Sermon

Today's sermon was on Acts 16 and the means by which God reaches the lost, which is different for different people.

v.1-5: Timothy

v.13-15: Lydia

v.16-18: The Slave Girl

v.24-34: The Jailer

Reflections

I want to focus on Timothy and how he came to know the Lord:

Acts 16:1 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but whose father was a Greek.

2 Timothy 1:5 (NET 2nd ed.)

5 I recall your sincere faith that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure is in you.

For Lois to Eunice, this looks to me to be an example of Titus 2 in action:

Titus 2:3–5 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 4 In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message of God may not be discredited.

Lois practiced what is laid out in Titus 2 and as a result passed her faith onto Eunice. Lois's motherhood was the means by which Eunice was brought to Christ.

For Eunice (and probably Lois as well) to Timothy, we see a similar charge for parents to children in the Old Testament. If we go back to Deuteronomy, we see Moses giving the following charge to the Israelites:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (NET 2nd ed.)

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.

6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. 8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. 9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.

Lois was diligent in teaching and training Eunice, and likewise Eunice was diligent in teaching and training Timothy. Again, the connection here is motherhood. Motherhood is sadly denigrated in our society today.

Today, we look down on 'stay-at-home' mothers. "Oh you're just a stay-at-home mom? Don't you think you could do more? Don't you think you could be more?" It's ridiculous we have let this feminist sentiment seep so far into the cultural watertable. The inverse is what we should be denigrating. "Oh you have a job outside the home? So you're a part-time mother?"

Women have been sold the lie that motherhood is the lowest possible calling they could answer to. Worse, they've bought it. And even worse still, we celebrate it.

The tearing down of the family is the primary source of all of society's ills, and we won't see true revival until this is addressed.