Hello and thank you very much for joining me today.

Forgive him 15.

The title of the post is, don't be intimidated.

2. Timothy 1, verses 1 through 7, I have given to you in the written version.

I'm only going to read two verses,

six and seven. Paul told Timothy, I remind you to kindle afresh, King James says, stir up,

the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, King James says fear, but a power, love, and discipline.

And again, King James says, a sound mind.

Paul had assigned his spiritual son, Timothy, to lead the ecclesia, the church, in Ephesus.

Timothy, excuse me, Timothy was a young man at the time, 30-ish.

This assignment would have been difficult for anyone, but to a young 30-year-old, it was very challenging.

Some background information on Ephesus will be helpful.

With a population of 250,000 people, Ephesus was the capital of a Roman province in Asia and

was the fourth greatest city in the world, after Rome, Alexandria in Egypt, and Antioch of Syria.

Pardon me.

Called the mother city of Asia, Ephesus was a significant center of trade, located near a harbor at the mouth of the Caster River

in western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

The city lay in a long fertile valley.

Major roads connected Ephesus to all the other significant cities in Asia Minor.

Ephesus was known for its amphitheater, the largest in the world,

designed to hold up to 50,000 spectators.

It was also the location of the great temple of Artemis or Diana built in,

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