Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• What is Christ Jesus to do, according to verse 1?
• What five things does Paul exhort Timothy to do in verse 2?
• With what kind of attitude is Timothy to conduct his ministry?
• Why, according to verse 3, must Timothy follow Paul’s exhortations?
• What kind of teachers will people seek out?

Prayerfully Meditate

• How would it shape Timothy’s ministry to know that he’s working “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus?”
• How are you preparing yourself to be ready both “in season” and “out of season?”
• What is the connection between Paul’s exhortations in verse 2 and the warning of what is to come in verse 3?
• What does it mean that people will want to have their ears “tickled?”
• In what ways do you see Paul’s warning in verse 3 being true of the church today?