The Purpose of God’s Church
Titus: Doctrine and Devotion: God’s Blueprint for Healthy Churches • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsA 7 week study through the book of Titus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We blinked our eyes and it’s 2025. A new year is upon us! With a new year comes excitement for some and uncertainty for others. It brings with it some changes and some things that will remain the same. Millions of Americans are beginning this new year with a couple of new things on their schedule - those New Year’s Resolutions. Millions more enter this new year hoping that it will bring them hope, satisfaction, and blessing. Our world is looking for purpose. Something after this, she met Jesus and Jesus gave her this peace and purpose that she was pursuing all along.
Friends, our purpose is to know God and to enjoy Him forever. We are made by God for God and we will never find peace apart from God! This is our purpose individually… but what about as a church? What is God’s purpose for us at South Gate Baptist Church? The book of Titus helps us answer this question. Over the next 7 weeks, we’ll unpack this loaded letter one verse at a time, and see the themes of Doctrine and Devotion. How Christians are to be a people who really believe in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and who live according to this reality. We’ll uncover God’s Blueprint for a healthy church. As we enter a new year, shouldn’t this be our desire?
This morning we’ll be reminded of our mission statement in Titus 1:1-4. We exist first to Exalt our Savior (1-2) and to Engage our Society with the Gospel (3). Let’s read from God’s Word and see what God’s purpose is for us at South Gate!
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,
2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
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.
This is Paul’s introduction and in this short passage we see several truths for us today. Truth leads to change. God cannot lie. God’s Word really does work. Let’s pray and ask God to help us see His purpose for us this morning
Introducing Titus
Introducing Titus
Titus is a relatively short book as there are 3 chapters and 46 verses. Over the next 7 weeks we’re going to look at what God’s plan is for His Church, and this includes individual churches that are led by pastors/elders/overseers as we’ll see next week, and comprised of born again believers of all ages and backgrounds! Paul is writing this letter to his “son in the faith” - Titus. This book is one of the “Pastoral Letters” from Paul and it’s believed that he is doing this sometime in the early 60s AD. One of these days, Lord willing, we’ll preach through the book of Acts and it will take a long time to get through those 28 chapters, but when that time comes, we’ll see all of Paul’s missionary work with men like Titus as he would go into cities, preach the Gospel, plant churches, raise up local leaders, and then go to another city and do the same thing. So, here is Paul, after his 3 missionary journeys, after being in Roman prison, writing a letter to one of his associates in the faith.
Titus, along with 1/2 Timothy are called the Pastoral Letters. These are personal letters to fellow pastors, but they are not private letters. There is a growing movement from liberal theologians (difference between liberal politicians and theologians!) to say that these letters aren’t inspired by God, they are just the opinions and thoughts of a man. Additionally, some say that these are letters to these pastors that are not for the Church. In other words, Paul is describing something for one church instead of prescribing things for future generations as well. This is especially true in reference to leadership in the church as these letters give CLEAR instructions and qualifications for pastors/elders/overseers. The book of Titus was not only a letter from Paul to Titus, but a book that Titus was to read to all those under his spiritual care - meaning that what Paul had to say under inspiration of the Holy Spirit was bigger than just Titus. Bigger than just one church. Truths that are timely for us even to this day.
Titus as a person is on the island of Crete with the mission of planting churches, raising up men to serve as elders and overseers, or as we call them, pastors, and making sure that the church is doctrinally sound as there were people trying to lead these early Christians astray with false gospel teachings. False teaching was pervasive in the early church just as it is today - we can think of many false gospels: the name it claim it gospel, the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel. These messages talk a lot about things that make us feel good and line the pockets of those who share it, but they lack the truth of the Biblical Gospel. This is why Paul over and over wants to ensure that those leading the church are solid, consider Acts 20:28
28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
Be on guard. Watch your heart. Check yourself. Stay humble. This is Paul’s charge to the Ephesian Elders, the leaders of the church of Ephesus. Oversee your flock. Shepherd the church that God has purchased with His own blood. In this one verse, we see each of these titles, Pastor (shepherd), Elder (the addressees of this verse), and Overseer. Kids, in your bulletin you get a little sneak peak for next week’s message as we’ll look at this more in Titus 1:5-9 and what you can put on your outline today is that Elders are not only church leaders, they are pastors. In the Bible, Pastors are Elders. Elders are Overseers. Overseers are Pastors. Godly men leading God’s church matters! This is what God’s Word shows us and at South Gate, just as it did 2000 years ago, God’s Word must reign supreme!
Let’s see 3 things that God expects of His people in these opening verses!
We Exist to Embrace Grace (1)
We Exist to Embrace Grace (1)
If you’ve ever heard of the Apostle Paul in the Bible, chances are you know about his background and history a little bit, and it’s not the greatest read. In our world sometimes we talk about the haves and the have nots, Paul was definitely on the HAVE side of things. He was blessed to be taught by one of the greatest Jewish teachers of all-time. He was smart. He was popular. He was successful. We read about his background in Philippians 3. This guy did a lot of good things at least in his mind, but he was far away from God. Something changed, though. Paul went from taking Christians to jail to teaching people about Jesus Christ. Paul met Jesus and Jesus saved Paul. Paul, in this introduction, identifies as a servant of God. This individual, who was used by God in mighty ways, who wrote much of our Bible, who was used by God to lead thousands to faith in Christ, who planted dozens of churches, calls himself a servant. South Gate, God’s grace humbles us. As “great” as Paul was, he was simply a servant. The next word, apostle, means a sent one. He was sent by God with a specific mission and calling that was not his own but God’s. This was Paul’s identity.
This weekend our students were talking about their identity. Many place their identity in what they do - sports, academics, band, popularity. These aren’t bad things, but they change. You can’t play high school football forever, although some try! Your friend group changes as people get older, graduate, and move away. Popularity comes and goes. We need our identity to be in something that lasts, and this is why Paul talks so much in the Bible about being IN CHRIST. Paul totally belongs to Jesus. This is His identity, and this must be ours as well. Jesus is our authority. His Word is sufficient. His Spirit is our guide. Jesus changes everything in our lives and it’s all because of His grace.
There was a time in all of our lives whenever our identity was not in Christ. The Bible talks about our salvation as us being adopted into God’s family. You know what that means? There was a time whenever we were separated from God, whenever we were not in His family. Some don’t like the sound of that, but it’s important to see what Scripture says about it. Think of what adoption looks like… a person is born into a family, and then they are chosen to be adopted by another family. I can think back nearly 28 years in my own life to whenever I was born to a couple of teenagers here in Springfield and had a multitude of health complications. Fast forward a few months and God did what only God could do and I was adopted into my family. I was given a new name. My identity changed the day I was adopted. Church, this is what Jesus does for us! He adopts us. He changes us. He saves us. This is true for all of us - there was a time in our lives where we were dead in our sins, walking in darkness, children under wrath, but God saved us.
Sometimes in the Bible we see words and ideas that can make us uncomfortable. And when that happens the problem is never with the Bible and always with us. We see in this opening verse that Paul’s service of God exists for the “faith of God’s elect.” What does that mean? Sometimes the word elect is rendered as “Chosen.” We see this in 1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
What does this mean? Some really wrestle with this word and I know that some pastors wrestle with even preaching passages that use that word! Y’all, it’s simply what the Bible says. If you are saved, you put your faith in Jesus. You repented of your sins. You received Christ. You chose to do this. This is what we all as humans are “responsible” to do. Does this surprise God? Absolutely not! We read throughout the Bible that God has a perfect plan and that those who repent of their sins and trust in Christ are called God’s people, God’s elect as Titus 1:1 says. In the Old Testament we know that this is true of the people of Israel as they are called God’s chosen people. We see this of individual people in the Old Testament as Jeremiah was chosen by God and set apart to be a prophet. We see this in the New Testament as well. If you are saved, you are chosen. This is not a natural thing, according to Scripture.
10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
Adrian Rogers, the beloved SBC pastor, worded it like this in a sermon on this passage, “You say, well I sought Him. The only reason you sought Him is because He first sought you.” So, which is it? Is God Sovereign? Yes. Is Man Responsible? Yes. That might not compute in our brains, but these are the twin train tracks of Scripture and, as Spurgeon put it,
“Why try to separate friends?”
We are saved by grace… but grace doesn’t just stay in our head. Grace doesn’t just change your heart. Grace moves to your hands. This passage tells us that this knowledge of the truth leads to godliness. God’s Grace Generates Godliness!
My flesh tells me that I’m a good person. My flesh tells me that I do good things. My flesh might even tell me that I’m pretty godly. I’m pretty righteous. I’m pretty moral. But what does the Gospel say? Romans 5:6
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Literally, the wicked. Not the righteous. The wicked… that is who Christ died for. Before Christ, we are wicked. We fall short. We are sinners. This breaks down our pride! This breaks down our self-made and self-help strategies! We can’t do enough. We have no hope! The best we can come up with is filthy rags. Yet, it’s for us that Christ died. What does this reality do? This is a wrecking ball to our pride and it’s a rocket launcher to evangelism. Whenever we realize how lost we were and how hopeless we were before Christ, we have nothing to do but be grateful for God’s grace and to share that Gospel message of grace with those around us who also are helpless and hopeless. At South Gate, we exist to embrace God’s grace. To exhibit God’s grace.
Ask yourself: If an outsider were to examine your life and the life of your non-Christian neighbor, would they say that you are a person consumed with God’s grace? This is our goal at South Gate, to be people who have been saved by grace and people who live by grace.
We Exist to Live Eternally (2-3)
We Exist to Live Eternally (2-3)
One of the reasons why people don’t always show grace towards others is because their focus is very earthly centered. Focused on the here and now. The temporary. Whenever this is our mindset, it’s easy to get caught in the moment. It’s easy to feel let down. It’s easy to lose our hope. In a world of change, hope comes and goes. How many of us had someone let us down in 2024? That hurts and it can scar us for a long period of time. Maybe you’re here this morning and you haven’t been in church for a while. Maybe this is your first time in a church at all. Maybe you’ve been hurt by someone who attended church and you project that onto God - someone let you down, and because that person claimed to follow God, you project that onto God and believe that God is not deserving of your trust. Friend, take heart in Titus 1:2 - the God of the Bible cannot lie. He is eternally faithful. One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is Exodus 34:6 as we learn this about the very nature of our God
6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,
There is great security in Jesus that this world cannot offer. There is hope in the Lord that this world cannot provide. There is life in the Lord that is an abundant and eternal life. For some of us, 2024 was a year of loss. I know since coming to South Gate there have been multiple funerals as we have lost family members, friends, faithful servants, Life Group members, teachers, our family… The pain of loss is real, but so is the reality of eternity. We all will live forever in one of two places. See, for some people, the 70 years on this planet are the best they will ever experience. I’m not sure about you, but that’s not very hopeful. We live in a broken world. A painful world. A sinful world. But for some, this life is as good as it gets. But if you know Jesus, if you have been saved, if you belong to Him, you have this blessed hope that this world, as difficult as things might be at times, this world is as bad as it will ever be. You have the hope of an eternity without suffering, sorrow, shame, and sin! We have the hope of eternal life, and this hope is not because of our doing. It’s not because of our perfection.
It’s hope that has a firm foundation in the very character of our God as Sinclair Ferguson once shared, “My security as a Christian does not reside in the strength of my faith, but in the indestructibility of my Savior.”
There are times where we might not feel hopeful. We might not feel worshipful. We might not feel good. This is why it’s so important not to base things in our feelings, but in the facts. What do we know? God is faithful. What do we know? God has a perfect plan from eternity past as Ephesians 1:4 tells us.
4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.
Before time began, before the foundation of the world, our God had a plan and that plan involved you being here today. That plan involved 2025, South Gate Baptist Church. That plan involves this church. I’ve mentioned before that South Gate Baptist Church is 35 years old. Do you know that in Missouri, we have the oldest protestant church west of the Mississippi? Old Bethel Church in Jackson, MO. Old Bethel was constructed in 1806 - that’s nearly 220 years ago! If you go across the pond to countries in Europe, you’ll find church buildings that are over 1,000 years old. 35 years compared to over 1,000 is nothing! We look at a large church down the street or a church 1,000 years old somewhere else in the world and it might even seem like what we’re doing here is insignificant. But the 35 years that South Gate has been proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ have been of eternal significance and a part of God’s perfect plan because God works through His Word. This is what Titus 1:3 is telling us. Because the Gospel has been proclaimed from this pulpit by 3 previous pastors, because the Gospel has been taught throughout the rooms of this church by faithful teachers, because kids learned about the Gospel through songs and Bible stories, lives have been changed for all eternity. South Gate is eternally significant. The work and ministry that YOU do is of eternal significance!
We have tens of thousands of people living within 10 minutes of our physical building who do not yet know Christ as Lord and Savior. Many who think they do not need the Gospel, and many who have never heard the Biblical Gospel. What is God’s plan and purpose for us? God’s plan involves people like you and me realizing that eternity is too long to get Jesus wrong. We have a message that must be proclaimed. This is why each Sunday at this church, we will hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ because, like Paul, this is the message that I have been commanded to preach… can I let you all in on a secret? We have the best message to share. I can say this with full confidence, some might preach the Gospel better than your pastor, but no person preaches a better Gospel than your pastor. As a church, because of our hope of being with Jesus forever, because our God is faithful, because eternity is a breath away, we must take seriously our charge to share with others.
We Exist to Endure Together (4)
We Exist to Endure Together (4)
(Possibly change this to talk about how people are united or what unites people - community, sports, hobbies, interests)
What do we need at South Gate? Some might say that we need this new program. We need this initiative. We need this new ministry. What do we need? We need Jesus - see, Jesus is what unites us together. Paul talks about the common faith that he and Titus share. If we are going to endure together as a body in 2025 and the years to come, we desperately need Jesus to do the work that only He can do and break down the barriers that we are all tempted to build up!
One of the most fascinating animals that I’ve come across is the Pufferfish. This little guy looks nice and cute at first glance… but if he feels threatened, he can grow 4 times his normal size to look bigger to a potential predator. Can you imagine if you could expand 4x your normal size? That’s crazy! You know what can happen if we’re not careful? We look at our works, we look at what we’ve done, we look at the fact that we come to church, and we think that we are deserving of God’s grace. Our pride puffs us up to the point that we think that if we just do these things, then we can earn our way or we are better than so and so who struggles with things that we don’t struggle with. Pride puffs us up and tears other down… Grace lifts others up by humbling us down. If we are going to endure in this marathon called life, we need one another and most of all, we need God’s grace. We need His grace to humble us and to help us realize that we are on the same team.
See, it doesn’t matter where you serve or how you’re gifted or what preference you have or don’t have, at South Gate Baptist Church, we are all on the same team because we have a common faith that is founded in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the foundation of South Gate Baptist Church and we all desperately need Jesus. 2,000 years ago on this island of Crete you had all sorts of different people. Wealthy and Poor. Romans and non-Romans. Free and Slave. Men and Women. Old and Young. What united the churches that Titus planted was not that every person had the same social status. It wasn’t that everyone looked the same. It wasn’t that everyone had the same background. What united these early Christians was their foundation: Jesus Christ. Jesus had radically saved them and they were filled with Gospel gratitude because Grace inspires Godliness. They realized God’s amazing grace and they experienced His love in saving them from their sins, and because God had loved and saved them, they knew that they were commanded to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. What unites us at South Gate Baptist Church is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our faith in Jesus. As we look at God’s Word, we realize that we are apart of something so much bigger than just ourselves. Something eternal! Something BIG! Something that God began and something that God Himself will finish! God has a purpose for this church. God has a purpose for YOU.
Titus 1:1-4 reminds us that God’s Purpose for His Church is to
Serve God
Paul was a servant of God. Service and Submission aren’t second rate things, they are privileges! You are saved into service. However God has gifted you, use those gifts for His glory by serving Him specifically in the context of the local church. Maybe that means teaching kids, maybe that means praying for those who are sick and in the hospital, maybe that means taking pizza down to Bridge of Faith on a Wednesday night. However you’re gifted, use your gift for the glory of God and let’s be a church marked by faithful service!
Stand Out
The Gospel doesn’t just change our head, it changes our hands. The knowledge of the truth leads to godliness. This means that we stand out from people who do not know Christ! This is the purpose of the church as we let our light shine bright. Let me ask you this today: If a stranger observed your life and the life of your neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus, would you stand out from this person? We should!
Share Gospel
God has a perfect plan and part of that plan involves God’s church sharing His Gospel message far and wide. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word - South Gate, God’s Word does God’s Work! We have a message to proclaim and it’s a simple but profound 5 word message: Jesus Christ Still Saves Sinners! This message changes everything!
If you are here this morning and you are searching for purpose, satisfaction, peace… you can find those things in Jesus Christ. He made you. 2,000 years ago, He sent His Son into this world to save you. Today, He calls on you to turn away from the empty things this world tells us to build our lives upon and to trust in Him. To build your life on His Word. To believe that Jesus is who He said that He was, the sinless Savior of sinners. As you enter a New Year, the best way you can begin this new year is by trusting in Jesus. If you are in Christ, if you have trusted in Christ as Savior, as we enter this new year, your challenge is Titus 1:1 - does your life reflect God’s grace? God’s Grace Generates Godliness. Doctrine Demands Devotion. Saved People are Changed People. How can you and I be a people who Exalt our Savior and Engage our Society this week? This year? Who do you know who needs to hear the truth of the Gospel? As we pray, pray that God would break your heart for this person. Pray that we would be a beacon of light at South Gate as we boldly stand on God’s Word! Let’s ask God for His help in this process!
How this passage could point to Christ: In the greater narrative of Scripture, Christ is the embodiment of truth and fulfills God’s promise of eternal life. Paul's words in Titus echo the foundational role of Christ in establishing the Church, showcasing His authority and purpose as the head of the body.
Big Idea: God has a purposeful mission for His Church rooted in truth and faith, equipping us to share the hope of eternal life through Christ.