[0:00] So what does it mean to be a faithful church in a confused culture? Who should ask the question and who should answer it? And I would say that every one of us in here should ask that question, and you are answering it, every one of us, the decisions that we make.
[0:13] I want to encourage you today to take it personal. Some of you in here play football. Some of you are football fans. Probably less amount than the average church in Georgia.
[0:24] Not a lot of football fans among us. But I'm fascinated by this coach, Deion Sanders. This recent week, the coach from the team that he was going to play, Colorado State, said to him, he said, he didn't say to him or even really about him, but he said to his players, he said, I was taught growing up that when you speak to an adult, you take your glasses and your hat off.
[0:47] And so Deion Sanders says, oh, it's become personal now, okay? Now you brought my mom into this, all right? And he kept saying it was personal. And with his team, he kept saying, it's personal.
[0:58] He said, we were just going to mind our own business, come over, we're going to play a football game, but now it's personal. And he made that the mantra for his team. We're going to mind our own business, but now it's personal.
[1:10] What is it, church? It's personal. All right, you couldn't play for Deion, all right? But you can be here today. It's personal. I want you to know that when it comes to this drift in culture, that every one of you ought to take it personal on here.
[1:24] This isn't just something that we read about on another continent. This isn't just something that you watch about on news. It's made its way to all of our families. There is a fight for the gospel to be clear.
[1:35] And every one of us, in our homes and among our families, there's a drift away from understanding what the Bible would say about the gospel. And there's all kinds of confusion that is brought in.
[1:47] I believe this to be true, and I don't believe it's uncharitable. It's just accurate. But most professing Christians do not live countercultural. They don't live anchored to the Word of God.
[1:58] They just live with a delayed drift of culture. They just say, we may not be the first to sin, but we're certainly not going to be the last to sin. Weekly, I receive emails from organizations, we'll not call them ministries, that say something of this nature.
[2:15] Are you wanting to help your church transition and become more affirming? Are you wanting to lead your church out of the Stone Age into the modern world? And they present a model of ministry that would take a church to reject truth and to accept the trends of this world.
[2:33] And so to me, I say, it's personal. And it ought to be for you as well. We live in the last days. We're not only not waiting for anything to happen before the Lord returns, but we're watching as things come together for this.
[2:50] You know, amen is a word that you say when you agree with something. I don't say it very often when I'm sitting where you're doing, where you're sitting, where you're sitting. But I would say to that, we live in the last days. And God's people said, amen.
[3:01] And so we see this. There's an all-out attack upon our families. There's an all-out attack upon our churches. And there is a very rapid drift in our culture.
[3:13] Titus needed encouragement that came in this letter. I have no doubt that you need it as well. What we have in our hands is a gift from God who wants us to remain faithful, regardless of context, regardless of culture.
[3:28] There's an encouragement here for us to stay faithful. Before we get back in the first part of Titus 1, I want to give you one quote by E.W. Tozer. I have a couple of slides that will help me go through it here with you.
[3:39] But each generation of Christians must look to its beliefs. While truth itself is unchanging, the minds of men are porous vessels out of which truth can leak and to which error may seep to dilute the truth they contain.
[3:57] That's why we stay on guard. We want the gospel to be clear. We want to earnestly contend for the faith. We want this generation and the next generation, until Jesus' return, to be able to come to this place, or wherever Vision Baptist Church meets, and hear the gospel without it being diluted, without it being watered down, with it being the clear gospel of God's Word.
[4:18] Each generation of Christians must look to its beliefs. While truth... Let's go to the next one here. I was going to say that again, just louder this time, all right? The human heart is heretical by nature and runs to Aram as naturally as a garden to weeds.
[4:33] Any of y'all have a garden? All right, you're always fighting it, right? You're always fighting the weeds. All a man, a church, or a denomination needs to guarantee deterioration of doctrine is to take everything for granted and to do nothing.
[4:48] Take it for granted and do nothing. We're setting out that not be the story for us. Last slide here. The unattended garden will soon be overrun with weeds.
[5:01] The heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error will shortly be a theological wilderness. The church or denomination that grows careless on the highway of truth will before long find itself astray, bogged down in some mudflat from which there is no escape.
[5:20] That is the day in which we live in. There are many places that are meeting today where people would not have an opportunity to meet Jesus because they have become a theological wilderness.
[5:34] We pray for them. We challenge them. But we're not influencers to the world, but to one another. We have a responsibility. We do not want that to be our story.
[5:45] So we need encouragement together. We're going to look together at verses 1 through 4. We're going to find some encouragement to remain faithful. I want to encourage you, either in the Bible that you brought with you or on this piece of paper, to mark some notes here about these descriptions of nine things that are being brought in.
[6:03] There's a picture here of my piece of paper that I marked up earlier this week and I was carrying around with you. And you're going to see these words that I wrote because coming right out of the gate, the Apostle Paul says, I'm not playing by the rules of this world.
[6:18] I am not going to speak to you in the way that they would speak about Zeus or their false religion or this religiosity that Ben called as this false religion. I am going to just give it to you straight, the way that it is, and I'm going to give you the truth about truth.
[6:34] I'm going to speak about truth in a truthful manner. And so I'm going to walk through these here with you just real quickly, and then later on we'll look at them more thoroughly. First one is, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, in verse number one, Titus chapter number one.
[6:51] It is a Paul, a servant of God. That was what his identity was found in. Before anything else, the truth of God's Word had changed the way in which he saw himself, the way he interacted with others.
[7:05] And then it says, the faith of God's elect, acknowledging of the truth. Truth is absolute. You can acknowledge it, you can deny it, but it doesn't change. It's absolute.
[7:16] And that which leads after godliness. It has a sanctifying effect. Verse number, at the end of verse number one, it changes us. It is sanctifying us, the truth of God's Word.
[7:29] And it's unchangeable. Verse two, and hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie. The truth cannot change because our God cannot lie. It is eternal, promised before the world began, and it is communicable.
[7:43] It means it's manifested as Word through preaching. It's available to us, and it can be taught to us, and we can know it, and it's accessible to every one of us. It has been committed unto me according to who?
[7:54] The commandment of God, our Savior. It's formidable, meaning that it is larger than you or I. It comes from the God of heaven, and it is one size fits all.
[8:07] To Titus, my own son, after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. It is not theology to order, which was being promoted, a view of Burger King, all right?
[8:21] Have it your way. It is consistent, like the ice cream machine at McDonald's. That never works. It's consistent, all right? It is not going to change on us. It's true for all people.
[8:34] And so, let's look here at this back story, a challenge to Titus. So, it appears that Paul wrote this to two other, gave this to two other Christians that are headed to the Isle of Crete.
[8:45] I get that from verse 13 to chapter 3. Bring Zenith, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. We're not certain of how the letter was received by Titus, but it appears in chapter 3, verse number 13, that that would be a way that it's happening.
[9:02] These two people are traveling through, and as they're traveling through, that church received them. Titus received the letter. And how did they receive these people? And how did they send them out?
[9:12] If you were going to say it in two words, you would say, they did it in a worthy manner. All right, that was a hard one, all right? Hashtag worthy manner right there in that passage, all right? They did it in a worthy manner.
[9:23] So, people were coming through, and they brought a letter to them, which is the letter that we have right here. It appears this is how it would have been delivered. Written at the same time that 1 Timothy was written.
[9:34] Timothy led a church that was in a different culture, that was more established. It may seem to be a softer assignment, but before you believe that Timothy had it easier than Titus, hold on.
[9:46] I'm going to tell you here something in a little bit, and you're going to realize they both had difficult assignments, depending on what day it was. Paul quotes a man, Epimenides, one of the Crete's own poets, that makes a profound statement about his own people.
[10:04] Titus 1, 12 and 13. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said the Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
[10:14] This witness is true, that the people of their day knew that they lived in a fallen culture. I wanted to know the poet of their day.
[10:28] Many of you would be aware, some of you would not, but recently, on the top of the charts for several weeks of music, there was a song called The Men North of Richmond, where a man named Oliver Anthony wrote a song, and he talks about how the people, North of Richmond, Washington, D.C., are people that do not have your best interest.
[10:46] He is a poet of our day, talking about the sins of our nation and country. That's what you're thinking of here, that even their own poets recognize that they live in a corrupted culture.
[10:59] Our poets of our day know it as well. Paul and Titus' relationship, verse 4, to Titus, my own son, after the common faith. It appears that Paul led Titus to the Lord.
[11:12] This expression here doesn't require that. He could have a relationship to him, as he had unto Timothy, but it appears to me that Paul led Titus to the Lord. And we learn that Paul and Titus work together in this Crete, in this island that we have here, spreading the gospel, and establishing churches.
[11:31] I don't know where I have the picture of the island, but I'd like to go ahead and show it to you. This island that is there, where Paul and Titus had worked together. And then it says that, for this cause, I left Crete.
[11:44] And so it's a small island, actually a series of islands that's pictured here for you. And just imagine, it's beautiful, all right? I actually looked at pictures of modern day, and I would like to be sent there, if you would like to send me to go look at it and bring you back firsthand testimony.
[11:59] Now, so here we go. And so here, they're on Crete, and so Paul and Titus have been working there together. And then it says that Paul was going to leave Titus there.
[12:11] And he says, for this cause, I'm going to lead you and establish them. You all met Pastor Dutry last week here for our missions conference. And so like almost 20 years ago, I was at his church for a discipleship conference.
[12:25] And he said, well, I need somebody here to stay and to work with me on that. And Brother Austin, our former pastor, said, here, Trent will stay with you.
[12:35] And I said, I'm not Titus. You don't just leave me places, all right? But I did. I stayed there for almost a year. And I definitely wasn't establishing the elders among that church, but that was the work that I was given to do.
[12:46] I received an assignment in ministry. That's what Titus has here, working together. And then Paul says, I'm going to leave and I wanted to leave you teaching sound doctrine, establishing things that are there.
[12:58] So Titus stayed and he works among the congregation. God had prepared Titus for such a time as this. I love this quote. It says, if you want to know what God is calling you to do in ministry, take inventory of your pain.
[13:13] If you want to know what God is calling you to do in ministry, take inventory of your pain. You see, Titus has a hard assignment. Verse 2, it said that they were unruly and they're vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, especially those that should know better, especially those inside of the church that profess to be religious and to know God.
[13:34] Their mouths need to be stopped because they're teaching what they should not. It wasn't just these wild pagans, but the religious crowd that were causing much confusion. And see, this wasn't the first time that Titus would have dealt with these types of people in his life.
[13:50] In Acts chapter number 16, we learn that Timothy was circumcised. Paul had him go forth to him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters and they knew all that his father was a Greek.
[14:02] But Titus has a Greek father in Galatians chapter number 2, verse 3 it says, But neither Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised and that because of false brethren unawares brought in who came in privately to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ that they might bring us into bondage to whom gave place by subjection, know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
[14:28] Making decisions about how to live out your faith in a confused culture was something that Titus had already experienced and be part of.
[14:39] He stood there and they made a decision and it was the purpose. It was for the desire for the advancement of the gospel of Paul. He did not allow Titus to be circumcised but it was by freedom that Paul allowed Timothy to be circumcised.
[14:54] Different decisions made there in the moment and the goal was that there would be gospel clarity. Not the acceptance or avoidance of culture dictated their decisions.
[15:05] Not the acceptance of culture, not the rejection of it, but gospel clarity was what motivated. So Titus had been there before. He had been among people who were confused in the culture and he learned how to navigate that for us.
[15:21] That's the example that we have as well in the world in which we navigate culture. It isn't a wholehearted acceptance, not a wholehearted rejection, but it's an idea, the question, is the decision that I'm making, is it going to cause confusion in regards to the gospel?
[15:37] Can I do this with a clear conscience? And there's many things that we would participate in that would be cultural, that would not be sinful, and that would not have the gospel of great confusion and then there's other things and you have to decide.
[15:50] Many of our missionaries go to places around the world and they don't know if something cultural or is it involved in something that would be pagan and wrong and the way that they know is they help just pump the Bible into people and whatever stays is culture and whatever leaves needs to leave.
[16:07] And we're in the same place today. We have to navigate a culture that we live in that is not for us, not for the God of heaven, and we've got to ask God for discernment how we make sure the gospel remains clear in our lives.
[16:22] And so let's look at these things with our time remaining. First thing that I wanted you to underline is that he was a servant of God. This is a strong way to start off the letter. He says, I am a servant.
[16:33] I am a slave. He didn't start off with the fact that he was an apostle. He does bring that because it's important. It's going to be read to the churches. They need to know that his authority doesn't lie in himself, but it comes from the God of heaven.
[16:45] Remind you that the apostles had an important role in our lives. In Acts chapter 2, verse 42, it says, continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship and the breaking of bread.
[16:55] In Ephesians 2, 20, it says, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Jesus Christ himself in the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ's cornerstone, but the teaching in which they gave these apostles were important and is still being taught today in our lives.
[17:12] But he first off said, I am a servant of God. That's how he was identified. If there's anything that this world and your family needs, it's for us to stop living for ourselves, stop being shaped by culture, renew our minds with God's word, and see ourselves as servants.
[17:30] That's happening. If you're going to navigate as Timothy and Titus and Paul did, you're only going to do it if you take on the role of a servant. You will not put off the things that need to be put off.
[17:40] As Apostle Paul would say in 1 Corinthians chapter number 9, that I would become all things, all people. That can only be done if you see yourself as a servant. I'm willing to do that. I prefer to do this or that at a certain time, but I will yield to another family or another culture or this so that I can do that.
[17:59] Our missionaries will learn a language, but that's just the beginning of it. They don't just learn a language, but they're going to learn a culture. They're going to learn that people have a different orientation about time and an orientation about how they manage crisis or how they set goals and all those different things and that they will yield and take on the role of a servant.
[18:16] And you and I must as well do that. Without compromise, with a clear conscience, we take on the role of a servant. Second of all, we see it's absolute.
[18:28] Acknowledging of the truth. There's something that the world does not want to do. They do not want to acknowledge the truth. A people who were captivated and enslaved in this culture were about to encounter the absolute truth of the gospel.
[18:44] It is coming from God, from an apostle, but it will be shared by servants, people that are now captured by the gospel. Timothy is not an apostle nor is the men and women of chapter 2 who passes the baton, but they are the servants of the Lord like we are.
[18:59] And when a man stops believing in God, he does not believe in nothing, but he believes in everything. We live in a day that's been like many other days in history where people do not want to recognize that there is absolute truth.
[19:16] You live your own truth. You live your own truth and you die your own death and you spend eternity separated from the God of heaven who is truth.
[19:27] You accept the truth of God. He is absolute. So acknowledging absolute truth will make you a servant. Refusing to acknowledge it will enslave you as well.
[19:37] You just must choose your master. So Paul says, acknowledging the truth, I'm a servant unto the Lord. If you say, well I don't want to acknowledge that truth, I don't want to be a servant of God, well then acknowledge this, you have chosen another master and that you also are enslaved.
[19:52] But my Lord is gracious and merciful and he died in my place for me and he died for you. Sanctifying. And so acknowledging the truth which is after godliness, it's according to the faith and it is after godliness, it has a sanctifying work in our lives.
[20:13] Paul's ministry was aimed at both the salvation and the sanctification of God's people. This book provides instruction and so we should admit to it.
[20:23] We should not live in tune with nature but we should live in submission to the creator that we would yield ourselves to it. As it was said last week that the word of God would prevail.
[20:37] This word is true and if you know somebody who is living contrary to it the most loving thing that you can do is to call them to recognize and acknowledge the truth of God's word.
[20:51] Sanctifying. It's unchangeable. In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. A God who cannot lie.
[21:02] My favorite t-shirt is a shirt that I have that says truth is immortal. It comes from this great quote of Hubmeier who was an Anabaptist and when he was going to be killed he said in this summary here you can kill him but you can't kill the truth because the truth is immortal.
[21:20] And so truth is never changing because it's the truth from God who cannot lie. And hope here is an anticipation found not on some kind of wishful thinking but a promise from a God who cannot lie.
[21:34] You can accept it and love it. You can reject it but you cannot change it. God's word is unchangeable because it comes from a God who cannot lie.
[21:45] And it's eternal. And the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before the world began. You know they cannot cancel the hope in which we've been given.
[21:57] We live in a time where cynicism is not only acceptable but in some places it's expected. What cynicism gets right is that we indeed live in a fallen world.
[22:08] Everybody knew the answer from this Grecian poet to the poets of our day which is to say that we live in a world that is a mess. We live in a world that is ran by people that are selfish that want their own way who do not care about us and we agree on that but here's the difference.
[22:25] You and I have hope. You and I have hope that frees us to be people that are zealous and productive and godly doers. We're not just cynics. We're not cynics. We are people that have hope.
[22:37] And so we believe that the world is messed up in many ways and that there's a lot to be critical of and we believe that the story doesn't end there. We believe in redemption. We believe in change. We believe in grace.
[22:48] We believe in Jesus. We have hope. A genuine hope that rejects cynicism and we have hope. Apostle Paul's letter had to be such an encouragement to Titus in living in the world in which he says the only thing we can agree in is that the world is broken and it's bad but what you're teaching is wrong.
[23:07] And the Apostle Paul writes him a letter and those first four verses are just filled with wonderful life-changing truth about the truth. And then it's communicable. It says that he in due time that God manifested him his word through preaching which is committed unto me.
[23:24] I love preaching. Not just doing it but hearing it. Not just hearing it but living by it. This week which isn't always the case for me I don't want to give you the wrong opinion.
[23:36] But this week I listened to a message on Monday morning and when I got done I turned off the player and I knelt down there and I said Lord forgive me of this.
[23:47] I sent an email to somebody and I wanted to get something right because God's word found its place in my heart and it made himself real through preaching. I want to encourage you to do the same. You don't have to like me but please love preaching.
[24:00] Alright? Please love the preaching God's word manifested the teaching of it. In the gospels you see preaching and teaching being synonymous one another being interchangeable.
[24:10] Preaching does not just come after the worship service in order. Preaching is worship. It's preaching that will lead us to a worshipful response by the Holy Spirit. It's more than just simply saying what the Bible says and showing it to you.
[24:25] You see the devil could do that. In preaching we are supposed to be rejoicing. In what God has done. We are supposed to be loving the truth in which we are sharing one to another.
[24:37] And we want to lead a worshipful response. Much more can be said about this. I think I might just preach a message about it in the days to come. Alright? But we should love the teaching and preaching of God's word.
[24:48] And we should seek for it. And you ought to find it more than just on Sunday morning from me. Throughout the week you ought to be looking for the teaching and preaching of God's word. And you should love it.
[24:59] Because he manifested his word through preaching. We can know that they're the truth of God. And then accessible. In due times manifested his word through preaching which is committed unto me.
[25:13] Paul knew that the work of preaching was entrusted to him but not to him only. We all have this obligation to teach God's word. The same God who had manifested himself in flesh reveals himself to know us through the preaching of God's word.
[25:26] word. And God has made himself known and now he allows us the responsibility to make him known to other people. It's been committed unto you. You know all those wonderful things you know about God that have been taught to you?
[25:39] Maybe little old ladies in Sunday school class who weren't really that old. They were in their 40s but you thought they were when you were little, right? From all those people to your mom and dad around the kitchen table to the preaching that you've heard in church services.
[25:52] All those truths that you know are the truths that the world are dying to know and they need to know. They need the hope. They know that the world's broken. We agree on that. But they don't have any hope.
[26:02] They don't see this here. And you have this opportunity. And then it's formidable meaning that it comes from the God of heaven. It did not originate through church history. It wasn't given to us by men of old but it comes from the God of heaven.
[26:19] The word of God was given to us and it's here. It was inspired. It was written from the Holy Spirit for us. And then lastly here I want you to know this is a common faith.
[26:32] Verse number four to Titus my own son after the common faith. It is a one size fits all. We're not all finding different ways to God. But as it says in Jude 3 our salvation comes in the same way with all.
[26:44] Beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of common salvation it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
[26:57] So here's the truth about truth. It should change your identity. It's absolute. It's sanctifying. It's unchangeable. It's communicable. It's accessible. It's formidable. And it's one size fits all.
[27:09] Regardless if that's fashionable or not you must teach it. If you want to truly live lovingly with your family and community you must call them to see the truth from God's word.
[27:20] and we cannot be changed. And we cannot drift with the culture. So there's men and women in here. Before I pray let me get personal here with you right.
[27:30] I told you to take it personal. Let's get personal okay. Or I'll say let me get pastoral here with you for a moment. There's men and women in here that are having to navigate a difficult culture in the corporate world or in the school system or wherever you're at.
[27:48] Usually many of the things of the culture only found themselves interfering in the arts and different occupations. But now it's involved in everything. From Carhartt to everything.
[28:00] It's just everywhere you go. There is a decision to be made about what's right and what's wrong and it has not stayed out of our world. And it's now inside of our family. It's trying to influence our kids.
[28:13] It is here and it's present. And this could be true of other generations but it's most certainly true of us today. And we need to say it's personal. As our football coach said, we were just going to play a game.
[28:24] We're just going to mind our own business. We don't talk about anybody. But now you've went and made it personal. I want you to recognize that the drift in our culture should be personal to you. You should be on guard for it.
[28:37] Know that those of you that are having to navigate this and it frustrates you, let me tell you this, that you're setting a path for the next generation. The agenda that was once more prominent in other places, now prominent in your life, well it is going to be common for our children.
[28:53] The next generation is going to be hard for our children and it's going to be even harder for them if you do not set for them an example of how to live out the gospel.
[29:06] So we're not happy with the challenges you're facing but we're happy for the opportunity that you have to live out your faith in a way in which your children can see it without compromise, loving the truth.
[29:19] And so the letter was written to Titus but it's also written to Christians not on the Isle of Cree but here today in Fort South County it was sent to me and you. So I'm going to give you some practical application before I take the time to ask you to respond.
[29:33] First off, recognize and acknowledge the truth we have is acknowledging the lordship of Christ in our lives. We are the servants of God. God, context nor culture changes this.
[29:45] He is your Lord. Today on Sunday morning in this moment and at any moment during this week when you come in the conflict between serving yourself, serving the culture or serving Jesus, he is the Lord.
[29:57] I am not and the culture certainly is not. Acknowledge this today that you're a servant of God. Secondly, God's truth is absolutely true and absolute. Know it, love it and live it.
[30:08] Some in here, not just younger ones but even older people in here today, you were blessed to grow up in a family where you had the opportunity to borrow convictions.
[30:20] Did any of you borrow any convictions when you grew up? Your parents said, you don't have to like it, you don't have to understand it but these are our convictions and you can have them until you're old enough to leave. Well, some of you have left the house and the convictions that you have are still just borrowed.
[30:35] They belong to your family and you need to get to the word of God and you need to determine what the word of God says about the issues of your life. You need to own them.
[30:47] Recognize that God's word has instruction. You can share it with others and that is the loving thing to do. You know what God's word says about many things and you should lovingly share that with those around you.
[30:59] And number four here, you can't have your own truth. You can have God's or you won't have any at all. You can't have your own truth. And our view of heaven keeps us from being cynical.
[31:11] The story is not over. Redemption is possible. We were like the world but we're not anymore because of the grace of God. And so we believe that the story has a different ending than the one that the world is giving.
[31:24] And this truth can be communicated. We can and should communicate it to others. And the same truth that changed your life can change the life of anybody that you meet because it is absolutely true and it is for them as well.
[31:39] So here's my challenge for you as I pray here in a moment. I'd like to encourage you to take the book of Titus with you. I gave you the portable edition, all right? I know some of you have it on your phone. All of you should have it in your copy of the word of God and take it.
[31:51] But I encourage you to just fold it up and take it with you throughout the week and read it. It takes about seven or eight minutes and just meditate on it and ask God to help you make it personal. Say, I heard a message that Trent preached today, but I need a message from God as I read this passage of how do I live this out in the life in which I am given.
[32:11] Take it personal. Take the study of Titus personal, but more importantly take the application from the book of Titus personal in your life. And then make a decision today about the truth of truth.
[32:23] Don't be moved. And some of us may need to regain the ground that is lost in our lives. There's areas in which you know that the Bible speaks that are true and that you have not been living with clarity, that you have began to slide away from it.
[32:38] And you don't understand the great danger that comes when you begin to drift away from the word of God because you're either going to be anchored in the word of God or you're going to be tethered to the culture.
[32:50] And this culture does not care about you and your family and the glory of God. And so you should renew your commitment and say, I want to live as a servant of God according to the truth of his word.
[33:03] Heavenly Father, thank you for the book of Titus, letter written, Lord, not just for Titus and the Christians on Crete, but for us today. Father, we are in need of encouragement.
[33:15] We live in a world that you're very much aware of that pulls us in every direction. Father, our children are pulled in every direction. And this community needs a faithful church.
[33:29] And that faithfulness, Father, is being determined by the decisions that are made throughout the week by the people that make up this church family. So I pray for all my brothers and sisters in here today as they have decisions to make about what is right and wrong.
[33:45] I pray that they will allow you the choice in the matter, that they will not be pulled from the culture, but they will be obedient to you. With every head bowed and every eye closed, and we'll stand and say in a moment that I would be remissed every Sunday, and I know it's a little bit late, but there's always time for you to respond to the gospel.
[34:07] If you've been coming for a long time, if you're just here for maybe the first time today, I don't know your story, but I want you to know that there's absolute truth that's found in God's Word that will help you know the God of Heaven, the one that you are made and long to know, that you know that the world is broken and that you cannot fix yourself, but there's a God of Heaven that will forgive you of sin.
[34:31] He died on a cross for you to make that possible. And so you may have looked in many different places for answers. You might have had many discussions and nobody had any answers to you.
[34:43] I want to tell you by the grace of God, we have answers. It's found by God's Word. And I'd love to tell you more about Jesus Christ and how He died in your place. So I would encourage you, take the next step, which is to get information, to learn more about this person of Jesus Christ.
[35:00] Stop by the next steps table, get information, sign up for a meeting, or even today, go to a room and get your answers, questions answered from God's Word.
[35:11] Lord, Heavenly Father, I thank you for this Word. I pray that all my friends in here today, Lord, brothers and sisters, will make decisions and that they will take it personal today, Lord, that they want to be people of this book.
[35:24] In Jesus' name I pray, amen.