Welcome to this week's ToGather.church. Our focus comes from our Verse of the Day, 2 Timothy 1:13-14:

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

In Paul's letter, he tells Timothy that he must not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and that he must guard that gospel and not let it become watered down or cluttered with things that are not essential to the truth about Jesus (2 Timothy 1:8, 13-14). Today, our focus is on guarding that gospel as we live by faith, serve with love, and are empowered by the Holy Spirit!

Phil's Message for This Week

Phil's message video on our Verse of the Day focuses on guarding our treasure in the gospel. It is based on 2 Timothy 1:13-14 and encourages us to guard our precious treasure in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the first part of his message, Phil points out us that Paul reminded Timothy that this gospel was the message he had heard Paul preach (2 Timothy 1:13), the message Paul clearly articulated in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58:

  1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

  2. Christ was buried.

  3. Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures.

  4. Christ appeared to many after his resurrection so they could verify he was raised from the dead.

  5. Christ is returning to give us immortal, glorious bodies like his resurrected body.

Because of the truth of this gospel treasure, our lives are not lived in vain so we can put all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength into living as Jesus' disciples. Like Timothy, we can pour ourselves into living by faith, serving in love, and being strengthened by the Holy Spirit — what Phil calls our three heavenly tools to guard the gospel.

We should use our three heavenly tools to carry out our three earthly tasks that go with safeguarding the truth of the gospel:

  • Proclaim the good news of Jesus with courage and boldness.

  • Retain the truth of the gospel, letting God's love and grace show us the way to live for him and to serve others.

  • Invest in the future by equipping others to share the gospel.

Let's share and safeguard the gospel of Jesus with passion!
The goal of Paul's message to Timothy was not to clutter his mind with many details and facts but to encourage him to "get off the bench and get back into the game" as a valuable servant of Jesus! Let's join Timothy in passionately following the apostle's fervent call to share and safeguard the gospel of Jesus!

Full ToGather Worship Video

Our time in worship includes songs chosen by Demetrius, a Communion reflection led by Rubel Shelly, a confession of faith, Phil's message, and a closing blessing. Let's worship!

The full worship video helps open our hearts to God's goodness, grace, and love so we can once again appreciate and feel deep gratitude for all that God did for us in Jesus. We confess our faith in that goodness and set our hope on Jesus' return. Until then, we commit to guarding the truth of the gospel and sharing it with love. May God bless us all as we worship!

Special thanks for the use of images related to Jesus' ministry from The Lumo Project and Free Bible Images for use in both ToGather videos.