Ministry Together

Introduction:

‌As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, let’s stop for a moment and seek after God in prayer to prepare our hearts to receive what He wants to do in us this morning. Remember, we are gathered together here for Him. We are here to be changed by HIM. We want to seek the face of God in and through worship.... and part of that worship is reading and studying His word together. But, in order for us to understand His word…we need his help. We need to cry out like the Psalmist and ask.. “Lord teach me your word so that I may obey it…”

So, with that being said, let us go to the Lord in prayer.

Let’s Pray together. As we close out our series this morning on Titus, I want to invite you to open up your Bibles to Titus chapter 3:12-15 with me this morning. This is a relatively short passage here at the end, and like most closing on New Testament letters, we have a tendency to read through them rather quickly without really considering what is being said. Listen to these words. When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing. 14 Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. 15 All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you. ( Titus 3:12-15)

‌See? Short. Sweet. To the point. When we first read through this, there does not seem to be a whole lot going on here. Yeah, we have the repetition of “good works” but besides that, there is no earth-shattering news going on here. It can seem almost like this is a waste of time to read through because it is so specific. You and I are not worried about helping Artemas or Tychicus or Zenas or Apollos. We will never meet them. They are dead! We are not going to be waiting around here for them to show up.

So, if that is the case.... What in the world are we to do with these last verses of Titus this morning? Wouldn’t the best thing for us to do is just to acknowledge them and move on?

I think that we would have to say no. This is not the correct way to handle these verses. We know that all Scripture is profitable for the people of God..... even when it is hard for us to see what the profit is. This is when we really need to slow down and ask ourselves what God wants to say to us. These verses require more commitment, not less!

Body: ‌As we think about these verses, the main point that I want us to see this morning is.... Main Point: Ministry Is To Be Done Together.

Think about how different this line of thinking is when it comes to ministry in our culture. We often do not think about how much we need each other. We often do not think about how ministry is to be done together. Instead, although we may not say it out loud, we tend to view ministry as a competition.

‌This is why when you hear a group of Pastors together you will hear them ask questions like, “How many are your running? “We are wanting to see if we are doing better or worse than the next guy! It almost becomes this sense of pride when we are having a large crowd gather together… or when everything “looks” like they are going well. But what we are not seeing when these things become our focus is that we are not fighting with other churches over people. In the end, everyone who is reached will all go to the same spot. We all have the same destination. We are all going to Heaven. The goal for ministry is to reach lost people and help them grow in Christ.

‌This is our mission: We want to help people become followers of Christ, grow in Christ, and Go on mission with Christ. We believe that this is what the Lord has called us to....as Christians and as a Church…and every Christian and Church should have the same mission. That is why we are not fighting against each other.... instead we are to be working together.

This is exactly what we see going on in these verses at the closing of Titus.

Let’s look at verse 12 again. ‌When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there.

Partnership In Ministry.

We really see this in two different ways in this one verse.

First, we see this when it comes to Paul sending Artemas or Tychicus to Titus. Paul really is not sure who he is going to send at this point. He knows that it is going to be one of them… but who really knows at this point.

As far as these guys are concerned, we really do not know a whole lot about them. We know NOTHING about Artemas. This is the one place that he is mentioned in the New Testament. Tychicus, on the other hand, is mentioned a few different times and he is always described as a faithful servant of the Lord. How great it would be to have these words said of us in our day and age. This should be our desire.

‌But notice, Paul is sending these guys to Titus, why? Paul wants Titus to come to him in Nicopolis because he has decided to spend the winter there.

These two guys are coming to Titus so that they can relieve him of his ministry responsibilities so that he can go to Paul and presumably help Paul in ministry while he is in Nicoplis.

‌Do you see the connection there? The ministry in Crete is not dependent upon Titus doing all of the work. The ministry responsibilities are shared among other believers. You see this mutual sharing and concern for the ministry.

But it is not one in verse 12 that we see this idea. Look at verse 13 with me.

13 Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.

‌Titus is not to be sitting back waiting for these guys to get to him so that he can high tail it and leave. NO!!! Ministry does now allow us to do that. Instead, while Titus is waiting, he is to help some other brothers, who have more than likely delivered the letter to Titus, on their journey. Titus is to help Zenas and Apollos.

Again, we know nothing of Zenas the lawyer. More than likely this was s Greek convert who was an expert in Roman law… and not Jewish law. Not sure why that is important, but it was probably some clue as to who Paul was talking about exactly.

Apollos on the other hand, was a well-known minister of the early church. We see him over and over again in the pages of the New Testament.

This is the guy that Paul talks about in 1 Cor 3 when he says, 4 For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like mere humans? THE ROLE OF GOD’S SERVANTS 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

This guy is the one who is out in the public square in the book of Acts who was doing some open-air preaching about Jesus. This guy was well known.... and he is coming through Crete. We do not know why. We can assume, because Titus is told to make sure that they are to lack nothing on their journey, that they are on mission. This is what Apollos was known for. He was an evangelist! He spread the word and told people about Christ. And now Titus was to make sure that these two partners in ministry had everything that they needed to continue on with their mission. There is a mutual concern not about who is doing what.... but about what is getting done. We see something similar in 3 John. Listen to these words 5 Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans., 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

Partnership In Ministry. We have to see this. Ministry is not to be done alone. Gospel ministry was never about one church or person doing all of the work. We all are on the same team and we all should be encouraging one another and supporting one another as we fight against darkness in this present age.

We have ONE enemy… and it is not other brothers and sisters or churches. Remember the words of Jesus.... HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT OVERCOME IT!!! WE are on mission and in ministry to reach lost people and help them grow in the faith. That is the goal… and this work is for everyone in the church. That is where Paul turns his focus next.

Look down at verse 14. ‌14 Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

Christians Are To Do Good Works. ‌This is not the first time that we have seen this idea in this letter. Paul has mentioned this to Titus over and over again. Let me show you how many times this idea appears in this little book. Understanding “Works” From Titus. Tt 1:16They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. Tt 2:7in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching. Tt 2:14He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. Tt 3:5he saved us— not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy— through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Tt 3:8This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. Tt 3:14Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

This theme has been repeated throughout this letter. There is this huge focus on the church being focused on doing good works.... and the reason given is, not so that we earn our salvation, but rather so that we are not unfruitful.

Good works for the Christian are to overflow out of their relationship with Christ. We engage in ministry because of what Jesus has already done for us. Not only that though, it would appear that by doing good works, something is being done inside of the believer. When we step out in obedience to Christ, He does something inside of us and produces fruit.... meaning He is changing us. And in our text this morning it says that we need to be reading for pressing needs… We need to live with an awareness of the world around us so that when the time comes, we are ready to meet those needs when they arise. Do you see how this then becomes a partnership in ministry? The Pastor cannot meet all of the pressing needs around him in a community.... but if the Church is living with an awareness and devoting.... then ministry can be done.

Conclusion: There is one more verse that we need to look at this morning. Look down to verse 15. 15 All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you. There are three different groups that we see in this one small verse that again emphasizes the connectiveness that churches are to have together. Those that are with Paul send greetings.... I would assume to the churches. Titus is to greet those who are in the church from Him. And lastly, Paul sends his own personal greeting to those in the church. These verses again remind us that the Christian faith is not lived isolated from each other. We are to live with an awareness that we are for each other. WE are on mission together. WE need each other. We are not competing with one another. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we should treat each other as such. This is a reminder that we are part of a bigger family. We are not alone. We should be greeting one another and working with one another to bring about change in the community. That has to be our focus. Remember what I said at the beginning: We exist to help people Follow Christ, Grow in Christ, and Go on mission with Christ. That is our mission.....that is our mission as a church body… and that had to be our mission as individual Christians. This is the mission of the Church… and I do not mean just our church… this is the mission of the universal Church. This is what should unite all of us. This is why, we should not be looking around at other churches and thinking about how we are in completion with them.... instead, we need to see that all of us are on the same team, and we need to seek to work together to accomplish this mission that Christ gave us.

‌We need to be asking ourselves, who can we help in ministry to accomplish the great commission? Who can we come along side of for mission? Who can come along side of us? What are the good works that I can be doing for mission?

‌All of these are good questions to ask… and to be real honest as we get ready to go into our business meeting, these are questions that we really need to consider as a church body. I believe that God wants to do great things with our people. I believe that God wants to use this church for mission and ministry. I think that God has put us in such a time and place as this for His Glory.

We just are not called to keep going at this alone.

Main Point: Ministry Is To Be Done Together. Let us make this a priority in the church. Let's make this a priority of prayer. I do not know what the future holds for us…but I do know that God has called us to get on mission.... and that is going to be done best together.

Let’s pray together.