Earlier this month it was reported that a man who had broken many records in the Guinness Book of World Records teamed up with his brother and a friend to break another record. David Rush, who had broken more than 200 Guinness records to promote STEM education, was able to pass a giant beach ball 673 times in three minutes, breaking the previous record of 345. Guinness allowed for up to 25 members on a team, but he determined it would be faster to use a smaller team.
“Words from Above” in the Bible tell us that there is something far greater in importance that needs to be passed by believers to others. The apostle Paul speaks about it in II Timothy 2 in his letter to a young pastor named Timothy. Paul had been influential in Timothy becoming a believer, and wrote two letters to Timothy when he also became a pastor. In letter number two, Paul encouraged Timothy to be strong in the grace of Jesus Christ, the very grace by which we are saved through faith in Jesus.
Paul was very much aware that Timothy had heard many people tell him about what Paul had said about the grace of God. He now tells Timothy to “commit the same to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
What Paul was saying by this was that all the things Timothy had heard about the grace of God he had heard from others, and they had heard about it from Paul. In other words, the word about the grace of God was being passed on from one person to another, and Paul was encouraging Timothy to keep the process going.
When Jesus began His public ministry of teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God, He enlisted twelve men to accompany Him and also to be trained by Him. Each and every day, they witnessed His miracles, heard His parables, and learned about the kingdom of God. Near the end of His ministry, He gave them a special commission to go and teach all nations the things He had commanded them, and baptize those who received Jesus into their lives. On the day when He ascended into heaven to return to His place next to God on His throne, Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they should they should be His witnesses all over the world.
On the Day of Pentecost, 3000 people became believers through the message preached by Peter, and now there are over two billion Christians in the world. Let’s continue to PASS IT ON.
Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville. Everyone is welcome to attend. For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.
