Sound Exhortations

The Scriptures in the New Testament say that we have received the grace of God for salvation. God has dealt with all of our past sins. How shall we now live as we are the recipients of His grace? That's what we're talking about in Titus chapter 3. Open with us as we discover this good news about what God's grace accomplishes in us as we walk with Him.

He works all things together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. That is good news! Amen.

As Jared mentioned, we have two different mission teams headed out this week. One team is going down to Peru, where Roberto, our Spanish pastor, and his family will be ministering and doing a conference. The other team, mostly from our youth ministry, will be heading down to Paraguay.

I want to invite any of the team members here. Roberto, you're here, so why don't you come on up? I think Scott is here as well; he will be heading down to Paraguay with our team. Any other team members going to Paraguay, please come up here.

Scott and Adela are two of the team members headed down to Paraguay. Roberto and his family, come up here into the light. Men love darkness rather than light, but come on up here. We want to lift them up to the Lord in prayer. Anyone who wants to come up and lay hands on them as we pray them off is welcome to do so. We ask that the Lord would be with them and bless them as they serve, and that they would be an extension of us.

We have this commitment to be a part of what God is doing through the Great Commission, and this is a part of that. Would you pray with us as we lift them up to the Lord this morning?

Father, thank You for the work that You have done in our lives and the grace that You have given to us. As we go through Your Word today, we see that we are so undeserving of the great blessing and goodness that You have poured out upon our lives. But, Lord, we are so grateful for it. Part of our gratitude is shown in that we want to take what You have given to us—Your grace, the peace, and the love that You have poured out upon us—and share that with other people.

So we pray for the team headed down to Paraguay. We ask, God, that You would bless them as they serve.

At San Refugio this week, Lord, be with them. Help them to be Your hands, reaching out with mercy and grace to those in need. We pray for Roberto, Ruth, and Lucas as they head to Peru. We ask God that You would bless them as they are a blessing to Your church and Peru. Use Roberto to be an encouragement and a strength to the believers there as they are part of this conference. We ask God that You would continue to do a miraculous work of Your grace in Central and South America. It is such a blessing to see the gospel being received with such open hearts and joy. So, God, would You just pour out upon these teams? Thank You for their willingness to go. Bless them, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agree said, "God bless." Be praying for them this week as they are down in South America.

Okay, with that, would you take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are in the New Testament book of Titus. Titus is near the end of your Bible, so if you open to the very last book, Revelation, and turn to the left, you'll find the little small book of Titus, right before the little small book of Philemon, and right before a big book called Hebrews.

So, Titus chapter 3. Would you stand with me as we read from God's Word? We are going to pick it up actually in chapter 2, verse 15, because it leads right into where we are going to be in chapter 3.

In Titus chapter 2, Paul writes to Titus and says, "Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, and to be ready for every good work. To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were once foolish and disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. That having been justified by grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to all men."

Men, Father, we ask as we open the Scriptures that You would open Your Living Word to us. We pray that You would open our hearts so that we would be receptive, Lord, ready to receive what it is that You want to speak to us and what You want to teach us. God, may we be open to the working of Your Spirit and the transformation that comes from it.

We come here this morning recognizing Your goodness, but we also acknowledge how far we are, in so many ways, from what You desire of us. I pray, God, that by Your grace and by the work of Your Spirit, You would continue that work of transformation, even that work of regeneration and renewing of the Spirit that we read about in this passage. God, work that in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

This week, it was hard not to be bombarded by the constant raucous anger of our society, especially as it pertains to the political craziness surrounding the issues at our southern border. This topic hits pretty close to home for us living here in San Diego County, as we are just about 50 miles away from the southern border. It is something that is local news for us, but it has also been national news and discussed quite a bit in our culture.

I’m not necessarily interested in venting all of our different ideas, views, and positions on these matters. In any family, including a church family, there are differing opinions and views. You may have experienced, perhaps at a family gathering, the discussions and debates that can arise due to differences of opinion. We don’t want to get into those things.

I do hope that as we walk with Jesus, we are learning how to disagree agreeably, which seems to be a lost art in our culture today. There are many different opinions and views on this topic that cause conflict. The level of anger, from left to right and vice versa, in our culture is very high. This heightened debate and conflict are not just present in this political discussion but in every political debate we seem to have in our culture. When it does arise, it always brings me to a place of reflection.

As a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and especially as a leader and pastor within the church, I find myself reflecting on how to respond to the cultural issues we face. I wonder how I should encourage others to respond in the face of these challenges. How should we carry ourselves as followers of Jesus if we find ourselves in conflict with the policies of those in authority over us?

There will always be instances in any culture where the decisions made by those in authority may not align with our beliefs. So, what should we do if we believe that the actions of those in authority conflict with the nature of God and the Scriptures? How should we respond if we think that the authorities and rulers in our society are acting foolishly, with malice, or from a place of evil desires? These are the questions that often arise in our minds when we observe the state of our culture.

Interestingly, we find ourselves in a passage of Scripture that addresses this very question. The Apostle Paul, who wrote this 2,000 years ago, understood that the natural inclination of our human nature is often resistant to the teachings we are about to explore in Titus chapter 3. This is why he begins with a word of exhortation at the end of chapter 2, verse 15, where he instructs Titus to "speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you."

Paul anticipates that the teachings Titus will share may conflict with people's human nature, but he emphasizes the importance of speaking the truth boldly. He encourages Titus not to back down, reinforcing the idea that there are some truths worth offending over.

You're an English teacher, and I realized that that's probably not the best grammar. You can just write the correct grammar in the margin of your sermon guide, and maybe you can correct me later on my grammar. As I was thinking about it, this becomes really clear as you read through this passage and other passages in the New Testament. There are some truths that we find in those Scriptures that are worth defending.

When Paul says, "Let no one despise you," he also says to "speak these things, exhort with all authority." We shouldn't back down when we share these things. I'm sure you've noticed that in the 21st-century Western culture we live in here in Southern California, about the only thing that is totally off-base and out of bounds in our society today is offending somebody. We live in a culture that is hypersensitive to anything that might come across as offensive. As a result, we often find ourselves tiptoeing around things. We don't want to say anything that might make someone feel bad, and that's the way our culture constantly is.

Now, when I say that there are some truths worth offending over, I don't want us to misunderstand. I don't think that we should make it our aim to purposefully offend. Sometimes it seems like Christians think that this is a prophetic gift, as if they can just go around saying whatever they want without caring about anyone's feelings. Even if people are offended, that's not a spiritual gift. You might be accused of just being a jerk, and that's not a spiritual gifting. In the categorization of giftings given in the Scriptures, you don't find that as a spiritual gift. That's just our fallen nature coming through.

So, we don't just go around trying to offend people; that's not our aim. However, we do need to realize that there are strong truths in the Bible that can be offensive and challenging. We still need to make sure that we give forth what the Scriptures have to say. We need to speak, and sometimes we need to exhort. At times, we even need to rebuke. A rebuke is speaking against someone's perceptions, ideas, thoughts, actions, or words. There are times when we need to rebuke.

I do believe that there will come a day when we see this happening. We've seen it happen in other places, like to the north of us in Canada, and we're seeing it in various places in Western Europe. Legislative moves are coming that will put the church in a difficult position. There will be certain passages of Scripture that our culture will set aside, saying, "You will not be able to speak this because..."

It's too offensive or discriminatory, whatever it may be. There will be moves in our culture that try to push us into a place where they say we cannot speak. Well, how should Christians respond to that? We are going to continue to speak forth the Word of God. We will always continue to do that, even if our culture or the governing authorities say that we are not to do so. We will do this because of a very simple truth.

The next book that comes after this, which we will be teaching, is Second Timothy. In the fall of this year, we are going to be going through Second Timothy. In Second Timothy chapter 3, Paul says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is useful; it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the child of God, the man or woman of God, would be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The reason we are going to stay committed to God's Word is that we believe it to be the inspired Word of God, God-breathed. He gave it to us, and even though sometimes it might be in conflict with our society, our culture, or even our human nature, we recognize that the inspired Word of God is useful for setting the right line of doctrine. In that setting of the right line, it reproves us where we are wrong, corrects us where we are wrong, and instructs us in righteousness. Therefore, we will always be committed to giving forth the Word of God because we believe that by the Word of God, we are thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now, it's really interesting. In Second Timothy chapter 3, when Paul says that, just a few sentences later, he states in chapter 4, verse 3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. They will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables."

We are there. At various times in culture, we find that we move into that space where the culture does not want to hear what God has to say from His Word. Just because the hard heart of humanity and a broken society does not want to hear the instructive, informative Word of God does not mean that we should back down from it. We need to be those who clearly give forth the Scriptures because it is inspired, God-breathed, and it is for our good.

So, Paul says to Titus, "Speak these hard truths. Exhort and call people to a higher level of living." If necessary, in doing that, there may need to be a rebuke, but they may need to be reproved from unholy attitudes.

Actions are important, and he says to do this with all authority. You need to speak these things with all authority, even if the things you are speaking might be despised by the culture. But what are the hard truths that he says you need to speak and exhort?

Look at chapter 3, verse 1. This is the hard truth: the nature of the people that Titus was going to be speaking to might find resistance towards. Remind them, Titus 3:1 says, to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, and to be ready for every good work.

As I mentioned, Titus and 2nd Timothy were written around the same time. Titus was written just a little bit before 2nd Timothy, and it is fascinating that in the passage I read in 2nd Timothy chapter 3, he says you are to give forth the Word of God because it helps people to be ready for every good work. That same phrase, "every good work," is found here in this passage. He says to remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, and to be ready for every good work.

So how can we, as followers of Jesus, be ready for every good work? First, we need to understand that God calls us to walk in good works—good works that would glorify Him.

How can we be those who are ready for every good work? The New Testament, the doctrine of the Scriptures, exhorts us and instructs us. Point number two on your outline is to be submissive to and obey the authorities that govern you. We may have a really hard time with point number two because of our fallen nature. This is just the reality of human nature: we resist submission to and obedience to authorities over us.

We know this is human nature because how many parents here can lift up their hands? If you are a parent, you have probably experienced this with your kids. Two-year-olds prove that it is human nature to be resistant to submitting to and obeying authority. I have had four specimens of children that I have been able to watch walk through that whole two-year-old phase. In our family, it seems that the two-year-old phase extends into three and even four years old. Are there any of those here?

We have seen the reality that we are resistant to this truth. When the Scriptures say that we need to be submissive to and obey the authorities that govern us, there are several places in the Bible that drive this truth home. However, objections often flood our minds.

One common objection arises when we read Paul writing about submission in Titus or other places. We might think that Paul must have lived under a government that was much better than ours and that he could not understand how hard it is for us to submit to authority. This assumption is incorrect. Paul wrote this around the mid-60s AD, nearly two thousand years ago. The governing authorities he referred to were those of the Roman Empire, and at that time, the emperor was a lunatic named Nero. Therefore, we cannot assume that he was in some sort of utopian society where it was much easier to submit to authorities.

The second objection that often comes to mind for Christians reading passages like this is the idea that we cannot submit to and obey authorities if they disobey God. This is the immediate objection I have received virtually every time I have this conversation. People ask, "What if the government is calling us to do something that is in opposition to the character, nature, or command of God?" To that, I say yes, you are right. If the governing authorities are calling us to do something that opposes the character, nature, or command of God, then we have the opportunity—and the right, really—as citizens of heaven and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God to obey God rather than men.

We see this in the book of Acts. The early followers of Jesus were commanded in the early chapters of Acts, specifically chapters four and five, not to preach or speak in the name of Jesus. However, Jesus had told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When faced with opposition, they asked, "Shall we obey God more than man?" Their answer was clear: they would obey God more than man. This is what we refer to as civil disobedience.

So, are Christians to always obey, even if the culture or governing authorities are in opposition to God's commands?

Saying to disobey God is not the answer, but we need to understand that we only disobey those authorities if they are in direct opposition to the nature, character, and command of God. We don't disobey just because we don't like them or their rules. That is not what the Scriptures tell us to do.

We also need to recognize that if the governing authorities we live under are calling us to do something that is in opposition to the command of God, we must say no. We will obey God more than man, but we need to be ready to potentially suffer the consequences of that civil disobedience. If you read through the New Testament and church history, you will see many instances where Christians have stood in opposition to governing authorities that were calling them to act against the command of Scripture. Many of those Christians suffered the consequences of their actions.

I can't help but think of Jesus. The crucifixion of Christ was God-ordained for our justification and salvation. However, in the context of time and history, why was Jesus crucified? He opposed the religious structure of His day because it was not in line with the nature and character of God. Remember when Jesus went into the temple? The Gospels depict Him driving out the money changers who were allowed to be there by the religious authorities of the day. Jesus was opposing a religious structure that had gone contrary to God, and He suffered the consequences.

If you read through the book of Acts, you will see this happen with the early apostles. The Apostle Paul opposed the religious structure of his day and some of the political issues of his time, and he too suffered the consequences. There are times and places where we must civilly disobey when those in authority over us call us to do something that is in opposition to the command of God. However, we must understand that in such situations, we might suffer the consequences.

This may be a reality we experience in the American Christian context in the not-too-distant future. There may come a time when our government says we are not allowed to preach certain passages of Scripture.

They classify certain speech as discriminatory or hate speech. This is happening in various parts of the world right now, although it hasn't necessarily occurred much here in the United States. That day may come. What do we do in response to that? Well, we are going to continue to preach the Scriptures. We will always continue to preach the Scriptures because they are inspired for our good. However, that may mean we suffer the consequences of our actions.

What do you do if you suffer those consequences? I believe we should ensure we understand our rights. If you read through the Book of Acts, you see this with the Apostle Paul. When the religious structure of the day came against him because he didn't align with their position and they wanted to kill him, he appealed, which was his right to do. He appealed to the highest governing body of the land, and in that day, he appealed to Caesar. He had rights as a citizen of Rome to be able to do that.

The Scriptures provide us with the understanding that we need to know and use our rights. Should it ever come to the point in our nation where we are told that we cannot speak or preach the Scriptures, we have this wonderful thing called the First Amendment. We will continue to use that freedom of religion and freedom of speech. However, it may come to the point where we have to stand before judges, and that is our right.

Yet, we also have a rule given in Titus chapter 3 and in other places that instructs us to submit to the governing authorities. There is a tension there. Anytime we find tension in our lives and experiences in relation to the Word of God, we need to be very careful and prayerfully approach those matters.

Paul, in Romans chapter 13, was writing to Christians who were in the epicenter of the Roman Empire, the capital city of Rome, living under the authority of Nero, a totally unrighteous emperor. Paul states in Romans chapter 13, verse 1, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." I guarantee those words would have been tough to swallow for the Christians living in Rome at that moment. They were witnessing all the crazy things happening under Emperor Nero, and Paul asserts that the authorities that exist are appointed by God. They are there because God put them there, and we may really wrestle with that.

Depending on who the leaders are in our nation, our state, or our county, we must constantly return to the Scriptures and understand that there is no authority except from God. The authorities that exist are appointed by God. In Romans chapter 13, verse 2, it states, "Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves." They might experience the civil judgment of those magistrates if they stand in opposition to them, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.

Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he

Remind them to look at this. This is the next exhortation that he gives to the Christians in Crete and to Californians. In Titus chapter 3, verse 2, we read, "Remind them to speak evil of no one." That's challenging because what's the first thing we want to do when we don't like those who are in authority over us? We are reminded to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, and showing all humility to all men.

Point number three: followers of Jesus make it their aim to be meek, humble peacemakers. It's fascinating that it didn't take long for the early followers of Jesus to begin to be called Christians. What is interesting about this is that they were called Christians by those who were outside the church, by non-followers of Jesus. This happens in Acts chapter 11. When the church was in an area called Antioch of Syria, the non-Christians of that region began to call the followers of Jesus Christians.

The word "Christian" has the idea of being little Christs or imitators of Christ. The early Christians were identified by the non-Christians as being imitators of Christ. Hopefully, that term "Christian," which may be applied to you, is because you are an imitator of Christ and not just because you have a "Not of This World" sticker on your car. It should be that people who see us say, "That's an imitator of Jesus."

Well, what was Jesus like? We read through the Gospels, and what we find is that the descriptive words used in Titus chapter 3, verse 2, could describe Jesus perfectly. Paul exhorts Titus to encourage the Christians on the island of Crete to be this way, to be Christ-like in their behavior. How would they be Christ-like? For one, they were to speak evil of no one. The actual word when he says "speak evil of no one" is "blaspheme." It's from where we get our English word "blaspheme." We are not to blaspheme anybody, even the authority structures that are above us that we don't like. We are not to speak evil of them.

Another way to think of this is that we are not to level character assassination against those people who are over us.

Authority is important, and we are not to venture into what is called an ad hominem attack. We may not like an individual's ideas, but often we stray into the area of character assassination. If you want to know what that looks like, just spend ten minutes on Facebook; you'll see it everywhere you look. Alternatively, go and look at the news articles you read online and scroll to the very bottom to read the comments. That is where you see all the character assassination.

In that context, Paul says, "Listen, you're a follower of Jesus; don't be like that." Instead, he encourages us to be civil and peaceable. I can't think of anything more Christ-like than being peaceable. About seven hundred years before Jesus came, there was a famous prophecy about the nature and character of the Messiah. This prophecy is recorded in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. One of the things said about His character is that He is the Prince of Peace.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." One of the qualities that should be demonstrative of the children of God, Christians, is that we are peacemakers. Not only should we be peaceable, but Paul also says that we should be gentle. The word "gentle" can mean mild, patient, or moderate. It is the same word used in another one of Paul's letters, Philippians chapter 4, verse 5, where he says, "Let your gentleness, Christian, be known to all men."

All people should see in my life and in your life that we are gentle peacemakers. Furthermore, we should be those who show humility to all men. Titus chapter 3, verse 2, states that this is how we are to be known in society. Yet, quite frankly, it seems that many Christians in our current American climate and culture are known more for being obnoxious than for being peaceable.

Gentle and humble, and yet Jesus—what was He known for? He was peaceable, gentle, and humble, even when He was being led to the point of being condemned to die on the cross. It says He opened not His mouth. That's striking.

We are called to imitate Jesus in that, which is totally not in line with my nature. My inclination is to not be peaceful, gentle, and mild. I am one of those people who much more likes the idea of a martial arts approach. I did martial arts for a lot of years, so I know how to deal with situations when someone disagrees with me. I know how to handle that in my flesh.

However, James says in the New Testament that the rage of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. It does not accomplish the righteousness of God. There is that inclination to try and force our way. Yet, what is amazing as you study Christian history is that this oppressive Roman Empire was effectively dethroned, not by the opposition of obnoxious Christians, but by the peaceful, gentle meekness and humility of the Christian Church. Read Christian history; it's phenomenal what God was able to accomplish through His people walking in Christlikeness.

We are called to this. We need to make it our aim to be meek and humble peacemakers. We need to remember this. Look again at Titus chapter three; look at verse three: "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit."

The renewing power of the Holy Spirit is meant to transform every aspect of our nature. In another place, Paul wrote, "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." This is the new.

The covenant, which was prophesied 500 years before Jesus came, was foretold by the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26, God said, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of you and give you a new heart of flesh." God's aim under the new covenant, which Jesus established, is to remove that broken, hard, stony heart and to give us a new heart. He seeks to transform us radically from the inside out by the power and presence of His Holy Spirit.

The renewing, regenerating power of the Holy Spirit is meant to transform every aspect of our nature—not just our internal thoughts and emotions, but also our external actions and words. God wants to completely transform us through the rejuvenation of His Spirit. This new covenant is a covenant of grace; it is not something we accomplish by our own religious efforts or hard work. It is something that God transforms in us by His grace.

Look at verse 4 again: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saves us." This reminds us of those famous verses in the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 8: "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them. We are not made righteous in our behavior or transformed by our good works; rather, we are transformed by the abiding power and presence of the Holy Spirit so that we can do good works and show forth the glory of God in this world.

However, we must never forget who we were or where we came from. By His grace and mercy, we see it in verse 3: "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice." What is malice? It is wishing harm on other people, along with envy, hateful, and hating one another. What was it that changed us? It was when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, according to His mercy.

He saved us. Now, I want you to note this very, very well: What was it that drew you to Christ for salvation? It was His kindness, His love, and His mercy. What do you think is going to be that which draws people who might be classified as foolish, disobedient, and deceived? What do you think is going to draw them to the saving power of Jesus? Is it going to be your obnoxious, hurtful, heavy-handed demeanor? No, it’s going to be the kindness, the love, and the mercy of God at work in us and through us.

He says in verse 5 again, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Spirit, whom He poured on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." Having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. It is the renewing power of the Holy Spirit that transforms every aspect of our fallen nature, and this is by His work of grace in us.

He goes on in verse 8, "This is a faithful saying." This good news of God's grace is a faithful saying. And these things, Titus, I want you to affirm constantly. Keep telling the church there this over and over again. Tell them of the grace of God that took them from being foolish, deceived, hateful, and malicious. The grace of God took them from that to being His heirs of eternal salvation. Tell them this constantly so that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Point number five: The good news of the gospel should inspire our good works, which are good and profitable for all. When we receive the good news of the gospel, we realize that God took us when we were deceived and malicious by nature.

He, by His grace, saved us. When we understand the greatness of the mercy of God and the good news of the gospel, that good news begins to inspire us to live out the good works that He prepared beforehand for us to walk in. As we walk out those good works in this world, they are good and ultimately profitable for all people.

This culture, North County San Diego, needs to see not just in our lives but also in the lives of those who attend Immanuel Faith, Mission Hills Church, or North Coast Church. They need to see the body of Christ—Christians—being inspired by the gospel of Jesus to walk in a way that is right and good. This will ultimately be the best thing for our culture and society: to see Christians walking contrary to their fallen nature. That's what this culture needs to see.

This is why Paul strongly urged Titus, 2,000 years ago, to constantly affirm these things and to speak this continually. It is the grace of God that transforms us from being children, sons, and daughters of disobedience to being the recipients of His grace for eternity. Would to God that He would see us walking this out, that we would let our light so shine before men that they would see our good works and, as a result, glorify our Father in heaven.

We need God's grace. Amen. So would you stand with me? We are going to close in prayer and ask God to fill us once again with His grace and His Spirit to transform us in this way.

Father, thank You for Your grace that justifies us and deals with all of our past sin. But, Lord, Your grace not only justifies us and addresses our past sin; it also deals with our present condition—the fallenness of our human heart. We ask that our lives would be transformed to mirror Your life.

We want to be Christians not just because we went to church or were baptized, but because we are identified as imitators of You. May people see in us Your character traits and qualities, inherited in us by the Spirit abiding. God, do a work in Your church. Pour out Your grace on us this week, so that on Monday, Tuesday, and the rest of the week, we would be walking in a way that reflects You.

We ask that we respond in a way that glorifies and honors Your mercy and grace. God, when it is our nature to respond with frustration or anger, help us to respond with self-control, mercy, grace, and patience. Enable us to walk in these qualities so that the fruit, the evidence of Your abiding Spirit, would be in us: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. May these characteristics define how we respond to our spouses, interact with our children, and engage with our co-workers—those who are below us and those who are above us. Let Your grace be evident in our lives.

As we stand here this morning, it may be that some of you realize you have never received the grace of God. If you would like to receive His grace and forgiveness today, I want to give you a chance to prayerfully accept the forgiveness of Jesus. If that is you, please lift up your hand this morning. Is there anyone here who wants to receive the forgiving grace of God? I see you over here on the right. Anyone else? Right there in the middle, in the back. Bless you. If you want the grace of Jesus to come into your life, to save you, forgive you, and transform you, just lift up your hand high.

I want to lead you in a prayer of faith. Would you pray with me out loud?

Dear Jesus, I know I need You. I know I can't save myself; I've tried to. God, would You come into my life and forgive me? Transform me by Your grace and help me to follow You by faith for Your glory.

Jesus, they boldly proclaimed that they would continue to do so because there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby they must be saved. We thank You for the glory and power of Your name, and what an honor and privilege it is that we are called by Your name.

We are in Christ Jesus. God, help us to walk in that way this week. Enable us by Your Spirit and grace to walk in a way that represents Your name well, so that You in heaven would be glorified. May You have joy because You see Your children here at Cross-Connection Church living in that way this week. Do that work in us, we pray. We bless Your name.

Now, may You grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory forevermore.