LEARNING TO LIVE SUCCESSFULLY
II Timothy 2:1-7
II Timothy 2:2	“The things you heard me say…entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to 			teach others.”
Purpose:	To urge us to teach people spiritual applications by investing our lives in them.
Proposition:	We learn best by seeing others live out the life of Christ.
Introduction:
#Ask a high school student whether he believes a person should cheat on exams.  He will probably say, “No”.													
Ask him if he ever cheats…and it is likely he will say, “Yes”.
His value system overrides his belief system and determines his behavior.  He values a passing grade and approval from parents and students more than the dictates of his belief system.
	1.	What we value is the true indication of our real self.
	2.	Our heart lives at the place of our treasure.
	3.	We choose and act on the basis of what we cherish.
	4.	Ideally our belief and value systems should be congruent or synonymous.
	5.	In reality they are not.
	6.	God has given us the task of influencing the thinking, values and behavior of every 			person on earth.
	#We want that high school student to value integrity and honesty because he has come to 	believe that it is essential to life and God-likeness.
	7.	How are we to achieve that?
I.	By investing our lives in others.
	#Robert Raikes in 1780, a printer and publisher, saw the plight of poor children who had to work 	in the mines all day six days a week.  So he brought them into his home to teach them to read.  	He gave himself to them.
	#The Southern Baptists, numbering 13.5 million members, has tabulated the results of their 	visitation with the frequency of their visits.  They say the average number of personalized 	invitations for every person who attends is 13.
	#Leo took a Sunday school class and it would soon be the largest.  Why?  He spent time 	with 	people.
		1.	People learn where they feel they are accepted.
		2.	The atmosphere and climate influence learning.
		3.	Personal relationships positively affect behavior and values.
		4.	We have become preoccupied with the classroom to the poverty of teaching.
		5.	The greatest teaching is done in the relationship.
	#A study among unwed mothers showed sex to be a throw away commodity for love, 	acceptance and belonging.
II.	By modeling the life of Christ.
	A.	Strong teachers are needed.
		1.	Not just Sunday school or Bible study leaders.
		2.	People who will take other people as their personal ministry.
		3.	We are just one generation away from total extinction as Christians.
		4.	If we do not teach other people, we will have a pagan culture in one generation.
		5.	The Christian church is dependent upon an unbroken chain of teachers.
	B.	The Christian community is an invaluable setting for learning
	# In New Testament times travel was slow and restrictive.  People knew neighbors and 	depended upon them.  Their lives were intertwined.  When one person was a Christian, 	everyone around knew it.  Now you may not know the people next door.  If we do know 	neighbors it is only casually.  We do not know the church people well unless we get acquainted.  	We need small groups.
	# A man came into a group of Christians speaking against a race of people.  The Christians were 	kind to listen, but related their experience to be different.  After a year and a half he began to 	talk differently and to relate to one person from the race he formerly detested.  The group 	helped shape his opinion.
	#Psychological testing points out the power of group influence on us.  Satan uses peer pressure 	to get children and teens to disobey.  An adult who would never think of stealing will take 	something from the company, because other workers do and they encourage him to do the 	same.
	#The power of influence must knowingly and unapologetically be implemented in positive 	Christian learning.
		1.	We are in battle for the minds and wills of human race.
		2.	We must be trend setters.
		3.	We should establish the norm or standard for morals and ethics.
	#Bob asked his pastor to see his extended family—17 kindergarteners.  While the pastor 	observed the class, one little fellow begin to cause a mild disturbance, Bob said, 	“Kindergarteners act in such and such a fashion.”  He established a norm for behavior.  The boy 	wanting to be a genuine kindergartener conformed.  There sat 16 models of right behavior.  The 	scene showed love—the family.  It showed a norm for behavior.  It revealed a legitimate appeal 	to conformity.
III.	By making Christianity applicable
	#Small groups and Sunday school classes have studied the history and the culture of the New 	Testament.  Sometimes teachers failed to get to the application of the lesson--the revelation of 	God in the context of human experience. 								 The Sunday school bell rang and the teacher would say, “We were just getting to the 	application—the good part.”
	A.	It is paramount for us to connect thinking, behavior and values.
		1.	The Bible relates to life.
		2.	God wishes the best life for us (John 10:10).
		3.	He has established priorities for us.
			a.	When those priorities are followed, we benefit.
			b.	The most exhilarating life is found when knowledge of God’s plan 					results in lifestyle change.
		4.	We must teach that what we know about God affects how we live.
	B.	The person has to ultimately apply truth.
	#A university professor gave students a chance to evaluate his course.  One said, “I like the 	course, but I feel very strongly that the professor puts too much responsibility for learning on 	the students.”
		1.	We like God’s course.
		2.	We don’t like Him challenging our present ways of behaving.
		3.	We may want Bible knowledge without Bible study.
		4.	Our part is to make learning available, attractive and applicable.
		5.	The highest form of learning comes from obedience.
		#Jesus said, “Do the will of God and you will come to know the doctrine.”
IV.	By persevering in our purpose to teach.
	A.	Disappointments are certain.
	#God had to work with Israel generation after generation.
	#God told Isaiah (Isaiah 28:10-13) he must build precept upon precept.  He stressed repetition.
	#Jesus had Judas – a dropout and failure.
	B.	Success is also certain.
		1.	Paul tells Timothy to train people who will educate others.
		2.	He then draws three pictures.
		#Soldier – we are in a battle.  The rigors of war are taxing.  Required are service, 				obedience, sacrifice, perseverance.
		#Athlete – doesn’t win unless he plays and plays by the game plan (rules).  An athlete is 			disciplined and self-denying.
		#Farmer – who works hard and long.  He sows seed, weeds, waters, waits for harvest.  			Such is one who teaches.
Conclusion:
#Soldiers are upheld by hopes of final victory.  An athlete is carried on by the dream of winning.  The farmer keeps going due to thought of harvest.
		1.	We struggle to learn and to teach.
		2.	Our effort is not pointless.
		3.	We are headed somewhere.
		4.	We will be effective teachers when we are eager learners and invest ourselves 				in people for their up-building.