Titus 3:12-15 - Loving and Helping One Another

It's a delight for us to worship together.

I'd invite you to take your Bible and go to the book of Titus with me.

This is our last look at Titus through our series that started in March.

It's been a short journey, but it's been a very enriching one.

Last week, um, our friend and gospel partner, Johnny Gravino, was in London, and I took the opportunity to point him to a few places he might want to visit.

Uh he was in a certain part of London, and I directed him to a church and a house on City Road in London, Wesley's Chapel.

It's the place where Wesley is also buried, but it's also where he lived.

And in March 2nd, 1791, uh it was also at the age of 87 the place where Wesley died.

Wesley had been in a room there for four days, and people had gathered around him, waiting with him until he passed from earth to heaven.

And as he's lying there in bed, uh he just sort of gathered some strength and rallied a little bit, and he opened his eyes and he said, Best of all, God is with us.

Beautiful words.

I love those words.

You think about all that he did, uh, traveling 100,000 miles on horseback, and some people saying he preached some 40,000 sermons and started a movement that's still encompassing the globe.

And he could have talked about all sorts of things, all those experiences and relationships and movement.

And he only had one thing to center on.

Best of all, God is with us.

The last words of a person are often very, very meaningful.

Not always, but sometimes they can be really, really helpful.

I remember my mother telling me, even when I was a boy, about my great-grandmother, you know, when she passed away, and she was lying in bed, much like Wesley was, and turned a certain direction and said, My, it is so beautiful, and then passed away.

I found out later that she was a believer.

I'd none of none of my family were believers at the time, but my mom brought a book to me after I was converted, and she said, This was your great-grandmother's.

Is it any good?

And it was a D.

L.

Moody book.

I was amazing to see.

Last words.

Here we are at the very end of Titus.

The last words.

And you know, as we've gone through Titus, it might be easy just to pass by these and to close things down quickly and just move on to the book of Acts, like we will next week.

As we've gone through Titus, three short chapters that have been very, very enlightening, as Paul has directed us about what kind of leadership should be put into a church and how the gospel fuels older men and older women and younger men and younger women, and about how we relate uh in society and with one another.

It'd be easy to say, look, we're ready to go to the book of Acts.

We've we've got our bags packed, they're in the car, we're at the door.

Goodbye, Titus.

We're on our way.

But we shouldn't do that.

Because what we have here are some things to see.

But it would be easy to read these things and think, well, you know, is there much here?

Um, we'll talk about a city that we've probably never even thought about.

And we're going to mention some names in a couple seconds of people whose names are a little difficult to pronounce, actually.

And there's a lawyer in here who shows up one time in Scripture, and then we don't hear anything about him in any other place.

It'd be easy to go, well, I'll just skim this last little bit of Titus and move on.

Well, please don't.

Because here we see something in which Paul's last words describe to us what he really thought about the church.

So let's read these verses together and then we'll look at them.

Verse 12.

When I sent Artemis or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I've decided to spend the winter there.

Diligently help Zenus the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.

Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

All those who are with me send you greetings.

Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all, or with all of you.

Now, in these closing words, Paul shows us that the church is not just a place to attend, it's actually a gospel life in which we all are a part of.

And he mentions here, and three things that we'll look at, that we're a people who are sent, and that we're a people who supply, and that we're a people who strengthen.

And those three words are going to wrap around our focal points here.

The first thing I want us to see is that the church is a sending culture, a sending people.

Take a look at verse 12.

When I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I've decided to spend the winter there.

Now, Paul is not stationary.

He's sending this letter from Nicopolis, this city of victory.

But it's important to know what Nicopolis is.

It's a relatively new city in the northwestern part of Greece, and it's close to the Adriatic Sea, and it is one of those places where roads from the north and the south and the east converge as they move out to sea.

This kind of place could be literally a crossroads, an intersection of different places, a convergence of movement of people, and a place from which you can launch.

And notice what Paul says about this.

I have decided to winter here.

I think he decided to winter here purposely because of those travel routes and because of the ability to network in different places with different people.

He wants to be ready and he wants to be active in engagement and movement.

And the movement is already arranged.

When I send either Artemis or Tychicus to you, come to me, Titus.

So Artemis and Tychicus, both trained men, both tested kingdom workers, are now at the ready to go to Crete and to relieve Paul or Cyprus, rather.

Not Crete, I'm sorry, Crete.

I'm gonna have to apologize to Konstantinos.

I'm getting I'm getting places in Greece mixed up in my head.

To relieve Titus.

And Titus is released, released to come back to Paul, released to be gathered back and perhaps even sent out to some new place.

Now you might read this and think, well, this is just a bunch of administrative detail.

But think about it differently.

Think about this as organized gospel mission, not just administrative details.

Paul is showing us what he believes that the church is, that it is a group of sending people, that there's a culture of movement here.

He's lifting our eyes beyond our regular gatherings and the things that we do together here in order to see our connectivity in the broader gospel work.

And that's a pattern that we see all through Scripture.

We're going to spend some time in the book of Acts together over the next several months, and we will see a lot of that.

And I just want to mention a couple of places for us this morning.

Acts chapter 13, for instance.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

The church is there and Antioch, and it's growing and it's developing, and the ministry of the word is flourishing, and there are several leaders there.

And God says to the church, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work for which I've called them.

And so what does the church do?

Well, they don't form a committee and they don't call a vote, they fast and they pray.

And then they recognize, and God is active.

And in verse 4, it says, so being sent out by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia.

So the church ascending, the spirit is sending.

There isn't some contradiction there.

There's this pattern of spirit involved and spirit-initiated and spirit-energized movement of people.

In Acts chapter 14, after finishing that first journey, they come back.

Acts 14 · chapter mention

And from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had completed.

And after they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported everything God had done with them and how he'd opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.

Acts 14, 26-28.

So here's this idea of sending, reaching, returning, reporting, gathering again, and then Paul goes again for a second time into another missionary journey.

And in Acts chapter 18, he comes back again.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

And he's received back by the church.

The church is there to receive, to strengthen, and to send.

And so what Paul is showing us in these words here at the end of Titus is that is part of who we are.

We are a people who through the gospel are moving the gospel in various places.

Listen to Philippians 2 and how this movement idea comes up.

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, he says.

And then he says, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me, and I'm confident in the Lord that I myself will come.

And then he says, It's necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier, as well as your minister and messenger who has served my need.

So what's happening here?

There's gospel movement of people as they as they serve the gospel in different ways.

And all of this is based upon that great commission in Romans 10, where it says, How will they hear without a preacher?

And how can they preach except they be sent?

And so the church is to take that up.

Sending for us as a people is not an option.

It's not optional.

It's essential to the gospel proclamation.

God gathers his people, God grows his people, and then God moves some of those people to go different places.

And so we're not just a community, we're actually a missional organization.

We're a missional organism that gathers together for this purpose.

And why do we do it?

Because God is a sender.

We send because he's a sender.

Listen to these verses.

God sent his son, John 3, 17.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

God sent his spirit.

Jesus said in John 14, the Father will send him in my name.

He sends the apostles in John 20.

As the Father has sent me, so send I you.

And then that great commission in Matthew 28: go into all the world and preach the gospel.

Make disciples of every nation.

A sending church is aligned with the heart of God, who is a God who moves with the good news to people.

Now think about a harbor.

Think of with a bunch of boats there, fishing vessels, all roped, tied, docked in port.

You think it's a beautiful sight.

And yes, they have to be there.

And some of them might even have to go to Dry Dock for a little while, and some of them are there.

It's all quiet and serene looking.

But you know those fishing vessels aren't made simply to look pretty in the harbor.

Those fishing vessels are meant to be out on the waters.

They have a mission to accomplish.

And a church that simply gathers and doesn't send is like a fishing vessel that's anchored and never moving.

We're supposed to be on a mission, moving the gospel and sending it forth.

Listen to what Paul said to the Romans, and I think this is a very enlightening statement.

He's talking about his gospel work as an apostle and talking about reaching the unreached areas, which at that time would be Spain.

And he says, I've strongly desired for many years to come to you whenever I travel to Spain.

Now listen to how he says this.

For I hope to see you when I pass through and be assisted by you on my journey there.

Now listen to what Paul assumes there.

First of all, he assumes that the gospel needs to advance.

And he assumes as an apostle that he is going to be on the front edge of that advance.

And he assumes that the church in Rome is going to be prepared and able and activated and eager to participate in that gospel advance.

And so this text that we're looking at, yes, it's descriptive.

And yes, it would be easy to pass by.

Yeah, you know, these guys whose names don't flow easily from my tongue, they're going and coming.

Yeah, okay.

Paul is describing a culture here that needs to be and is, I believe, very much a part of our culture here.

And what are the implications of this for us particularly?

Well, I want to mention a few.

First is we need to learn to see ourselves as deployable.

And I'm going to pull from my military background there.

Being in a place where you're ready to be sent, where you're ready to be launching out somewhere on a mission.

And so we need to be asking the question: do I see myself as someone God might send and use?

Now, before you think I'm going to send all of us out to Indonesia, I want us to think missionally, not just geographically here.

To be ready to be sent, to be in a place where, like Paul assumed of the Romans, that they were going to be engaged and that they were going to be energized to participate in gospel work.

And before the Antioch Church was called to send Barnabas and Saul, Barnabas and Saul were in a position of being ready to serve and were serving.

And so being one of those people who can be deployed, it begins with small steps of obedience and daily, weekly, monthly, yearly habits of faithfulness and service.

The second question we need to address in this is are we ready to release people to go?

Now that's a hard question because sending always costs something.

Antioch wasn't sending strangers, they were sending two of their best, men who were serving the church faithfully.

They were sending people whose absence they would fill.

Barnabas and Saul were contributors, but they went.

And so ascending church has to love the kingdom and the gospel so much that it's willing to sacrifice, that it loves the gospel advance more than our own comfort.

And I think we we can say yes to that question here.

That we do love the mission of God, that we are willing to send our best, that no matter how much we want those beloved people to stay, God wants them to go.

And we must be willing to let them go.

And so a few weeks ago in May, I was able to spend some time with Ray Moore.

How wonderful it would be to have Ray and Dana and the children here serving alongside of us.

Last night I was talking to Kevin Cooney.

How wonderful it would be to have Kevin and Sarah and the family here serving among us.

On Friday, I spent a few hours with David Parker.

How delightful it would be to have David and Val here and serving among us.

And I had a little signal chat and about to talk on Wednesday with Chad and Emily.

How wonderful it would be to have Chad and Emily here serving among us.

That would just be wonderful to have mingling here.

Sending is costly.

And it's in that sacrifice we discover something about worship.

Another thing we need to think about when we think about being ascending culture is that we actively support those who go.

Being ascending culture means that we're a partnership culture, not just a goodbye culture.

We're people who actually are engaged in that partnership, where we recognize that our prayer is not just simply a nice thing that we say to folks as they go, but it is a participation in the work that they are doing.

And that our resources are not merely moments of charity and gifts, but rather an investment in gospel expanse.

And we recognize that our encouragement is not just a personal statement, but it can be the very fuel that keeps someone moving when they're three years into learning a language that's hard to still get their mouth around.

Or communication being a lifeline for them.

And so we need to think of these folks that we send as extensions of our ministry and not just memories of wasn't it fun when they were here?

Another thing that this calls us to is discernment about who God might be sending next.

That's a question that the elders think about and pray about when we think about people serving in different places here, about how God is moving particular folks into their development of their spiritual gifts and their maturity as believers and where they might be moving toward and serving.

But we also need to think about perhaps not serving well here, but serving somewhere else.

And it's not just for the elders to consider, it's for all of us to consider.

Is there someone among us God is moving?

And can we as a church recognize that this is someone God is preparing for a different place for a different people so that the gospel might be brought to all nations?

And then we have to ask ourselves what about my personal availability?

Am I one of those ones who're ready to be sent?

Now, yes, that could mean going to different countries.

It could mean going to different churches, it could mean going across the street.

Because I'm not thinking so much geographically here, but on mission.

And you can go and be sent on mission to a conversation, to a workplace, to your home where your your family doesn't know the Lord.

You can be sent to your neighborhood.

Am I available to move?

Now let's move into the second point because the church here that Paul sees is not just one that has a sending culture, but it also has a provisioning culture.

They're not just people who send, they're people who supply.

Look at verse 13.

Do your best to speed Zenus the Lawyer and Apollos on their way.

See that they lack nothing.

Now, here's something to consider.

Paul's writing this letter in Nicopolis, and he's got Zenus and Apollos with him.

And uh they're kind of like, what are you writing there, Paul?

Well, you know, just writing to the church.

You know, it's Titus has got some things that need to be done there.

Okay.

How's it going to get there?

Well, you're going to take it to them.

That's how it's going to get there.

Okay, well, that's going to cost some money.

The lawyer's always thinking about money there, right?

And he says, Yeah, yeah, I know.

He said, I'll I'll put in a note there.

Make sure Xenus and Apollos are taken care of.

Zenus is like, okay, good.

That's that's great.

Zenus and Apollos get to the church, Titus opens it up, and he's he's reading this, and he's like, Did you read this letter, Zenus?

Apollos?

Okay.

So it it puts it puts the pressure on them to like, we need, we need to measure up here, right?

We need to we need to help out here.

They've these guys have made the journey, they've delivered the letter, the congregation's now hearing it, and all the guys who brought it to them are standing in the room and they're reading these words right here.

Do your best to speed Zenus the lawyer and Apollos on their way.

Okay, all right.

You know what that means for us, church.

It means we need to be providing, providing for their need.

See that they lack nothing.

So Paul is saying, look, don't just thank them for the travel that they made.

Don't just wish them well.

Don't just pray for them as they go back or wherever they might be headed off to.

He says, be active and participatory in providing for them in the labor they've already exacted on your behalf.

And make sure that they can be sent on their way.

Now, tie that in with verse 14 because I think that's the key.

Verse 14 says, Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.

Paul is doing more in these two verses than simply talking about the reimbursement of travel expenses.

He's doing more than saying, make sure you cover all the receipts that get handed to you.

What he's saying here is that the Lord's people need to develop a heart of generosity and care and develop it in greater ways.

Because notice the word that he uses there.

Let our people learn.

Learn.

That same word, practiced, intentional, repeated, learning, is the same kind of learning when a student sits under a tutor, practiced, repeated, intentional learning.

And what Paul is saying here is that we as God's people should devote ourselves to practiced, intentional, purposed generosity.

He's saying that generosity is something we can learn.

It may not be initially a default of who we are, because guess who's at the center of every single one of our lives?

We are.

Every one of us.

Every one of us have our eyeballs ingrown and turned inward.

Every single one of us.

But when the Spirit operates within us and we see God's world and ourselves and him as he sees it, we learn to take on the character of God who is gracious and generous.

And he says, learn to be generous.

Learn to take care of others.

Move toward that more and more.

Just like you learn a language.

Chad and Emily are learning a language right now.

And what does it take for them?

Well, they've got to drill the vocabulary in their head.

They've got to repeat the grammar over and over again.

They have to force themselves to say these words over and over until they start to become normal in their mouth as they speak them.

They need to practice and practice and practice over time until there's fluency.

They're not going to be fluent in a moment.

And you're not going to be generous in a moment either.

Scriptures tell us here that we can move into the fluency of grace.

We can move into this generosity and fullness of heart.

And so he wants us to see this very, very administrative detail under the rubric of gospel grace.

That we're not just sending people because of the gospel, but we're providing for gospel workers.

And so he tells us this that we should do so.

Now notice the other side of that.

Look at what he says in verse 14.

So that they will not be unfruitful.

That's a heavy word.

Unfruitful.

It doesn't mean a destroyed tree.

The tree's still there.

The roots are still there.

It still grows in the summer.

It still has green leaves all over it.

But when the time comes to pick the fruit, there's nothing to pick.

Unfruitful.

And that means a church can have excellent doctrine.

A church can be full of its calendar events.

A church that has a pastor who preaches the word faithfully and still be unfruitful.

It has the look of growth and life and existence, but not the fruit there.

And it's not because the truth isn't there, it's because the truth isn't active there.

Now notice some churches that show that gospel kind of provisioning fruit.

I want to take you, just listen to 2 Corinthians 8.

Poor people, severely tested people.

But notice what Paul says about them.

He said, During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed into a wealth of generosity on their part.

Now the gift might have been small, but the heart wasn't.

He said, Of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints.

Paul is probably standing there saying, guys, you've you've had it hard.

You've had it rough.

You have needs of your own to take care of.

And they're like, No, Paul, we want to give.

We want to give to them.

And he says they did this not just as they as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by God's will.

That is a generosity that goes beyond spontaneity.

That's a generosity that's been driven and learned in their heart.

They didn't just get there in an instant, in a flourish, in a rush.

They were purposed and eager to give.

Paul talks about the Roman church doing the same thing.

Who wanted to give to, as Gentiles, to the Jewish saints in Jerusalem because of the need, because they had been recipients of the gospel from there and now wanted to return through the generosity and gratitude of their heart that they had been the receivers of the gospel message.

Philippians 4.

Paul talks about a church there who is giving and caring for him as he goes.

Why do we provide?

Well, the same reason why we send.

God sends his son, God sent the Spirit, God sends the apostles, God sends the church, God provides.

God has provided for us at infinite cost.

He is given to us.

He who is rich became poor that we through his poverty might be made rich.

God provides.

We are on the road of sin, destitute, broken, without any bread or any nourishment at all, nothing but beggars on the road to destruction.

And God comes and says, I'm giving you my son.

Live, eat the bread of life freely.

Paul in Romans 8 said, He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

There's no reserve in God's provision.

And so when we move to pressing needs, whether it's inside the church, or maybe it's in a missionary effort, or maybe it's just caring for somebody whose need has come across our understanding.

We're not just providing a resource, we're engaging in the very generous, giving, grace-filled heart of God.

Now let's move to the last point here.

Not only is the church a people who send and a people who supply, but they're also a people who strengthen their web of grace.

So the church is a sending culture, the church is a providing culture, but it's also a relational web of grace.

And these last words, verse 15.

All who are with me send greetings to you.

Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with all of you.

Those words might sound like formalities, you know, like the last tagline you might put on your email as you say goodbye to someone, that one that you just habitually put down and maybe not give a lot of thought to.

Don't think of this that way.

All who are with me send greetings.

A group of people around Paul, invested in what's happening with Titus on Crete.

Greedy, greet those who love us in the faith, a relational connection there with the people in the church and Titus himself.

Faith being the bond.

Grace be with all of you.

These are not closing words of formality.

This is a picture of what the church actually is.

Right in the middle of all of this are people who love one another because of the faith, who have this bond of shared trust in God, who have a shared life in the Savior, who have a shared understanding of the movement of the Spirit as it gracefully fills them with its fruit.

These are people who share all of that together.

And it's not an obligation, it's those who love one another.

Notice that marker there, that they love each other.

A church is not defined outwardly in our society by its address or its denominational tag, or even necessarily by its doctrine, though doctrine is absolutely vital.

But doctrine without this next part goes nowhere.

Love.

Love.

It's not enough to just be correct.

It's enough, it has to be devotion and doctrine united together as one.

And they're fueled together by love in the faith to one another.

So there's relational love, there's love for the truth, there's this web in which these people strengthen that together.

And they do so in these few words of greeting and connection.

Now notice the last words.

Grace be with all of you.

Listen to the first words.

Verse four of chapter one.

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Savior.

Paul opens the letter to Titus with words of grace.

Paul closes the letter to Titus with words of grace.

That means everything in between, every statement about answering the devious teachings of false teachers, to setting up and establishing men of integrity and truth, to calling the church to have a relational connection across generations, to the church showing how it portrays itself in society.

All of it is bound within the brackets of grace, every bit of it.

Listen to Ephesians.

He does this a lot of times.

Ephesians 1, 2, the beginning.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How does he end it?

Ephesians 6.

Grace be with all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Galatians, now the book of Galatians, if you know it, is one of the most confrontational books in all of the New Testament.

Paul is trying to pull them away from legalism back to the gospel of grace.

And he skips all of his usual Thanksgiving statements about the church and he dives right into the problem.

But not until he says this grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

And after all those hard words that he gave the Galatians as he tried to bring them back to the awareness that they had drifted and left the truth, he says this, Galatians 6.18, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.

It ends with grace.

Paul writes to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians.

This church, he had started.

This church that had watched him minister among them with the proclamation of the gospel, and they were converted.

And they're gathered because he was there.

And some people come in and say, you know, you know, Paul's really not that impressive of a guy.

You know, he doesn't speak well.

He's kind of kind of, well, he's kind of plain.

You know, he's not impressive.

And he doesn't come with the connections that we have.

Paul has to validate his apostolic ministry to a church he started.

How frustrating that must have been.

To that church.

He ends his letter with this may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Wow.

Grace, grace, grace, grace.

Starts Titus, finishes Titus.

Starts Ephesians, finishes Ephesians.

Starts Galatians, finishes in Galatians.

This letter we've been looking at is bracketed by grace.

It is the gospel architecture that makes our bond together what it is.

This is why we love one another in the faith.

This is why we're able to say, greet those who love us in the faith.

Say hello to the rest of the church.

There's that connection there that goes beyond the fact that we enjoy the similar things, or we've got a similar idea about what our personalities mix might be, or shared interest of any particular type or sort.

Or the fact that we've simply resided next to each other for years.

This is a bond that is built out of the grace of God.

It's that relational web.

So I want to encourage there's some of you here, and I love you, but you come here and you leave.

Like 10 seconds after the last amen said.

And yes, if you have to go somewhere and there's pressing needs at home, or you have to go to work, or any other reason you're just not feeling well, or there's a list of legitimate reasons for sure.

Go without any sense of restraint in your heart.

But what relational web, love of those who share the common grace of God, are you building in your life?

Because the church is, yes, a sending culture and yes, a providing culture, but it's also a relational web of grace.

And that means it is imperative upon us that we do this.

And part of it is not just for your benefit, it's for all of our benefit, because God has shaped and molded you in ways that we lack.

And your participation in the body of Christ is vital for our mutual growth and development in the gospel.

But it's also a benefit to you because the scriptures say, weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.

Well, if you're you're shooting out the door 10 seconds after the last amen, and you wonder why nobody cares about the thing that hurts in your heart, maybe you haven't stopped to tell anybody about it.

Maybe you've never asked someone next to you in the pew, you know, pray for me.

I've had a rough week.

I think they'd love the chance to just sit right next to you and say, Well, let's do it right now.

Let's pray together.

And for those of you that stick around, and and I'm saying that only to a few because most of you are here and um, you know, it's two o'clock, and I'm like, can you guys go home?

Yeah.

I've said more than a few times, look, just lock the door as you leave.

I'm I'm hungry.

I've got to go.

I love what you're doing.

Keep doing it because you're doing exactly what this passage is talking about.

You're deepening that relational web of grace.

It's wonderful.

And so here we are at the end of this.

I want to take you back to 1791, to London on City Road, to a house where a man is lying in a bed four days.

Last words.

Best of all, God is with us.

You know, it wasn't the first time Wesley said those words.

He had said them a lot of times.

And what he was saying at the end of his life was something that had marked the whole of his life.

It was a recognition that throughout all of his days, through all that travel, those 100,000 miles on a horseback, through all those 40,000 sermons, through all those decisions that were part of the human dimension of a movement of God around the world with the gospel, all of it was covered with this wonderful thought.

Best of all, God is with us.

And so, brothers and sisters, as we leave the book of Titus this morning, and as we enter into the book of Acts, we don't say goodbye to Titus so much as we carry him with us into the next place that we go.

And as we do, we can say we've we are a body of Christ who are bracketed by grace.

Best of all, God is with us.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Father, we are so grateful that you are.

We know that we don't have any handhold that would keep you with us.

We are recipients of your love, eternally provided for us, out of the generosity of who you are.

Not earned, definitely not deserved, recipients of your presence and your gracious, gracious hand.

And Lord, we want to say, best of all, you're with us.

Carry us as a body, I pray.

Help us to take seriously all those things that we've learned in the book of Titus, to stand for truth, to establish right and good and proper leadership in this church, to take up our roles of older men and older women, teaching and helping the younger generations, of those who are serving still, to be those whose lives are filled with integrity, to be longing and looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to be those who are always gracious, showing our submissiveness and our willingness to be obedient, even in civil society that doesn't know you.

Lord, in all of these things, may your grace teach us, may we learn to be generous, may we build webs of love, and may we be willing to release those that you have for purposes that you've designed to see that Christ is named and numbered among people all around this world.

And thank you because best of all you're with us.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.