Our Mission Never Changes
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Today’s Reading from God’s Word
Today’s Reading from God’s Word
5 to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s word will not be slandered.
6 In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled
7 in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching.
8 Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.
9 Slaves are to submit to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back
10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
Introduction
Introduction
Thank you again for the invitation to be with you this weekend.
Excited for the opportunity.
My job is to encourage and inspire you.
Sharing Jesus. Does it work any more?
How can we be effective in a world that feels as if it is running off the rails?
Even though the world is constantly changing, its greatest need has not changed.
People need the Lord.
As Christ’s ambassadors, it is our job to share the message of salvation with them.
As we study together tonight, we’ll remind ourselves of the mission Titus had.
Ours is just like it.
His world is not really that different from our own.
Jesus and His saving power. That’s the message. That’s our work.
So, we’ll first look at Titus’ mission and how it fit inside three primary concerns.
Then we’ll look at three things we must remember as we engage in the mission.
Titus’ Mission
Titus’ Mission
Titus’ Two-Fold Mission
Titus’ Two-Fold Mission
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.
set right what was left undone.
Appoint elders in every town.
This was not an easy job.
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party.
11 It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly.
12 One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Paul’s personal experience … this would be a challenging environment.
13 This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith
Imagine going into this type of place to preach for or plant a church.
It was this way all around the world. And as so, it immediately placed Christians in absolute contrast to everything inside their culture.
In the Gentile world:
There was no Bible. No Biblical morality. No Christian morality.
Few Christians in high places with enough influence to sway a world empire
No Christian politicians. No governors/rulers with a Christian background.
As far as a large footprint, it appears Christianity had very little influence on the mass society that was Rome.
Paganism and all its allures were definitely the mainstream.
So how did the early church respond?
Reaching one unsaved person at a time with the power of the gospel.
There was no other agenda.
The book of Titus captures three primary concerns:
The book of Titus captures three primary concerns:
Titus 2:5 (CSB)
5 …so that God’s word will not be slandered.
8 Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.
10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
Their mission was to get the gospel into the public so people could hear it.
They were concerned about demonstrating redemption through redeemed lives.
A German philosopher once said: “Show me your redeemed life and I might be inclined to believe in your redeemer.”
The entire thrust of Paul’s letter to Titus is the need to convert the lost.
Titus is all about salvation
Titus is all about salvation
3 In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
God and Jesus are our Savior.
10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
God saved us
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,
Jesus saved us
6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior
So how do we win people? Bring them to the truth?
How do we live so that the word of God is not dishonored? How do we live so that no evil be said of us?
How will we adorn the doctrine of Christ by demonstrating what a saved life looks like?
Three Things to Remember about Our Mission
Three Things to Remember about Our Mission
3:1-2 - Remember Your Responsibility to Society
3:1-2 - Remember Your Responsibility to Society
In our age of self-expression, independence, and selfishness … we may not concentrate on these things as much as we should.
Check out the 7 virtues in 3.1-2:
1 Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,
2 to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.
Be submissive to rulers / authorities. May not always agree, but we pray for them. We follow their lead.
Be obedient. (parallel passage 2 Timothy 2.21 - a vessel of honor, ready for every good work)
Ready for every good work.
To slander no one. i.e., speak evil of no one.
Avoid fighting. i.e., quarreling.
Be kind.
Show gentleness to all people.
These are basic principles of citizenship. Good behavior in everyday life.
Christians should not be known for being contentious, fighting, or protesting.
We trust in God to make things right when wrong is suffered.
The world is watching. Now more than ever. How are we responding during times of crisis? What are people seeing in our social media feeds?
3:3 - Remember Your Former Condition
3:3 - Remember Your Former Condition
3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.
Before we attack the world with its problems, view ourself as a culture warrior, we need to remember who we once were.
The contrast here is between our former status (dead) vs. our present regenerated condition.
We were:
rebellious to God’s law
resistant to His truth
open to mindless passion
fed on bad treatment of others
These are the types of passive and active things that characterize the rest of humanity.
9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
The things that Paul is speaking about once described us. That should humble us all.
3:4-7 - Remember Your Salvation
3:4-7 - Remember Your Salvation
There is only one thing that makes us different from the rest of the world.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,
5 he 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.
3.4-5a - God has saved you. Jesus is the basis of your salvation.
3.5b - your salvation wasn’t by your work.
3.5c - it was by the mercy of God.
When you were saved, what were you busy doing? See 3.3.
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath.
10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
Back to TItus
5 he 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.
3.5d - God saved us when we surrendered our will to Him in baptism. Before that we were wretched and hopelessly lost.
3.5e - God renewed us by the Holy Spirit.
6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior
Think of how this hits the heart of human pride. There is no reason to ever exalt ourselves.
The emphasis is on God. His grace, His power, His mercy, His activity in saving us are all in full focus.
This will change how we look at the world.
Evangelism will become a natural expression of a humble, saved heart, that trusts God.
We’ve all been inside the pit. Thank God he pulled us out. Now, let’s go tell everyone that He can do the same for them.
As We Close…
As We Close…
8 This 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.
What we’ve studied in this lesson is trustworthy.
We can speak with confidence.
The gospel is just as powerful as it ever has been.
Remember the three basic principles from which we operate:
live in a way that the word of God won’t be reviled
Speak in such a way that an evil person can’t say something bad about us
adorn the doctrine of Christ in every way by:
remembering our responsibility to society
remembering our former life
remembering our salvation
Now, more than ever, our mission should be on the forefront of our minds.
How can we touch the real people who have real concerns.
Real issues to cope with and need God’s help.
Let’s develop a heart for others and get our message out to the community at large.