Titus 3:8-15 - The Pursuit of Healthy Evangelism

Pray

Father, thank you for the blessing your Word has been in my life, in all of our lives.

Thank you for the opportunity I have now to preach it.

I pray that you would speak through me now.

Speak through me and speak into each of our hearts, even my own.

Lord, I need to hear your Word preached just as much as anyone else here.

So, please speak into each of our hearts to change us into the likeness of your Son.

Lord, we want to be like him because he loved us so much he went to the cross and died for us.

He did that and then rose from the dead so that we could be forgiven and adopted into your family, reconciled to you and given eternal life.

And if he loved us enough to do all of that for us, then, Lord, we want to be like him, we want to do what he want’s us to do, and we want to be what he wants us to be.

And that comes through the preaching of your Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Your Word preached in the power of your Spirit, and our hearts receiving your Word by the power of your Spirit.

So, Father, please use me, and my small faithfulness to preach your Word, and work a miracle in our hearts this morning through your Spirit.

Empower me to rightly proclaim the truth of your Word.

And empower each of us to receive it and be changed by it.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Intro

We are wrapping up our series through Paul’s letter to Titus this morning.

This letter to Titus outlines the three areas in which a healthy church must be established: leadership, discipleship, and evangelism.

In chapter 1 Paul explained the foundation of what a healthy leader in the church should look like, striving for Christ-likeness as an example for the rest of the church.

Then he explained how a healthy leader ought to pursue purity in the church by silencing, rebuking, and identifying unhealthy leaders.

In chapter 2 he explained the growth of what healthy discipleship in the church should look like, encouraging each other to strive for Christ-likeness in every aspect of life.

Then he explained how a healthy church ought to pursue discipleship by being focused on the gospel which trains our faith, encourages our hope, and unites us in fellowship.

And finally in chapter 3 he explained the purpose of what healthy evangelism looks like as the church engages the community with the gospel in obedience to God’s Word, in humility as former sinners, and in dependence on Christ.

Now as Paul wraps up his letter he moves to explain how we ought to pursue evangelism in our community involving both how we do it and how we help others do it.

Everything Paul has been saying in this letter has been leading up to this.

All of the “what’s” of a healthy church lead to the “why” of a healthy church.

There’s lots of different aspects to the “what” of being a follower of Christ in a community of believers called the local church.

We do a lot of things, and God wants us to do all of those things.

God told us what those things are as a description of what the very first church did in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

God’s Word, fellowship, hospitality, and prayer.

We read, study, and preach God’s Word as the only authority for life and godliness.

We fellowship in praising God for who he is, and for all that he has done, all that he’s doing, and all that he will do through singing, communion, and baptism.

We show hospitality and care for each other helping physically, financially, and spiritually, sharing with each other when any of us are in need.

We pray for ourselves, for each other, for our community, and for the world.

But we have to remember that each of these things is a means to an end, not ends in themselves.

We tend to think of these “what’s” as if they are “why’s”

We think that our Christian life is for the purpose of reading God’s Word, for the purpose of fellowshipping with each other in praise to God, for the purpose of helping each other in hospitality, for the purpose of lifting each other up in prayer.

We might even get super spiritual and say that our Christian life in God’s Word, fellowship, hospitality, and prayer, is to exalt Christ to the glory of God the Father empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I mean, that’s what’s printed on our bulletin and plastered on our church website after all.

But even this is too vague.

There’s only one “why” of being a follower of Jesus in the local church, and it’s not to make you more holy or to deepen your own relationship with God.

Your relationship with God is not about you, it’s about him and his glory.

And the “why” of your Christian life here at GBC really is about exalting Christ to the glory of God the Father empowered by the Holy Spirit.

But more specifically it’s how telling others about the gospel exalts Christ,

how telling others about the gospel glorifies God the Father,

and how telling others about the gospel is done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Little kids love the question “why” and we can really keep asking “why” about anything all the way back to the answer “because God said so, or because that’s what God wants.”

So what’s the “why” that God has given us?

Why are we here?

Why is the church here?

The answer, in a word, is evangelism.

Evangelism is the mission God has given us, it’s why we’re here, why the church is here.

We read, study, and preach God’s Word under our leadership as a means of discipleship to accomplish the mission of evangelism.

We fellowship in our praise to God under our leadership as a means of discipleship to accomplish the mission of evangelism.

We show hospitality and care for each other under our leadership as a means of discipleship to accomplish the mission of evangelism.

We pray to God under our leadership as a means of discipleship to accomplish the mission of evangelism.

The “what” of church is how we disciple each other under our leadership, how we help each other grow in our Christ-likeness by loving and living like Christ.

But we can’t stop there because to be like Christ is to share his love with the world.

We’ve got to see discipleship leading to our purpose of evangelism.

We’ve got to see how our discipleship prepares us for and promotes our pursuit of evangelism.

Because sharing the gospel with the world is why we’re here.

It’s the “why” of your life in Christ and the “why” of the local church.

We see this in Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended back to heaven in Matthew 28:18-20,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We exist to share God’s love with the world by making and growing disciples of Christ.

So, how do we do that?

How do we make and grow disciples of Christ?

Paul explained throughout his letter to Titus that we do that by first establishing the foundation of healthy leadership in our local church, and then the growth of healthy discipleship in our local church.

We get those things right and healthy so that we can pursue the mission of evangelism as we keep our minds and hearts set on our faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

And at the very end of his letter in Titus 3:8-15 Paul gives us 6 guidelines to pursue healthy evangelism.

We evangelize in our community by (1) focusing on what is profitable, (2) avoiding what is unprofitable, and (3) rejecting what is contrary, and we help others who are pursuing the mission of evangelism (4) by comforting them, (5) by providing for them, and (6) by encouraging them.

We’re going to look at each of these six guidelines by splitting them into two groups.

First, how we pursue healthy evangelism, and then how we help others pursue healthy evangelism.

So, first lets look at the guidelines for how we are to pursue healthy evangelism in verses 8-11.

Titus 3:8–9 ESV

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Titus 3:10–11 ESV

As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Here Paul tells Titus and us…

How to Pursue Healthy Evangelism (8-11)

All of what Paul has been saying in his letter has been leading up to this point.

All of our healthy leadership is based on the gospel.

All of our healthy discipleship is based on the gospel.

And now all of our evangelism, which is set on the foundation of our leadership and discipleship…

All of our evangelism must also…

Focus on the gospel (8)

Paul makes a sort of nebulous statement here in verse 8; he says “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things… These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

What saying, and what things?

What are you referring to, Paul?

The closest referent is what Paul had just said in verses 3-7.

A lot of theologians believe that these verses were a sort of rote confession of faith that was memorized and recited in the early church.

We looked at this in-depth a couple of weeks ago, but I’ll read it again so we can have it fresh in our minds.

Titus 3:3–7 “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

That… is… the gospel!

We were enslaved to sin, but God saved us by sending his Son to become a man, die on the cross in our place, and rise from the dead three days later so that simply by putting our faith in him we would be saved because of God’s mercy and his washing of regeneration, not by our own effort or merit, and now that we are saved, we are also adopted into God’s family inheriting eternal life with him.

There are so many different ways to talk about the gospel, but it’s basically the good news of our salvation.

Who God is (holy and perfectly righteous)

Who we are (sinful and deserving of eternal punishment)

What God did (sent his Son, Jesus, to become a man, die in our place, and rise from the dead to purchase our salvation)

What we do (put our faith in Jesus)

The gospel is really in the third point of what God did, but that news doesn’t seem good if who God is and who we are isn’t understood before the good news.

And it also doesn’t seem good if what we do is misunderstood.

So, the core of the gospel is what God did at the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb.

But the understanding of who God is in his perfection, who we are in our need to be saved from sin and death, and how we don’t need to earn our salvation but simply have faith in Jesus.

Those things are also important to understand just how good the news of what God did actually is.

So, the trustworthy saying that Titus is to insist on that are excellent and profitable… these things is referring to the gospel.

We have to focus on the gospel as we engage with our community because that is the message we’ve been given to proclaim to the world.

But we also have to focus on the gospel because hearing the gospel works in the hearts of those who already believe it to produce good works.

The gospel reminds us of the goodness of God and how we should devote ourselves to be like him in holiness and righteousness.

So, if we focus on the gospel, then we who already believe it will be careful to devote ourselves to the good works that the good news stirs up in our hearts.

And as we engage in those good works motivated by the gospel, our message is adorned or it’s beauty highlighted as Paul mentioned back in Titus 2:10 “not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

The gospel is the message that is excellent and profitable for people because God saves people through hearing this message.

That’s what Paul said in Romans 10:13–14 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

So, we’ve got to focus on the gospel, but we also have to…

Avoid distractions from the gospel (9)

Paul lists four things in verse 9 that those on Crete would be particularly distracted by.

Foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law.

Foolish controversies are things like philosophical debates and things based on reason or imagination alone.

Don’t get distracted by arguing over whether the serpent in the garden in Genesis 3 was a dragon!

Don’t get distracted by arguing over whether the Kalam Cosmological argument actually proves the existence of God!

Don’t get distracted by arguing over Critical Race Theory!

Don’t get distracted with politics, economics, war, or how much you like or dislike our current President!

Genealogies were specific to the Jewish distractions of that day as they allegorized the genealogies seeing them as conveying theological concepts rather than conveying historical facts.

We can get caught up in this to a certain extent as well.

Don’t get distracted with trying to find hidden meaning in parts of the Bible that were never intended to convey hidden meanings.

Don’t spend all your time coming up with ways that the names or numbers in the Bible might have hidden meanings.

That’s bad hermeneutics, and it distracts you from your purpose of sharing the love of God in the gospel.

Dissensions, strife, contentions, these are the silly disagreements like what color the curtains should be, or how many songs we should sing on Sunday morning.

Don’t get distracted with infighting about things that ultimately don’t matter!

Quarrels about the law were specifically which aspects of the Law of Moses were still applicable under the New Covenant.

Jesus was clear that he fulfilled all of the Law.

We are no longer bound under the Law.

But we don’t dismiss and reject it.

Instead we uphold the heart of the law having it written on our hearts.

The heart of the Law is to love God with everything we are and to love each other as much as we love ourselves.

Don’t get distracted with arguments about the specifics of the Old Covenant because we aren’t under that anymore.

We don’t need to be circumcised.

We don’t need to abstain from certain foods.

We don’t need to sacrifice animals.

We aren’t bound by those things anymore, we are bound to Christ and to follow him by loving God and loving others whatever that looks like.

There are a lot of other things we can get distracted with in our context, but I will leave it to you to consider all the ways you might personally tend toward distraction from sharing the gospel.

So, we must focus on the gospel, and avoid distractions from the gospel, and we must also…

Reject what is contrary to the gospel (10-11)

In verse 10 Paul refers to a person who stirs up division.

That phrase is actually a single Greek word, hai-ret-i-KOS, where we get the word “heretic.”

I think that Paul had in mind, specifically the false teachers who were teaching things contrary to the gospel.

Back in chapter 1 Paul said that the healthy leaders of the church should rebuke those who contradict healthy doctrine.

Then he described those who contradict healthy doctrine, those who contradict the gospel, as insubordinate, empty talkers, deceivers, upsetting whole families, teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach, devoted to Jewish myths, devoted to the commands of people who turn away from the truth, defiled in mind and conscience, denying God by their works, detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

These people need to be rebuked so that they will repent and come back to the gospel.

But Paul says that if after warning them once and then twice, we should have nothing more to do with them.

Paul uses the Greek imperative, par-ai-TOO, which basically means to reject.

Reject the teaching that is contrary to the gospel outright.

But plead with those teaching contrary to the gospel.

Plead with them to repent of their wrong teaching once, and then plead with them again.

And if they refuse to repent, then reject them from the church fellowship.

This is in line with the church discipline procedure outlined by Jesus in Matthew 18:15–17 ““If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

In the case of individual sin there are four steps, and each step pleads for repentance.

Individual pleading for repentance.

Small group (2-3 witnesses) pleading for repentance.

Whole church pleading for repentance.

Treat them like a Gentile and a tax collector.

In the case of teaching heresy there are three steps.

Plead for repentance once.

Plead for repentance twice.

Have nothing more to do with them.

And this pleading is assumed to be done by the church leadership as Paul is giving these instructions to Titus specifically, and the end of Titus chapter 1 shows how healthy church leadership is to call these false teachers to repentance and silence them.

So, we’ve got to pursue healthy evangelism by focusing on the gospel, avoiding things that distract us from the gospel, and rejecting anything that’s contrary to the gospel.

Next, we’re going to look at how to help others in their pursuit of healthy evangelism in verses 12-15.

Titus 3:12–13 ESV

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.

Titus 3:14–15 ESV

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

Here Paul explains to Titus and to us…

How to Help Others Pursue Healthy Evangelism (12-15)

This is not an either-or, but a both-and.

We aren’t supposed to pick whether we engage in evangelism or help others to evangelize.

We’re supposed to do both.

And Paul uses himself in verse 12 as an example of how to…

Comfort them in their distress (12)

Paul told Titus that he was sending someone to keep the work going so that Titus could come and visit him in Nicapolis for the winter.

We know nothing about Artemas, but Tychicus is mentioned elsewhere.

He was one of the men who accompanied Paul in Macedonia in Acts 20.

He delivered Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae in Colossians 4:7 “Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.”

He probably delivered the letter to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 6:21 “So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything.”

And he was sent by Paul to minister in Ephesus in 2 Timothy 4:12.

The point is that Paul wanted Titus’ company enough to send a “beloved brother and faithful minister in the the Lord, a fellow servant of the Lord” so that Titus would feel at ease leaving his post on Crete in the hands of a very capable and godly man.

I realize that it’s a bit of a stretch, but I think the reason Paul went to such lengths to procure Tychicus or presumably just as worthy of a replacement in Artemas…

I think the reason Paul did that was that he wanted to be comforted by Titus’ presence and physical help as he engaged in his missionary work of sharing the gospel in Nicapolis.

Interestingly, in 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul said that Titus had gone to Dalmatia.

Nicapolis and Dalmatia are basically the same place, now called Croatia.

Now, we don’t really know the exact timeline of all of this in relation to what Luke recorded in the book of Acts.

But it’s safe to say that Paul didn’t ever want to minister alone, and he was comforted when he had fellow workers with him.

And it’s also safe to say that wherever Paul evangelized, he was met with distress.

He listed those distresses at length in 2 Corinthians 11:24–28 “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

And often he was comforted in his distress by the presence of his fellow workers reminding him of what he wrote a little later in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We can also comfort those who are evangelizing with our presence in their distress.

Think of our foreign missionaries and all the distresses they endure to bring the gospel to Brazil, and Peru, and Mexico.

Think of our home missions endeavors with the Pregnancy Care Center and the Rescue Mission and all the distresses they endure.

Think how you might comfort them with your presence or help others to comfort them with their presence reminding them that in Christ all of these hardships and distresses are worth it.

Because when we are weak, it proves that Jesus is strong.

So, back to the end of Titus chapter 3, we should comfort others who are evangelizing, and we should also…

Provide for them in their pursuit (13-14)

In verse 13 Paul says that Zenas the lawyer and Apollos were going to be passing through Crete.

And similar to the previous two names Paul gave, here we know nothing about Zenas, but Apollos is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament.

Luke described him in Acts 18:24–28 “Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”

Luke also mentioned that Apollos went to Corinth in Acts 19:1.

And when Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church he mentioned Apollos as the basis for one of the factions people had developed in 1 Corinthians 1:12 “What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.””

Later in that same letter Paul said that Apollos was a fellow servant the Lord in 1 Corinthians 3:5 “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.”

Most likely, Zenas and Apollos were on their own missionary journey to the jews in some area where Crete would be a stopping place on the way.

They were pursuing the spread of the gospel, evangelism in places that the believers on Crete might not be able to go.

And Paul told Titus to make sure they had whatever they needed.

To speed them on their way and see that they lack nothing.

Again, we can do this, too when missionaries visit on furlough or new missionaries visit to raise support or anyone who is travelling for the purpose of evangelism, when they pass through GBC we can make sure they are not unnecessarily detained and we can make sure that they lack nothing on their journey.

But Paul moves on in verse 14 to show how we should be doing this with each other as we pursue evangelism right here in Humboldt county.

He says to Titus, “Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works.”

The people Paul is referring to are the believers on Crete.

And they needed to learn to devote themselves to good works.

Not for salvation, since Paul has already mentioned that we are saved by God’s mercy and not our works done in righteousness.

These are good works motivated by salvation, good works of hospitality, caring for each other because of all that God has done for you.

This is the exact same wording Paul used back in verse 8.

Focus on the gospel so that those who believe in God will be careful to what?

To devote themselves to good works.

Adorning the gospel.

And Paul says that the reason to pursue these good works is “to help cases of urgent need, and to not be unfruitful.”

Sometimes our needs are easy enough to manage on our own without the help of others in the church.

We don’t really see them as needs at this point.

We might consider them unforeseen tasks, or hurdles to jump over, or extra things to navigate in our daily life.

But sometimes our needs are not easy to manage, they are a hardship, and we need others to help especially if it’s urgent.

And when we as the local church help those among us who are in urgent need, it is motivated by and adorns the gospel.

It helps members of the church to be more effective in our evangelism by alleviating their urgent needs, and showing the community that the gospel is helpful rather than harmful.

Helping each other causes us to be fruitful in our evangelism, it makes it easier for each of us to talk about the gospel when it motivates us to help each other in love.

So, we should help others pursue healthy evangelism by comforting them, and by providing for them whether abroad or at home, and we should also…

Encourage them in love and grace (15)

Verse 15 is Paul’s final greeting, and it’s easy to see this verse as simply Paul finishing off his letter in a relatively meaningless way… Sincerely, Paul.

But I think theres more behind this greeting in light of all that Paul has been talking about in this letter.

This greeting is intended to be an encouragement of fellowship, and encouragement of a common faith, and an encouragement of a common hope in Christ.

Paul sends greetings from everyone who is with him, he tells Titus to greet the fellow believers on Crete for him, and he offers his own personal greeting.

Paul’s greeting from all who were with him shows Titus and the believers on Crete that there is another congregation, another group of likeminded believers who are also pursuing the same things.

They are also pursuing healthy leadership, healthy discipleship, and healthy evangelism, and they are sending their encouragement to keep going through this greeting.

Paul’s request for Titus to convey his greeting to the other believers on Crete shows their fellowship.

He identified them as “those who love us in the faith.”

They loved Paul because of their common faith in Christ.

And Paul’s personal greeting, “Grace be with you all,” is charged with all of the connotations of what he means by “grace.”

This is the grace of God.

The unearned favor of God, given to us as a gift, that we would be chosen by him, saved from sin and death, forgiven of our sins, adopted into God’s family to inherit eternal life.

Paul’s personal greeting at the end of this letter is a reminder that we already have God’s grace, and now we just need to live in light of it.

All of these greetings are examples of how we can also encourage others who are pursuing healthy evangelism.

If you see or hear of someone sharing the gospel, encourage them in that.

Encourage them by reminding them of the grace of God.

Encourage them by reminding them of your love for them.

Encourage them by reminding them of our common faith, hope, and fellowship in Christ.

And we should do this for our missionaries, too.

They need this encouragement just as much as any of us.

So, we’ve got to help others in their pursuit of healthy evangelism by comforting them, providing for them, and encouraging them.

Conclusion

This is how we pursue healthy evangelism and how we help others to do the same.

Focus on the gospel.

Avoid distractions from the gospel.

Reject what is contrary to the gospel.

Help others in their pursuit of healthy evangelism by…

Comforting them.

Providing for them.

Encouraging them.

We’ve got to do these things because evangelism, sharing the love of Christ in the gospel, is why we’re here.

Don’t be content to just grow in your knowledge of God in his Word.

Don’t be content to just grow in your personal righteousness by asking “what would Jesus do?”

Don’t be content to just deepen your relationship with God by spending more time in prayer and reading his Word.

Don’t be content with just those things because those things are not the purpose of being a Christian… they aren’t the purpose of the local church.

Yes, do those things, and strive for those things, but don’t be content with your spiritual health until those things spur you on to share the gospel and to help others share the gospel.

Because evangelism, sharing the love of Christ with the world is the whole reason we exist.

And we’ve got to share Christ with the world by focusing on the gospel, avoiding distractions, and rejecting things that are contrary to God’s salvation message, the good news.

And we have to help each other through comfort, provision, and encouragement as we pursue healthy evangelism both here and all over the world.

Now, if you aren’t a believer yet, then allow me to invite you to believe in Jesus.

I mentioned it at the beginning of the sermon, but I’ll mention it again.

The good news is that Jesus, God’s own Son, God himself became a man, died, in your place, and rose from the dead so that you could be forgiven and reconciled to him and adopted into his family to inherit eternal life.

And what makes that news so good is that you are in desperate need of a savior because you’ve sinned against almighty, holy, eternal God, and your sin deserves eternal punishment in hell, but God paid that price for you.

And all you need to do to be saved is put your faith in Jesus repenting of your sin and confessing that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 10:9 says “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

So, I beg you to believe, and tell us, any one of us here, that you believe because we want to praise God with you for your salvation.

Pray

Father, we want to be a healthy church.

We want to be and do what you want us to be and do.

I pray that you would help us take the steps needed to be healthy.

Help us identify the leaders that you are raising up for us here.

Help us grow in our Christ-likeness as we disciple each other intentionally and effectively.

And help share your love with everyone around us and with the world.

Lord, you don’t want us to stay in a holy huddle, so help us share your love with everyone we interact with.

I pray that you would give us boldness to talk about you with our family and friends and neighbors and coworkers.

I pray that you would give us creative ideas of how to share your love in the gospel, especially for those of us who may be uncomfortable or intimidated by certain circumstances.

And Lord, we know that salvation is not accomplished by our effort, but by your finished work on the cross and your Spirit giving life to those whom you have chosen.

But we are so excited that you’ve welcomed us to be a part of that salvation process as we share the good news of all that you have done for us at the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb.

Please do a work among us here in Humboldt county.

Lord start a revival!

We want to see people come to new life in Christ as our church and all of the churches here pursue healthy evangelism as the reason we exist in the first place.

It’s in Jesus’ glorious name we pray all of this. Amen.