Well, we welcome you back again. And this week, we're not in Romans, but we're taking a different tack cuz it's something that we've personally experienced in the last few weeks of being reminded of this. The people that are the ones who are influential in your life and particularly in your faith life who have pointed you to Christ in ways that maybe were surprising cuz so not the people that you've listened to on the radio or on TV or in your churches, but people who are less likely to be the ones you would think of, but really do point you to Christ. When Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, and obviously there's a huge impact that Paul had on Timothy's life. In second Timothy, he says this to Timothy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Ununice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. Two women, a grandmother and a mom, who were influential in Timothy's life in the development of his faith and that has gotten us thinking about the people that have been that in our lives.
You know, without those people who first spoke Christ to us and then came alongside of us, I know that we would not be where we are today. And when I say where we are, it's not like we've reached this destination, but it started for us the other day. and I'm going to work from present or current backward. words if is that okay?
That's fine.
we went to visit a friend and I'm going to use names. So, there you go.
gosh, I don't even know where to start, but I'll start from just last week. We went to visit our friend Kay Robertson and her husband Don. And Kay and Don are living in a retirement community. And Kay recently was moved to a memory care unit. And I remember when we first came to church here in Charlotte and they were one of the first couples that took us under their wing. And it wasn't just that they were kind to us. It wasn't just that they, you know, let us in and out of their house cuz for many years their home was like our second home. Our families did not live close by. So they were they weren't parents. They were like older siblings to us. But watching Kay in the memory care unit reminded me of while her memory may be fading, what she implanted in me will never fade.
Yeah.
She constantly was in the word of God. She I love the message by Eugene Peterson, not as my main Bible as you know, you've you hear me refer to it a lot, but one of the reasons why I love it is because Kay loved it and she her message her actual book was so used that the pages wouldn't even come together. It was like so much air had gotten in those pages of her flipping back and forth and it's almost like she had highlighted the entire New Testament. But it wasn't just this thing that she did, it was how she lived it out. And so I'm struck with the contrast of this woman and her husband Don who while they are aging and will be with the Lord potentially quicker than I will be. The impact that they had will never go away because they constantly and K for me as a older sister constantly pointed me to Christ.
Yeah. And so you know if I use the language that we use typically when we talk about our faith journeys, we think about somebody who's discipled us or somebody who's mentored us and those words would fit Don and Kay. Although Don and Kay never assumed that title. They wouldn't have seen themselves in that way. and it's sometimes those surprising people. It's not a formal thing. I think we get sometimes hung up on, well, who do I want to disciple me? Who do I want to mentor me? Who do I look to? And we look for these formal kind of relationships. This was never a formal relationship. It was just us looking to godly people who did point us to Christ and just I you know your relationship with Kay may be a little different than mine, but for me it was this woman sat there every Sunday that she was at church with her Bible open anxious to learn more from the word of God. And yet they taught us more than they ever would be willing to acknowledge or even understand how that was. And that's where I look at the body of Christ and go who is it in your life who's doing those things. And it may not be formal. In fact, probably it's not a formal thing. So, so Paul doesn't say to Timothy, Timothy, you know how much I poured into you and how much I'm responsible for where you are. Now, he was referred to as Paul's son in the faith. But he points to two relationships that were in Timothy's case, family, a grandmother and a mom who did those things. And I think there's an important something for us to learn there about Where do we look for those guidances in our own life?
The interesting thing too about Don and Kay is and again Kay for me as a older sister is she actually had a vision for me and I don't mean a vision like writing on the wall. I mean she was able to pray and encourage me forward. So it wasn't just about like she had my back all the time because of what she saw in me that was being formed. And so she was constantly encouraging me to go forward. And oh, woe be the person that would come and try to knife me, which that didn't happen a lot at all, but she would be the one that she would take them down because she was invested in who I was becoming.
Yeah. And I'm not going to use names on this one, but another example of this was we have a we have good friends who were in our church for years and they live in a neighborhood here in Charlotte. And the husband along with another gentlemen began to get to know people in their neighborhood and invested in those people and they invested in two men in particular. One was a Hindu, one was somebody who I don't think believed any or said he didn't believe anything and they invested in these two men's lives and had the joy of seeing them come to know Christ. And then just recently they baptized them in a neighborhood pool
and neither gentleman were pastors, but they were Christ followers. And so they lived out their faith in a way that they were part of that process that brought these two unbelieving men to a place of belief in Christ and had the joy then of baptizing them both. and so again, I you don't have to be vocationally in ministry to have an impact in people's lives. And those are just another example of people who led those men to Christ.
We want you to be thinking about those people that have influenced you, that have pointed you to Christ. man, I can go way back to when I first became a Christian and this gal took me under her wing and I don't even know if she's still living, but she took me under her wing and for a all fall she spent time with me. She pointed me to the word. I mean, she gave me a foundation and also was that sense of here's I was this young believer but she saw beyond that and I mean I came in with a lot of junk and stuff that was part of my story but it's people like that who see something they're not afraid to get into your life they're not afraid to speak truth to your life and a sentence that is inspired by the spirit because they said yes I'll go ahead and talk with that person I'll be with that person it like It's like, I know I'm getting crazy here, but it's like James when he says that, you know, a harsh word can set a forest on fire like a fire and a small rudder of a ship can turn a ship. Well, a word from somebody can influence someone for their entire life.
Yeah. And I think we've had we've had people throughout our lives, we've always looked to people who are a little bit older, a little bit further down the line in their not just in their actual journey of life, but also in their spiritual journey. I think of a couple that has a huge impact on our lives. they're now in their 80s and we watched them as parents before we had kids to kind of see how that process went. And when our girls were in high school, we prayed for other adults to come into their life who would have impact beyond you and me because we recognized there was probably going to be a time when they didn't want to listen to what we had to say. But would there be adults that would come in who would say the same things, the same kinds of things? that our girls might have paid attention to. So it is that process of being intentional but also just being aware of the people around you who have impact in your world and in your life.
What would it look like for you to wake up in the morning and not only say Lord you know your will we I want your will for today but to just say Lord I don't know who's out there what situation is out there how you might use me but I'm open to you using me in any way, shape, or form? And some of you are like, "No, I'm not an extrovert. I can't do that." Well, it has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with saying that little yes to the Lord. Sure, I'm open. So, if that means that I don't know, it can be from the person at your grocery store all the way through to somebody you actually spend time with and listen to and encourage and look at God's word together.
Yeah. And it and I would caution along those lines. too, Suzi. You don't have to make it a formal thing.
Just live life.
And maybe it's a neighbor that you say, "Hey, do you want to walk in the mornings?" If that's what you do if you walk in the morning, let's not do that.
Or do you want to have a cup of coffee? Or, you know, or whatever it might be. It's just looking for those places in life that are just natural connection points and then just not being afraid to speak truth, but also more than anything, live out what you believe. and let it impact another person. we've said this many times, I'll say it again. The Christian life was meant to be lived in the context of community. And the gospel was meant to be shared personto person. they may not go to your church, they may not even go to church, but they run into you. And as a light of Christ in this world, could you have an impact in their lives? The answer is you could if you're willing to do that.
You know, you mentioned that We have always looked towards older people. But one of the things that has struck me recently in the last probably year is God has been so sweet to bring some younger people into my life. And I have learned so much from them because their faith journey is in a different place than mine. But there is a freshness and a desire, a hunger and thirst that sometimes I forget about or I lose because you know I'm getting along in the tooth in many ways. And so there are a number of young couples that have really the wives in my case that have really ministered to my heart and have spoken deeply impactful words and lived in ways that draw me to Christ. And I think here I'm just going to throw a little thing in here. I've lost all my filters and Jimmy knows this better than anyone. there's a lot of stuff that I say that I probably shouldn't say even on this podcast I would imagine. However, I have definitely been convicted in my heart to say the things that God gives me to say. Now that's going to sound kind of weird, but what I mean is if there is somebody who has helped me in a store or something or I don't even know. Why can't I say to them? That meant a lot to me. Thank you. This is going to be a silly little illustration. I don't even know if I told you this, but I was at the Yeah, I did. the drugstore the other day and picking up a prescription that was like ridiculously expensive. Don't let me go off on big pharma. Okay, I won't.
No, don't. That's not the purpose of the podcast.
No, it's not the purpose of the podcast. Well, I do struggle when I go to pay for it, but anyway, it was huge. The amount was huge. And so this little behind the counter. She had all she had to do was ring me up. Thank you for coming. And what she did is she asked me if I was aware of this plan that all you have to do is go online and sign up for. And I was like, "No, I don't know." She s she got on there for me, helped me sign up, and it saved me like $150. Now, it wasn't just $150. That's impactful, of course, but the fact that young girl took the time, I don't know what motivated her, but she took the time to show me kindness that left a mark on my heart.
Right. Yeah. And so what we're trying to say is who are those people in your life? Who are those people that will move in ways that cause you to want to grow more in your daily walk with Christ? And not only that, who not only who those people are, but could you be that person
to somebody?
Could you be that person to someone out there who is looking for encouragement and is looking for somebody who will take the time because that's really all that we're talking about is it takes the time you take the time to invest to be intentional and invest to listen well and to offer thoughts when they come.
Do you know you might be I don't know this just came to me and you know how things just come to me.
Yes.
maybe you're you coach a baseball team, softball team, kids t-ball, I don't know
and you have all these kids that are looking to you to tell them how to play the sport and of course they want to win and maybe you would love to win too. However, for you, you want to build character. And so what you do is you teach them softball or baseball, te-ball, whatever. But you have this opportunity to speak life into these kids, to say something, to draw something out in them that God created to encourage them. I mean, I think that is such an awesome opportunity.
It really is. And we just need to be looking for those opportunities because they're there and they're there probably every day of our lives if we'll just look for them. So maybe you'll be a Lois or a Ununice to somebody or maybe you can look back in your life and see that there have been people like that for you. And I'd encourage you to let them know and to thank them.
And thank you for listening.
Thank you.