2016.11.06                              Titus 2: 1,2,7  11-15

              The Grace of God has Taught us

             So Devote yourselves to doing Good!

Good morning everyone!... I am glad that you are here… I have good news for you…. His name is Jesus… We are studying the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings… But

I want to take a temporary detour and talk this morning about a very important subject…… The grace of God….. Turn with me to Titus 2…..

We can't escape it…… The Bible is a book that tells us how to live… It is hypocrisy to say that we believe it is true… and then ignore it when it tells us how to live our lives… We don't always want to hear it… but we need to hear how God expects us to live our lives… It affects the world around us when we love and serve the Lord with our whole hearts… Our lives become Living a testimony of Jesus… With Skin on story… That testimony is not only with our mouths….. It includes the way we live…. It includes serving in whatever area of Ministry that we can… That includes the invisible and hidden things that nobody even knows about… It includes being a joyful giver… Everything that we have… we have received from the Lord… We should joyfully Tithe into the church for furtherance of the Ministry… The Lord is looking for thankful FAT Disciples… Faithful… Available and Teachable…

Knowing the Lord…… Hiding his word in our hearts affects the way we live…. And when we live out what we know to be true…… When we obey the LORD…. When we follow Him from our hearts…..  We will lead others to Jesus… People will see that the Lord has transformed our lives… They will want what we have… They will see the Grace of God made visible in our lives… Look with me at Titus… chapter 2…v1….

Titus 2: 1,2  7                              NLT

1  As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. 2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

Titus 2: 1,2  7                              Neues Leben

1 Was immer du sagst, soll der gesunden Lehre entsprechen.

2 Lehre die älteren Männer, selbstbeherrscht, vorbildlich und besonnen zu leben. Sie sollen einen starken Glauben haben und liebevoll und geduldig sein.

7 Und du selbst sei ihnen in allem ein gutes Vorbild und ein Beispiel für die Glaubwürdigkeit und Würde deiner Lehre. 

look at verse 1…. This is the mission of every child of God…. promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. What we teach and what we believe needs to affect the way we live…

That is why Children’s ministry and Home Fellowships are so important… Sunday mornings is not enough…

Then beginning in verse 2….. Paul talks about the things that need to be taught to the church…. What a list….

Self control…. Wisdom…  sound faith… filled with love and patience…. filled with love and patience…. The list goes on…. But notice that this is not a list of things to do….. It´s more a list of things to be…. It's all a definition of Godly character…

Genuine believers are people who know the truth… People who live the truth because Jesus has transformed their lives…  When what we say matches what we do… Our lives will naturally lead others to Jesus…

Look at verse 7…

Titus 2:7                                  NLT  Neues Leben

7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

7 Und du selbst sei ihnen in allem ein gutes Vorbild und ein Beispiel für die Glaubwürdigkeit und Würde deiner Lehre. 

Be an example by doing good works and properly reflecting the Lord our God… Let everything you do… I repeat…  everything… When we live a life that exalts the Word of God… We will lead others to Christ… We want this lost and dying world to see Jesus in us don´t we… When we are godly examples… We will make disciples… We will help each other grow in Grace…

How do we help each other grow in grace…?

We need more than just  Sunday and Tuesday night services… Those things are great but not enough for us to grow strong in the Grace of God…

The Pastor and Elders cannot give you all that you need… In fact that is not even our job as leaders… Look with me at Ephesians 4: 11-16…

Ephesians 4: 11- 16                     NLT Neues Leben

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4: 11-16                     NLT Neues Leben

11 Er hat die einen als Apostel, die anderen als Propheten, wieder andere als Prediger und schließlich einige als Hirten und Lehrer eingesetzt.

12 Ihre Aufgabe ist es, die Gläubigen für ihren Dienst vorzubereiten und die Gemeinde - den Leib Christi - zu stärken.

13 Auf diese Weise sollen wir alle im Glauben eins werden und den Sohn Gottes immer besser kennen lernen, sodass unser Glaube zur vollen Reife gelangt und wir ganz von Christus erfüllt sind.

14 Dann werden wir nicht länger wie Kinder sein und uns ständig von jeder fremden Meinung beeinflussen oder verunsichern lassen, nur weil geschickte Betrüger uns eine Lüge als Wahrheit hinstellen.

15 Stattdessen lasst uns in Liebe an der Wahrheit festhalten und in jeder Hinsicht Christus ähnlicher werden, der das Haupt seines Leibes - der Gemeinde - ist.

16 Durch ihn wird der ganze Leib zu einer Einheit. Und jeder Teil erfüllt seine besondere Aufgabe und trägt zum Wachstum der anderen bei, sodass der ganze Leib gesund ist und wächst und von Liebe erfüllt ist.

v11… Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers… The Lord Jesus put us here… look at v12…

v12… 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ… Our job is to equip you to do the work of the ministry… If you think about it, this makes perfect sense… There are so many of us… It is impossible for me to really have a deep and meaningful relationship with so many people… That is what I would need if I was to be able to properly disciple you… The Word of God is important… But Fellowship and interaction with each other is also important… Discipleship and growth is exactly the purpose of all ministry activities like Childrens ministry, Small Groups and Home fellowships…

What are the goals of discipleship… look at The List  beginning at v13… scroll down…

v13… unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ…. Here are the goals… Look at this list… 1 Unity…v13 2 Maturity…v13 3 Jesus likeness…v13 we will also be better able to Speak the truth in love…v15 Growing in every way…v15

and the final Glorious result is that the whole body will fit perfectly together…v16  we will serve each other with the gifts that god has given us…v16 And finally… the whole body will be healthy and full of love…v16

This Equipping comes from teaching the Word of God and from serving and doing life together…

Here are some of the strong points of Home Fellowships

1 Small Groups help us to grow…

The impulse to avoid painful growth by disappearing safely into the crowd on Sunday morning is very strong…. I can quickly disappear after the Blessing…. I may not even have to talk to anyone… That brings us to the second point…

2  Listeners in a big group can more easily shake off the feeling of conviction… Some Sundays… I see lots of tears from up here… But we all tend to shake off feelings of conviction… But, If tears well up in your eyes in a small group… wise and Godly friends will gently find out why… We can help, encourage and pray for each other better in Small groups and Home Fellowships…

3 we tend to neglect personal application… We need to take the time to apply what we have heard to our own lives… This is much easier in a small group setting…

4 Opportunity for questions… Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing on a Sunday Morning… Asking questions is an important part of understanding and growth... Small groups are perfect for this...

5 Accountability is easier in Small groups…  Accountability helps us to  follow-through on the changes and improvements that we commit to make…

 And this one is very important…

6 Prayer… We can pray for each other in these small group settings…

As we get to know each other better in Small group settings… We make a wonderful discovery… We are surrounded by a band of friends who love us and pray for us…

As these things become integrated into our church fellowship… And Into our lives… As we grow… We become more and more a reflection of Jesus to our friends and family and this lost and dying world… I love the way we gather on Sunday mornings… But Sunday is not enough… We need more time with each other… Quality time… Small groups and Home Fellowships are what we need to get more face time… more real life interaction with each other… As genuine believers… We become the evidence that Jesus saves… Then because he has saved us… Our transformed our lives… Affects everything about us… how we live our Christian life… It affects how we spend our free time… It affects how we spend our money…

Let´s continue now in verse 11….

Titus 2: 11- 15                      NLT  Neues Leben

11 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

15 You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say.

Titus 2: 11- 15            Neues Leben

11 Denn die Gnade Gottes, die allen Menschen Rettung bringt, ist sichtbar geworden.

12 Sie bringt uns dazu, dem Leben ohne Gott und allen sündigen Leidenschaften den Rücken zu kehren. Jetzt, in dieser Welt sollen wir besonnen, gerecht und voller Hingabe an Gott leben.

13 Denn wir warten auf das wunderbare Ereignis, wenn die Herrlichkeit des großen Gottes und unseres Erlösers, Jesus Christus, erscheinen wird.

14 Er gab sein Leben, um uns von aller Schuld1 zu befreien und zu reinigen und uns zu seinem eigenen Volk zu machen, das bemüht ist, Gutes zu tun.

15 Dies alles sollst du lehren. Ermutige die Menschen und weise sie zurecht, wenn es nötig ist! Niemand soll dich oder dein Wort verachten.

Look at the end of verse 14...  

v14… totally committed to doing good deeds… Paul reminds us that the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior appeared… That He gave Himself that He might redeem us from every lawless deed… that He might purify for Himself a people for His own possession... So that we would be committed to doing good works… It is so important to Life in the Body of Christ that Paul repeats the same idea in Titus Ch 3…8… There he says…

Titus 3: 8    NLT

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

8 Alles, was ich dir gesagt habe, ist wahr. Ich möchte, dass du es mit Nachdruck lehrst, damit alle, die auf Gott vertrauen, immer darauf bedacht sind, Gutes zu tun. Das ist gut und sinnvoll für alle.

v8… all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good… Passionate and thankful people are eager to do good things for others… Why? Because it reflects God´s Grace in our lives…  And God´s grace becomes the foundation of our desire to bless and serve and help… It perfectly demonstrates the Grace of God in our lives… That shows the world that we have been transformed…

The Lord saved us with a goal of giving us a passion about doing what is right… Our Christian Generosity will prove to this sinful and rebellious world that there is hope… The Grace of God has been revealed…

Do you remember Titus 2…v….7….. I´ll reread it to close today…. My prayer is that it will ring in our ears….

Titus 2:7                                  NLT  Neues Leben

7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

7 Und du selbst sei ihnen in allem ein gutes Vorbild und ein Beispiel für die Glaubwürdigkeit und Würde deiner Lehre.  

Let´s pray…