He Saved Us | Ps. Nate Capshaw

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you for joining us.

To learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at CelebrationORL or visit our website, celebrationorl.

So glad that you're with us this morning.

Like Julie said, my name's Nate.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Celebration Church is my home.

It's been that way for a while now.

And so grateful that you decided to join us.

Especially if it's your first time, I want to extend a special welcome to you.

If it's your first time, I'd love to meet you out in the courtyard after service.

Shake your hand and hear a little bit about your story.

If you're joining us online, welcome.

Thankful that you are with us as well.

We do meet here at the Orlando Museum of Art at 9 and 10:30 a.m.

So if you're in the area and you're able to come, we'd love to have you here on a Sunday morning.

Welcome on behalf of our lead pastors, Keith and Megan Pittman, who are uh having a little vacay this week.

So glad that they get to rest and recharge for a little bit.

They'll be back with us here next week, but I want to welcome you on behalf of them.

Um we are, uh, as Julie kind of alluded to, in between series.

Is that how you say that?

Uh possessive plural?

I don't know.

I'm not a grammar guy.

Uh we're in between series, and um today is what we refer to, and next week will be what we refer to as like a standalone.

But last week we finished our end time series.

So I hope that that was encouraging to you and uplifting to you and um kind of helped you uh discover a little bit of the good news about the end times, because a lot of times when we think about that, we don't think of it, oh, that's good news.

And then um, but uh in a couple weeks, as Julie said, we're gonna be diving into the person of the Holy Spirit, and we'd love to hear from you.

So shoot over your questions, shoot over your doubts, like she said, uh, and just let us know.

And we'll kind of curate the series around those topics.

And if you don't shoot over your questions, we'll just do what we always do and just pick it anyway.

So you might as well, you might as well just ask.

Uh, we'd love to hear from you and how um uh the teaching team uh can best serve our church.

Amen.

Awesome.

Um today we're gonna be looking at some fundamentals.

We're gonna put the fun back in fundamentals today.

Um and speaking of that, uh, Vinny told me that I was a little too serious in the first service.

Um that's because the zipper on my pants broke right before I came on stage.

So it's really hard to preach when that happens.

So thank God uh for my wife who brought me a new pair of pants this morning.

So I will try.

Yes.

Praise God for Jen.

I called her like, you're not gonna believe this.

She rushed with our two kids in the car, anyways.

Titus chapter three is where we're gonna be today.

Titus chapter three.

Um, really hard to hide behind this thing, too.

So, but Titus chapter three, we're gonna be looking at the first 11 verses of this letter to Titus.

And uh yeah, if you don't have a Bible, uh we'd love to give you one as you walk out of here today or download the Bible app.

That's a great resource for you during the week.

But I hope that as we cover the fundamentals today, uh they can speak to all people in this room, no matter where you find yourself in your faith.

I hope for those of us who have been walking with Jesus for a long time, it can be a great reminder for us.

For those of us who maybe have just begun to walk with Jesus, have just surrendered our life to Christ, they can kind of reinforce uh why we made that decision in the first place.

Because a lot of times when there's something that life-altering, we can second guess ourselves, like, did I really do the right thing?

And so I hope it's a reinforcement for you.

And then for those of us who may not even have come to a knowledge of saving faith in Jesus, I hope today can be a revelation from Titus chapter three.

Let's go ahead and dive into God's word.

Hear the word of the Lord.

Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers.

They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.

They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling.

Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient, we were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures.

Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.

But when God, our Savior, revealed his kindness and love, he saved us.

Not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and a new life through the Holy Spirit.

He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Because of his grace, he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good.

These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone.

Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws.

These things are useless and a waste of time.

If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning.

After that, have nothing more to do with them.

For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them.

This is God's word for us today.

And if you need a title for your note-taking, today's title is He Saved Us.

He saved us.

Will you pray with me, church?

Lord, we're grateful.

Thankful, we're humbled.

We're grateful, God, that you've given us this beautiful opportunity to gather as your church on a consistent basis and to sing praises to your name, to grow, uh, to learn, to, to be equipped.

Um, we're grateful and thankful, God, that you're with us today.

We're humbled by the fact that uh by the power of your spirit you inhabit our praises.

And so we acknowledge that your presence is here in this room, Lord.

And we're thankful ultimately for your word today.

We ask God that uh that you would teach us, Lord, that you would uh use me to convey the words that you've spoken through your through your holy scriptures.

We give you praise and glory this morning.

It's in Jesus' name.

And the church said, Amen.

Our reading today in Titus chapter 3 finds us in a letter from the Apostle Paul to his companion and protege, Titus.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

Now, Titus was one of the first Gentile converts to Christianity.

And Acts 15 details the Council of Jerusalem where the apostles and some of the early church elders gathered to discuss what the inclusion of the Gentiles, or anyone basically who is not a Jew, would look like as they include them into God's family.

And this, of course, was a prophecy that was foretold centuries before this gathering.

Titus was probably a blueprint for what a non-Jewish believer could look like.

And the Council of Jerusalem quite literally saved his skin.

And if you want to learn a little bit more about that, you can read Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Outside of a few other mentions in Paul's letters, we don't have a lot of information regarding Titus.

What we do deduce from Paul's letter to Titus is that he was stationed by Paul on the island of Crete.

You know, Titus was to actually restore order within the churches.

One of his primary responsibilities on this assignment was to establish church leaders, or what we would refer to as elders.

Now, these were men of virtue.

They were men tasked with overseeing and upholding the integrity of the church.

This leadership commission, however, was in response to corrupt leaders that had somehow infiltrated the churches in Crete.

These false teachers claimed to be Christians, but they were in fact presenting their own version of the truth, a version that distorted the gospel and caused serious harm amongst the community of believers.

In chapter one, Paul actually tells Titus, hey, they must be silence, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching, and they do it only for money.

Friends, this is a great reminder to all of us that just because someone can craft a sermon, deliver a lecture, or put an inspirational video up online does not mean that that person speaks the truth.

There are many who claim to speak in the name of Jesus, but their motivations are for self-promotion and profit.

A life of prayer, however, immersion in God's word and Christ honoring community will help us avoid the pitfalls of false teaching.

This false teaching can often cause derailment, disappointment, and despair.

Many of us, despite exposing ourselves to Christian literature, leaders, and content, see no real change in our lives because, as Paul would say in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we're always learning, but we're never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

In my opinion, there is no greater danger than learning everything and knowing nothing.

Meaning you can fill your mind to its capacity and have a heart void of life.

The life that is Jesus Christ Himself.

Colossians 2 tells us that in him or in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Our very nature compels us to seek truth, doesn't it?

You and I long for existential meaning and purpose.

The scripture tells us that the truth that you and I are searching for can be found in the Word of God.

The written word of God, the Bible, the Word that became flesh, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the words that are imprinted on our heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, for one reason or another, the Cretans had abandoned the truth of God's word.

They traded the transcendent truth of the gospel for something more palatable.

Perhaps these false teachers were selling something that excited the senses, a false gospel that built its foundation on ritualistic exercises or maybe even cathartic experiences.

Maybe these teachers presented a version of the gospel that seemed to co-sign a life of pluralism, claiming to submit to the rule and reign of Christ while simultaneously bowing to every impulse brought on by the flesh.

When reading Titus in its entirety, we get a sense that both of these examples could have been present.

The pen strokes of St.

Paul prompted Titus to set the record straight in Crete.

And thankfully, his writings are preserved so we can battle the same falsities and misconceptions in the present day.

Praise God for the word.

This then begs the question of you and I, and I believe the church at large: have we succumbed to a life of illusion?

In other words, is my Sunday morning a ritualistic exercise, a cathartic experience, or is it a genuine posture of humble submission and worship to a God who saved me from the mess of my former life?

Is my Monday through Saturday religious lip service that acknowledges God in word but not in deed?

Or is it a week genuinely seeking to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love my neighbor as myself?

Or perhaps you're here this morning desperately searching for the answers that this world is unable to provide you.

Maybe you've come to the end of your rope, and today is just a last-ditch effort to locate peace.

No matter where we find ourselves today, church, Titus chapter 3 has really good news.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

Paul begins this portion of his letter with instructions to remind the believers that they should submit to the government authorities and officers.

They should be obedient and always ready to do what is good.

This is coming from a guy who is constantly harassed by officials and officers.

This coming from a man that took literal beatings from these people because of his belief in Jesus.

And yet, he goes on to encourage the believers to avoid slander and quarreling with these people.

Folks, what's good, what good is a Bible verse tattooed on an arm that's always going to be raised every time we have outrage or disagreement with the government?

I'm not sure that our lights that are to shine before men so that they can see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven are to be fueled by defamation and dissension.

This encouragement to live in harmony with the rulers of this world is no doubt a reminder that Christians are to stand out from the rest of the pack.

If the kingdom of God condones malicious behavior, it has no distinction from every other kingdom.

Now, what I hope you do not hear me saying is that Christianity is marked by apathy and passivity.

We are called to clothe, to care for, we are called to fight injustice, to defend the defenseless, to feed.

But there is a manner in which we do those things that honors God, right?

There is a manner that shows who we belong to.

And if Jesus showed us anything, he showed us how to be a citizen of heaven and being a taxpayer on earth.

Titus would go on to read reminders from Paul about how our former state of being was.

He says, Once we too were foolish and disobedient, we were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures.

Are you catching this?

Are you catching this?

A former Pharisee, someone who devoted himself to perfection and piety, equates himself to a Cretan.

Cretans were notorious for their devious behavior.

Actually, a term in the ancient world for being a liar translated to be a Cretan.

And here we have the author of nearly half the New Testament, a would-be martyr for the faith, likening himself to the worst of the worst.

And this reveals a couple of things to me.

First, Paul considered his previous life of moral superiority equal to perverse and reprehensible behavior.

He realized that even a disciplined life devoted to self was a life devoid of meaning.

Though on the outside, he would have appeared pristine and virtuous in his former life.

On the inside, he was enslaved to the lust and pleasures of elitism and self-admiration.

In this way, the Apostle Paul debunks the lie that striving for the precipice of a moral high ground leads us into the good graces of an almighty God.

Second, Paul demonstrates the necessity of remembrance.

With his attention focused on the well-being of the Cretans, the Apostle recalls his former life in contrast with his new life in Christ as a way to give God praise and glory for saving him.

I think spiritual amnesia is an epidemic in the global church today.

All too often we sequester ourselves from the world in such a way that the familiarity of our new lives in Christ actually lull us into a slumber of self-righteousness and entitlement before God.

Some of us, myself included, we go far too long in between moments where we unarchive the albums of the past, as it were, where we take in order to recount the endless ways in which we defied and dishonored God.

This lack of remembrance actually breeds indifference for our neighbors, classmates, and co-workers who are dead inside.

And we fail to recognize that their outward behavior is a direct result of a spiritual cadaver that is yet to be awakened by the power of Jesus Christ.

A state that all of us who have placed our faith and hope in him were once in.

However, one of the most beautiful conjunctions in the English Bible is found in verse number four of Titus 3.

But when God, our Savior, revealed his kindness and love, he saved us.

Not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Because of his grace, he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

That's about time that the church said, Amen.

Paul initiates an ancient praise break, if you will, and pens this beautiful poem in worship to God, and his work of art actually distills the simple yet profound process of salvation.

This good news was actually to infuse life back into the Cretan community, and I believe that it still possesses that same power to do so for us today.

He begins his masterpiece with the acknowledgement of God's role as Savior.

After listing the grievances against God in verse number three, Paul could have chosen to lead off verse number four by underscoring God's role as the judge and executioner of evil, both of which he is.

But instead, the apostle focuses on the kindness and the love displayed by God, describing him as Savior.

The Cretans, who quite literally lived on an island, were reminded that their lifeline from the volatile worship of an unpredictable pantheon of gods came in the form of the one true God.

And Titus, having been a rescued Greek himself, was an extension of that commission by Jesus to go to the ends of the earth and share the good news that he has the power to save us.

Paul confronts the false teachers in this poem then by going on to reinforce that the means of salvation comes not through righteous works, but because of the unprecedented mercy of God.

The mercy exhibited by an eternally loving Father who doesn't forgive and forget, salvation actually brings an entirely new existence.

The gospel vows that you will never need to resort to your old way of living because that person no longer exists.

And the guarantor of that promise is the Holy Spirit.

If shouldering a world's worth of weight of sin to the hill of Golgotha, one that you and I should have been climbing wasn't enough, the perfect Son of God not only defeated death by rising back on the third day, granting all those who believe in him the same reality, but to boot, he lavishly poured out his own spirit on us, infusing these mortal, death-doomed clusters of dust with the eternal, impenetrable, immutable, and incorruptible spirit of God.

You, my friends, carry to your gyms, your offices and classrooms and coffee shops the very nature of God.

A nature that no longer serves the impulses of self.

And the vanities of this life, but the one that bows before the king with no borders.

A king who sits on a throne because of his sacrifice and service instead of suppression and subjugation.

A king who, according to verse 7, by his grace made us right in God's sight.

That king exonerated us from our sin.

He adopted us into his family, and he ensured us of eternal life.

If you, my friends, have accepted the free gift of salvation.

You stand before the holy God of the universe with all your flaws, false infallibilities as perfect.

If you have accepted the free gift of salvation, you stand before the holy God of the universe with all your flaws, false and infallibilities.

In light of that reality, to return and serve ourselves in the old way of living is utterly asinine.

And it's like the scriptures say, similar to a dog returning to his own moment.

Probably a good place to call the worship team back up.

However, this is exactly what the people of Crete did.

And what you and I still have the tendency to do from time to time, right?

In verse 8, the apostle encourages his former pupil to insist on these teachings because they're trustworthy and they're true.

He assures Titus that these teachings will spur the believers into action.

Paul's convinced that hearing these inspired words will cause the believers to wake up from their slumber, turn from their drunken desires, and devote themselves to a life of doing good.

Church, it's really hard to walk the narrow path when we walk through the doors of the church once a month.

It's really hard to devote ourselves to doing good when we spend six out of the seven days listening to the world's teachings and only attuning our ears to the Lord's once.

It's really difficult to stay grounded in the timeless truth of the gospel when we lend our ear to every YouTuber and influencer who has a new interpretation of 2,000 years' worth of sound doctrine.

The Apostle Paul told Titus, these types of discussions are useless and a waste of time.

We shouldn't have anything to do with them either.

Now, my point here is not to belittle anyone's efforts for God, nor is it to promote church attendance as a way of transcendence.

My point is that a sincere realization of the gospel changes everything.

Whether we were docile or unbridled before our new life in Christ, Titus 3 tells us that our hearts were foolish and disobedient.

We were misled and we became slaves to many lusts and pleasures.

Our lives were full of evil and envy, and he said, We hated each other.

Yet he saved us.

In the most incomprehensible fashion, the only human to ever walk the planet unworthy of death shouldered my sin and your sin and died in our place, rendering all of us who place our faith in him as innocent and blameless before God.

But unlike any to walk the earth before him, he was raised to life three days later.

And he lives forever, granting you and I the same reality if we simply put our trust and follow him.

This changes everything.

This means all is not lost in a seemingly unpredictable and unstable world.

This means that there is actually a future and a hope beyond what we currently experience.

And our doing good isn't about avoiding punishment, it's about ushering in the future to the present day.

This is why Paul tells Titus, hey, it matters how you treat people in authority.

It matters how you live your day-to-day life.

It matters that you teach and be taught the truth.

What doesn't matter are frivolous arguments that cause division.

There's bigger fish to fry, right, Church?

Parents, you are doing more than just keeping a household in order.

You're molding the next generation of kingdom citizens.

Teachers, you're doing more than just trying to get through the day.

You're sharpening skills that can help kids learn how to grow into godly men and women.

Financial advisors, you're doing more than growing your book of business.

You're helping men and women steward their finances in such a way that it can leverage your resources for the kingdom of God.

Servers, baristas, nurses, managers, technicians, whatever you're doing means more because once you were dead and now you're alive.

Once you were blind and now you see.

And there are other people who you and I come in contact with on a daily basis who need to know there's a new way to be human.

There's a better way because the gospel changes everything.

To my brother and sisters in Christ, let's be reminded today that it was God who saved us.

May we remember who we were, the state we were in, the trajectory of our lives before we embraced the saving hand of Jesus Christ.

Let's devote ourselves to the Word of God.

Let's devote ourselves to the gathering of believers and the being sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leadings and promptings.

In doing so, guess what happens?

We emit a light so attractive and so bright that it brings those who are wandering in the dark.

But it also extinguishes the very darkness caused by evil.

To those of you who maybe have not yet come to a saving knowledge of Christ, today's the day of salvation.

Today you can be pardoned of all your errors and mistakes.

Today your record can be expunged.

Today you can inherit an entirely new life.

By acknowledging your sin, asking God to forgive you, you can be made right in God's sight, and no longer does God look at the mess of your past.

He sees you as he sees his son.

Perfect.

Because you're seen in God's eyes, not because of anything you have done, but only by his grace, you are adopted into his family, and your inheritance in the family of God is an eternal life in his presence, marked by peace, joy, and love.

Will you pray with me, Church?

Father in heaven, we simply say thank you.

Thank you for saving us.

Thank you for providing a way.

Thank you, God.

That we don't have to live the way that we used to, that we don't have to be slaves to our former selves, Lord, but we can submit in service to you and have an abundant life, a life with meaning and purpose, an eternal life.

We give you glory and honor for that, Lord.

If you're in here this morning and you don't know Jesus, if you haven't decided to accept that free gift of salvation, you can do that right now.

You can do that in your seat.

You don't meet need me to do it for you.

You can simply ask the Lord to forgive you, repent, turn away, and walk in the newness of life.

We have people in this church that would love to come alongside and walk with you and help you be a follower of Jesus.

Will you all stand on your feet?

We're gonna go back into a time of worship.

Before we rush out of here, let's turn our attention and our focus back on the God of the universe.

Amen.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at Celebration O R L or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.