19 min
A Caught Faith | 2 Timothy 1:5 (Lois & Eunice – Mother’s Day Message) Cornerstone Congregational Church Sermon Podcast
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- Christianity
Happy Mother’s Day. I want to start by saying how grateful I am for my mom encouraging my walk with Christ, and I’m constantly grateful for how my wife Monica teaches our kids about Jesus. Today, in scripture, we see two examples of women who did the same thing. We’ve been in this series, Women in the Kingdom, and we’ve been looking at lots of women, wives, and mothers throughout the Bible. Today we’re going to look at a grandmother and a mother that Paul speaks really highly of. They are the grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice, of Timothy, Paul’s disciple. They love the Lord, and their deepest desire is that Timothy would love Jesus too. By God’s grace, he does, and this is how Paul talks of them.
2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
This verse, if we look at it closely, tells us a little bit about why Timothy caught the faith from his mother and grandmother. And that’s what we hope for our children—that they would catch our faith in God too. My big idea is: A caught faith is a genuine, alive, and taught faith.
A caught faith is a genuine faith.
Paul, addressing Timothy, says, “I am reminded of your sincere faith.” But it didn’t come from Timothy; it came from his Lois and Eunice. The Greek word for “sincere” means “un-disguised.” I think I was about 13-14 when I watched The Phantom of the Opera for the first time. It’s all about the music and the mask. Who is the phantom who plays such amazing music but wears a mask? What is he covering? Why hide? He hides his face because he hides his scars. Eventually, he reveals his true face. Why do we hide? Is it our brokenness? We don’t want our kids to see who we really are? They see it, whether we want them to or not.
Lois and Eunice took got real with Timothy. They didn’t put on a show for him. They let Timothy see their genuine, messy, imperfect, real faith in God. They took off their masks. They let him see their scars—that they weren’t perfect, but Jesus loves them anyway. What I so appreciate about my mom’s faith, my mother-in-law’s faith, and my wife’s faith, is that each of their faith is genuine, and each of them is willing to be real with their kids.
A caught faith is not perfect faith. A caught faith is not an “I have it all together” faith. A caught faith is genuine, un-masked, un-hypocritical, willing to be real kind of faith. I see that in our church too. It makes me thankful for the moms and grandmothers in our church community.
A caught faith is a genuine and alive faith.
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice…” The word for “lived” is better translated as “dwelt.” A dwelling is a house or place where people live. Monica and I purchased our house eight years ago, and this week we’re about to put it on the market to sell it. And as I think about our house, we have a lot of memories there. We’ve eaten a lot of meals, had game nights with friends, broken glasses, finished the basement, and had firepits in our backyard. We’ve had two kids here. There’s been a lot of living in our home. Our home is our dwelling place.
What Paul is saying is that faith made its home in Lois and Eunice’s lives. It took up residence. It made a bunch of memories, on good days and bad days. Faith was present. Faith in God has been there through it all, living life with them. Sometimes when we think of an “alive faith,” we think of “being on fire for God.” Like going out and being a missionary or preaching on the curb. Those things matter. Those things are good. But that’s not how the Bible defines a living faith. Living faith is one that goes through life every day and seeks to know God, love him, and follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads. That’s an alive faith. That’s a faith that dwells in us every
Happy Mother’s Day. I want to start by saying how grateful I am for my mom encouraging my walk with Christ, and I’m constantly grateful for how my wife Monica teaches our kids about Jesus. Today, in scripture, we see two examples of women who did the same thing. We’ve been in this series, Women in the Kingdom, and we’ve been looking at lots of women, wives, and mothers throughout the Bible. Today we’re going to look at a grandmother and a mother that Paul speaks really highly of. They are the grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice, of Timothy, Paul’s disciple. They love the Lord, and their deepest desire is that Timothy would love Jesus too. By God’s grace, he does, and this is how Paul talks of them.
2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
This verse, if we look at it closely, tells us a little bit about why Timothy caught the faith from his mother and grandmother. And that’s what we hope for our children—that they would catch our faith in God too. My big idea is: A caught faith is a genuine, alive, and taught faith.
A caught faith is a genuine faith.
Paul, addressing Timothy, says, “I am reminded of your sincere faith.” But it didn’t come from Timothy; it came from his Lois and Eunice. The Greek word for “sincere” means “un-disguised.” I think I was about 13-14 when I watched The Phantom of the Opera for the first time. It’s all about the music and the mask. Who is the phantom who plays such amazing music but wears a mask? What is he covering? Why hide? He hides his face because he hides his scars. Eventually, he reveals his true face. Why do we hide? Is it our brokenness? We don’t want our kids to see who we really are? They see it, whether we want them to or not.
Lois and Eunice took got real with Timothy. They didn’t put on a show for him. They let Timothy see their genuine, messy, imperfect, real faith in God. They took off their masks. They let him see their scars—that they weren’t perfect, but Jesus loves them anyway. What I so appreciate about my mom’s faith, my mother-in-law’s faith, and my wife’s faith, is that each of their faith is genuine, and each of them is willing to be real with their kids.
A caught faith is not perfect faith. A caught faith is not an “I have it all together” faith. A caught faith is genuine, un-masked, un-hypocritical, willing to be real kind of faith. I see that in our church too. It makes me thankful for the moms and grandmothers in our church community.
A caught faith is a genuine and alive faith.
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice…” The word for “lived” is better translated as “dwelt.” A dwelling is a house or place where people live. Monica and I purchased our house eight years ago, and this week we’re about to put it on the market to sell it. And as I think about our house, we have a lot of memories there. We’ve eaten a lot of meals, had game nights with friends, broken glasses, finished the basement, and had firepits in our backyard. We’ve had two kids here. There’s been a lot of living in our home. Our home is our dwelling place.
What Paul is saying is that faith made its home in Lois and Eunice’s lives. It took up residence. It made a bunch of memories, on good days and bad days. Faith was present. Faith in God has been there through it all, living life with them. Sometimes when we think of an “alive faith,” we think of “being on fire for God.” Like going out and being a missionary or preaching on the curb. Those things matter. Those things are good. But that’s not how the Bible defines a living faith. Living faith is one that goes through life every day and seeks to know God, love him, and follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads. That’s an alive faith. That’s a faith that dwells in us every
19 min