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Titus: Boot Camp and Battlefields

Titus 1:1-4

January 17, 2016 • Titus 1:1–4

At the beginning of tomorrow's sermon, I'm going to take a look at what the Lord has done in and through Mosaic Boston, and also cast vision for all I long for the Lord to do in and through us in 2016. 2015 was an incredible year for our church body! In many ways, it was the greatest year to date, in terms of quantifiable growth. In order to be good stewards of God's grace upon us, we need to be aware of this growth, and make wise decisions moving forward, in order to fulfill the ministry Jesus has entrusted to us. Furthermore, we're launching a new sermon series tomorrow, through the phenomenal book of Titus. We're entitling the series "Boot Camp and Battlefields." The big idea of Titus is found in Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness..." The grace of God is given to us to train us. We are to be Christians who are in constant training to lead the lives we are called to live.

Titus 1:5-16

January 24, 2016 • Titus 1:5–16

When we think of grace, we think of it more like a couch rather than a coach. We think of grace like a couch: you sit, relax, chill and grace does all the work (maybe brings you a snack). We should be thinking of grace more like a coach. In Titus 2:11, the Apostle Paul says it's God's grace that trains us to renounce ungodliness. God sends Coach Grace into our lives to bring lasting transformation. Coach Grace motivates us, drives us, inspires us, energizes us, to achieve seemingly insurmountable levels of godliness. Transformation, like any form of change, always hurts... at least temporarily, but Coach Grace is there for us to help you train through the pain to become the person God has called you to be. In Titus 1:5-16, Paul gives a seemingly impossible list of qualifications for leaders in God's church. They are to be self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined, etc. As I was reading the list, it hit me that there were no seminaries in Crete; no Christian bookstores, no Christian blogs, podcasts, conferences, etc. Where were these ninja-Christians supposed to come from? Crete? Yes! Crete! One of the most hopeful truths of Christianity is that we really can change. By the grace of God, we can actually be transformed. What an amazing truth!! As the cliché goes, God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called. Well, God has placed a great calling on your life, and He's willing to equip you! The question is, are you willing to accept his "equipping" and be transformed by it?

Titus 2:1-15

January 31, 2016 • Titus 2:1–15

What's your most prized possession? Of all the things you own, that belong to you, what do you treasure most? When I was 17 years old, I spent my life savings life savings on a car. Now my life savings wasn't much, about $3,000, but it was all I had and I earned it by mowing a lot of lawns in the summer, shoveling a lot of driveways in the winter, and raking a lots of leaves in the fall. So I gave everything I had, to buy my first car, a 1988 Audi 80. Man, this thing was a beauty! I washed it pretty much everyday, it was pristine inside, and the rims were always glowing. I treasured it like the apple of my eye. There were only two problems: it kept breaking down and I had zero mechanical skills (and this was before youtube university). I ended up having to get rid of the car within about a year since it became a money-pit. Of all God's most prized possession, Scripture says that God views his people as His "treasured possession" (Ex. 19:5, Mal. 3:17). God's people are the apple of His eye (Dt. 32:10). The idiom "the apple of one's eye" refers to the most cherished and sensitive part of the eye, the pupil. God cherishes you as you cherish the pupil of your eye. Amazing! However, there's one problem: we keep breaking down. We keep disappointing God with our sin. But God doesn't leave us in our brokenness. He doesn't sell us or pass us off to someone else. Titus 2:14 says that "He gave himself for us to redeems us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

Titus 3: 1-15

February 7, 2016 • Titus 3:1–15

Have you heard of "The Lady Macbeth Effect"? It's named after the Shakespearean queen who manipulates her husband into killing the king, and then is racked by shame and guilt. She start frenetically washing away blood on her hands that only she can see. She deludes herself that "a little water will clear us of this deed." But for all of her repeated washing, she cannot cleanse herself of the ever-consuming guilt. By Act V, the stubborn blood stains have driven the illegitimate queen to madness and suicide. Psychologists have coined the real connection between morality and cleanliness "The Lady Macbeth Effect." Not too long ago, two researchers published a paper in the Journal of Science arguing that the connection is more than metaphorical. In one set of tests, the researchers asked participants to recall an ethical or unethical act, and then asked them to fill in the missing letters in a series of incomplete words, like W_ _H and SH_ _ER. Those subjects who had recalled unethical acts mostly returned WASH and SHOWER, while the others returned a variety of words, like WISH and SHAKER. Another test offered a choice of object: a pencil or an antiseptic wipe. Three-quarters of those who had recalled an unethical act chose the wipes. Only about one-third of those who recalled an ethical act did so. Scripture teaches us that sin stains our souls and contaminates our consciences. We need cleansing. Where can we get real cleansing for the soul? Certainly not externally and certainly not from antiseptics. In Titus 3:5, we're told God offers each of us cleaning, "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." What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.