The Resilient Christian
2 Timothy 1:13-18
1. The sermon used the image of a championship fight and Mike Tyson’s line, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” When have you experienced a “punch in the mouth” in your walk with Christ (disappointment, pressure, relational strain, suffering, etc.)? How did that moment test or refine your resilience?
2. Paul urges Timothy to “follow the pattern of the sound words… in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:13). Why is it important that holding to sound doctrine is done both in faith and in love? How have you seen truth without love, or love without truth, affect people or churches?
3. Resilience is not manufactured by willpower but is “the fruit of unusual dependence on the Spirit who dwells within us” (v. 14). What does it look like, practically, for you to live in conscious dependence on the indwelling Holy Spirit rather than relying mainly on your own strength, planning, or effort
4. Onesiphorus “often refreshed” Paul and was not ashamed of his chains, while others turned away. Who has been an Onesiphorus to you in a hard season—someone who searched for you, stayed with you, or brought refreshment? And for whom might God be calling you to become that kind of dedicated, refreshing presence?
2 Timothy 1:13-18
1. The sermon used the image of a championship fight and Mike Tyson’s line, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” When have you experienced a “punch in the mouth” in your walk with Christ (disappointment, pressure, relational strain, suffering, etc.)? How did that moment test or refine your resilience?
2. Paul urges Timothy to “follow the pattern of the sound words… in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:13). Why is it important that holding to sound doctrine is done both in faith and in love? How have you seen truth without love, or love without truth, affect people or churches?
3. Resilience is not manufactured by willpower but is “the fruit of unusual dependence on the Spirit who dwells within us” (v. 14). What does it look like, practically, for you to live in conscious dependence on the indwelling Holy Spirit rather than relying mainly on your own strength, planning, or effort
4. Onesiphorus “often refreshed” Paul and was not ashamed of his chains, while others turned away. Who has been an Onesiphorus to you in a hard season—someone who searched for you, stayed with you, or brought refreshment? And for whom might God be calling you to become that kind of dedicated, refreshing presence?