5848 102608 Titus 312-15

Friday, February 08, 2008

Start:

1.   Entice: (Read Text) Paul ends his instructions to Titus and the Cretan church by simply focusing on ministry. What is to come. How God will bless. How God will use His servants.

2.   Engage: These very questions remain for us. What lies ahead of this congregation? How will God bless us? How will God use us?

3.   Excite: I am excited by the simple fact that I do not know. What I do know, what I have control of is how I will react. What attitudes I will cultivate. How I will interact with others.

4.   Expand: For Paul faith unites us. It makes us a community. It is the spirit which animates the body of Christ and enables ministry.

Explore: Faithfulness is not just an internal quality, it is a relational virtue.

Explain: Two results of this kind of shared faithfulness.

1.   Cooperative attitude.  12,13

1.    Where needs meets opportunity. The church is a people organization, it takes people to perform ministry. People have needs as well as opportunities.

2.   The attitude of cooperation is summed up in the key verbs in these verses:

                                i.        Make every effort. . .to contribute to Paul's ministry 12

                               ii.        Diligently help. . .so that God's servants are enabled for ministry.

2.   Constructive behaviors. 14

1.   Productive, faithful living is learned. 5 times in the epistle Paul has used the term good deeds. Clearly the lesson of good works is essential for every believer. The learning curve is not steep.

2.   Paul defines what God expects of us. Good deeds:

                                i.        Meet essential needs.

                               ii.        Keep us from being unfruitful

Shut Down:

1.   And the Grace of Christ. . . The peace of Christ, binds us in the unity of the Spirit and the message of the gospel. Verse 15 concludes the epistle with a simple greeting of mutual love, trust in God's grace and an open embrace of the future.

2.   That is what we experience as well. We do not know what tomorrow holds, where faith will take us. But in productive living, and mutual encouragement we know that God will prosper His church. Are you in it? Are you allowing God to bless you as you absorb His word? Now is the time for decision.