Chapel 4/16/23

Titus Chapter 2

Welcome to our first chapel together for 2023,

We are going to be in Titus today, so you can go there now

And I’ll be using the New Living Translation, or the NLT

I am Tony Graffanino, I have been the chaplain here since 2019

I played professional baseball for 20 years

Now I work for a Christian Baseball Ministry called UPI, Unlimited Potential Inc, or In Christ,

We are all former professional baseball players ministering back into the world of professional baseball

We are chaplains of pro teams, we do one on one stuff, we take missions trips, so that interests you, we can talk after chapel

Ok, now let me pray to get us started

(Simple story about how what we believe affects how we live)

I’ll start this chapel with a question, who knows the best use of and object, the maker of that object or the new owner of said object?

Why?

Does anyone disagree?

If so, why?

So, let’s say I purchase a Mercedes Benz, an S Class, luxury sedan

The car comes with an owners manual, why?

What if I choose not to read it, is that a big deal?

How about the salespeople, they should give me a rundown of all the features, how it operates, what certain things do, etc. right?

What if I choose not to listen, is that a big deal?

What happens to my Mercedes Benz S 550 if I decide to put 87 type gas in? If I’m not mistaken it is supposed to take 93

Ok, so not that a huge deal, the engine won’t perform as well as it could, maybe some micro particles get in there, could cause some engine damage, maybe it is a big deal.

Ok, what if I decide to take my luxury sedan off-road? I want to go on some back country roads, is that a big deal?

Why? Because the car wasn’t made for that, it’s not a off-road type of vehicle

What if things start to break down on my Mercedes? I’m sure I can fix them right? Just use whatever parts I want.

This is silly, I know, no one would ever take their Mercedes Benz S 550 off-road because we know that’s not it’s created purpose.

Now thankfully, for those who want a vehicle that can go 4 wheeling, they make vehicles to do that.

But in this little example we see a profound truth

The maker or creator of something knows its intended us, what is was made to do.

The owner, though, can do whatever they want with it, nothing is stopping them, but they will ruin it.

The created way is best

This is a letter from Paul to his protege Titus

In chapter 1 of this letter, Paul wrote this in verse 1

New Living Translation Chapter 1

I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.

The reason Paul was sent was to:

proclaim faith, that is faith, belief, trust in Jesus

to teach them how to know the truth

bc it shows them how to live godly lives

There is another benefit to knowing the truth in verse 2

It gives them confidence that they have eternal life

But back to knowing the truth

We live in a world that says “truth is relative”

That each person can determine what their own truth is

That’s why our world is so chaotic and there is so much brokenness,

people are living according a different set of rules, different standards

But as a Christian, we believe truth comes from God

He is the creator and designer, not only of us, but of our world

If anyone knows how it should operate, what is the best way, it’s Him

But we push back on this, all of us do

It started in the Garden of Eden

God gave them truth

The serpent said what God said wasn’t true

Adam and Eve believed the lie and chose to determine what they thought was best for them

They were wrong

Enter sin, shame, pain, suffering, disease, disaster, and death

They were then expelled from the place made for them to dwell

Now Adam deals with frustration and futility in his work

All too often, what we think is best isn’t, and just leads to pain

God’s ways are best and we can believe that if we believe 2 things about Him

That He’s good

That He wants good for me

If we can answer yes to those two questions, then we can trust Him and His ways.

Knowing the truth shows us how to live godly lives

So what is the truth

God is the creator of all, including us

He has set an order and a way for things to operate, including us

His Word is truth, no lies, no contradictions,

He is good and His ways are good, we are not

Our sin has led to us being separated from God

There is nothing we can do to fix that

Jesus came to fix it for us

He lived the perfect life, then died the death we deserve

While He lived, He taught us and showed us how to live

He spoke the truth, but also is the truth

He is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Him

Living according to His ways is living in the truth, and living godly

Now let’s move on to chapter 2 verse 1

New Living Translation Chapter 2

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching.

Here we have it again, instructions to Titus about wholesome teaching, or the truth

But here it is in regards to a certain kind of living, which would be godly living

So a conclusion we can draw is this