison in Rome and Luke was allowed to visit him and be a scribe. If this had been written as an email today, the heading would probably have been “famous last words”.
It reveals his heart and steadfast faith and lasting love. It is a personal letter to Timothy with precious tender, fond memories and advice how to conduct himself with encouragement to live boldly and to remain solidly grounded in Christian service.
In the reading from Timothy, we see Paul’s standard greeting and, even though Paul’s execution is imminent, he writes confidently that he is still doing what he was called for. He is not giving up or winding down.
He says grace, mercy and peace are the best gifts from God. Everything is in God’s control.
Paul gives thanks to God for Timothy and reminded him to be thankful for the people around us and for those who have nurtured and encourages us in our faith. This is the example Paul was setting for Timothy and us today.
He is encouraging Timothy to grow in faith in his own ministry not just through past generations.
Where faith appears to be lost, it is important to pray for each member of the family and to have faith in God and in oneself.
God will work through us. Paul is talking to Timothy about keeping faith alive, tending it loke a fire. God doesn’t want us to be shy with the gifts He has given us.
He wants us to be bold and keep faith ablaze.
Paul talks about suffering. He encourages Timothy to speak up and take his share of suffering. God has done the groundwork, the gift of Jesus who died for us and gave us life is more than worth shouting about. Paul is encouraging Timothy to speak out in faith.
Right at the end of his life Paul is confident and stands firm and says “I know whom I have believed in and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until His return”.
How can we pick up that confidence from Paul? Jesus died to save us and sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to have this confident life in God.
Monika spoke of what used to be called “quiet time with God” and which now she called “checking in with Jesus daily”.
She said it was seeking to be aware of God’s presence alongside us wherever we are in our daily lives.
Monika spoke of the challenges of working in a supermarket in Exeter and how she prayed for customers and colleagues and especially for shoplifters.
So, we have heard from Paul about thankfulness, faith, challenge of suffering and the power of the Holy
Spirit to help us to have complete confidence and turst in Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Bronwyn Nott