Have you ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up? How about a professional basketball player? That would be fun. How about a doctor or lawyer? They help people and make good money doing it. How about a policeman or fireman? There are a lot of things you can be. You may be too young to decide right now what you want to be, but it’s never too early to start thinking about it. Today we’re going to hear about a young man named Timothy. He grew up to be a pastor. Have you ever thought about being a pastor or a teacher? This morning we want to talk about that question. Could you be a pastor or a teacher? I think you can. God has given each one of you gifts. When you go home to day I want you to remember this: Fan Into Flames Your Gift of God. Use your gifts I) to serve others and II) to serve God.

How do you decide what to be when you grow up? That’s a big question. Many people want to help others when they grow up. That’s a good idea. You can Fan Into Flames Your Gifts to serve others. You can teach them to give thanks to God.

The very first thing Paul wrote to Timothy was, "I thank God." When Paul wrote this, he was sitting in prison. He was all alone; hardly anybody visited him. He lived in a dark, cold, and damp cell locked up in chains. He didn’t expect to leave anytime soon either. In fact, Paul knew that he was going to die very soon. How could Paul thank God in such a sad situation?

Paul remembered what God had done for him. It didn’t matter if he was living in a cold, dark cell. It didn’t matter if he was going to die. Soon Paul would live in heaven with Jesus.

In jail Paul had a lot of time to think. He remembered how many times he had made fun of other people. He remembered how many times he thought he was better than everyone else was. But, Paul also remembered that Jesus never treated him that way. Jesus was better than everyone else was, but instead of making fun of us Jesus died for us. Paul thanked God for Jesus because Jesus saved his life.

Pastors and teachers teach people to thank God just as Paul did. People in this world need help. We all suffer from the disease of sin. At some time or another, we all think that we’re better than others are. We all make fun of other people. We have a disease, and it’s called sin. Jesus is the only doctor who can heal our sins. Pastors and teachers like Paul and Timothy, or like you, tell sick sinners about Jesus. What better way serve others than to bring the doctor who saves their lives! They will thank God for saving them; they will thank you for telling them about their Savior. As pastors or teachers you can help people by teaching them to give thanks to God for all that he did.

You can also help another group of people give thanks to God, those who taught you about Jesus. Timothy learned about Jesus first from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. When Paul asked Timothy to help him spread the gospel, they were happy to send Timothy along. How proud they must have been to see their boy grow up to be a pastor!

Paul became Timothy’s pastor! He taught Timothy more and more about his Savior all the time. How proud Paul must have been to see his student become his co-worker. Some day one of you might become my co-worker. Together you and could teach others that Jesus saved their lives. That would certainly make me very proud. I would give thanks to God just as Paul thanked God every time he thought of Timothy.

Paul said he thought about Timothy every time he prayed. What he seemed to remember most about Timothy was his sincere faith. Faith is the first gift God has given to us. Timothy had a sincere faith, or a real faith. Many people in this world say they believe in God, but they really don’t. They may believe that there is a god out there. They may want God to help them. But, they don’t believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead three days later.

How can you tell if real faith is living in someone? If faith lives in you, it also lives out of you. Timothy showed that sincere faith was living in him by becoming a pastor. There are many ways to show your faith, but becoming a pastor or teacher is one of them. Pastors and teachers get to tell other people about Jesus all the time; it’s their job. What job could be better than that? As pastors and teachers we can live our lives as one big "thank-you" to God. We thank God that Jesus did not make fun of us for being sinners but came to take away our sin. We thank God for giving us true faith in Jesus. We thank God for giving us the chance to live our faith by telling others about Jesus.

How do you decide what to be when you grow up? Serving others is important. What better way to help people than to tell them how to get to heaven! You can teach them to thank God for giving them eternal life. At the same time, you will be thanking God for giving you eternal life. God has given you a sincere faith. You can thank God by living your faith as you serve others. As you serve others you will also serve God.

As you think about what to be when you grow up, you ask yourself how you can decide. You will also ask yourself what you can do? Can you become a pastor or teacher? Do you have the right gifts? I know you do. The first qualification of a pastor or teacher is faith. I know that each one of you has a sincere faith living in you. But, God has given you more gifts along with your faith. Listen to what Paul said to Timothy, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which lives in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." I encourage you to Fan Into Flames Your gift of God.

Have you ever seen the logo "NO FEAR?" You might have seen it in a car window or on a T-shirt. "NO FEAR" describes the kind of gifts God has given you. Each one of you has your own gifts. Some of you are creative, you’re good at art or drawing. Some of you are good writers; some of you are good talkers. But, God has given all of you the gift of NO FEAR.

First, you have NO FEAR of not being able to be a pastor or teacher. Never think that God can’t use you to teach somebody else about Jesus. You may not be the best writer; you might be afraid to get in front of people. That’s OK. You can get better at those things with practice. But, God has given you gifts. He can use whatever gifts he has given you to spread his word. Really, it’s God’s word that does all of the work anyway.

God has given all of us a gift with power. He has given us his word. God doesn’t rely on us to make people believe in him. God knows that we are weak sinners who can’t be as good as we’d like. That’s why he gave us his word. The job of pastors and teachers is simply to spread God’s word to as many people as possible. All of you can do that. God’s word is powerful. It will do the hard work of bringing people to faith in Jesus.

You have another gift of NO FEAR: NO FEAR of acceptance. Many people don’t want to become a pastor or teacher because it’s not cool. Says who? There are people who don’t think very highly of becoming a pastor or teacher. You don’t become famous. You don’t get rich. You have to work on holidays. It just doesn’t sound glamorous. If we put those things at the top of our list, then we might be afraid of becoming a pastor or teacher. But all of you know what is really important: serving God. With God you have NO FEAR of acceptance.

God has given you the gift of love. God loves you no matter what. He loved you even before you were born. He chose you to be his child. When you were born, you weren’t a child of God; you were a child of Satan, a sinner. God still loved you. He sent Jesus to die for you. After you die, God will show his love for you by taking you to heaven. You are accepted – by God. You are loved – by God.

Fan Into Flames Your Gift of God. Because of God’s love for you, you now have the power to spread God’s love. You can tell every child you baptize or every teen you confirm or every adult that you talk to that God loves them. God loves them so much that he sent his one and only Son to die for their sins.

Finally, you have NO FEAR of persecution. Persecution means that people hurt you, abuse you, or treat you badly because you are spreading God’s word. Many people will not want to hear about God’s love. Many people think that they don’t need God’s love. They want to go to heaven, but they think they can do it by themselves. Do you know how it feels to be told you’ve been naughty? We don’t like that do we? But we have been naughty. We have sinned against God. We deserve punishment; we deserve to go to hell. Ohh, nobody wants to hear that they’re going to hell. They won’t like you if you tell them that. But, it’s true.

They will try to shut you up. They will call you names. They may even try to hurt you. But, you do not have to be afraid. God has given you the gift of self-control. God is with you. He will protect you. He will help you resist the temptation to call them names or try to hurt them. God will be with you just as he was with Paul in jail. He will remind you of your gifts. He will remind you to Fan Into Flames the gifts he has given you.

Will you become a pastor or a teacher? I don’t know. Not everybody does. That’s all right too. We can serve others and serve God in many ways. However, I do know this. You have the gifts to become pastors and teachers. God has given each one of you gifts to serve him and others. Fan Into Flames Your Gifts of God. There is great joy in being a pastor or a teacher. We help others by telling them about the One who saved their lives. We serve God by living our faith and using our gifts. A pastor or a teacher. Hmmm? Think about it.