Titus • Week 6

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Good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Titus

Titus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. That's where we're going to be as we wrap up our series and looking at this letter.

If you're a first-time guest, I want to echo what Berger said. We want to thank you for being here.

Thank you for worshiping with us. At the end of the service today, I will be along with my wife back

here at this table. We would love for you just to stop by for just a moment for us to be able to meet

you and thank you for worshiping with us. It is an opportunity, if you have any questions about us,

who we are as a church, wonderful opportunity to get those questions answered. But on behalf of all

of us, we want to thank you for taking the time to be here to worship with us today. We, you know,

we had a team that I was a part of go to India, and then right now we have a team that is ministering

with our partnering Plant Church in Salt Lake City, Hope Valley Church. And so we got a team with them

right now. And so they're going to be wrapping up ministry between today and tomorrow and then making

the journey back here. So I want to encourage you to be praying for them. Mike Morgan's one of the ones

on the trip, and I saw Christina this morning, and she was telling me yesterday they were able to go to

Park City and experience snow. I know, right? I mean, am I a little jealous that I've got pollen and

they've got snow? Absolutely, absolutely. But I'll repent for that later. But pray for them as they're

wrapping up a wonderful week of ministry. They'll be worshiping with Hope Valley Church today and

encouraging them in just a wonderful time. I can't wait to hear about all that God has done

in Salt Lake City. I did want to share with you guys, I don't know if y'all saw in the news, but the

earthquake that happened in Southeastern Asia, in Myanmar, Burma, and in Thailand. And so one of the

questions from the team that they got asked to me this week that was with me in India was about

roughly about half of the students at the Bible College, and I shared, you met a young man through

his picture last week, is from that part in that area of the world. And so I reached out to the

president of the Bible College this week to ask him, you know, were any families of the Bible College

students affected? And I'm going to share with you guys what he shared with me. He shared that

for the most part, everyone there had been able to communicate with their family and know that their

family is okay, but that there are a couple of students who have not been able to get in touch with

any family members. And so there is concern there is they're still finding bodies and thousands have

died. And so we're going to go into our time of prayer this morning. And so kind of two things that

we're going to pray for, we're going to pray for our team in Salt Lake, and we're going to pray for

Hope Valley Church, but we're also going to pray for that situation that's happening there. And I would

just encourage you this week to continue to pray for that situation as God is working and moving even

in the midst of the chaos and in the tragedies. So would you go to him with me in prayer this morning.

Father, we come to you and what a blessing today is.

God, even in the midst of the of the pollen and the coughing and the sneezing, it's it's the reminder

that spring has come. The reminder of new life and the beauty of the work of your hand in creation.

And so Father, we thank you for that. God, we pray for our team in Salt Lake as they continue to

minister and encourage and share the gospel and serve. God, as they are preparing for their trip to

come home, God, give them the ability and the strength to continue to persevere, to do well and to serve

in the ways that you've commanded them to. God, be with Dustin this morning as he opens up your word

and Father teaches your truth. God, may his words resonate because they are your words

in the power of the Holy Spirit. And God, we pray that as men and women visit who are not believers in

Jesus Christ, that today would be the day of their salvation. God, we lift up all of the people in

the countries that were affected by the earthquake. God, we pray that in the midst of this tragedy,

Lord, that you would use it in a way to bring glory and honor to your name. God, we pray for those

students at the Bible college, far from home, left with their thoughts. But God, I pray that right now the peace

of Jesus Christ would fill them. God, that they could trust you. God, I pray that they would hear from

family, from friends. God, we pray that their family would be safe and be sound. And God is just limited

in how they can communicate at the present time. God, I thank you for those students. I thank you for

their faithfulness. God, I thank you for all that you're going to do, not just here, not just there,

but all over the world, but all over the world. For your name and for your glory. And it's in Jesus' name

we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, as we wrap up this letter to Titus, we're going to talk this morning about

remembering. It seems the older that I get, the harder that it gets to remember things. It seems that

I have to constantly be reminded, well, will dad remember this? Or from Aaron, Bo, do you remember this?

Well, as Paul ends most of his letters, he will draw toward a time of remembering. He'll move from

instructing and commanding to remembering. And this morning, we're going to look at four different

reminders that Paul gives Titus that we can look at as reminders for us today. And it's this

illustration that we're going to give of, here's all of the details, but I want to rise to the top. If

we're going to do what we're going to do, if I'm going to entrust the ministry that I'm entrusting to

you, these are the things of greatest importance. And you and I do that all the time. When we go out of

town, the Bradberries do, I'll be honest with you, it becomes an ordeal.

At our house, we have a, what I would say is the equivalent of a small functional zoo.

We have 12 chickens, one bird, one rabbit, another one on the way, and two dogs.

And the chickens are easy. The rabbit is easy. I hope the next rabbit will be easy as well.

The bird is really easy. But then there's the two dogs.

We have two dogs with two different personalities.

One of them is my dog. His name's Vader.

Vader's 14 years old, black lab. I'm pretty sure he's deaf and blind until he hears you pick up his

food bowl. And then that dog can hear, that dog can see, and he can move

quickly. But for the most part, he's

extremely calm, borderline lazy, older dog that just wants to, he's just happy to be inside. He was

outdoors for the first 11 years of his life. He's just happy to be inside.

Then there's another dog.

And if you, if you track with us, I hear Michelle laughing. Michelle knows.

If you track, especially with my wife on social media, you will know that there's this dog and

he is, his name is Otis. Otis is Grayson's dog, even though he probably functions more like my dog.

Grayson's, I'm sorry, not Grayson, but the, maybe this is the same description for both of them.

Otis is high energy, but Otis is also high maintenance.

And when we leave to go out of town, it is not the stressor of, is the car going to get us there?

It's not the stressor, did we pack everything? It's the stressor of, what is Otis going to do

while we are gone?

About three years ago, we went away and we'd had Otis for about a year at that time and

we decided to put him up in a, at a boarding place that our vet owns and operates. Now,

I want, I want to explain to you that if you're not aware of what a professional dog boarder does,

they are supposed to be professionals at boarding dogs, right?

So they should be well-versed in how to take care of high maintenance, difficult dogs.

So I bring Otis to the border and they come out and Otis is wagging his tail.

He's jumping up and down.

He's happy to see them.

They're happy to see him and as quickly as I can, I pay my money, I hand him over and I get out of

there. And as soon as they take that dog back, I hear roar, roar, roar. His bark, like a father

knows his own son's cry, right? I know this dog's bark. We go out of town, long weekend. We come back

three days later. I pull into the parking space. I get out of my truck and I hear from inside,

roar, roar, roar. I walk in. I said, I'm here to get. And they said, Otis,

we've been waiting for you. So they send one lady back to get the, get the dog.

And I'm standing there with this other lady. And I'm not going to say that the look that she was

giving me was complete disgust and judgment, but it was pretty close.

And basically, here's how the conversation went. Thank you for entrusting us with your dog.

But please do not do this ever again, right? They're pros at this. This is what they're supposed

to do. This is their specialty. And Otis broke them, all right? He's a little high maintenance.

So we, we traveled, we tried with, with different dog sitters. Well, we found some dog sitters that

work, man. They, they take off work. These two sisters that come and stay at our house for while

we're gone. And they love dogs and they love Otis. And it just takes a special person to love Otis.

And they do. And we leave them a list. Remember, cause, cause he's high maintenance. Now my wife made him

high maintenance. I had nothing to do with making him high maintenance. All right. I just got the look.

Okay. She did not make him high maintenance. That was a bad joke. It was me. It was all my fault. I did

this. I'm sorry, babe. We leave a list, two to three pages typed out ready for him. But for the sanity

of our mind, as we are leaving, now remember, they've got the experience. They've been with him. They've got the

instructions. They've got it typed out. But we know that there's three things. That if you do not do these

three things, it will not be a good week for us. Because they're going to be on the phone with us going,

what in the world is wrong with this dog? Number one, we tell them, please do not forget to charge his

collar every night. Because we keep a collar on him. Because he's a little bit hyper. And I can take

that collar. And if you're in my small group, you've heard us do this numerous times. And it goes,

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And Otis knows, whatever it is that I'm doing at this point in

time, I need to stop. Remember, make sure that collar gets charged every night. Number two,

number two, Otis has some digestive issues. Number two, make sure you put pumpkin in his food every

night. He gets pureed pumpkin mixed with some chicken broth in my sweet little baby's food.

And that helps him. Remember, don't do it. Don't forget. If you forget, it's going to be bad.

And the number three, number three, there's a special pill that Otis takes every morning

that just helps Otis manage the day better. You know, like it just, it just helps. And if you don't,

if you don't, you might not regret it immediately, but you will. You will. There's these three things

that if you forget everything else, there's these three things that matter. And we do this all the

time. We do this with work. We do this with life. And one of the beauties about what we see oftentimes

from God's word are these beautiful pictures of reminders. And so Paul's going to give Titus just

these, just these four reminders, these reminders that he gives us as well, that help us keep our mind

fixed on the prize of what's there. Our mind fixed on the mission that God has for us. Because if we're

not careful, we might forget these things. We might become distracted. We might become moved off for what

God, for what God has for us. So remember, Paul's right into Titus. Titus is pastor in a very difficult

church with a difficult group of people. False teachers have come through. It's in a difficult, sinful

part of the world. And Paul is helping him establish the importance of the gospel work through effective

leadership of what's there. And then there's this peel back of the message of the reminders. Look at

Titus 3.3. He says this. He says, 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. Now, here's what's interesting. Paul just got done telling Titus to remind them. Remind them.

Like, there's this definitely, there's a narrative, there's direction in verse 1 of chapter 3 that Paul

has given to instruct them, remind them. But now Paul peels back and says, but remember we.

For we were once. And the importance of what Paul is giving Titus here, the importance of what Paul is

giving us today is this. The remember is remember this. Remember your past. Remember your past.

Now, remember the goal of this is ministering in a culture. Ministering in a culture far from God

with people who don't know God with people who want to reject God. Kind of sounds similar to the culture

we find ourselves in. And so, Paul is saying, look, remember your past. That as we minister to those

in our culture around us, that for you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, who've been saved by the

blood of the Lamb, who've been redeemed, who've been chosen, who know that this is who we are in Christ,

in Christ alone, it can be easy to detach ourself from our past, who we were before Him. And in doing so,

we can begin to see those around us as the problem and not the mission.

We can begin to see them as, this is what's wrong with the world, instead of the mission of what

God has for us. And so, so Paul says, let me remind you who we were.

In verse 3, folks, is not a very positive picture of who we were before Christ.

Now, Satan wants you to remember your past, too.

Satan wants you to remember your past so that you can live in your shame.

Satan wants you to live in your past so that you can live with excuse.

Satan wants you to live in your past and the lie to disqualify you from ministry.

But God wants you to remember your past so that you can see your fallen nature is not that far removed from us

as an encouragement to not go back, but to celebrate God who's brought us this far.

Right? We see the difference in what Satan wants to do.

This is not Paul beating Titus up.

This is not Paul beating the church up.

This is not Paul tearing himself down.

This is Paul saying, let's wait a minute.

Let's make sure that we're not so critical of the culture that we don't forget that this is the culture

that we came from, and this is the culture that God saved us from.

Because in the power and in the truth of your and my life,

we ourselves are the living proof, the living evidence of God's grace.

I heard a pastor say one time, you are the greatest miracle you know.

You are the greatest miracle you know.

Because you know who you were.

And now you know who you are in Christ.

And that when we begin to forget who we were, we begin to forget the miracle that's happened.

And so when God says, remember, it's not so that you'll be put in your place.

It's to remind you and I of the place that God sits.

It's to remind you of who He is.

It's to remind you of what you've done.

I read this week four things that we remember when we remember the work that God has done.

Number one is this.

What it creates in us when we remember back to who we were before, it creates gratitude.

It creates gratitude for how God has changed us.

Like, do you ever sit back and see something play out in front of you that's sinful and broken and apart from God?

And you see your old self in that?

Can I say it?

That should create in you in that moment, not I'm better than, but it should create in you and I in that moment the gratitude for what God has done in us.

Because the truth is, left to our vices and works and deeds of the flesh, ourself, that's still who we are.

Gratitude for how God has changed us.

Number two, it should create in us humility.

Humility.

As we see that it was His work who changed us.

So where is the arrogance?

Where is the cockiness?

Where is the boasting?

Not in ourselves, but the confidence that we have is in Christ and what Christ has done.

And what that creates to us is humility before Him and humility before others.

Brother, I'm not better, but Jesus is.

It's a heart of gratitude, a positioning of humility, and a mindset of kindness.

A mindset of kindness.

If those who are still lost in their trespasses and sins are not the opponent,

but they're the mission.

When we understand where we were and the kindness that God showed to us in our trespasses and sins,

then the kindness that we show to others in their trespasses and sins.

So it means serve more, care more, love harder, press in more and more and more.

Well, though, but they don't deserve it, but neither did you.

And neither do I.

But God and His kindness.

And then what it continues to build is faith.

Faith.

I don't know about you, but every time that I look back at who I was before Christ,

and to see what God did.

And to see what God did, what God is doing,

and prayerfully what God is going to do,

it builds in me a stronger faith

that this world is not without hope,

but that there is hope,

and His name is Jesus.

So remember your past.

But let's read the next several verses, 4 through 8.

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.

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.

So what we see in here as we remember our past

is that we are to remember God's story,

to remember the purpose and the plan of which God has for us.

We see here laid out in these verses

the evidence of the work of the plan of salvation

of what God's going to do.

And what is remarkable over and over and over again

is we see phrases like,

He saved us,

His own mercy,

He poured out on us

by His grace

that what we see

over and over and over again

as we remember God's story,

it's remembering God's story,

how He's working

and how He's moving.

And praise the Lord

that I get to be

a part of His story.

Remember back to what this began with,

the false teachers of what's there,

the false teachers

that are trying to penetrate

and to move people away

from the gospel of Jesus Christ

that are trying to point them

to a false gospel of works

that isn't going to work.

It's going to fail.

And so Paul's remember

is you've got to remember

we have the tendency

to want to take back

and say,

this is my story,

this is my plan,

that when we share our testimony

that we turn into the hero.

But we're not.

God is.

That we remember

that we didn't save ourselves.

Our works couldn't

and our works won't work.

We see that God

is the initiator

through the Holy Spirit.

It's not you and I pursuing Him.

Folks, it's Him pursuing us.

We see that as we're lost

and as we're dead

in our trespasses and sins,

the washing,

the regenerating work

that needs to be done.

We need new birth.

We need new life.

It's the reminder of Jesus

in His conversation

with Nicodemus

in John 3.

You need to be born again,

Jesus says.

Nicodemus is like,

that's impossible.

And she's like,

mm-hmm,

yep, you can't.

But it's the work

that I'm going to do.

But that God does

allow us

to play a part

in the story.

And then time and time again

to remind us

that He saves us.

Not so that we can

just jump up and down

in thanking

for what He's done.

We should.

It's why we gather

to sing songs about Him

and not sing songs about us.

It's why we gather

to sing songs

of praise to Him,

of our heart of gratitude,

of how He's worked

and how He's moved

and what He's done.

But then at the end

we go

because we're saved

for the good works

that He has.

We're saved for the good works

that He's called us to.

We're saved for the good works

that He's appointed us for.

We're saved for the good works

that He's chosen for us.

so that we go

and live

as saved,

redeemed,

born again people

not by our power

and our will

but by His power

and for His will,

for His name

and for His glory.

Paul continues on

verses 9 through 11.

He says,

but avoid foolish

controversies,

genealogies,

dissensions

and quarrels

about the law

for they are unprofitable

and worthless.

Worthless.

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.

Whoo!

Some strong words

from Paul.

This is a reset.

This is a remember the plan.

This is chaos.

It's happening

all around Titus.

Titus,

a young pastor.

Titus,

a pastor

who can be influenced.

Titus,

a pastor

who can be brought

off course.

Titus,

a pastor

who can begin

to get his mind

torn through different things.

Titus,

a pastor

who can see

these things

happening within here

and he says,

but here's what you've got to do.

You've got to remember the plan

because what wants to happen

within here

is Satan wants to distract you

from the plan.

If we're going to do

the good works

that God has promised

for us

in verse 8,

we have to remember

to keep the course.

In my study

that I'm teaching

on Sunday mornings

at 9 o'clock,

we're walking through

angelology

and with that

we're talking about

angels,

Satan,

demons.

We're talking about

we're wrapping up

kind of our time

on Satan

and talking about him

and it's been a great

conversation this morning

talking about how Satan

from the things that we see

of his attacks

in the Gospels,

how that still kind of

plays out today

and how Satan

is attacking men

and women today

but what we see here

is Paul's warning

about how Satan

is going to attack

the church

and he describes

two things

of what happens here

in the church

in his warnings

he says

Satan is going to

to use distractions

and divisiveness.

This is how he's

going to work.

He's going to work

and what he's doing here

is to avoid

unfruitful works,

to avoid these

unfruitful

intellectual discussions

and instead

to turn the other way

because it's getting people

moved from the mission

of God

as they want to sit here

and argue about things

that honestly don't matter

as they want to argue

about things

that are secondary

as they want to argue

about things

that are apart

from Scripture.

He says no, no, no.

That's not what we need

to be.

That's not what we want

to do.

When Satan distracts you

and moves you away

from the effectiveness

of what God's calling us

to do through his word

then people are putting

their focus

on what interests them

and not what interests

the heart of God.

That's a social club.

And we're here

to do

and to be

and be a part

of what God

has called us to

for the heart

of God

that we as a church

have to keep

reminding ourselves

of the great commission

work that God

has called us for

and so that's what

we're working toward

that's what we're

pushing toward

that's what we're

spending our prayers on

that's what we're

spending our finances on

that's what we're

spending our time

on together

discipling up

raising up

mobilizing

one another

for the work

that God has us

to do

for here

there

and everywhere

and don't get

distracted

don't get

distracted

that's why

every message

every study

every small group

it's not about

the secondary

it's not about

these things

but about

the mission

of God

and he says

this

reject

divisiveness

reject

divisiveness

look back

at verse 10

look at how

harsh

these words

are

as for a

person who

stirs up

division

warn them

once

warn them

twice

and then

in the

inspired

words

from God

through

Paul

I have

nothing more

to do

with him

knowing

that such

a person

is warped

and sinful

he is

self-condemned

if Satan

wants to

attack

my family

the divisive

work that

he is going

to do

is going

to be

between

my wife

and I

that would

be the

goal

to break

up the

family

to see

the family

destroyed

and in

Satan's

goal

to destroy

a church

he will

work through

matters

of division

as sinful

people

hopefully

who've all

been saved

but still

struggle

will be

used

as tools

and pawns

and to

forget

that we're

part of the

same family

we're part

of the

same team

that God

has brought

us

together

as the

body

of Christ

to work

in unity

and in

harmony

together

and that

we can't

let

anything

divide

that

even if

it's

someone

that we

love

in the

body

yesterday

Grayson ran

in a

track meet

in Spartanburg

and I don't

know if

you've ever

been to a

track meet

but let me

tell you

what a

track meet

consists of

a Saturday

track meet

a Saturday

track meet

consists of

eight to ten

hours of

sitting in

the hot

sun

to watch

your athlete

compete for

literally seconds

all right

it is

exhausting

and you

run out of

things to do

quick

so what

happens at

the beginning

of a track

meet is

everybody shows

up you got

everybody's parents

there they

got their

t-shirts

on like

we're pulling

for Lexington

they're pulling

for their

people and

then as it

kind of goes

on throughout

the day here's

what you realize

as the audience

and this is

never going to

end and we're

here together

all right we're

here together

so there's this

gentleman who

is standing up

about three rows

in front of us

his son was

running it was

like to the

next to the

last event

and he had

a Westwood

high school

shirt on

and he stands

up and he

stands up in

front of me

and I can't

see anything

but like his

shoulders which

were massive

shoulders right

so I'm not

going to say a

word

you stand there

man I'm good

he turned around

and he said

I'm sorry I'm

blocking your

view

he said but I

don't like to

sit down

in video

because I get

the back of

everybody's heads

and my son's

running on the

4x400 team

and I want to

see every single

one of them

and we got

family who can't

be here and I

want to record

them and I

said well man

why don't you

come on up here

with me I'm

standing I'm

on the top

row I got the

cheap seats

so he came up

to the top

and he stood

up and I

said which one's

your son

he pointed at

him he said

he's running

the third leg

and I said y'all

Westwood right

he said yeah

he says your

son running

I said no no

my son's not

running in this

one I said he

ran in the

in the 4x8

and he ran in

the 1600

earlier and he

was like cool

is he gonna run

later it's like

maybe he may

run in another

race he said

well point him

out to me so I

can pull for him

I was like well

if you don't mind

me screaming into

your video then

man I'm gonna

pull for your

son too and

what happened

is two dads

who were hot

hungry and

tired of

sitting there

together

decided it's

beneficial as we

get through this

together right

and we cheered

and we cheered

and we cheered

why

I got a

Lexington shirt

on

he's got a

Westwood shirt

on

we're two

different teams

but see here's

the deal

we're not

we're not

because here's

the team we're

on

we're on the

dad team

that wants to

love and

encourage our

sons

we're on the

dad team that

wants to encourage

their teammates

and pick them up

when they do

poorly

and celebrate

when they do

well

first leg

and Westwood

got out

seven teams

running

go to hand

the baton

to the next

and he drops

it

they go from

third to last

like that

I looked at

him

and I said

are we in

trouble

he's like

nah we're

good

watch this

kid

that kid

picked it

up

and I don't

know

he like

if you remember

like Super

Mario

where you

could hold

B down

so you

could run

faster

like he

held B

down

and he

threw that

head back

and he

went from

worst to

first

and I

said

he's

handing it

to your

son

and he

said

yeah

I hope

he keeps

it going

right

and he

handed

and his

son

took

off

and he

ran

and he

ran

and he

kept it

in first

and I

was sitting

there

thinking

please

don't

drop

it

and he

handed

and Westwood

won

Westwood

won

our team

won

my team

dad

team

dad

won

don't

let

the

division

the

world

tries

to

put

you

in

distract

you

or divide

you

from the

team

that you've

been put

on

we're on

team

Jesus

we got

to remember

that

and we got

to remember

about that

in this room

and we got

to remember

that

about those

of us

around us

don't

let

the

foolishness

and the

divisiveness

of this

world

cause you

and I

to miss

the fact

that we're

here to

celebrate

and encourage

one another

because this

life

is hard

and we

need each

other

and this

ties me

into our

last verses

as we finish

out

Titus

he says

when I

send

Artemis

or Tychius

to you

do your

best

to come

to me

this is what

he's saying

to Titus

right

do your

best

to come

to me

at

Necropolis

for I've

decided to

spend the

winter

there

do your

best

to

speed

Zenos

the lawyer

and Apollos

on their

way

see that

they lack

nothing

and let

our people

learn to

devote

themselves

to good

works

so as

to help

cases of

urgent need

and not

become

unfruitful

all

all who

are with

me

send

greetings

to you

greet

those

who love

us in

the faith

grace be

with you

all

remember the

people

remember the

people

what we've

been allowed

into

in these

few verses

in the

bible

is the

spiritual

father in

Paul

discipling

his

spiritual

son

Titus

we not

only see

the beauty

in how

they love

the lord

but we

see the

beauty

in how

they love

one another

we see

the beauty

about how

the very

end

if I could

use like

my words

like if I

were speaking

to my

son

hey buddy

here's some

things I

need you

to do

here's what

I need you

to take

care of

here's

people who

are special

to me

that I've

invested in

and that

have invested

in me

I love

verse 14

let our

people

let our

people

hey those

that are

with me

man

they love

you too

remember

the people

remember

the people

when

God

gave

us

himself

God

gave

us

one

another

I

understand

the

phrase

personal

relationship

with

Jesus

but I

think most

of the time

when we

say it

we misuse

it

that somewhere

along the

way

Satan has

tempted us

to believe

that my

relationship

with Jesus

is my

relationship

with Jesus

and that I

just need to

always focus

in on me

and Jesus

and him

and me

and me

and him

and him

and me

but the

truth is

that that's

not really

how Jesus

saved us

at all

that it

was him

saving me

and my

faith

in him

but then

he gave

us

a people

and he

called us

to be a

church

and he

called us

to invest

and he

called us

to be

invested

in

but to

also

invest

in

others

we

attempt

to take

discipleship

I'm a

structure

and order

guy

I was talking

to somebody

this past

week

of our

goal

and our

structure

of what

we're trying

to do

with Sunday

morning

where you

can take

this

and you

can do

this

and you

can attend

here

and you

can engage

here

and you

can invest

here

and you

can be

invested

in here

and we

try to

make that

and we

try to

help

you

walk

alongside

that

but let

me tell

you

what we

are doing

here

is this

entry level

get your

feet wet

into

discipleship

and my

hope

and my

prayer

is that

outside

of here

you're

seeing

cross

continental

discipleship

through men

who can't

walk next

door to

see one

another

they can't

pick up

a phone

and send

a text

or make

a phone

call

or facetime

they can't

shoot it

over an

email

they can't

do any

of those

things

and in the

limitation

of what's

there

they say

remember

remember

we gotta

I'm gonna

invest in

you

you're gonna

invest in

me

we're gonna

invest

in one

another

and my

challenge

for you

today

is to

answer

these two

questions

number

one

who

are you

investing

in

who

are you

investing

in

now

God

may give

you a

tool

of entry

into

investment

but I'm

gonna tell

you the

greatest

thing you're

gonna do

in this

life

is not

teach

someone

how to

throw a

curveball

the

greatest

investment

you're

gonna

make

in

this

life

is not

teach

someone

how to

play

an

instrument

or how

to work

an

equation

how to

read a

book

or how

to make

a

repair

the

greatest

investment

is God's

given

you

the

tools

and

passions

that

you

have

in

your

life

is

how

can

you

use

those

tools

and

passions

how can

you use

the

curveball

how can

you use

the

reading

how can

you use

math

how can

you use

all the

things

that he's

given

you

to make

an

investment

that's

going to

matter

in

eternity

who are

you

investing

in

and then

secondly

who's

investing

in you

who's

investing

in you

who's

asking

you the

hard

questions

who's

opening up

their life

to you

who's

being

Paul

so that

you can

be

Titus

and

who's

being

Titus

so that

you can

be

Paul

in

2nd

Timothy

2nd

Paul

writes

to

another

child

in the

faith

his beloved

son

Timothy

and here's

what he

says

in what

you

have heard

from me

in the

presence

of many

entrust

to faithful

men

who will be

able to teach

others also

I'm

holding up

four fingers

because the

expectation

of the

inspiration

of God

through the

apostle Paul

through Timothy

is that

what Timothy

should see

is four

generations

of spiritual

discipleship

in his

life

and folks

that doesn't

happen

if you

don't step

out of

this

and step

into the

investment

into someone

else

and allow

others to

step into

you

would you

pray with

me

God I

thank you

for the

truth of

your word

I thank you

for the

reminders

that you

give us

God may

we remember

who we

were

what you

saved us

from

our past

not so

that we

can live

in guilt

and shame

but so

that we

can live

in the

freedom

of praising

you

and of

thanking

you

of what

you've

done

God may

we

remember

your work

who you

are

what you

have done

that this

is not

of ourselves

so that we

may boast

in ourselves

but that this

is the work

of you

of your

story

and God

thank you

for saving

us

God may

we remember

the plan

and the

purpose

we are to

go and

make

disciples

baptizing

teaching

to obey

may

may

we

not

move

from

what

you've

called

us

to

and

get

distracted

by the

ways

of the

world

and the

pursuit

of

Satan

God may

we live

every day

in every

moment

and God

can we

remember

the people

and God

I thank

you

I thank

you for

this group

of people

Lord

who challenge

me

who

speak

truth

to me

who allow

me to

challenge

them

and speak

truth

to them

to do

more than

just congregate

together

but to

make

investments

not just

investments

that matter

in this

life

but

investments

that matter

for

eternity

God

I thank

you

that you

send us

to so

many

different

places

with so

many

gifts

and so

many

talents

Lord

and I

pray

that we

would

use

them

for

your

kingdom

and for

your

name

in

Jesus

name

we

pray

amen

that's

it

for this

week's

message

be sure

to check

back

next

week

for a

new

episode

and

in the

meantime

you can

visit us

online

at

willowridgechurch.org

or by

searching for

Willow Ridge Church

on Facebook

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and YouTube

thanks again

for listening