In Accord

Titus 2:1-10

Welcome! Today we continue our series in the book of Titus. Two weeks ago I opened the series by saying that God desires to build us up into a mature body of believers, one in which its people are continually growing in faith and wisdom, multiplying their lives into those around them. I used the analogy of a skyscraper being built and talked about how in many places in the world you see half-finished projects, abandoned due to running out of money or due to other problems, and I pointed out the unfortunate fact that if you look around you, it is easy to find Christians who also seem to stagnate, to stay half-finished, incomplete. The instructions Paul gives to Titus are meant to ensure that this would not happen to the local bodies of believers in Crete, and its principles can and should be applied by every church everywhere so that they too would grow up to maturity.

Now I don’t know if you remember much of what I said two weeks ago, but today I am actually describing things subtly differently than I did then. What is the difference? Well, two weeks ago, I presented this analogy from the point of view of us as individuals, saying that, for example, I don’t want my faith to stagnate, and so I should look to see in the book of Titus how I can continually grow in wisdom, in purity, in faith, in love, and in multiplying my life to others around me. Now, I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with this personal view – we should each desire personally to grow in Christ and in Christlikeness. But that’s only part of the picture, and before we dig into the details of the first part of the second chapter of Titus, I want to dwell on this for a bit.

Testimony

Titus 1:10-16

Good morning, we continue today in our six week series in the book of Titus.  This series, like Paul’s letter to Titus, is focused on ensuring we mature and become a fully built up follower, disciple of Christ.

Carl introduced the book and dove right in to chapter 1 last week.  We’ll look at a couple of thoughts from the first half of chapter 1, and then move on into today’s passage.  Before we do that, let’s take a moment and pray.

God, I cry out to you.  Please speak to us from this passage in Titus.  Show us how to apply what Paul wrote to Titus here and now in our lives.  I thank you that “all Scripture is God-breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training” (II Timothy 3:16).  Use this time this morning, to train us up in who and what you desire us to become “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:13)  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Entrusted

Titus 1:1-9

Welcome! Today we begin a new series entitled Titus: Building a People of God. The picture that has been used to advertise this series shows a group of men in the 1930s building a skyscraper. In poorer countries, it is common to see half-finished buildings, grand dreams of one or more people that have run smack dab into a very different reality.

In America this is less common because most major construction requires approval by a group of investors (such as a bank) who refuse to loan out money until they are nearly certain the project can be completed. However, it does still happen in America. Where I grew up in California, there was a planned freeway that was supposed to connect two other major freeways, but they ran into legal trouble when they were about to cut through a community called South Pasadena and had to stop building. There were even exit ramps that went high into the air and stopped abruptly. This project came to a halt before I was born, and it is still in litigation nearly 50 years later with no end in sight.

"Take away the stone."

John 11

Welcome! Today we come to our last message from the book of John until next year. By way of a quick preview, we will be going through the book of Titus after this, and then we will have a Christmas series. And then, beginning in January, we will pick back up the book of John and go through the rest of book right through Easter.

Our series for this middle section of John has been entitled “What did He Say?!” because a major theme of these chapters is not only the things Jesus did and said, but the people’s response to these things. John shows us more than any gospel how people responded to the words and actions of Jesus, and by and large, as we have seen, the way they responded was with shock, with disdain, with laughter, and even with anger and hatred. In fact, in the previous chapter they tried to stone Jesus in verse 31 and then tried to grab Him in verse 39, but as it says, He escaped their grasp. Their anger towards Jesus was for a variety of reasons, but in chapter 10 it was specifically because they understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, a claim He did not in any way deny. The chapter ends by saying that Jesus went back across the Jordan to where John the Baptist had baptized people around the time Jesus was just beginning His ministry, and it says that there, in contrast to Jerusalem, many people believed in Him. This brings us to the beginning of John 11:

"I am the gate."

John 10

Good morning!  Today, we are going into John chapter 10 as the next part of the series “What did He say?”  I think this chapter is familiar to many.  This chapter contains some beautiful imagery and some great assurances of our salvation.  It is also a chapter which flows right out of the previous chapter.  Literally, Jesus started a dialog at the end of chapter 9 and his speaking continues into chapter 10.  There is no interruption or time lapse between the last verse of chapter 9 and the first verse of chapter 10.  Before we jump into John chapter 10, let’s pray.

Lord, open our hearts and minds to your Word.  Help me communicate the truths that You want us to understand.  We thank you that you do not leave us alone, but that you are our shepherd.  Give us humility to recognize our need for you and your eternal provision and protection.  You are faithful and kind.  All this we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I have to confess that I was envious of Carl because he got to share on John 9 last week.  I love the story of the man born blind whose transformation you can see in just a single chapter.  His pluck and boldness before the Pharisees is so invigorating.  Then, as Jesus seeks him out the second time after the confrontation with the Pharisees, the man worships Jesus.  It is exciting.

"I am the light"

John 9

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the book of John entitled “What did He say?!” in which we explore the works and especially the words of Jesus. The book of John contains more conversations among the people, more reactions of the people to what Jesus was doing and saying, than any other gospel. And so, in this series, we are not really taking the book of John in a particular slant; we are simply following the cues of the book itself.

Now, today, we look at chapter 9 of John. In John chapter 8, Jesus was in Jerusalem, teaching whoever would listen among the crowds, including the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. It was a contentious series of conversations – the people questioned Jesus’ claims about Himself, they questioned what He meant by how they needed to be set free, they called Him demon-possessed, and so on. Jesus tried to tell them that they were in fact blind, they were in fact slaves, slaves to sin, and that they were the ones who were actually under the influence of the devil. He also told them in only slightly veiled language that He would go somewhere they could not follow to save them from their sins. He also told them He had been in God the Father’s direct presence, and He told them that He was ancient; “before Abraham was born,” He said, “I am.” In response they picked up stones to stone Him, but He slipped away.

John chapter 9 picks up right from these events, from this moment of slipping away. 

"You belong to your father, the devil."

John 8

This morning we will continue on with the series titled “What Did He Say?!”  The series covers the book of John chapters 5 through 11.  As we’ve already heard over the last few weeks, Jesus repeatedly stuns his hearers in these chapters.  To quote Carl directly, Jesus says, “the most serious things ever said, the most profound, and, especially, the most important. They have immense implications for every person on earth, eternal implications.”  It is as if in each chapter Jesus is successively more stunning and revealing about his own character and identity.

Occasionally, I have heard things said about Jesus regarding his self-awareness during his time on earth.  Questions like, did Jesus really know he was God’s Son?  Did he know that his sacrifice was sufficient to cover the sins of the world?  Did Jesus really know that He would rise from the dead? 

Well, the book of John gives us those answers very clearly.  Yes, Jesus repeatedly talks about his relationship to the Father.  He knew exactly his purpose and when his time had come.  He speaks of his own death, resurrection, and ascension before they happen.

"Come to Me and drink."

John 7:1-52

Welcome! Today we are continuing our series entitled “What did He say?!” on John chapters 5 through 11. If I had to name two over-arching themes in these chapters, I would say that one is that Jesus is God – this in fact is a huge theme throughout the book of John – and the other is that people refused to accept what Jesus really had to say. We have seen these themes already, and we will continue to see them. But beyond this, there is much more to see in these chapters, and I am excited about what we will see in John chapter 7 today.

The very first words of John 7 are “after this,” to which our natural response should be “After what?” Well, in John 5 and 6 we see Jesus in Galilee after leaving Jerusalem because the leaders there were becoming more and more upset with Him, even to the point of beginning to plot His death. There in Galilee, Jesus drew larger and larger crowds, and in front of a giant crowd of “5000 men” and who knows how many others, He miraculously fed the whole group starting from only 5 small loaves and two fish. He then left the crowd because they wanted to forcibly take Him and make Him king. His disciples crossed the lake that evening, a fierce storm came up, and Jesus miraculously walked across the water to meet them. After this the storm suddenly ceased, and they crossed to the other side. There, in Capernaum, the crowd followed after Jesus the next day, and in a dramatic teaching, Jesus explained that they needed to “eat His flesh and drink His blood” if they wanted to come to Him or to the Father. At this much of the crowd and even the greater group of disciples left Him. And this brings us to Chapter 7.

"The one who feeds on Me will live."

John 6:25-71

Welcome! Today we are continuing our series entitled “What did He say?!” on John chapters 5 through 11, so-named because of all the astounding, shocking things Jesus did say to His disciples, to Jewish leaders, and to the crowds in these chapters. It is easy for us to become numb to these words if we have grown up with them. One of my desires and prayers for us during this series is that these profound passages would shake us up and cause us to stare freshly at the amazing and undeserved provision of God in Jesus Christ. My desire and prayer is that it would move us to worship Him, and that it would move us to serve Him sacrificially with our lives.

Today we pick up the story in the middle of Chapter 6, and it is helpful to briefly review what has happened earlier in this chapter. Jesus has become famous for the things He has said and especially for His miracles of healing, and now, in Galilee, when people figure out that He is the man that people have been talking about, large crowds gather and follow Him. This was one of those times, and as it was time for a meal and there was no McDonald’s around, Jesus asked His disciples, as a kind of test of their faith, where they should buy bread for these people.

"It is I; don't be afraid."

John 6:1-27

Welcome! Today we have a second message from our series called “What did He say?!” on the book of John, chapters 5 to 11. As I mentioned last week, the reason for the title of the series is that throughout these chapters of Scripture, the things Jesus said were shocking, astounding, even outrageous except for the fact that they were true.  The titles for each message in the series are direct quotes of Jesus from the verses being studied that week. This week we are exploring John chapter 6, verses 1 to 27, and the title of the message is “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Our passage is one that should be familiar to you if you have grown up going to church, but my desire is that we would look at it with fresh eyes, and not just fresh eyes but fresh hearts. To do this we need the Lord’s help, so let’s ask Him for His help. I am going to stop talking for a minute or so, and I encourage you to use this time to ask the Lord to speak through His word to you, that He would open your eyes and your heart to whatever He would have you learn and apply to your life today.

Well, John 6:1 begins with the phrase “some time after this,” so it is helpful to briefly talk about the previous chapters of John so that we appreciate the connections between what has already happened and what is about to happen in this chapter.