“Stirred, Not Shaken”
2 Timothy 1: 5-7

Introduction:
Sometimes it may feel easier to give up, throw in the towel, and say “I quit.”
When we do this, we stop living long before we die. You have gifts that are covered in the ashes of disappointment, failure, grief, burnout, hurt, fear. You don’t necessarily need for God to give you a new fire, but to allow the one within you to reignite.

The Greek word Paul uses (anazōpyrein) is wonderfully vivid. It literally carries the idea of rekindling a fire—breathing life back into glowing embers. Paul isn't assuming the fire is out. He's assuming there's
still something alive beneath the ashes that needs fresh air.

I. Legacy of Faith (V5: “I remember your genuine faith”)
* Acts 16:1-3 – Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him
because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
* Timothy’s Greek Father- Don’t worry about who wasn’t there, but thank God for who did show up, who did get on their knees, and who is praying for you now. God will always send you what and/or who you need.
* God loves legacy – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: In some of the lowest points of my life, it’s the legacy that God has put within me that has sustained me. You might even argue that your legacy is one of addiction, violence, bitterness, etc. It ran in your family until it ran into YOU! You may have grown up in chaos, but today you are inside a church! Some of you may be young Timothy, and some of you may have to be Mamaw Lois! The common denominator is “sincere faith”, not an individual. We all have to work out our own salvation and walk our own faith journey.

II. Fan into flames/Stir up the Gift (V6)
* Life, people, circumstance, and mean-spirited people will try to put your fire out. The enemy wants you stirred into panic, but God wants you stirred into purpose! When the devil agitates, God begins to activate! Nothing reaches its potential without agitation! Your life will let the sweetness flow to the bottom; you’ve got to stir it up! Stir it up until you get your joy back, your peace back! Life may have pushed it to the bottom of your cup, you’ve got to stir it up! When life shakes you to your core, and you feel depleted, God will remind you that you have everything you need already – stir it up!
* We all appreciate comfort to a degree, but when comfort gets stripped away and you are shook, you need your gift to activate! You may not need a new gift (we like new Amazon orders, new gifts, new clothes), sometimes you just need to stir the one you’ve got because it’s grown stagnate. You need a fresh fire on the stove to heat you up and to be stirred. You may not need a new gift, a new anointing, a new ministry, a new place to serve…you may just need to shift your perspective on the one you already have by stirring it up!
* Paul REMINDS Timothy of the gift already in Him for the season that He is in NOW. God plants gifts before He uses them! God never asks us to produce something He hasn’t already provided! We often try to disqualify our gifts because of past sins, mistakes, failures, fear, etc. You have a gift, you just may not know it yet. And if you feel that you don’t, how did Timothy receive his? When Paul laid hands on him. You can find your way to an altar today and allow God to place a gift inside you. We just started our 21 Days of Prayer season yesterday. Find a living room. Come to Saturday prayer! Let somebody lay hands on you in earnest prayer! For the rest of us, we need to awaken what God has given us by stirring it, fanning into flame!
* The word “gift” that Paul uses translate to the Greek word for “charisma/charismata”, which means that this gift is more than a ministry or place to serve, but the very spirit of Timothy bearing witness with God’s Holy Spirit If you’ve lost your “charisma”, you’ve disconnected from God’s spirit being active in your life. Some of y’all have lost your “rizz” This gift is the unique way that the Holy Spirit is expressed through our lives. It’s much deeper than talent. A talent is what I can do. A gift is what God can do through me, and in me.

III. God doesn’t give fear, but power, love, and a sound mind (V7)
* Fear is NOT FROM GOD – God has no purpose for making you afraid. He does allow life to shake you at times, but the shake precedes the stir!
God often uses the shaking to accomplish a deeper stirring! Fear often comes when we start listening to the voices in our heads, people out of touch with God, and the enemy – When they start lying to you, reject the lies! Reject fear! Slap back with some truth! God gives you the gift of power, love, and a sound mind! Fear is the greatest extinguisher of our gifts – not inability. Timothy was already a pastor. He already got the assignment. He just needed to stir up his confidence, his faith in God, etc.
* Fear puts a wet blanket on your boldness, compassion, joy, generosity, forgiveness, worship, hope. Power, love, and a sound mind keep you moving when your emotions tell you to quit. We must be careful not to write this off as story about a man who lacked ability. Timothy wasn’t trying
to find his talent, he was a man who had become discouraged. Paul is writing his final letter from a Roman prison where he will soon be executed. He discerns that Timothy is struggling with everything that life is throwing at him and REMINDS him of WHO he belongs to.
* Have you lost your sound mind? A sound mind means that my thoughts are not my own, but they begin to align with the thoughts of God. Are you tired of life shaking you up and dumping you out? Stir up what’s inside of you! Don’t waste the shaking, let it bring you to a stirring! When I’m stirred, I can’t be shaken! Life will absolutely throw trials and challenges at me, thank God that I have a gift on the inside of me that makes up the difference!

Conclusion:
The gift is the life of Christ within you through His Spirit The Holy Spirit is the gift-giver, and empowers the gifts within us. The Spirit stirs the gift on the inside of us The gift is the way Christ’s life becomes visible through our lives. Would you surrender to the stirring today? Have you stirred your gift lately? God wants use it. Someone else’s salvation may be dependent upon your gift being stirred!