1 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:05,320 Going to be in Titus chapter one. 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:08,320 Well, you go there. I want to read this quote to 3 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,000 you. I love it when God sort of 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,120 weaves the morning together. You'll you'll see what I mean as 5 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:15,240 we go through the morning. This is a guy by the name of 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,400 Eugene Peterson. He wrote the he translated the 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,640 message Bible translation and he says the following. 8 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,600 He says everything in the gospel is livable, and my pastoral task 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,480 is to get it lived. It's not enough that I simply 10 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,080 announce the gospel or explain it or whip up enthusiasm for it. 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:39,400 I want it lived in detail on the streets and on the job, lived in 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,800 the home, the kitchens and the bedroom, lived through cancer, 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,600 through divorce, lived with children and in marriage. 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,720 This is my primary task as a pastor, to get the gospel lived. 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,720 Yeah, it's a profound quote, but it's not just Eugene. 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,600 Actually, when Paul wrote to Titus and to the church in 17 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,920 Ephesus and to the Corinthians and to the Romans, he did so 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,200 because he wanted to get the gospel lived. 19 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,440 And the thing about Paul is it's not just this wide odd ideal. 20 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,840 He's lived it himself. He's seen it lived in community. 21 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,240 And so he's got something of of an idea when he's writing to 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,320 Titus of what he believes will happen in this church if you put 23 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,320 a certain bit of framework into place. 24 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,200 And actually I want to read it to you so you have an idea of 25 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,080 what was going on in the church where Paul was around back in 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,240 the day. Acts chapter 2 says they devoted 27 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,160 themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to 28 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:39,960 the breaking of bread and to pray. 29 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,880 Everyone was filled with awe and the many wonders and signs were 30 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,440 performed by the apostles. All the believers were together 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,600 and had everything in common. They sold property and 32 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,360 possessions to give to one another and anyone who had need. 33 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,160 Every day they continued to meet together and the temple courts. 34 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,240 They broke bread in their homes, they ate together with glad and 35 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,440 sincere hearts. They were constantly praising 36 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,360 God and enjoying the favor of all the people. 37 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,520 And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being 38 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,200 saved. So this is the picture that Paul 39 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,120 has in mind, if you want to call it the fruit of living the 40 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,480 gospel. And so when he writes to Titus, 41 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,360 when he writes to you and I, he basically says, but here's the 42 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,760 framework. If you want the fruit, here is 43 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,440 the framework for you to put into your daily rhythms, your 44 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,680 Kingdom rhythms, your work rhythms, so that we can see the 45 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:30,040 same thing processed and and fruitful in Pretoria, in three 46 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:31,560 CI in your life and in your home. 47 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,520 And so I want to look at that. I want to look at some of the 48 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,440 framework that that Paul puts into the the sort of the arsenal 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,800 of Titus's leadership and specifically in the area of 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,360 getting the gospel lived in the home, getting the gospel lived 51 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,400 in community and then getting the gospel lived in the 52 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,000 workplace. These are the three things that 53 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,200 I want to, I want to show you out of the book of Titus. 54 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,800 But today before warned, there's a bit of fine print here. 55 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,000 This is more a coffee conversation than a sermon. 56 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,200 I want to make this as practical as possible. 57 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:02,880 I don't want to give you some theory. 58 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,440 I want to put some things that you can weaponize in your day 59 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,760 today. All right, so lots of stories, 60 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,400 lots of illustrations, but I want to show you how I see this 61 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,280 woven into the book of Titus. So let's start in the very 62 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:16,400 beginning. Titus goes like this. 63 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,960 He's talking about getting the gospel lived in the home. 64 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,520 And he starts in my terms. I say he like sort of sends his 65 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,920 business card across the table to Titus. 66 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:29,560 So so you and I are sitting there, we've done had coffee. 67 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,720 You've asked me the question like how do I get the gospel I 68 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,520 lived in my home and and how do I live it out in this community 69 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,880 and how do I live the gospel in the workplace? 70 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,920 Well, I would shift Titus's well Paul's business card across the 71 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,120 table, which says in verse one, Paul, a servant of God and an 72 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,320 apostle of Jesus Christ. And This is why he writes the 73 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,240 letter to further the faith of God's elect and then knowledge 74 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,920 of the truth that leads to godliness. 75 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,280 He basically said, listen, my mandate, Titus, is to get you 76 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,520 into Scripture, to get you to understand the truth. 77 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,360 Because what happens when you understand the truth? 78 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,320 It says it leads to godliness, to this fruitfulness that he's 79 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,600 aiming for. So I heard I was listening to an 80 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,800 interview, a divorce lawyer was busy talking about the, the 81 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,360 industry in the US and the condition of the legal system. 82 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,320 And in the interview he was asked a question. 83 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,440 He was asked like, what is the worst case that you've had to 84 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:27,720 deal with? And right off the bat, he shared 85 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,080 immediately, he said he remembers the day, it was about 86 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,960 10-15 years ago where a guy came into his office and basically 87 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:36,880 laid a little before and said, listen, my wife has issued 88 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:38,840 divorce papers, but she wants it all. 89 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:40,480 She wants to take me to the cleaners. 90 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,720 I want you because you're a half flying big shots here in New 91 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,600 York. I want you to defend my case and 92 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,040 make sure she doesn't get anything. 93 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,760 And so he prepared the case and then went to court. 94 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,160 And when he sat down the lawyer, when he sat down in court, he 95 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:53,920 suddenly realized this is going to be a piece of cake. 96 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,840 This lawyer charges $750 an hour. 97 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,760 He's very experienced and well educated in the space. 98 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:03,400 And he's looking across because there's this young 99 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,720 whippersnapper on the other side looking after the wife in the 100 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,840 court case. And he can see that he's very 101 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,240 young, probably just stepped out of law school. 102 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,400 And he can see he's shaken this. He's very intimidated by the 103 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,040 moment. And so he thinks this is going 104 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,960 to be a walk in the park until the first piece of evidence is 105 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,000 shown. And it's one of these blown up 106 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,200 photos. It gets put on the easel and 107 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,240 it's a photo of the wife who's been beaten by the husband. 108 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,200 And the lawyer's going like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. 109 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,880 You know, you'd nothing of this was communicated. 110 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,160 Now you're suddenly thinking, well, actually this is not too 111 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,840 hard a case to lose. I mean, look at that evidence. 112 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:44,720 You know, there's a very easy way for this guy, this young guy 113 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,600 to win. The problem was when it comes to 114 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,280 presenting evidence or getting something submitted into 115 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:55,000 evidence in court, there's very specific phraseology that you 116 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,160 need to use. You can't just present it. 117 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,080 I suppose over the years they've refined it. 118 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,240 So you need to firstly present the evidence to the judge. 119 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,760 And you say, you are now I'd like this to be marked for 120 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,040 identification. And the judge says shop. 121 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:09,520 And then you put it on the easel. 122 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,240 And then the words you need to use when you start with the 123 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,400 witnesses, you need to say, OK, do you know what this thing that 124 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,200 has been marked for evidence is? And they would say, yes, it's a 125 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:21,760 photo. And this thing that's been 126 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:23,960 marked for evidence, what is it a photo of? 127 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:25,200 No, it's a photo of me when I was beaten. 128 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:26,480 And then you go through that process. 129 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:28,920 And then he says, your Honor, I'd like to submit this into 130 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,160 evidence. So that's the legal phraseology 131 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,760 that you have to use. Otherwise they, you know, do 132 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,880 what you've seen in the movies. Objection, Your Honor, which is 133 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,920 the very thing that happened. So this young guy gets up, he's 134 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,920 so nervous. He puts the picture up and he 135 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,760 starts with the question. He said, listen, can you tell me 136 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,720 what is this a photo of? And of course, the $750 an hour 137 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:51,920 lawyer says objection, Your honor. 138 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,600 He is asking the witness about something that's not yet in 139 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,000 evidence. So now this guy's thrown. 140 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,200 So he's, ah, OK, so is this a photo? 141 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,280 Now? He's completely thrown. 142 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,160 Objection, Your honor. Always wanted to do it. 143 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,520 Objection, your Honor. Sustained. 144 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,280 But now this, this guy, he's like, bud, you need to win this 145 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,360 case. You've got to fight for her. 146 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,640 Get the phraseology right. So he starts saying objection, 147 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,920 your honour, he hasn't asked for it to be marked for 148 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,280 identification and looks at the lawyer and looks at the judge. 149 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,040 Can you not step in? Because sometimes the judge 150 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,080 would do that, you know, kind of see, OK, you're a bit out of 151 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,960 your depth. Would you like me to mark this 152 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,760 for identification? One thing led to another and the 153 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,600 case gets thrown out of court and that Lady has to go home 154 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,360 with that man. And I tell the story because I 155 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,600 think a lot of the time that's how we approach the scriptures. 156 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,280 Like we think that there's some special phraseology that you 157 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,880 need to master before you can open this legal document. 158 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:01,080 You know, maybe Aloha Mora, you can get some insights into what 159 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,080 God is saying through the book of Titus. 160 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,080 Or maybe you need a theology degree. 161 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,520 Or where do you start? Do you start at the beginning, 162 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,080 like all books? The thing is, it's not a legal 163 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:13,520 document. It's a love letter. 164 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,800 It's a love letter and God gives it to us, but it sits on the 165 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,200 shelf there because we kind of think it might bite. 166 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,400 You know, when, when Paul's writing to the church in 167 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,360 Ephesus, he says, you know what, I pray for you. 168 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,520 Oh, I pray that you would have Christ in your heart, that you 169 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,200 would know his love that surpasses understanding. 170 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:38,360 And then in verse 19, he says, and that you may be filled to 171 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:44,000 the measure of all the fullness of God, that you might be as a 172 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,680 very quaint phrase, but that you might be filled to the full with 173 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,680 the fullness of God. This is His desire for you and 174 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,480 me when it comes to His word, when it comes to knowing Him. 175 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,200 But you know the problem of modern Christians. 176 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:04,440 If you're 50 and under, raise your hand, OK? 177 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:11,000 Those who raised hands, statistics show 95% of our only 178 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,200 encounter with Scripture. 95% of us, our only encounter with 179 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,800 Scripture is WhatsApp statuses and Instagram posts. 180 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:23,720 And Paul, the same. No, no, no. 181 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,120 What I want you to be is filled to the fullness, the knowledge 182 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,320 of God, to know him, to know his ways. 183 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,760 And so this is where he starts. This is where Paul starts. 184 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,120 He said, listen, one of the fundamental things I want you to 185 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,120 put into place, Titus, is this framework of getting to know 186 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,640 God, getting to know his word. And I don't know what you've 187 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,240 done and I don't know where you've stopped. 188 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,040 Maybe it's because you you started, you know, you did what 189 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,440 my daughter was doing, where you start in Genesis. 190 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,440 And I said to you, please stop, don't read the Bible, not from 191 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,920 Genesis. He says, I'm in Exodus already. 192 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,320 So I said, OK, I put together a little reading plan for my 193 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,800 daughter, 20 of the books of the Bible that she should read in 194 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,640 order. I can actually give it to the 195 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:07,440 life group leaders and you can you can get it. 196 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,960 You know, it's like Genesis and Exodus because those are the 197 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,240 formative viewers. It's really good to know and and 198 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,360 to read through there. There's a stories of, you know, 199 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,760 the Red Sea and Joseph and the plagues and Mount Sinai. 200 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,240 But then, you know, skip Leviticus numbers. 201 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,800 Do you run and go to Joshua and Judges and Ruth? 202 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,160 Because that gives you an overview of the people and the 203 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,760 timeline and the historicity. Rather do that and you get 204 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:31,840 through 20 of the books of the Bible. 205 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,040 And then you can always go fill out the holes because if you hit 206 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,680 Leviticus like you're probably going to do next year with your 207 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:40,080 Bible reading plan, it's like, do not pass, begin, do not 208 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,520 collect 200. Go straight to jail, like, and 209 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,520 then it sits on the shelf there. There's some mysterious book. 210 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:47,880 Maybe you could do Titus with us. 211 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,120 You know, what I've been doing is I've read through Titus every 212 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,560 single morning, slowly underlining things, 213 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:56,360 highlighting, praying. But if you want a place to 214 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,200 start, remember I said we're having coffee. 215 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,120 What I would do is I would open my iPad and I'd tap on EU 216 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,960 version bubble and I would take you through how I start my 217 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:08,840 morning. Is that OK? 218 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,760 I'm going to show you. So Steven's going to pop it up 219 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,760 on the screen. So this is my U version amp. 220 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,720 OK, so it's got a verse there. So basically what it does, and 221 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:20,920 this is what I love about it, is it starts where it just takes 222 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,360 one verse and if you tap next, it then takes you down to that. 223 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:29,760 Cultivate rhythm of reflection and then they have like a 92nd 224 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,600 devotional where she shares or someone shares about that verse. 225 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,400 It's sometimes distracting, but sometimes it's absolute gold. 226 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,720 And then you tap next and on the same verse, it's then got a 227 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,440 little devotional that you can read because if you foreign to 228 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,920 Scripture, this is really helpful in terms of unpacking 229 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:47,960 the character and nature of Gardner's word. 230 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,200 And if you tap into it, it gives you the full length there. 231 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,320 So when I was reading this, the verse, I don't know if you can 232 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,560 see it from your seat in Matthew 416, it says the people who walk 233 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:58,040 in darkness will see a great light. 234 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,120 For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will 235 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,760 shine. And so I read that verse and I 236 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,120 suddenly realized God is speaking to me. 237 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,760 So on my hand, I've always got six names that I'm praying for, 238 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,880 for salvation. And most of them live in a land 239 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,560 of deep darkness. And I read this thing and 240 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,120 suddenly I'm like, God is busy whispering. 241 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,360 A light will shine even in that deep dark. 242 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:21,880 Just keep praying, keep trusting. 243 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,280 And then you click next and it's, it gives you a prayer. 244 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,560 I know for those with Anglican backgrounds or Lutheran 245 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,200 backgrounds, or maybe you've never put, maybe last week you 246 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,440 were one of the 100 plus people who put up your hand for the 247 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,440 first time and you've never prayed. 248 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,880 That was your first pray. It gives you prayers that you 249 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:39,840 can pray. And if you tap next and then it 250 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,640 takes you into the verse again, but then it goes into my 251 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:44,760 favorite part. So you can click next, Steve, 252 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,560 take us up. And so you swap up and then it 253 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:50,160 kind of gets to my devotional time. 254 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,320 You matter to God what a way to start your morning draw near to 255 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,720 him through prayer and then you tap and it takes you into a 256 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,440 verse. You know we're calling to one 257 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,640 another holy holy holy is the Lord Almighty. 258 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,680 The whole earth is full of his glory and it says they bring God 259 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,000 whatever praise comes to mind and you just spend time just 260 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,560 bringing God praise and then you tap next and I love this part. 261 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:14,080 I said praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 262 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,560 the Father of compassion. See the law of fine print at the 263 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,480 top there my concerns and when I read that the Father of 264 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,640 compassion. I just heard news of someone in 265 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,640 three CI who passed away and I just spent some time Father. 266 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,920 They need to know and you're a God of compassion. 267 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,040 They need to know you. They need to your presence to 268 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,920 move into that dark space. Anyway, you get the idea. 269 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,320 Use it, don't use it. Thanks, Steve. 270 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,400 You can take it down, but Paul says you want to live the gospel 271 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,000 in your home. It starts daily, morning by 272 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,560 morning, getting into his word, allowing his word to wash you 273 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:53,800 and lead you and direct you. You know, because Ray Bevins 274 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,440 said, I don't know if you were here when Ray was here. 275 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,000 He's made a fascinating statement. 276 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,520 He says the word of God in your mouth is as powerful as the word 277 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,080 of God in God's mouth. And you get to take that word 278 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,480 into your concerns, into your marriage. 279 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,760 You know what God's word did? It created planets. 280 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:18,040 It gave life, raised the dead, healed the sick and we take that 281 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,960 into our day and it has to start there and we have to constantly 282 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,600 go back there. Otherwise the rest don't unfold. 283 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,960 So that's a simple framework if we are wanting to see the fruit 284 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,520 of what we saw in Acts chapter 2 when it comes to living the 285 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:35,000 gospel in the home. Now, what about amongst us in 286 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,480 the community? In chapter 2 of Titus, he said 287 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,560 the following. I just want you to to notice 288 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,600 some of these loaded words. It starts by saying teach the 289 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,160 older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self 290 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,480 controlled and sound in faith and love and endurance. 291 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,800 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverence in the way they 292 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:55,120 live. Not to be slanderers or addicted 293 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,480 to much wine, but to teach what is good. 294 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:58,720 Now all of a sudden it's changed. 295 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,120 It's gone from you teach the old people. 296 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:01,720 Now the old people are teaching other people. 297 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,120 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and 298 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,080 children, to be self controlled and pure, not to be idle but to 299 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,080 be kind, serving their husbands so that no one hears the word 300 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:15,920 will malign the word of God. Similarly, encourage the young 301 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:17,600 men to be self controlled and everything. 302 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:19,880 Set them an example by doing what is good. 303 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,840 Basically what Paul is saying to Titus is what you need to do in 304 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,920 community is life on life ministry in Acts that talks 305 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,600 about doing this in the home, doing this with meals, doing 306 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,920 this at church around a table daily. 307 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,920 So if you turn to Acts chapter 2, you don't have to. 308 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,120 But if I turn to Acts chapter 2, I've got scrawled in the in the 309 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,680 sideline a whole bunch of things I've learned over the years when 310 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,280 it comes to this living the gospel and community. 311 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,960 And the first word there is pick a pick of salt. 312 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,760 I don't if you remember when Rory preached on a pick of salt. 313 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,880 I mean, that's one of the simplest but most profound ways 314 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,280 you can start the stepping stone of living the gospel and 315 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:01,840 community through a Peck of salt. 316 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,400 If you weren't here, basically what they said in the ancient 317 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,400 Near East, you didn't really know someone until you'd shared 318 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,560 a Peck of salt with them. And they're talking about having 319 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,960 enough meals together that you would go through a Peck of salt, 320 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,280 which is like 9 liters worth of salt. 321 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:18,760 Yeah, obviously you don't have to eat the salt, but you're 322 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,920 using a pinch of salt. I worked it out as one does. 323 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,320 It would be 14,304 meals to get through if you just use a pinch 324 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,360 of salt of every meal, you know, use it, don't use it. 325 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:32,000 But that's what what he's talking about there. 326 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,680 You want to live the gospel. It's daily ongoingly building 327 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,760 relationally. I've also got the keys all right 328 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,240 next to my that portion and axe keys because I was reminded when 329 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:44,840 I read through it and prepping for the Sunday. 330 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,640 I was reminded, and I think it was at Glen Ridge, might have 331 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,880 been here, but a life group leader cut a bunch of front door 332 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:53,920 keys for the Single Ladies in their life group. 333 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,080 And was it Glen Ridge or was it here And that guy's in this 334 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:00,400 church. OK, So what is at Glen Ridge? 335 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,440 But now he's in this church as well. 336 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,520 Cut, cut the front door key, Gordon I and gave it to the 337 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,160 single lady. So if you're ever in trouble, 338 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:13,359 use that key and you come, you, you stay here. 339 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,000 If you need to run, you can stay here. 340 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,599 And, and the crazy thing was my dad was like that. 341 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,000 I can still remember as a young boy, my dad often used to say, 342 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,560 listen, if you're in trouble, you've always got a place to 343 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,680 stay. And there was one rainy Thursday 344 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,280 night, we had a knock on the door, and there was this young 345 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,680 lady with a suitcase. We went Privy to what happened. 346 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,720 I don't know what she was undergoing, but she moved into 347 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:39,080 her house and stayed there for months. 348 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,280 Now there's someone else sharing the bathroom. 349 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:47,160 It was very inconvenient. But you see, living the gospel 350 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,560 takes sacrifice. I can remember my dad rescuing a 351 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:55,000 prostitute, moving her out of Point Rd. in Durban, which is 352 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,280 just a cesspool of sin, into a place looking after financially. 353 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,360 She eventually married one of his friends and I grew up best 354 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:05,160 friends to their children, Keith. 355 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,080 And what Keith there you can do that, I can do this. 356 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,640 Get the gospel lived also right there, longevity. 357 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:16,800 I had a fascinating conversation with a couple. 358 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,600 We were having dinner this week and we were talking all about 359 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:21,880 health stuff and. And something sprung to mind. 360 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,360 I think it's in a diary of ACEO where he quotes a study about 361 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,760 the three organs of your body. If you look after these three 362 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,240 organs, you're guaranteed a longer life. 363 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:32,560 And I said to them, do you know what those 3 organs are? 364 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,280 If I had to ask you what what would you guess? 365 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:36,760 You'd guess your heart, right? That's number one. 366 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,920 Yeah. No, not skin, it's lungs. 367 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,360 It's the second one. The third one, you'll never 368 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,760 guess. You'll fuss. 369 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,720 Random, right? So that's why you've got to your 370 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:54,200 thighs and here's why, because your thighs carry you. 371 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,320 So the study showed the reason why you have longevity in your 372 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,160 thighs is because you're able to engage in community, you're able 373 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,000 to be loved on and to love others. 374 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:08,480 And so we had a fascinating, well, not fascinating like 375 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,040 traumatizing moment in our life Group A few weeks ago. 376 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,240 A new couple join. And here this morning, Hendrick 377 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:15,920 and Felicia, they walked into the front door. 378 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,440 They came, it's not my life group. 379 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,840 I'll go to someone else's life group and that walks in the 380 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,000 front door and introduced themselves and joined our life 381 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,440 group there one week and something happened with 382 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,480 Hendrick's heart and he was rushed to hospital. 383 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,880 Long story short, eventually they found that he had a blood 384 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:37,280 clot in one of the chambers of his heart, like a ticking time 385 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,760 bomb. But because we knew them, 386 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,120 because their thighs had carried them through that front door, we 387 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,640 looked after them. We prayed for them, we visited 388 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,880 them, we made meals for them, we deposited money into their 389 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,920 accounts. Don't tell them this, but their 390 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,400 groceries are going to be looked after till the end of January 391 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,400 because their thighs brought them through the front door just 392 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,240 days before he ended up in hospital. 393 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,480 And you know, the days after he got out of hospital, I don't 394 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,080 know that side of the story, but I think he was discharged on 395 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,120 Saturday. And on Sunday I walk in here and 396 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,800 he's wearing a yellow lanyard, serving with the life group 397 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,240 because those thaws are going to keep him connected to community. 398 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,480 I've also written there generosity. 399 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,800 Heard a fascinating story this week where there was a church in 400 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,320 one of the provinces in India, very, very poor part of India. 401 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,960 And they were very concerned with their community. 402 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,000 And so someone in the in the church decided what every time 403 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,840 she cooks, she's just going to take one handful of rice and put 404 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:42,800 it in a jar. And when the jar's full, you're 405 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,120 going to take that jar to the church and say, listen, do this 406 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:47,400 as you please if you want to sell it or if you want to feed 407 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:48,680 the poor, whatever the case might be. 408 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,440 And this caught on. So there were these handfuls of 409 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,160 rice and they were some people would bring one piece of wood 410 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,640 when they made a fire. Others like a few teaspoons of 411 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:58,560 spices. It is India, you know and all. 412 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:00,600 So there's lots of spices being around. 413 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,120 Hey, happy birthday, Dennis. Yeah. 414 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:15,200 But here's the crazy thing. Through just that 1800, church 415 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,920 leaders were salaried. They constructed schools, 416 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,000 hospitals, raising and releasing of ministers and missionaries. 417 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,680 They built a woman's center to teach, work schools. 418 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,400 But most importantly, the province has gone from 1% 419 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:35,040 Christian to 95% Christian simply through living the 420 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,560 gospel, through generosity. I also got there overwhelmed. 421 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,800 Apparently the Gen. Z, Gen. 422 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,160 Z, the word for them is the anxious generation. 423 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:50,480 And they are defined by one word overwhelmed. 424 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,200 They're overwhelmed by regrets, shame, guilt, sadness, the 425 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,560 condition of the world. Now, I know us older folk, we 426 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:01,760 were like, yeah, well, that's what happens when you get a 427 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,720 ribbon for pitching up. You know, the real world is a 428 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:10,080 little bit overwhelming, right? I know what That's what Rory's 429 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:16,240 thinking, you know? But we're called to live the 430 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:22,720 gospel and we're called to stand in the gap, even for these young 431 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,880 UNS who are overwhelmed. List Ezekiel 22. 432 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,520 You've spoken about 3 CRI searched to find someone who'd 433 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,200 stand in the Gap, but I found no one. 434 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,880 Stand in the gap. I want to show you a picture of 435 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,480 the Gap in Sydney, Australia. I don't know if you've heard of 436 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,440 the Gap. It's a beautiful photo. 437 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,480 You can pop it up. I want to show you what it means 438 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,960 to live the gospel. Stunning view, right? 439 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,760 Sydney in the back there and that rock on the right hand side 440 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,360 is called The Gap. This is incredibly high Cliff. 441 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,160 Now, as beautiful as that is, it's a very dark place in 442 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,880 Australia because while many people go there to see the view 443 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,960 and it must be amazing to see the storms rolling and you know, 444 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,400 the rain on the horizon, what a lot of people do there is they 445 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,120 go there to step off the edge because they've run out of hope. 446 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:16,240 And apparently it was something like 50 or 60 people a year 447 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,840 until a guy by the name of Don Ritchie moved here. 448 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,560 Don's kitchen. Apparently the the window has a 449 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,560 view of the gap. And one night he'd heard about 450 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,840 the stories. One night he saw a silhouette 451 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,360 walking along the edge of the gap. 452 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,760 And so he put his stuff down. He was washing dishes, went 453 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,840 outside, and he started something that he did time and 454 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,800 time and time again. It's called salt. 455 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:48,560 S started the conversation. A asked questions, L listened 456 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:55,360 and T told his story and you know he saved 200 lives and 457 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:58,600 every one of them simply said. Just felt like the first time I 458 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,160 was seen. I was overwhelmed. 459 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,440 I'd run out of hope, but here came a man to live the gospel 460 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,640 right in front of me. Just started a conversation. 461 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,080 And that little bit of salt ended up most cases, a Peck of 462 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,040 salt, having dinner together. It's like, OK, let's eat again. 463 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,480 Invited them into their home. And so many of them are now 464 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,720 close, close friends because of their moments. 465 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,440 And we're called to do that. We're called to do that in our 466 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,520 homes over meals on the edge of a gap. 467 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,320 But those who are overwhelmed, those are taking strain. 468 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,680 Those are in hospital. Those are just need to be seen 469 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:42,920 and so Paul says do that live the gospel because just like 470 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,960 Paul, I want to see the gospel lived in my life and in yours. 471 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,760 So that's home and community. But what about what about work? 472 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:57,600 They didn't start the timer. So here we go. 473 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,400 It says this in Titus two verse 90. 474 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,000 This one is flattened me. Teach servants to be subject to 475 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,800 their masters and everything. Depending on your Bible 476 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,640 translation, some of them say teach slaves to be subject to 477 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,400 their masters and everything. So all depends on who your boss 478 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,080 is. You can put in a slave there. 479 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,080 Teach servants to be subject to their masters and everything. 480 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,040 To try to please them, not to talk back to them and not to 481 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,920 steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted 482 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,480 so that in every way take a look at this, they will make the 483 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,960 teaching about God our Savior attractive. 484 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:34,920 What is the teaching about God our Savior? 485 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,640 It's the gospel. So you can change that too so 486 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,960 that they will make the teaching of the gospel attractive. 487 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,880 So Paul is saying, OK, there's a framework that you need in your 488 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,560 home. You need to constantly be filled 489 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,840 with the fullness of God and then allow that to leak in your 490 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,400 daily life among friends and families and life group and 491 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,600 leading at at Super City soon to be capital kids and then he 492 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:02,680 said, but now when you move into the workplace, you've got to do 493 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,080 exactly the same. It's the same gospel. 494 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:08,600 It's the same son or daughter of God and it's the same 495 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,200 expectation for it to be lived. Now one thing that I left our 496 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,520 last week when we looked at Titus 116. 497 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,400 Remember what I said. They claim to know God, but 498 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,480 through their actions they deny him. 499 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,040 That word that we translate as action in the Greek is actually 500 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,120 a business word, comes from the work environment, which means 501 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:31,600 it's not a stretch to say the following. 502 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,360 They claim to know God. But when I see them at work, 503 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,800 when I see what their business produces, when I see their 504 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,720 customer service, when I see how long it takes for them to get 505 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:52,040 back to the customer via e-mail, those actions actually deny God. 506 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,560 So here's the thing. On one side, you're making the 507 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,760 gospel attractive and on the other side your actions are 508 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,000 denying God. Your behaviour in the workplace 509 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,320 is denying God. Which begs the question, which 510 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,320 are you? What if that was your Plumb 511 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,200 line? The every e-mail sent, every 512 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:16,520 WhatsApp returned, every phone call, every board meeting, every 513 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,840 employee you hire, every employee you fire? 514 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,840 Is this making the gospel attractive? 515 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,960 Can I get an A? Nah, I remember God stopping me 516 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,080 in my checks once because I'm I'm rather opinionated and I'm 517 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,680 quick with words and I can't even remember what the situation 518 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:34,840 was. Something like that. 519 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,640 You know, their servants wasn't up to my standards and I was 520 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,040 letting them know. And while this mouth is busy 521 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:46,640 going to this poor unsuspecting person, God whispers to me and 522 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,640 says, if you were to stop now and invite them to church, do 523 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:59,240 you think they'd go thanks to nothing because I'd crossed the 524 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,480 line, the gospel would no longer be attractive in that moment 525 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,800 because of my behavior, because I wasn't living the gospel. 526 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,960 What if that was our Plumb line? Paul actually describes himself. 527 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,200 So he's talking here to Titus saying this is how servants need 528 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,240 to behave. And he describes himself as a 529 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,200 servant in One Corinthians chapter 4. 530 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,840 And it's a word in the Greek is hoopoe, iresso. 531 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,840 Hoopo means under and iresso means rower. 532 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:27,040 I think he made this word up an under rower and we we translated 533 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:28,960 the servants. What he's talking about is those 534 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:33,000 servants or those slaves on the bottom of the ship rowing 535 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,520 against the waves, unseen, unappreciated, no applause, no 536 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,520 recognition. But what they're doing is 537 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,040 they're rowing at the masters command and that is what he 538 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,440 calls you, an attu. This one thing is lovely to come 539 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,640 to church and sing all those exclamation Marks and declare 540 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,160 vociferously how good God is and glorious he is. 541 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,240 It's another thing we're not actions deny him. 542 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:03,520 And so Paul says if you want this fruit of the New Testament 543 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,920 church and the New Testament community, then you also need a 544 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,400 New Testament workforce. And that's you and I. 545 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:17,000 Tomorrow morning when you walk through that door, he's saying 546 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,720 would you make the gospel attractive? 547 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:21,920 So I said I'd make it super practical. 548 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:22,920 So this is how I'm going to make it. 549 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,840 This one practical. I think most of us go to bed too 550 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,480 late. Just one practical application. 551 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,840 You know, you look at studies and they say that's the last two 552 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:39,040 or three hours of our days is normally squandered and it's 553 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,440 normally saturating us in worldliness. 554 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,720 Those last 2-3 hours, you know, whether it's on social media, 555 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,400 comparing yourself and just forming deep depression in you, 556 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,120 or you're shopping. Yeah, because Timo just loves 557 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,120 you and they're just sending you all these specials. 558 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,360 You can't believe you can do that with a cucumber. 559 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:05,000 I need it. Or you binge watching Netflix. 560 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,760 You know, you've watched it all. Now you're starting again. 561 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,160 And none of it has any eternal value. 562 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,920 And none of it does anything good for the soul. 563 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,400 So what if you were to go to bed just a little earlier and wake 564 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:24,640 up a little earlier and start over here, dipping your soul in 565 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,400 the presence of God and being filled to the fullness of the 566 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,160 measure of God. So that when you walk through 567 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,720 that turnstile, when you put your thumb on the door to open 568 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,840 it up, or you tag yourself into varsity, you go in dripping with 569 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,560 the presence of God. You want to know what it looks 570 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,280 like to have a competitive advantage in the workplace 571 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,760 through a Kingdom lens. You arrive at work dripping with 572 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:55,760 wisdom and knowledge and joy and patience and discernment and 573 00:30:55,760 --> 00:31:00,320 favour from another realm. Or you walk in there, confidence 574 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,800 in who you are in God, and an ear to the whispers of the Holy 575 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,960 Spirit to look out to see what it is God is doing to. 576 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,160 As Psalm 5 says, to get direction through enemy lines 577 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:18,880 simply puts you go in and row. Because when it comes to living 578 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,160 the gospel in the workplace, you only have two options. 579 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,080 Either on one side you're washing your hands like Pilot. 580 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:31,880 On the other side, you're washing feet like Jesus and like 581 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,760 Eugene Peterson and like Paul and like Titus. 582 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,920 I want to call you to live the gospel. 583 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,800 I want to get the gospel lived. Maybe you're starting here. 584 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,680 Maybe tomorrow morning you need to open you version Bible app or 585 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:50,720 a real Bible and start in Titus. Or maybe you got this thing 586 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,560 waxed, but it doesn't translate into this community. 587 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,960 Maybe you should just get into life grip or maybe you should 588 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,400 come forward afterwards and chat to Tyler Page and to Mitch. 589 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:02,160 So you know what? I want to serve there. 590 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,080 I want my life to matter to the next generation. 591 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,960 But most of us who do the first two fail to do the third. 592 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,080 We fail to recognize the impact that we can have when it comes 593 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,560 to this city, our department, our employees or our managers. 594 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,320 We had the privilege of making the gospel attractive. 595 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:27,360 And I want to call you to that. I want to call you to live the 596 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,680 gospel. And this is how I'm going to end 597 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,240 because this is, I think what was on Paul's heart. 598 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,520 It's Titus one. Verse 5 says the reason I left 599 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,600 you in Crete was that you might put an order, what was left 600 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,320 unfinished. Now, he's talking about elders 601 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,680 in that context, but I think there was a lot of unfinished 602 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,400 business that he was also hoping Titus would address. 603 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,320 And that, for us is one of them getting the gospel lift. 604 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,360 Let's go and do that. Thanks.