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Dear Friends,
As Paul closes his letter to Timothy, he ends the way he began, guard the deposit. What was placed in your hands, place in someone else's. He gives Timothy three things to do with it. Flee compromise — don't negotiate with a fire, run from it. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness — notice that these are a part of our ongoing training; just like a runner builds legs, the same way a disciple builds character. Then take hold of the eternal life you are called to, the one you already confessed out loud in front of witnesses. Timothy wasn't asked to generate his own spiritual life. He's told to keep his grip on what he already has.
That's the good fight — not earning something new, but keeping hold of what we have already confessed. So the deposit stays guarded — not by inventing, modernizing, or softening it, but by holding it unstained until He appears. And not by our own strength: grace be with you all. We guard it out of the grace that guards us.
We will finish the series this Sunday in 1 Timothy. Come ready to answer the question Paul leaves hanging over the whole letter: who is your Timothy? See you as we worship together.
You are loved!
Pastor Mark
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