The Gospel Ministry

Please open your Bibles this morning to the book of Titus.

The book of Titus.

We are beginning a new sermon series this morning in the book of Titus.

I can't remember exactly what page that is in and your pew Bibles there in front of you.

It's in the 915 to 940 range, right there.

What is it?

938.

If you want to use your pew Bibles there in front of you, you can find that on page 938.

The book of Titus.

This book is a letter from the Apostle Paul to a fellow minister in the gospel, a co-worker, Titus.

And as he gives Titus instruction and encouragement, instruction for the churches there in Crete,

we can gain insight, we can gain knowledge for what a church of sound doctrine ought to believe and ought to do.

We can gain insight for our church as we think about our life together in the days ahead.

So let's look there now.

Titus chapter 1.

Titus 1 · chapter mention

We're going to be in verses 1 through 4 this morning.

Paul writes,

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth,

which accords with godliness,

in hope of eternal life,

which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began,

and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching

with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.

To Titus, my true child in a common faith,

grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Would you pray with me once more?

Lord, as we begin this book,

we commit our time in your word to you.

We ask that you would stir our hearts' affections for Christ,

and would you be pleased to shape Seawee Bay by the power of your word.

We pray and we ask this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Imagine with me that you are in the first few months of a brand new job.

You've wanted this job for a while,

and now you're here.

You're getting your feet wet and beginning to go about your work.

And you've been given a book that provides your job description

and job descriptions for every single fellow worker in the company.

And as with many new jobs,

your first few months are spent with some on-the-ground training.

You had this world-class mentor

who really seemed to know what he was doing.

He walked you through the ins and outs of what the work would look like

but then the time comes when the mentor leaves

and the work begins.

As you begin to get into the weeds of the day-to-day grind,

you realize there are some major problems here.

There are people here in this company, in your workplace,

that don't seem to follow the book at all.

In fact, they seem to know what it says.

I think they could pass any written exam on protocols and procedures

that you might give them.

Sometimes they seem like they know even more about the book than you do.

But something is off about the way that they go about their work.

They don't seem to have any interest in actually doing what they're supposed to do.

And not only that, but they sound so smart

that they're beginning to convince everyone else around them

to live this way too.

You got a mess to work through.

But thankfully, your old mentor comes through again

and he writes you a letter

to remind you of your call

and your confidence.

That yes, what you're doing is hard.

Yes, this is a big challenge.

But press on because it is worth it.

Well, this is exactly the situation that Titus finds himself in

in the book that bears his name, the book of Titus.

Titus is one of Paul's converts.

Paul had shared the gospel with Titus,

seen him come to faith.

And now Titus has become a fellow co-worker and companion of Paul.

They've labored together already in the church at Corinth.

And now Paul and Titus have traveled together to the island of Crete,

seeking to bring the gospel to this pagan island

and share the gospel to build the church.

And they've seen the Lord work in power.

They've seen souls saved.

And the church was starting to be formed.

Churches were forming on the island.

And now Paul has left Titus behind

to establish and continue the work that was started.

But as you might imagine,

Satan hated the work that was going on in Crete.

Satan, as we saw last week,

hates to see the health of the church.

He hates to see the church grow.

And so what he did was he sent false teachers there in Crete.

False teachers who would spread lies

and do everything they could to stop the work of gospel ministry.

They're spreading lies and divisions.

False teachers have crept into the church.

And so Paul, as a good mentor would,

he writes to Titus to remind him of two important truths

as he continues the work in Crete.

Two important truths.

He reminds Titus of the call and the confidence of gospel ministry.

The call and the confidence of gospel ministry.

This is going to be our outline this morning.

If you're a note taker, I encourage you to write these down.

It'll help you to follow along.

This is the call and the confidence of gospel ministry.

And what I hope we'll see in our time together

is that, yes, this is a book written to Titus,

but this is also our call and our confidence as believers.

As we go about the work of gospel ministry,

we share this call and we share this confidence

with Paul and with Titus and with every believer in Christ.

So first, we see the call of gospel ministry.

The call of gospel ministry.

Every Christian is called to the ministry of the gospel.

We may not all be called to be pastors

or called to be church planters.

We may not be called to be an apostle.

Paul here is uniquely called in his role

as an apostle of Christ Jesus.

But every believer, every Christian,

is called by God to join in the work of gospel ministry.

But what is that?

What exactly is gospel ministry?

What is the aim of our ministry

as individual believers in Christ?

And collectively, what is our aim together as a church?

Well, Paul tells us in verse 1.

Look there with me.

Verse 1.

It says,

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

for, what's he writing?

For, what's he working?

For, this is what he's laboring.

For, for the Savior,

the sake of the faith of God's elect

and their knowledge of the truth,

which accords with godliness.

That's the mission.

That's the mission.

Every phrase is important here.

They're all connected.

How does the old song go?

The head bone's connected to the,

what is it?

The shoulder bone?

The shoulder bone is connected to the,

the rest of the body.

It's all connected.

Whatever the song is,

it's a brilliant song.

Every part is connected.

And in Paul here,

the same thing is happening.

He's, he's giving his aim for ministry.

And he says,

all of it is connected.

Election is connected to faith.

Faith is connected to knowledge.

And genuine knowledge of the truth

is connected to godliness.

So let's look at each part here.

Every phrase is important.

He says,

he says,

he's laboring for the sake of the faith of God's elect.

That is gospel ministry in a sentence.

That is gospel ministry.

Gospel ministry is,

is laboring for the sake of the faith of God's elect.

Whether externally by evangelism,

as we seek to share the gospel broadly with the lost,

and we see men and women come to faith in Christ for the first time,

or internally in the church,

through the training,

the discipling ministries of the church,

seeing,

seeing followers of Christ,

disciples of Christ,

grow in their faith in Jesus Christ.

Gospel ministry is laboring to see people come to faith

and grow in faith in Christ Jesus.

Is that your ambition?

Is that your aim?

Is that your desire for our life together as a church?

Now,

election may be a scary word for some of us.

That word gets a bad rap.

But we need to see this,

that Paul's understanding of election

was the reason he gave his life

to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

For Paul,

election was the reason

he went to share the gospel.

He believed that in every place he went,

God had elected or chosen.

That's what election means.

He had chosen men and women unto salvation.

And he believed that he was appointed as a servant

to spread the seed of the gospel far and wide

with the confidence that the Lord would cause it

to bear the fruit of faith in his chosen people.

He was,

verse 3,

entrusted by the command of God to preach the word.

So he writes,

verse 1,

he writes,

for the sake of the faith of God's elect.

This is what God had shown Paul in the city of Corinth.

You might remember Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

He had labored there in Corinth.

He had preached the gospel,

wearing himself out.

Some of them accepted the message.

Some of them rejected the message.

And the Lord spoke to him one night in a vision.

Acts chapter 18,

Acts 18:9

verse 9.

The Lord said to Paul one night in a vision,

Do not be afraid,

but go on speaking.

Do not be silent,

for I am with you,

and no one will attack you to harm you.

For I have many in this city who are my people.

And so he stayed a year and six months teaching the word of God among them.

Why?

Because God had many in that city who were his people.

Many who were to become his people by hearing and receiving the word in faith.

Paul labored because he saw this connection between election and faith.

But what is faith?

What is faith?

For by grace you have been saved through faith.

We are saved through faith.

That's what we're aiming to produce in God's elect.

So what is it?

You know, this is one of the most watered down,

diluted,

stripped of its power words in the English language.

You can tell I have a hard time with this.

Okay?

You hear people say,

Just have faith.

You have your faith.

I have my faith.

Or keep the faith.

He's a person of faith.

She's a person of faith.

What are we talking about?

What does that mean when we talk about faith?

No one is saved by just having faith.

No one is saved by keeping the faith,

whatever that means.

No one is saved by being a person of faith

unless that faith is in someone who can save you.

See, faith is a tether.

It is a rope.

It's a chain that you throw outward,

away from yourself to connect you to someone or something else.

We often talk about faith like we just throw it up in the sky

and we just believe it's going to latch on to something that's going to help us.

That's not biblical faith.

Untethered faith will save no one.

No one who has fallen into a pit is saved by just having a rope

unless on the other side of that rope is someone who is able to pull you out to save you.

Saving faith, in the Bible, saving faith is genuine trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.

That's the only kind of faith that saves.

Faith is the rope that ties your heart to Christ and all that He is,

all that He's done in the gospel,

and His reliance on Him alone,

His dependence on Him alone is outward reaching towards Christ,

saying, I'm not worthy of trust.

I can't bring myself out of this pit.

Only you are.

Only you can.

I'm not righteous.

You are.

I'm not worthy of praise.

You are.

I'm not Lord of my life.

You are.

You alone are God.

That's saving faith.

That's what we're laboring to see in our evangelism externally,

in our discipleship internally,

in our marriages,

in our relationships,

in our friendships,

in our hospitality,

in our life.

We are laboring for the sake of the faith of God's elect.

And for that to happen, church,

it requires knowledge of the truth.

Knowledge of the truth.

You know, one of the craftiest lies

that the devil has told the church

is that somehow knowledge

is an enemy of the faith.

That you have your spiritual people over here

who feel and experience,

and you got your intellectual people over here

who think and who study.

The Bible doesn't talk that way.

They are connected.

You can have faith without knowledge,

but that knowledge,

that faith will not save you.

Some of the most devout men and women of faith

are Muslims,

Jews,

and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Their level of devotion,

their level of faith is astounding,

but they are trusting lies.

They've tied their ropes to dust.

You can have knowledge without faith,

but that will not save you.

Even the devil believes the facts about Christ.

Even the demons believe and shudder.

It doesn't help you to know

that someone's up there

on the other side of the pit

if you don't trust them to pull you out.

You see, we need both.

Knowledge and faith.

Knowledge and faith.

We're aiming to produce both.

You don't have to have much knowledge.

You don't have to have

an upper education degree

or years of training,

but you have to have enough knowledge

of the truth

to latch your heart

and your mind

onto the message of the gospel

and say,

I trust that to be true.

I believe that message to be true.

I know and I believe

that I'm a sinner.

That's knowledge and faith.

I know and I believe

that I am separated from God.

Knowledge and faith.

I know and I believe

that apart from the grace of God,

I will die in my sin

and go to hell.

Knowledge and faith.

I know and I believe

that Christ lived,

that he died perfectly in my place,

that he died on the cross for my sin.

I know and I believe

that he rose from the grave in my place.

I know and I trust him

when he says,

if anyone believes in me,

he will not perish,

but have eternal life.

So on the basis of that truth,

that knowledge,

my mind convinced

and my heart awakened,

I trust in Jesus Christ.

It may be that you've never

trusted in Christ.

And if that's you this morning,

if you hear these words

and you say,

I've heard that,

but I've never believed that.

I've heard that knowledge,

but I've never trusted that.

Do you believe him?

Do you know him

and trust him as your savior?

Repent and believe the words of truth.

You see, church,

when we preach and proclaim the gospel,

we are proclaiming knowledge

that if believed,

will save sinners

and equip saints.

But don't leave it there.

Don't be content

to leave it there.

What does Paul say?

Election is connected to faith.

Faith is connected to knowledge

and real,

genuine,

saving knowledge of the truth

is connected

with godliness.

For the sake of the faith

of God's elect

and their knowledge

of the truth,

which accords

with godliness.

You see,

this was the big problem

here in Crete.

False teachers

have crept in

and were teaching

that you can keep

the information

and you can keep

the knowledge

and you can go on living

however you want.

As long as you know

the right facts.

They were driving a wedge

between saving knowledge

and godly living,

saying you can have

one without the other.

But Paul here says,

any who truly know the Lord

will bear the fruit

of godliness.

See,

the roots of election

are hidden from our eyes.

We can't see that.

But the fruits of righteousness

in those who believe,

that's visible.

That we can see.

Some of you,

I know,

grew up farming.

And you can drive

by a field

and tell exactly

what crop that is

out there growing

before it's even

born any fruit.

I can't.

Okay?

I'm helpless.

I'm absolutely clueless

when it comes to that.

We'll be driving

by a field

and someone in the car

will ask,

what is that?

And I'll say,

I don't know.

But if it's bearing fruit,

I can tell you,

that's a blackberry bush.

That's an apple tree.

How do you know?

I see apples.

I see blackberries.

I see the fruit

that it's producing.

Jesus tells us

in Luke chapter 6,

Luke 6 · chapter mention

what?

You know a tree by what?

By its fruits.

He's not talking

about a tree.

He's talking about us,

about our hearts.

The only way

that we're able to see

and to discern

the internal,

hidden state

of someone's heart

is by the spiritual fruit

of godliness

in their life.

saving faith

accords

with godliness.

Friend,

if you or me

or anyone else

claims to be

a follower of Christ,

we should expect

to see them follow.

If you or me

or anyone else

claims to be

a child of God,

born again

as a child of God,

we should expect

to see the fruit

of new life,

regeneration.

If you or me

or anyone else

expects

and claims

to have our roots

down in God's grace,

to be rooted

in the grace of God,

we should expect

to see the fruits

of godliness

in our life.

Not perfection,

but progress

and pursuit

of godliness.

Putting off

the old man,

putting on

the new.

Church,

this is the call

of gospel ministry.

I want to hang

this as a banner

over every ministry

of our church,

over the preaching

of the word

is for the sake

of the faith

of God's elect.

A knowledgeable faith,

a godly faith.

Over our discipleship

of one another

is for the sake

of the faith

of God's elect.

Over our children's ministry

and the children's wing

is for the sake

of the faith

of God's elect.

But how can we be certain

that this will be accomplished?

What is our confidence?

Do we have any assurances

that all of this work

will be worth it?

That our efforts here

as a church

and the ministry

of the word,

that it won't be in vain?

As we labor

and we look together

towards the new year

and all that we have

planned together

as a church,

as we launch out

as a gospel preaching church

in this area,

how can we be confident

that our ministry

will be effective?

Look with me

to verses 2 and 3.

Verses 2 and 3.

This is our confidence

of gospel ministry.

All of this

that we are aiming

to produce,

faith,

knowledge,

godliness,

all of it,

Paul says,

all of it

is in hope

of eternal life.

In hope

of eternal life.

Our pursuit

of knowledge

and the truth

is in hope.

Faith is born

in hope.

Our pursuit

of godliness

is forward looking,

onward looking

to the hope

of eternal life.

Our confidence,

church,

is in God's

eternal promise

and in God's

appointed means.

God's eternal promise

and God's

appointed means.

Christians are those

who have the hope

of eternal life.

hope.

We believe

God so loved

the world

that he gave

his only son

that whoever

believes in him

should not perish

but have what?

Help me.

Eternal life.

That's our hope.

But we don't speak

about hope

the same way

that the rest

of the world does.

The way that we tend

to use that word,

hope,

is anything

but certain.

I hope it stops

raining so much.

Right?

I hope the Braves

will catch the Mets

and take over

first place.

I hope the economy

straightens out

sometime soon.

All of that

is wishful thinking.

It's hopeful thinking.

There's no certainty

in that.

That's a wish.

It's not a certainty.

It's not grounded

in truth.

But see,

the Christian hope

of eternal life

is not wishful thinking.

It is certain hope.

100% certain.

It's more certain

than the sun rising tomorrow.

It's more certain

than your next breath.

Nothing is as certain

as the hope

of eternal life

for all who are in Christ

because God has promised it

to be so.

Look there

at what he says again.

God,

who never lies,

promised this hope

before the ages began.

Numbers 23,

Numbers 23:19

verse 19

tells us,

God is not a man

that he should lie

or a son of man

that he should change his mind.

Has he said

and will he not do it

or has he spoken

and will he not fulfill it?

See,

our confidence

in life

and in ministry

is the certain hope

of eternal life

promised by God

who never lies.

See,

the false teachers

there in Crete

were teaching falsehood.

They were proclaiming lies.

They were selling lies.

They were deceiving many.

And Paul says,

believe the promise of God.

Remember the promise of God.

God never lies.

Church,

listen to me here.

everything else

that you set your hope on

in this life

will disappoint you.

Everything else

that you set your hope on

in this life,

if you set your hope

on the economy,

I guess you're probably

pretty disappointed

right now.

If you set your hope

on politics,

politicians,

you will be let down

and disappointed.

If you set your hope

on the uncertainty

of riches,

you will be disappointed.

If you set your hope

ultimately on a relationship,

a friendship,

a husband,

a wife,

you will be disappointed.

But if you set your hope

fully on Christ Jesus,

you will never be disappointed.

Because God,

who never lies,

has promised eternal life

in Christ

for all who believe

before the ages began.

Do you see how certain

that is?

How unshakable

that is

before the ages began.

Ephesians 1,

remember this,

it told us,

God chose us

in Christ

before the foundation

of the world.

Before the ages began.

2 Timothy 1,

2 Timothy 1:9

verse 9 says,

God saved us

and called us

to a holy calling,

not because of our works,

but because of his own purpose

and grace,

which he gave us

in Christ Jesus

before the ages began.

You see,

our salvation in time,

our calling to faith

in Christ in time,

our holiness in time,

Paul says it's not

because of our works

in time.

It's not because of anything

we've done in this life.

Rather,

it's rooted

in the eternal plan

and promise

of God.

That's our confidence

in this ministry.

We can't lose this

or mess this up

because this promise

was made to us

who believe in Christ

before we even existed.

Now,

let's come full circle

here,

church.

We're laboring

for the sake

of the faith

of God's elect

and their knowledge

of the truth

which accords

with godliness

in hope.

How is that hope

given?

How does anyone

move from death

to life?

From darkness

to light?

How does anyone

move from the hopelessness

of the world

to the hope

of eternal life?

Look with me

once more

to verse 3.

Paul says,

at the proper time,

God manifested

this hope

in his word

through the preaching

of the gospel.

How is hope manifested?

How is it brought

about in the hearts

of the lost?

How is it revealed

and made known?

Paul says,

through the preaching

of the word.

How do the elect

come to faith

in accordance

with knowledge

of the truth

in accordance

with godliness

and hope

of eternal life

through the preaching

of the word?

Why does Paul

preach the gospel

even when it cost him

everything?

Imprisonment,

ultimately death.

Why do we place

such a high emphasis

on the preaching

of the word?

Why do I spend hours

every week laboring

to explain four verses,

all the four verses

to you this morning?

is because,

church,

we believe

that God's word

and the preaching

of the gospel

is God's appointed

means to manifest

hope,

to manifest

the hope

of eternal life,

to bring about

hope in the hearts

of the lost

and to fix hope

in the hearts

of the saints.

What God purposes

in eternity,

he brings about

in time

through his

appointed means.

God accomplishes

his purposes

through means.

And our confidence

is that this word,

as we proclaim

the glory of God

and the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

is 100% effective

in accomplishing

the plan of God,

even when we don't

see it.

You remember the

verses that Treg

read for us

this morning?

Isaiah 55.

It seems like

every day we've

been getting rain,

finally we have

had some sunshine

out here today.

I told Amanda

I wasn't sure

if we moved

to Allendal

or Seattle.

It's been raining

so much.

But if you're

a farmer,

you know

the importance

of rain.

Rain gives life.

It's effective.

It's what waters

and nourishes the soil.

It brings growth.

It brings life

from the ground.

Rain is good.

It's the means.

It's the tool,

the instrument

of life and growth.

Isaiah 55 reminds us

that God's word

is like the rain.

Isaiah 55,

Isaiah 55:10

verses 10 and 11,

he says,

For as the rain

and the snow

come down from heaven

and do not return there

but water the earth,

making it bring forth

and sprout,

giving seed to the sower

and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be.

That goes out

from my mouth.

It shall not return

to me empty.

Listen to this.

But it shall accomplish

the purpose

for which I send it.

It shall accomplish

that which I purpose

and shall succeed

in the thing

for which I sent it.

The word of God

is 100% effective

in fulfilling

the plan of God.

Hope is formed

in the hearts

of the lost

and hope is fixed

in the hearts

of the redeemed

by the preaching

of the word.

Every one of you

who's a believer

in the room

knows that to be true.

How did you come

to faith in Christ?

Whether it was

a friend,

a family member,

a church service,

a pastor,

a radio program,

or by yourself

with the word,

someone,

somehow,

some way,

God sent his word

to you

and it landed

on fertile soil.

And that word

caused growth

in your heart.

The growth

of the hope

of eternal life.

The certain hope

of eternal life

planned and promised

in Christ

by God

for you

before the ages

began

was manifested

in your life

through

the preaching

of the word.

See,

God has appointed

the preaching

of the word

as his chosen means

to accomplish

his eternal purposes.

He does not

bypass us

in his plans.

He works in

and through us

as we together

proclaim the truth.

This is why

we send missionaries

to the ends

of the earth.

Why we pray

for a different country

every week

that the Lord

would send

the truth,

send the word

out to Bhutan

this morning.

This is why

we preach the gospel.

I stand here,

Treg stands here

week in,

week out

and proclaim

the word of truth.

This is why

we share

the good news

of Christ

with the lost

and evangelize

our lost friends

and neighbors

and co-workers

and family members

is because

apart from

hearing the word

of God,

no one can come

to faith in Christ.

I love the fact

that Romans 9

and Romans 10

are next to each

other in the Bible.

I encourage you all

to go home

and read those

two chapters.

Back to back.

Don't stop.

Read all the way

through Romans 9

to Romans 10.

Go home,

do that this afternoon.

They hold hands.

They're friends.

They get along.

Paul wrote both

chapters,

I promise.

Romans 9,

he highlights

the sovereignty

of God

and salvation.

He highlights

God's purposes

in election.

He says to Moses,

I will have mercy

on whom I will have mercy

and I will have compassion

on whom I will have compassion.

That's a whole other sermon

or 20.

But in the very next breath,

here we are

in Romans 10.

Everyone who calls

on the name

of the Lord

will be saved.

How then

will they call

on Him

whom they have not believed?

How are they

to believe in Him

whom they have never heard?

How are they to hear

without someone

preaching?

And how are they

to preach

unless they are sent?

As it is written,

how beautiful

are the feet

of those who preach

the good news.

Faith comes through

hearing

and hearing

through the Word

of Christ.

election

is connected

to faith.

Faith

is connected

to knowledge.

Knowledge

is connected

to godliness

and all of it

is lived

in this rock-solid

hope

of eternal life

promised by the mouth

of God

through His Word

to all

who believe.

Church,

that is our call

and that is

our confidence.

That's the ministry

that we are to be about.

That's the ministry

of the gospel.

This is like

a good father

who

years before

he ever

even has a son

promises

that

one day

he will take

that future son

to the ballpark.

No work,

no school,

no homework,

no distractions,

just him

and his son

enjoying time

together.

The point

isn't the ballpark

as fun as that

will be.

The point

is time

together

with dad.

And years

later

the day

comes

and his

son is born.

And this

little baby

has no

idea

what his

father

has planned

for him.

That this

great day

has been

planned.

This great

day is

coming.

Not a clue.

He just

cries.

And wiggles.

And eats.

And sleeps.

But one

day when

the time

is right.

Only the

father knows

when.

He wakes

his son

up.

And he

hands him

two tickets.

And he

says I

planned

something

for us.

Will you

come

with me?

Would you

like to

come

with me?

That's

the word

extended.

That's

the word

preached.

preached.

And the

son reads

the words

on those

tickets.

He sees

what it

says.

He sees

what the

invitation

is all

about.

He sees

the names

of the

teams and

that the

price of

admission

has been

paid in

full.

He doesn't

have to

pay a

dime.

He can

come

without

cost to

himself.

He studies

those tickets

day in,

day out.

He knows

what they

feel like,

how they

look,

how they

smell,

what they

say.

That's

knowledge.

And looking

at those

tickets,

he believes

that this

is good.

That his

father will

fulfill his

promise.

He's

trustworthy.

He's proven

himself to be

worthy of

trust.

And so he

trusts that his

father is going

to keep his

word.

That's faith.

faith.

And every

night when

the boy goes

to bed, he

looks at those

tickets.

He sleeps with

them on his

pillow.

He wakes up

and carries

them in his

pocket and he

marks down the

days on his

calendar.

His whole life

is shaped around

that coming

day until the

day arrives at

last and he

can finally

enjoy the

realization of

the promise

that was made

before he

was even

born.

That's hope.

Church, that

is what we're

laboring to

see.

That is the

ministry of

the gospel.

Let's pray.

Father, we

thank you

that for

those who

are in

Christ, Lord,

that is

your doing.

And we

pray that

our faith

would be a

knowledgeable

faith, knowledge

of the truth,

that you would

grow us in

knowledge of

the truth.

Would you

grow us who

believe in

godliness?

Would you

strengthen the

hope of

eternal life

that you have

placed within

our hearts?

And Lord, we

pray, our

prayer is that

we would see

faith born in

the lost for

the first

time, even

this week, as

we share the

gospel.

And we pray

that faith would

be strengthened

here by

instruction in

the truth and

growth and

godliness.

Lord, would

you do it?

Would you be

pleased to do

that here among

us?

We love you,

Father, and we

pray all this in

the name of

Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.