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Morning Church, the Lord desires
for you to hear His word at this

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time, so let's hear the word of 
the Lord from the book of Titus 

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1st 9 verses. 
Paul, a servant of God and an 

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apostle of Jesus Christ, for the
sake of the faith of God's elect

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and their knowledge of the truth
which accords with godliness in 

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hope of eternal life, which God 
who never lies, promised before 

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the ages began. 
And that the proper time 

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manifested in His Word through 
the preaching with which I have 

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been entrusted by the command of
God our Savior to Titus, my true

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child in the common faith, grace
and peace from God our Father 

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and Christ Jesus our Savior. 
This is why I left you in Crete,

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so that you might put what 
remained into order and appoint 

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elders in every town as I 
directed you. 

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If anyone is above reproach, the
husband of one wife, his 

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children are believers and not 
open to the charge of debauchery

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or insubordination. 
For an overseer, as God steward 

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must be above reproach. 
He must not be arrogant or quick

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tempered, or a drunkard, or 
violent or greedy for gain, but 

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hospitable. 
A lover of good, self 

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controlled, upright, holy and 
disciplined. 

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He must hold firm to the 
trustworthy word as taught so 

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that he may be able to give 
instruction and sound doctrine 

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and also to rebuke those who 
contradict it. 

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And this is the word of the 
Lord. 

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Let's be to God. 
Let's pray together. 

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Lord Jesus, we do ask for your 
blessing here upon this word 

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once again, so that we would 
understand this word, so that we

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would be changed by it, and 
ultimately that we would serve 

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you faithfully and honor you 
fully through all that we do. 

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We pray through Christ our Lord.
We ask, Amen. 

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Please be seated. 
If you grab your Bibles. 

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If you don't have a Bible, we 
are happy to get you one. 

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If you want to borrow a Bible, 
we can grab you one in the back.

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If you have your Bibles with 
you, please open it up to Titus.

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Titus will be a bit of a 
challenge to find. 

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You'll be able to look for it. 
I'm sure you'll be able to find 

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it if you go all the way. 
It's only a couple pages long. 

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If you go all the way to the 
back, if you hit the book of 

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Hebrews and go forward just a 
little bit, you'll find Titus. 

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Titus chapter 1 verses one 
through 9. 

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To have that in front of you, 
there's football, there's 

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hockey, and then there's soccer.
There's football, there's hockey

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and then there's soccer. 
I grew up with football. 

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I grew up playing it, I grew up 
watching it. 

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I enjoyed football to pieces. 
I as a major experience in my 

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life to enjoy the game of 
football. 

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There's an easy identification 
for me. 

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Every time I see football being 
played, I associate myself. 

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I track with that liking 
football is easy to do. 

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I had to learn to like hockey. 
I had to learn to like hockey. 

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I only went to my first game 
when I was in my 20s and all I 

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saw were 10 people chasing 
around a puck. 

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I didn't understand it. 
It didn't make any sense to me. 

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I was bored. 
I was at a game and yet 

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everybody all was excited 
because I didn't know what was 

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going on. 
I was basically bored. 

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I was just sitting there. 
It was just a hockey game. 

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But over time I came to learn. 
I understand what the blue lines

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were, what the red lines were, 
what the positions of the 

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players were, what they were 
trying to accomplish. 

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I learned about the game and as 
I learned about the game, I came

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to love the game and really 
enjoyed every bit of hockey as 

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much as I enjoy football. 
Then there's soccer. 

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I still don't like that. 
Sorry Jeff. 

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You know, 10 people chasing 
around the ball, whatever, 

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that's that's soccer. 
I hope for us today to have a 

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hockey like experience. 
I want us to have a hockey like 

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experience. 
I want to take something that my

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guess is all of you or most of 
you are going to find to be very

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boring and hopefully engage it 
in such a way that at the end of

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the time you have appreciated a 
little bit more than what you 

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did beforehand. 
So I want you to have a hockey 

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like experience here where 
although it might be boring out 

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of the gate, hopefully by the 
end of the time you'll see a 

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little bit more about why it is 
that this is an important issue 

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for us. 
And then you will have an 

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appreciation for it, a growing 
appreciation like I have a 

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growing appreciation for hockey.
So if you have your scriptures 

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open before you, this is Titus 
chapter one. 

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This is Paul speaking to a young
devotee, a young friend of his, 

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a mentor, and he writes in verse
one Paul, a servant of God, an 

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apostle of Jesus Christ for the 
sake of the faith of God's elect

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and their knowledge and truth 
which accords with godliness in 

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the hope of eternal life. 
So what Paul does here is he 

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introduces himself. 
That's the way you would 

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standardly write a letter at 
that period of time. 

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And just like for us today, when
you get a letter starts out 

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dear, dear Joe, my guess is that
most of you pay very little 

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attention to the deer part. 
You know, you're not. 

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You don't really think, oh, 
look, wow, this person thinks 

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I'm dear to them. 
You know, most of us don't do 

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that. 
Deer is simply just the way in 

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which you introduce a letter. 
And it would be easy to assume 

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that that's what's happening 
here in this passage as well. 

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Paul, a servant of God and the 
impostle of Jesus Christ who 

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did. 
Yeah. 

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Yeah. 
OK, Paul, get get through the 

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deer part, the welcome part, and
get to the meat of the what you 

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want to tell us. 
But what he wants to tell us 

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here is his ultimate goal right 
off the bat. 

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This is Paul's ultimate goal for
writing this letter. 

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It's his ultimate goal for being
a servant of God, an apostle of 

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Jesus Christ. 
Paul says, look, this is who I 

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am, a servant of God, an apostle
of Jesus Christ. 

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This is why I am writing you. 
I am writing you this letter. 

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Why? 
For the sake of the faith of 

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God's elect. 
He is writing this letter 

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specifically for our faith. 
Now, what does that mean? 

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Our faith for the increase, the 
maturation, the development of 

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our faith. 
Now, when we're talking about 

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our faith here, we're not 
talking about a list of 

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regulations or roles or 
anything. 

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What we're talking about very 
clearly is the reliance and 

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trust. 
This is how Paul uses this term,

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and it certainly is appropriate 
here. 

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It's our dependence upon the 
Lord. 

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Paul is writing this letter. 
His main motive, his ultimate 

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goal for writing and the same 
ultimate goal for him being on a

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servant of God and an apostle of
Jesus Christ, is so that our 

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faith, so that your faith might 
mature and develop, so that you 

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will what? 
What does a mature faith look 

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like? 
So that you will rely more and 

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more completely upon Jesus 
Christ, that you will trust in 

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Him more fully that you are 
experiencing life, That when you

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run into the rainy days, when 
you run into the difficulties of

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life, that your immediate 
association is to trust and to 

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rely upon God. 
That's what the faith is in an 

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increase of faith. 
Now I spend all my days talking 

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with people about their faith. 
It's a great blessing of my job.

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I get to talk about people's 
faith all the time. 

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I have never and I mean never 
run across somebody that says, 

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you know what, I'm happy with 
the level of faith that I have 

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right now. 
I don't need to mature in my 

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faith. 
I don't need to grow in my 

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faith. 
I'm happy with with how much I 

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trust and rely upon God. 
I've never run into that. 

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Everybody I talk to, no matter 
how old they are in the Lord or 

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how young they are in the Lord, 
everybody says, boy, I wish I 

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trusted the Lord more. 
Boy, I wish I had a growing 

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faith, a deepening faith, a more
developed faith. 

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Here is Paul saying, the reason 
why I'm writing this letter is 

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so that you can have a deeper 
faith. 

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But that's not all. 
Secondly, that their knowledge 

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of the truth, an increase in our
knowledge of truth. 

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Now most of us know that there's
a huge distinction between what 

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we know and what and the 
strength of our faith. 

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There's knowing a whole lot 
about the faith, knowing a whole

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lot about church, knowing a 
whole lot about God is not the 

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same thing as knowing God. 
It's not the same thing as 

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trusting and relying upon him, 
but consistently through the 

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Scriptures, although we make 
that distinction and we say, 

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look, you can be as ignorant 
about the truth faith as you 

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need to be, but have faith, 
trust in the Lord and that's 

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what will save you. 
That that is the way the Lord 

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will work in your life to bring 
his grace and mercy into your 

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life. 
All that's true, but you can't 

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deny that in the Scriptures 
there's this constant push from 

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the Scriptures to know our God, 
come to know him more, come to 

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understand him greater. 
This is it's a great passion of 

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the faith, not so that our faith
increases, but so our faith 

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increasing will drive us to 
understand and know and seek to 

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know the Lord more. 
There's this passion to know him

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in truth. 
And So what Paul is saying here 

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is, look, I'm a servant of the 
Lord. 

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I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. 
I'm writing this letter so that 

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your faith may increase, but not
just your faith, but also so 

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that your knowledge will 
increase. 

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Once again, I spend a lot of 
time talking with people about 

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their faith and about what they 
know about God and I almost have

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never run across somebody that 
says I know everything I need to

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know about God. 
Everybody I know says something 

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along the lines of boy, I want 
to know him more. 

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I want to understand the 
scriptures more. 

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I want to deep dive into who the
Lord is. 

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What Paul is saying here is I'm 
writing this letter specifically

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so that your faith will 
increase, so that your knowledge

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may abound, and then also it is 
a knowledge of truth that 

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accords with godliness. 
One of the great fears that we 

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have and that we should have is 
that charge of hypocrisy that 

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oh, why do we that, that we know
everything is true, we know all 

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things about truth and stuff 
like that. 

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But it doesn't show itself in 
our lives that we continue to 

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live lives of an ungodly 
character of moral, moral 

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depravity, etcetera, etcetera. 
And what Paul is saying here is,

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hey, I'm writing this letter so 
that your faith will increase, 

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so that your knowledge will 
increase and so that your 

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godliness will increase. 
And then finally, he says, and 

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in the hope of eternal life once
again, I have never run into 

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anybody that doesn't want to, 
doesn't yearn to understand more

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what it means that we are 
citizens of the world to come, 

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that we are prepared for an 
eternal life, that what we do 

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today sets us up for what God 
intends for us into all 

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eternity. 
I've never met anybody that 

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takes that takes that desire 
seriously, that doesn't yearn 

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for a greater understanding of 
it. 

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What Paul writes here in this 
passage is his ultimate goal. 

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His ultimate goal in writing is 
and is being an apostle and a 

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servant is so that you may have 
a greater understanding of 

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faith, a greater understanding 
of your knowledge of the Lord, a

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greater passion for godliness 
and a greater understanding of 

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what the Lord has in head for us
into the future. 

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What a great goal, what an 
awesome goal that Lord has 

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prepared for us. 
And so then down in verse 5, we 

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get the immediate purpose. 
This is Paul's immediate goal. 

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OK, if that's a big goal, that's
the main, main point. 

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You know, score goals in hockey.
That's the main point. 

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OK, how do we go about that? 
What's the immediate purpose? 

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The immediate purpose is this 
verse 5, Paul writes, This is 

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why I left you in Crete. 
Paul is on his fourth missionary

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journey. 
He is taking a trip around the 

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Mediterranean basin, sharing the
gospel, planting churches as he 

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is want to do. 
And he goes through Crete and 

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Crete is an island in the 
Mediterranean and he sets up a 

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bunch of churches there. 
And he has along with him as 

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protege Titus. 
And he says to Titus, hey, I 

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want you to remain in Crete 
while I continue on in my 

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missionary journey. 
And here's why he wants you to 

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remain in Crete so that you 
might put what remained into 

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order and appoint elders in 
every town. 

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OK, Now this should be 
incongruent there. 

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There should be a mental 
collapse here in part of in your

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life. 
What Paul is saying is he sets 

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up this beautiful picture. 
What I have intended for you is 

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so that your faith will 
increase, so that your knowledge

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will increase, so that your 
godliness will increase. 

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He writes this wonderful picture
and he says, and here's how I 

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want you to do it. 
I want you to point elders in 

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every town. 
Wait a second, please. 

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If the goal is to have our faith
increased, our godliness 

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increased, preach us a sermon, 
write a biblical commentary for 

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us, model for us a godliness and
a righteousness, demonstrate for

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us all the things in which we 
need. 

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Now, all of those things are 
important, and Paul will get 

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around to a lot of those things,
but his immediate goal for 

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Titus, he says, Titus, I want 
you to do these things so you so

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that people's faith will 
increase, so that their 

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00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,160
knowledge will increase, so 
their godliness will increase, 

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so their understanding of 
eternal life will increase. 

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And here's what I want you to 
do. 

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I want you to appoint elders in 
every town. 

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But I got to tell you, there is 
no quicker way to put everybody 

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asleep than to talk about the 
structure of a church. 

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We have committees, we have 
boards of elders, we have 

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structures, and we have a book 
of order in which we follow, and

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we've got a constitution in 
which we do things. 

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And here's the way in which we 
accomplish things. 

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And everybody's dead asleep 
because you're terribly bored 

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00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,040
about something that happens. 
OK, it happens. 

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00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,480
It's like hockey. 
You see a bunch of people 

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00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,720
skating around out there. 
OK, that's great. 

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But there's more to it than 
that. 

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We have been talking through our
self identification as a church.

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How do we see ourselves? 
And this is not navel gazing. 

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This is not look at who we are. 
This is rather a striving. 

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This is who we strive to be. 
And we use that little catch 

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phrase that we've been looking 
at over the past couple weeks. 

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00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,680
Hebron is a biblically based, 
Christ centered community of 

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disciples, A reformed 
classically evangelical church 

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in the Presbyterian tradition, 
worshipping, growing and serving

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00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,160
Christ in the eastern suburbs of
Pittsburgh. 

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Ebren is biblically, but we 
looked at biblically based, 

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Christ centered, what it means 
that we're reformed, what it 

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means that we're classically 
evangelical. 

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We call ourselves that way. 
Today we're looking at the idea 

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that we are Presbyterian. 
Now what does it mean that we 

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are in a church that is in the 
Presbyterian tradition? 

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00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,560
This talks overwhelmingly of our
polity. 

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That's what Presbyterian is. 
Presbyterian is a description of

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00:13:57,680 --> 00:13:59,800
our polity. 
That is the way in which we 

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00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:02,880
govern ourselves. 
How is it that we make 

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00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,120
decisions? 
How is it that power is 

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00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,880
exercised here in the church? 
How? 

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00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,600
How is it that we decide 
different things in the ways in 

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00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,880
which we are going? 
We follow what is called a 

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00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,600
Presbyterian tradition. 
That's our polity. 

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00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,960
There were the way in which we 
structure and function 

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00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,240
ourselves. 
OK. 

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00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,520
There's probably 3 main ways in 
which the church through history

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00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,720
has structured themselves trying
to follow after the guidance of 

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00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,360
our Lord. 
The 1st is called an Episcopal 

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00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,520
model and it's a top down 
approach. 

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00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,960
Imagine somebody's at the top 
making all the decisions and 

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00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,200
everybody else is following 
along afterwards or exercising 

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00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,800
those decisions. 
There are some of you that think

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00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:42,280
that that's what we operate 
under. 

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00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,000
And so you come to me and you 
say, Henry, you have to do this,

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00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,600
You have to do that because I'm 
at the top of the pyramid. 

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00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,560
And of course it appears like 
that because you see me every 

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00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,040
Sunday and those kind of things.
So it appears like I'm at the 

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00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,120
top of the pyramid and everybody
does what I say. 

291
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,160
That doesn't work. 
OK, That doesn't happen. 

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00:14:58,400 --> 00:14:59,840
All right. 
And so then you have the other 

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00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:01,360
model. 
The other model is just the 

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00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,640
exact opposite. 
And that's a congregational 

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00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,280
model. 
And the congregational model is 

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00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,600
everybody has equal say in 
everything that we all vote on 

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00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,400
everything. 
It's purely straightly, 

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00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,760
completely democratic in all our
decisions that we make, 

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00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,200
democracy, etcetera, flourishing
greatly in the church. 

300
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,080
And there's some of you that 
think that's the way that it is.

301
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,240
You know, my opinion is as 
important as yours. 

302
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,520
And Henry, you got to do my 
opinion on stuff, OK? 

303
00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:25,960
That's not the way it works 
either. 

304
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,240
We are a representative of 
democracy. 

305
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:33,120
The way the Presbyterianism 
functions is that we elect 

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00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,160
leaders who will then make 
decisions on our behalf. 

307
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,920
Now, if that sounds familiar, it
should, because the US 

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00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,600
government and most state 
governments are all set up on 

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00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,240
that exact model. 
Presbyterianism had taken a 

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00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,800
great hold of the early colonies
when we first got started as a 

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00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,400
nation, and that influenced and 
structured most of the way in 

312
00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,160
which the US government is set 
up through a representative 

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00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:56,000
democracy. 
Democracy. 

314
00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:01,280
So the leaders that we elect are
called elders, and elders are 

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00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,520
the Greek word here. 
That's in verse 5. 

316
00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,080
It comes from presbuterus, which
was where we get Presbyterian. 

317
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,560
Presbuterus is a Greek word for 
elder. 

318
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,120
So we elect elders that help 
guide and direct us. 

319
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:15,480
All right. 
That's the way in which we 

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00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,640
function as a church. 
Now, I see that some of you are 

321
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,200
still paying attention, which is
really amazing because if you 

322
00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,480
get this far into a sermon 
that's about church government, 

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00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,800
you expect people to nod off. 
Here's that Kairos moment, that 

324
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,400
change of the guard where you go
from not understanding hockey 

325
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,360
and being bored to death about 
hockey, to suddenly going, oh, 

326
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,800
wait a minute, there's something
about hockey that is engaging 

327
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,840
and is worthwhile and is 
exciting. 

328
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,160
And that is exactly the case 
when you begin to look at the 

329
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,320
theological underpinnings of 
Presbyterianism. 

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00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,560
Why do we do things the way that
we do? 

331
00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,440
It's not simply because it's a 
good operating functional 

332
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,640
structure. 
Why is it that we have elders? 

333
00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,560
Why is it that we operate the 
way that which you do? 

334
00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,920
And it is a theological 
underpinnings that undergird the

335
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:05,839
reason why we function like we 
do. 

336
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,200
So the theological concerns of 
Presbyterianism are twofold. 

337
00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:12,560
There are many more, but 
twofold. 

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00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:16,079
The first is, if you remember 
back a couple weeks, if you were

339
00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,640
here a couple weeks ago, we 
looked at what Reformed theology

340
00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,240
is and we talked about a robust 
view of the sovereignty of God. 

341
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,599
That robust view of the 
sovereignty of God is what 

342
00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:30,120
drives and concerns the nature 
of the Presbyterian order of 

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00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:32,560
government. 
Why is it that we function 

344
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:34,920
through elders here? 
Why do we direct ourselves? 

345
00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,320
Why do we make decisions based 
on government, based on elders? 

346
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,360
Because we're trying to capture.
Not that Henry is sovereign, not

347
00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,080
that I make decisions, Not that 
you come to my church. 

348
00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,760
OK. 
I visited a church. 

349
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,680
I visited a church a couple of 
weeks ago, Sorry number of times

350
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,840
over the past years and when you
walk in the door, I'm not going 

351
00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:58,960
to tell you where it is, but 
when you walk in the door, the 

352
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,720
first thing you were confronted 
with is a 5 foot painting of the

353
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,520
pastor and he's looking there 
very, you know, which is reason 

354
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,720
why we don't have one of those. 
I don't know why that is. 

355
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:15,000
OK, we don't have one. 
Heaven forbid. 

356
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,240
Now, I know that we use it in 
shorthand, and it's hard not to 

357
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:20,920
do this kind of shorthand. 
You know what? 

358
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,120
What church do you go to? 
Oh, I go to Henry Knapp's 

359
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:25,080
church. 
Oh, and my skin crawls. 

360
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,240
OK, I understand that that's 
shorthand, but that's not the 

361
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,400
church you go to. 
You go to the Church of Jesus 

362
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,600
Christ and somehow we have to 
demonstrate that. 

363
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,120
And what better way to 
demonstrate that than in our 

364
00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:39,840
leadership, than in the way in 
which we make decisions that 

365
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,200
it's not the Church of Henry 
Knapp, it's not the Church of 

366
00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,840
any particular elder or anything
like that. 

367
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,520
We don't have the painting of 
some past. 

368
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,000
What we are identifying here is 
that this church belongs to 

369
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,320
Jesus Christ. 
And how do we emphasize that we 

370
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,520
make decisions with a pool of 
elders, a body of elders. 

371
00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,880
Now, the imagery there, the 
point of that is that we hold 

372
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,560
passionately to something that 
Jerry brought up in his prayer 

373
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,000
early on. 
We individually, every Christian

374
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,880
believer is filled with the 
Spirit of God. 

375
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,080
We are filled with God's Spirit 
and we want to make decisions 

376
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,640
based upon not my thinking, not 
what I think is right, not what 

377
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,080
the elders think is right, but 
what God thinks is right. 

378
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,160
How do we discern what God 
thinks is right? 

379
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,600
Of course, everybody, all of us 
are always trying to figure out 

380
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,080
what God's will for our lives 
how to do. 

381
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,880
So we gather together the Spirit
of God in a group and we say, 

382
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,400
where is the Lord leading us in 
this? 

383
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,720
Now, Of course, the only way to 
do that is for each of us, the 

384
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,160
elders, for all of the 
leadership to sit there and say,

385
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,400
well, I think this and I think 
that and those kind of things. 

386
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:48,120
But the hope and prayer is that 
if you get a 10 or so, 15 godly 

387
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,360
men and women together in a room
and say, where is the Lord 

388
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:55,640
leading us, that we can discern 
the Lord's leading and 

389
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,760
direction. 
That is not my church, it's the 

390
00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,280
Lord's church. 
And we do that through a 

391
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,240
gathering of believers in this 
regard. 

392
00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:06,120
That's the first theological 
concern. 

393
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,920
The second one, though, is just 
as important, if not more so, 

394
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,680
and that is our theological 
emphasis upon the depravity of 

395
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,880
sin. 
A robust understanding of how 

396
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:23,880
broken we are, my friends. 
OK, let's let's be clear here. 

397
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,480
God has given me some gifts. 
I'm not the biggest clown out 

398
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,240
there in the world, and if I 
were to run an organization, I 

399
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,360
could handle certain things. 
And God has given me some gifts.

400
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,200
And I know all this stuff, but 
the last thing you want to do is

401
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,520
be involved in an organization, 
a church, where I am the sole 

402
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,040
person making decisions because 
there's no break. 

403
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,280
There's no protection from my 
own depravity, from my own 

404
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,200
sinfulness, from my own 
brokenness. 

405
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,920
Now, look, if I know something's
wrong about me, if I know that 

406
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,040
there's a moral flossom where I 
try to do what all of us try to 

407
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,920
do, we all try to tamp it down. 
We try to fix it, we confess it,

408
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,920
we But the problem of sin is 
that so much of it is 

409
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,200
unrecognized. 
It blinds us to our own 

410
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,760
sinfulness. 
And so in making decisions for 

411
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,640
Heaven Church, well, this is 
what Heaven Church should do. 

412
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,680
If I'm the only one making the 
decision, there's no guarantee. 

413
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,960
There's no way that my 
sinfulness doesn't leak out into

414
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,400
everything that we do into under
the decisions that I make. 

415
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,240
And it's not because I'm a 
terrible human being. 

416
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:26,800
I'm not I'm OK. 
We don't need to talk about I'm 

417
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,720
a terrible human being or not, 
but you get the point. 

418
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,280
The point is that I am a broken,
flawed leader like everyone is a

419
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,840
broke, broken and flawed leader.
And so we exercise a 

420
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,880
Presbyterian form of government 
simply so there's no cult of 

421
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,680
Henry that's floating around 
there. 

422
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,760
There's no, there's no 
organization that reflects all 

423
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,640
of my brokenness and all of my 
sin or all the brokenness and 

424
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,400
sin of any individual. 
Once again, you gathered 

425
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,600
together 15 godly men and women 
and we try to sit there and say,

426
00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:57,800
how is it? 
Are we going to discern God's 

427
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,320
will and how do we act in these 
particular ways? 

428
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,320
The the hope is that what's 
happening is when you have the 

429
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,560
presence of the Holy Spirit in 
the group like that, and we have

430
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,440
each person aware of our 
brokenness and our sinfulness, 

431
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,520
that as we are talking, there's 
a humility. 

432
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,680
There's a humility that has to 
express itself in everything 

433
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,200
that we do. 
And the Presbyterian Church is 

434
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:26,440
nothing if not a confident 
organization, confident in the 

435
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,320
God's presence, working through 
the elders, and yet at the same 

436
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,400
time, an organization, an 
institution that is overwhelming

437
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,280
and demonstrating its humility. 
A recognition that I am broken. 

438
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,240
The decisions that I will make 
on my own will not nearly be as 

439
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,880
healthy as the decisions that 
the group together will make. 

440
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,160
Not because the group's mindset 
is better than you know. 

441
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,240
And you know, 10 minds are 
better than one. 

442
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,080
That's true. 
But mostly because I'm counting 

443
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:59,040
on the fact that that if my sin 
is blind, if I'm blind to my 

444
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,520
sin, if you're blind to your 
sin, hopefully as we work 

445
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,800
together as a group, we get to 
expose that kind of sinfulness. 

446
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,480
We get to override that kind of 
sinfulness and come to a better 

447
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,480
understanding of God's direction
and leading in our lives. 

448
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,240
This is what it means for us to 
be Presbyterian, to operate 

449
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,720
under a godly system like this. 
It's not a discussion of, of 

450
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,880
the, the, you know, a board of 
directors is the best way to 

451
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,840
operate something or elders are 
the best way to do these kind of

452
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,840
things or something. 
It's purely a recognition of how

453
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,800
is it that we model those 
theological truths that we hold 

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00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:38,440
so passionately to the Jesus 
Christ is Lord and Savior of 

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00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,680
this church. 
He is the one whom we follow 

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00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:46,920
completely and totally that we 
are broken, sinful individuals 

457
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,600
and that that sin distorts what 
we do. 

458
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:54,760
And somehow we need a check and 
a balance on that simpleness 

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00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,560
that any individual will come 
about. 

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00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,280
And the best way to do that is 
to put together godly men and 

461
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,120
women who are able to then to 
help discern exactly the way it 

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00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:05,720
is that we should live our 
lives. 

463
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,160
If this is what it means to be a
Presbyterian Church, what does 

464
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,760
it mean for you? 
What does it mean for you to be 

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00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,120
part of a Presbyterian Church? 
Well, given what I've just 

466
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,440
outlined for you in terms of 
leadership responsibilities, 

467
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:27,120
please be praying for us. 
We say this all the time. 

468
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,480
Imagine if there would be, you 
know, 100 and some people in 

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00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,080
this room that would commit 
themselves to be praying 

470
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,680
passionately for the leadership 
of this church because we're 

471
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:44,120
desperate to have God be the 
dominant director of all things.

472
00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:47,760
We want Him to be making the 
decisions and we need your 

473
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:52,320
prayers in order to discern 
God's will for our lives and to 

474
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:57,040
tamp down the sinfulness of each
an individual person. 

475
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,840
We need your prayers. 
But secondly, you should be 

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00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,560
following that same thinking in 
your own life. 

477
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,160
There's nothing more 
devastating, nothing more 

478
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,200
unbiblical. 
There are prides and things that

479
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,440
are more unbiblical. 
But with the pastoral hyperbole 

480
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,760
here, there's nothing more 
unbiblical than a Lone Ranger 

481
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,960
Christian, somebody that is 
committed to going their own 

482
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,080
way. 
That is precisely against what 

483
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,120
we understand is our robust 
theology about sovereignty of 

484
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:32,160
God and the pravity of man. 
In your own life, you need to 

485
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,760
surround yourself with men and 
women, godly men and women that 

486
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,240
will be able to talk 
specifically into your life and 

487
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,400
be able to say this is a way in 
which you need to view this 

488
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,280
particular issue in your life. 
Have you considered this? 

489
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,400
It's not getting different 
opinions. 

490
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,800
It's seeking God's opinion. 
It's not trying to figure out 

491
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,240
what the crowd thinks. 
It's trying to discern what the 

492
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,200
Lord understands and to have you
blinders of your own life, the 

493
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,640
sinful blinders in your own 
heart removed so that you can 

494
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,080
see our Lord more clearly and 
completely. 

495
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,280
That's what it means for you to 
be Presbyterian in your life, 

496
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,200
and then what it means for us to
be Presbyterian as a church. 

497
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,480
We have to have that humility of
recognizing our sinfulness, 

498
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,640
coupled with that confidence of 
knowing that we worship a 

499
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,960
sovereign God. 
Let's go to Him in prayer at 

500
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:34,880
this time. 
Gracious Lord, we want to be 

501
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:41,240
faithful in directing us and 
guiding us in the decisions that

502
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,400
we make as a corporate body and 
as individuals. 

503
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,600
Help us, Lord, to be more and 
more faithful at relying upon 

504
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:54,880
you of identifying a faith that 
continues to grow and 

505
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,520
understanding, a knowledge that 
increases and abundant godliness

506
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,440
in our lives, and then the 
direction of our lives that is 

507
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,240
shaped and molded by the eternal
life that is ours in Jesus 

508
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,040
Christ our Lord, in whose name 
we pray. 

509
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,120
Amen. 
My friends, if you would stand 

510
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:19,680
together and let's respond to 
God's work in our lives from our

511
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,080
essential statement. 
What do we believe about the 

512
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,080
true church? 
The true Church is composed of 

513
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,960
all persons who, through saving 
faith in Jesus Christ and the 

514
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,360
sanctifying work of the Holy 
Spirit, are united together in 

515
00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:38,880
the Body of Christ. 
The Church is imperfectly 

516
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:43,200
expressed in local congregations
where the Word of God is 

517
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,080
preached, the sacraments are 
administered, spiritual 

518
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,360
discipline is practiced, and 
loving fellowship is maintained.

519
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,280
For her, protecting the Church 
awaits the return of her Savior.