Willow Ridge Sermons

March 23rd, 2025 • "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work" — Titus 3:1

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Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

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Good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Titus

chapter 3. As many of you know, we had a missions team that I was a part of that traveled to India,

and we've been serving there for the last 11 days, and it's good to be home. It's good to be home back

in the U.S. I did not necessarily appreciate that wonderful cloud of yellow that kind of welcomed us

into Atlanta yesterday. It was funny, over there and all the dust, all the things that can kind of get

stirred up in India, my sinuses were able to be just fine, good, was able to work through that.

We had a short walk from where we arrived to our parking garage, and by the time I got into the car,

I was sneezing and coughing and dealing with that. So welcome back to South Carolina, right? When we

got the pollen that's there. Well, I'm glad that each and every one of you are here with us today.

If you're a first-time guest, I want to echo what Pastor Dave said. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for worshiping with us. At the end of the service, I will be back here at this table

to my left. I would love for you to stop by and to visit for just a moment so that I could learn

your name, and thank you for being here personally. And then if you've got any questions about Willow Ridge

Church, wonderful opportunity for you to get those answered. So thank you so much for being here.

Before we go into God's Word this morning, let's go to Him in prayer.

God, I thank you for this wonderful time that we have where we can gather together. God,

I thank you for our discipleship classes as they started off this morning. Just a wonderful time. Men,

women, children, youth gathered together in your name, talking about your Word and seeking to grow

stronger in our faith. God, as we open up your Word and tie this this morning and reflect on the truth

that you have for us. God, I pray that the truth that you have would penetrate our minds and our hearts

and through the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord, would continue to change us more into who you would

have us to be as we surrender to you daily, Jesus, Lord and Savior of our life. God, I thank you for

this past week. I thank you for the stories. I thank you for the team that served with me. God, as we share

over the next coming days, weeks, and months with those around us, Lord, may we boast in the powerful

work that you're doing that you allowed us to be a part of. God, we want to thank you for all that

you are, for all that you're doing in us and amongst us. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Well, if you've never traveled with me to India, I do want to take some time to kind of update a little

bit about what happened with the trip. And what I want to start off with is kind of what you're looking

at and facing and dealing with this morning. So one of the things that I've started over the last

couple trips that we've been on is I set a timer on my phone and run the timer from the time we begin

to head to the airport to the time that we arrive here at Willow Ridge Church. So just so that you

know, if I fall asleep during my own message this morning, here's what we're working off of.

This is travel time. 42 hours, 33 minutes, and 50 seconds. Which is, in fairness, four hours shorter

than the last trip that we had going there. Yesterday, I tell everybody, if you've never traveled

from east back to west on multiple time zones, that day becomes the longest day of your life.

And so Saturday was 39 hours of day is what Saturday turned into us. So it is good. We are

glad to be here. I'll be honest with you. There's a lot of people on the team that I didn't know that

I'd see this morning. And it is just evident that God really working in their heart because I see a lot

of them here and just encouraging me as they're here. Well, here's what we had an opportunity

to be a part of. As you guys know, if you don't know if you're visiting, we partner with a church

in India, in Jaipur. Jaipur is the ninth largest city. Population-wise, it's a little less than the

city of Los Angeles. Ninth largest city in India is Jaipur. And it is in the state of Rajasthan. So we

partner with the church there. And then from that church, there's a Bible college, there's a Christian

kindergarten through 12th grade school. There's a girls' home in South India. There's a retirement

home. There's church planning that's happening all over the country of India. So just a wonderful

opportunity. And y'all have met, many of you have. Pastor Sam, he's always here with us at least

once a year. And he comes and he preaches here. And just a wonderful blessing for us to be able to have

him. And so when we go, we come alongside and try to partner with them to do something maybe that they

see benefit in doing, but they don't have maybe the time or the energy or the capability of doing

those things. And so lately, what we've been doing is going there and primarily working at the

kindergarten through 12th grade school. And so this week, we're able to provide what we're calling

like a health science camp, which was a wonderful time for the kids. So they do school differently.

So they just had their final exam. So teachers are grading them so they don't have to be back at

school. So we were able to come in. And what schools will do during that time is they'll provide camps

that they charge to be a part of. And so what we were able to do is come in and provide a little

financial, take away a little bit of a financial burden from parents and be able to provide a free

camp. And so we had about somewhere between 100 to 150 kids kindergarten through 12th grade show up

every single day to be a part of this camp. And they're able to walk through and hear for some

real-life American professionals working in the healthcare fields and to experience some activities

to help strengthen that. So on Monday, we taught about nutrition. And I'm probably going to get

these topics wrong of what we did. But we talked about nutrition. We talked about the brain. We

talked about the heart. We talked about muscles and our skeletal system. And then we would do

activities with them that would teach them of how to grow and how to strengthen those and how to care

for those parts of the body. And then we also then every day ended with Dale Collins teaching first aid

training, which was just really neat to kind of hear the stories and also when that's Q&A time. So

this is twice that we've kind of done a Q&A with medical people. And it just kind of shows like

different parts of the world, man, we're struggling with different things. And we got it. We understand

that. But the number one question that comes up in first aid every single time we do this is the

question of dog bites. Like, what do you do to a dog bite? I don't know about you, but that's not

necessarily a common thing here. So Dale did some research on that. And what he found out was,

I think last year, 2.7 million people got bitten by dogs. And then from the 2.7 million people that

got bitten by dogs, at least 20,000 or the number that he was able to find was 20,000 died from

rabies. Right? It's a big issue. So he was able to walk through, cover a lot of those things and

really bless them with what they are able to do. And then while the team was at the school doing that,

Pastor Sam wanted me to come to the Bible college and teach through a book of the Bible with the

students. And so I didn't do Genesis, right? Because I only had three days. Not three years.

So we did Titus. And I taught on Titus for three days. I taught for three hours, 9.30 to 12.30.

Just me. Right? But that's a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We won't be three hours a day. But three

hours, chapter a day, working through with 24 Bible college students. Wonderful, wonderful opportunity

to teach and to engage with them and to be able to pour into them and allow them to ask questions,

which just humbled me as they would come in and just talk about different battles and different

things that they were facing. But we did get to open up on the last day. And I was like,

any just questions not Titus related that you want to know? And they were really timid with that.

And then one of the girls in the front row, her name is Mary. And Mary kind of like, she's real

shy. She raises her hand. And she says, is it okay to listen to worldly music? And I'm like,

oh, I don't know if they're ready for this answer, right? And I was like, well, sure. Kind of.

Who are you listening to? And so we took the full circle that ended with Eminem. And

it was funny talking with Sam afterwards. He was laughing. He was like, he said, you know,

when they start dealing with these, they're more listening to the beat than they are the lyrics

because they don't understand the lyrics because we're having to work with the translator. So,

but it was funny with different things. I think they thought the old man in the room wouldn't know who

some of these artists were. And I'll be honest with you. I didn't know who a lot of them were,

but I knew who enough of them were. So we did that. And then every evening, there was just an

opportunity for us to go and do some ministry as well. Monday night, Jennifer Babb and Joanne C.

went over and ministered to the ladies of three different churches and did a women's ministry event

for them. And Jennifer was able to speak and teach from God's word. And Joanne was able to sing and do

some things there. And so that was wonderful. And then on Tuesday night, we had a gathering of

multiple people in the Bible college for a concert and had some of ours. Wyatt Coulter sang and Joanne

sang some more and just different ones and just a beautiful, wonderful time of gathering together.

And then on Wednesday, we gathered together back with them that evening again for their small group

leaders. Their small group leaders come together once a month for some encouragement and those things.

And so Kevin Adams was able to speak to a testimony through small groups. So was Brent Hawkins.

And then Josh Nix got up and did a wonderful theology on the importance of discipleship and the model

of what that looks like. And so just a wonderful, wonderful night of doing all that. And so I kind

of tell you a lot of, there's so much more that we were able to do. But I just wanted to kind of give

you guys a snapshot of what this looks like. Because number one, it's important that we know

that God is using churches that think missionally minded to impact the kingdom for the gospel in

areas that we can never possibly imagine. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be standing

here today, just finished my sixth trip to India, I would tell you you were absolutely crazy. But what

God continues to do, and then as God continues not to just mobilize pastors, but church people. And so I

want to thank you for embracing the call that this is what we do, that this is who we are, that we are

called to fulfill the great commission. That when Jesus says into the ends of the earth, that is not

a suggestion, that's a command. And that's what we're going to be about. We're going to be about

carrying the gospel to your neighbor and to your neighbor that we've never met. And that's the

whole point of what we're to be. And that's the whole point of what we're to do. And that not only

were we able to go and do this in India, but even this Wednesday, we got a team going to Salt Lake

City. Like no greater need of the missionaries than there, where there are less than 2% of the

population in Salt Lake City right now is professing evangelical believers of Jesus Christ. And so we

need to continue to saturate not just the Indias, but the USAs and the cities and all that are around

for the gospel. And so I want to thank you for being a church that gets that. And I want to thank you

for a church that goes and that is committed and that's committed to praying, but also a church that's

committed financially to doing that. These trips, they're not cheap. And no one who goes on a

mission trip with Willow Ridge Church pays the full amount. We just don't do that because we've got

brothers and sisters in Christ who give sacrificially and who give faithfully. And so I want to thank

you for doing that and for being a part of that and mobilizing. And so when you hear the stories and

you see the pictures and all of those things, man, God, you might not have been on this trip, but you

were with us and you were praying for us and you had contributed for us and you were using your gifts

and talents back here so that we could go to do all of the things and to see that come

out through so many of our different people just humbled me and blew me away as a pastor.

But I do, over the course of my message this morning, and I know you're like, man, this is a long

introduction. This is going to be a short message, I promise. I'm going on minimal sleep, so we're going

to do a short message. But I do want to introduce you to a couple of people throughout the message

for you. Again, I think it's so important that our mind be set on some of these individuals. And so

if we could go ahead and pull up that first picture, I want to show you this.

Look at that fella. Right? So I wasn't able to go to the school every day, but I was able to go to

the school Thursday and Friday. And so I go and I don't know if I see a guy wearing blue jeans and a

sport coat, I think he knows how to dress. And so I walk up to him and I looked at him and I said,

you're looking good. And he looks at me, and I'm going to try to say it like in the way he said it,

with his very soft voice. He says, this is my blazer, sir. And I said, yeah, it is. And I don't know if

you can tell, but he's like a step above, because he's got a pocket square, right? And there's a chain

that runs from that pocket square back to his blazer. And so he had that. And his name is Anand

Saini. And so the next day I come back and let's look at the next picture.

And that's his brother. His brother's two years older than him. And he's like, well, I'm going to wear

my blazer too. And so he wore it. And I was like, man, these are the best dressed kids in India.

And here's why I showed these two boys to you. Because they are one of the only handful of families

at this school who are believers. And so every single day, these boys show up to a school to live

life on mission amongst Hindus who will not befriend them and not engage with them and not be invited to

parties, but they'll live their life passionately for Jesus on mission right where they are.

And so part of the reason why we go is to share. But part of the reason why we go

is to encourage other believers like this. Because we get to come back and we get to gather with so

many people who have heard and who know Jesus Christ. But every day they wake up amongst the

darkness, right? To live life on purpose for the mission that God has for them. So thank you for

allowing us to go. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this. And there's one more person that

I'm going to introduce you to, but that's going to happen here in a little bit in our message.

So I want to start off, let's read Titus 3 verses 1 through 2.

Paul, right in Titus, says this, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling,

to be gentle, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Here's what we see is happening here. Paul is pressing into Titus to press into his congregation

to make sure that not only are they living for the boldness of Christ in and amongst themselves,

right? False teachers have invaded. Elders need to be appointed. Defending the sound doctrine

needs to be a priority of who they are. But as they gather, there's always going to be a scatter.

Within the application of God's Word, what He's called the church to be is that we are called to

gather together, but we are called to scatter. That we are men and women who are called, who are saved,

who are chosen by God, not just to become spiritually fat and obese in our spiritual walk,

but to come and to be fed amongst the people of God, to be encouraged amongst the people of God,

but then we're called to scatter to share the name of God. And what happens within there is oftentimes

Christians, by our reputation, through our negative perception of what people have for us,

not because we're standing for the boldness of Christ, but because we're standing for the pride

and the sin of ourselves, we lessen the name of Christ instead of glorifying the name of Christ.

So Paul's addressing Titus for this group of pictures to say, you know what, make sure, like how you live

in culture for the name of the Lord matters. And so he says this, he says, remind them, remind them.

Here's the, this word means this, keep on reminding them. I don't know about you, but, but, but I know

what I need continually in the goodness and the graces of God, what he does is says over and over and

over to me, but I'm going to tell you this, but I'm going to tell you this, but I'm going to tell you

this, right? Like, like growing up, like, you know, that scary phrase that your mom used or your dad

used. I'm only going to tell you this one more time and then I'm done.

That's not God. God ain't done. God says, remind them, remind them, remind them, remind them,

remind them continually over and over and over again. Remind them of the gospel, remind them of

the expectation, remind them of who they're to be. And then we as a church, what we have to do within

this is don't sit there and listen to the reminders and our own spiritual arrogance thinking, do I need

to hear this again? Because the answer is if you or I ever think, do I need to hear this again? Guess

what? The answer is yes. Yes, we need to hear it again. We need to hear it again and we need to hear

it again. And then he uses two of the hardest words in his reminder of what they're to be. He says,

be submissive. Remind them to be submissive to the rulers and authorities and in that to be

obedient to them. Now it's not just that Titus is reminded to instruct that, but God's word

beautifully reminds us to do this. I want to give you some, some passage of, of, of scripture that

reinforce this. Romans 13, one, let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there's

no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God.

1 Peter 2, 13-17. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the

emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who

do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of

foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as

servants of God, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. Here's what's remarkable

about this. Every single one of these instances, every single one, as Paul writes in Romans, as Peter

writes in 1 Peter, as Paul writes in Titus, he's writing to people who are severely persecuted for their faith in

Jesus Christ. And here's what he says. Submit. Submit. Submit. Submit. And I know what's coming to your head

because it's what comes to my head. Well, Bo, what about the exception? What about the exception?

What about the 1% of the time that it's not my sinfulness that doesn't want to submit,

but what about in the small minority of time that it is that they're trying to make me move

from my walk with the Lord in order to submit to them? Okay, well, the Bible covers that.

Do what the law of the land requires without becoming disobedient to the Lord. Acts 5 29.

But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. So the question is,

obey man or obey God? Always obey God. Always obey God. But within our citizenship here on this earth,

that there are governing authorities who are over us, who are ordained by God to be over us, whether we

agree with them or not. And our positioning is to submit to them, whether you like it or not.

It doesn't mean that we don't fight for justice, that we don't stand for what's right, that we don't seek

to love and honor God within doing that. And we can talk about the exceptions, but I want to appeal to you

this morning of a picture of an exception. Can we show the next one?

This is Tung Tsang Chin.

You're thinking his name. Does it sound like he's from India? He's not.

He's a student at the Bible college.

He's a tiny fellow.

He's a worship leader.

He props up. He doesn't like using a strap.

So he props up his guitar and holds his foot off the ground the entire time that he leads worship.

And he plays that guitar as hard as he can. I don't know how he doesn't tear through the strings.

And he sings with passion.

And I asked Jacob, Jacob's the president of the Bible college.

I said, tell him about that guy leading.

And I was like, man, he's got some lungs on him.

He can sing.

He says, remarkable.

He said, um, he said about four years ago, he developed a condition in his throat.

And he went to the doctors.

And the doctors told him he had this condition that was going on.

And that within the next two to three months, he'd completely lose the ability to speak.

There's no treatment.

There's nothing possible that could cure this.

And so Tung began to pray.

And five years later, he not only leads God's people in worship,

but he preaches and proclaims the truth of God's word.

So how does a guy with a name like Tung San Chin end up in Jaipur at a Bible college?

Because he's from Burma.

And I don't know if you're aware with what's going on in Burma.

But as much as persecution takes place in India,

the Christian church from Burma is fleeing Burma to come to India

because of the persecution that they face.

The goal in Burma is genocide for Christians.

And their number one strategy is the burning of the churches.

on our last day,

I'm teaching through Titus.

Read through.

Remind them to be submissive

to rulers and authorities.

And he raises his hand.

And he said,

how does that apply to me?

You see,

because he's not,

he hasn't come to India

so that he can get an education

and minister to the Burmese church in India.

He's there so that he can get an education

so that he can go back.

And he said,

I don't know how I do that.

How do I do that?

And he's crying.

And in that moment,

I knew every theological answer

and it just honestly didn't seem to matter.

Every strategy that popped up in my head

because I cannot begin to fathom

that his goal

is to go back to a country

and share the gospel

with people who have killed those that he loves.

Here's the point.

When you and I

begin to think of the reasons

why we should not submit,

I pray that we would run it

through the same filter that Tong did.

Because I asked him,

brother,

I'm having a hard time

answering that question for you.

What do you think?

And he began to lay out

how the church there

loves those who oppress them.

He began to lay out

this unconditional love

and mission to God

that at 22 years old

that he gets

that I have a hard time

implementing in my own life as well.

So,

when you begin to think,

should I pray for that leader?

Should I stop speaking evil

of that leader?

Should I love those

who are different from me?

Should I lay aside my rights

for the rights of others?

Should I surrender?

And we begin to think

of all the 1% reasons

why we shouldn't.

I just want this young man's face

to resonate in your heart.

Because the Apostle Paul

writes to the church at Ephesus

and he says,

this is the positioning

of the church.

Ephesians 5, 21,

submitting to one another

out of the reverence for Christ.

This is who we are to be.

Number two.

Ready for every good work.

This ready

doesn't just mean

are you capable.

When he says it's the church

who were to be out

in the community,

who were to be out

in the world,

this isn't just a church

that is ready and capable.

This is a church

that's ready

and our readiness

is marked with eagerness.

Are you ready?

Are you capable

to go out

and to be the hands

and feet

and voice of Jesus

that he's called you to be?

Yes, you are ready.

Our educational,

Christian educational training

that you and I

have received

in discipleship

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

that we have within us

has made us ready.

The question is not

just simply are you ready

but it's are you eager

when we look out

in this world

and we see those around us

where God has placed us.

Do we view them

as an inconvenience

or would we view them

as the point,

as the purpose,

as the goal

of why God has us

where he has us?

Are you eager

for the sharing

of the gospel?

Are you eager

for every good work

that God has told you

that before he saved you,

Ephesians 2.10 tells us

that God had chosen

the works

for where he would position

and where he would place you.

So before you even knew you,

before you even knew Jesus,

what God has

is right where you are

to be the light,

to be the mission,

to live right where you are

for his name

and for his good

and he set the good works

before you.

Oftentimes we think

I need to be capable.

No, no, no.

We are capable

because we have

the Holy Spirit in us.

Are we eager

to do the work

that God has for us?

Paul says to Timothy,

I'm sorry, to Titus,

make sure you're ready.

Make sure you're eager.

And if you're not,

if you're not,

maybe not question

your capability,

but maybe ask God

to search your heart.

And why aren't you?

Why aren't you and I

eager to be

who God's called us to be

and do what God

has called us to do

right where we live,

work, and play?

To live on the mission

for God.

The third thing

that Paul then says

to Titus

is to speak evil

of no one.

Speak evil

of no one.

You know,

I like how God's word

functions in absolutes

because this really

doesn't give us

the, well, what about?

Speak evil

of no one.

Well, what if they

no one?

But come on,

what about this?

Of no one.

Have you ever thought

about the power

your speech has?

You see,

the truth of what

God's word teaches us

is that our words

are not neutral.

That we have the capability

and the power

through our words

to either build up

or tear down.

That the words

of God has given us

are powerful words

and he says this.

He says,

speak evil

of no one.

Don't speak slanderous.

Don't speak evil.

No malicious talk.

That's not who we're

to be.

As people of God,

that is not what God

has put in our mouth.

That's not why God

has put in our hearts

because people,

the people we are

speaking to,

the people we're

speaking about

are made in the image

of God.

James 3, 5-9

says this,

so also the tongue

is a small member

but yet it boasts

of great things.

How great a forest

is set ablaze

by such a small fire

and the tongue

is a fire,

a world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set

among our members

staying the whole body

setting on fire

the entire course of life

and set on fire

by hell

for every kind

of beast

and bird

of reptile

and sea creatures

can be tamed

and has been tamed

by mankind

but no human being

can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil

full of deadly poison.

Look at this contradiction.

With it we bless

our Lord and Father

and with it we curse

people who are made

in the image

and likeness of God.

And I'm not pointing

fingers at you

and I don't have

a bunch of them

coming back at me.

We gather in these places

and we talk about

how good and how great

and how wonderful God is

and then we walk out

into this world

and abuse,

tear down,

and attack people

with the words

the same mouth

that we just used.

You heard the phrase,

you know,

you kiss your mother

with that mouth?

You praise God

with that mouth?

People that are made

in the image

and likeness of God.

People who are

different than us,

people who have

a different belief than us,

people who have

a different understanding

than us,

people who have

a different morality

than us,

but still made

in the image

and likeness of God.

You see,

because we can

play up all of our actions,

we can play up

all of our things,

we can try to clean up,

we can try to pretty up,

we can try to do

all the things,

but what the Bible

teaches us is that

our mouth tells us

who we really are.

Matthew 15,

17 through 19,

do you not see

that whatever

goes into the mouth

passes into the stomach

and is expelled?

But whatever comes

out of the mouth

proceeds from the heart

and this defiles a person.

For out of the heart

comes evil thoughts,

murder,

adultery,

sexual morality,

theft,

false witness,

slander.

Does the testimony

and the mouth

match?

Does it match?

Again,

what about,

what about?

No one.

Paul writes

in Ephesians 4,

29,

talks about the goal

of our mouth.

Let no corrupting talk

come out of your mouths.

Let no,

but only such

as is good

for building up

as fits

the occasion

that it may

give grace

to those

who hear.

Now,

does that mean

when we don't

have conflict?

We don't address?

No,

no,

we see Jesus

all the time.

Jesus speaks truth.

Jesus speaks hard truth.

Jesus deals

with what people

need to hear.

Jesus speaks hard truth

to the people

sometimes that they're

most vulnerable

because that's

when they're

going to listen

to it.

He forgives

and then says

and go and sin

no more.

He gives grace

and speaks truth

all in one.

Grace and truth

are never,

ever intended

to be separated

because then grace

ceases to be grace

and truth

ceases to be truth

when we remove them

from one another.

But the goal

of the mouth

is this,

for building up,

for covering

in grace,

for speaking the truth

of who God is

and what God

has done.

Remind them.

He then says this.

He says,

avoid quarreling.

Avoid quarreling.

He says,

and here's how you do this

is how this sentence

is structured.

He says,

it's to be gentle

and it's to show

perfect courtesy

to all.

Be gentle

and show perfect

courtesy

to all.

I read a commentator

this week

that described

this sentence structure

that Paul uses

to Titus

sacrificial

kindness.

I love that.

Sacrificial

kindness.

That you and I

under the gospel

are called

to set aside

our personal rights

and privileges

for others

both in the church

and out of the church.

Those who will persecute us

and those who will praise us.

That's who we're called to be

to show

sacrificial

kindness

to even those

that want to attack us.

We're to live

our life

for the desire

of the righteousness

of God

and not

out of our own

selfishness

to make ourselves

right before man.

Sacrificial

kindness.

I'll close with this.

Do you remember

the story

in scripture

of Jesus

washing the disciples' feet?

It's found

found in John 13.

It's one of my favorite

pictures

and images

of Jesus'

ministry.

He's gathered

in this room

with this group

of followers,

the group

of disciples.

And what

almost immediately

awaits him

is his betrayal,

his arrest,

his beating,

his crucifixion,

and his death.

I can't imagine

the weight

that in his humanity

that he was dealing with.

And so the Bible

tells us

in his story

that there was

five acts

that Jesus did

in the washing

of the disciples' feet

in John 13

that I think

are significant

for you and I

to understand

what sacrificial

kindness

looks like.

Jesus,

the King

of kings

and the Lord

of lords

stepped out

of heaven

and took

on flesh.

Became humble

in the form

of a man

and led

in a lot

of ways

this earthly

ragtag

dysfunctional

group of guys

to pour

into them

when they

didn't get it

and they

didn't get it

and they

didn't get it

over and over

and over again

because he knew

that he would ascend

and they would be

the leaders

of the church.

And they failed

time

and time

again.

So Jesus

gathers

with them

and here's

the first

thing he does.

He took

off his clothes

the Bible

tells us.

Becoming

completely

physically

vulnerable

before them

and he

picked up

a towel

and he

wrapped

the towel

around his

waist.

Literally

what he

is doing

is Jesus

is identifying

as a servant.

If you

walked into

someone's house

and you

saw a man

standing there

with simply

a towel

wrapped around

his waist

he was the

lowest of

the lowest

servants

in the

house.

And that's

what Jesus

does.

Taking on

the form

of a servant.

He then

would begin

to get

down

and serve

them

in the

lowest form

with the

filth

of washing

their feet.

You see

they lived

and walked

in cities

and streets

that were

not

paved

that were

covered

with

the manure

of animals

the filth

of the

cities.

The dust

and the

dirt

that would

stick to

the moisture

of their

sweat on

their feet.

Filled

and

covered

and

bacteria.

And Jesus

would take

what he

was wearing

and wipe

their feet

and make

it completely

clean.

Literally

washing

the filth

and feces

off of

them

by putting

it on

himself.

And Peter

said,

that Jesus

isn't right.

You

shouldn't do

this to

me.

I should

do this

to you.

She said,

you don't

get it.

You don't

get it.

It is

exactly

who need

to do

this

to you.

And I

must do

this for

you,

Peter.

Rejecting

the

opportunity

for it

to be

done

to them.

The

fourth

thing

that

Jesus

does

is he

says,

I'm

doing

this

as an

example

for you.

As an

example

for you.

I'm

doing this

to you,

but I'm

doing this

as an

example

for you.

And to

the man

of God

that he's

called you

to be,

this is

what you

must be

about.

To be

vulnerable,

to be

willing,

sacrificial

kindness.

All of

that is

more than

my earthly

mind can

comprehend.

But then

Jesus does

one more

thing.

hey

Judas,

come here.

And the

man who

had

betrayed

for a few

pieces of

silver,

Jesus

holds

his feet,

pours the

water over

him,

takes

his

garment,

and he

wipes

them

clean.

Sacrificial

kindness.

Well,

Bo,

what about

this person

in my

life?

They don't

deserve my

kindness.

Lord,

what about

the people

that have

hurt me?

Why should

I do

this for

them?

Because

Jesus

did it

for

Judas,

and Jesus

did it

for you,

and Jesus

did it

for me.

remind

them,

remind

them,

remind

them.

who God's

called you

and created

you to be

for his

name and

for his

glory,

no matter

the cost.

Would you

pray with

me?

God,

I thank you

for this

opportunity

where we

could gather

here together

to study

the truth

of your

word.

God,

I thank you

that you

gave me the

opportunity to

travel 8,000

miles to the

other side of

the world

where I

thought,

Lord,

what I was

going to

do was

going to

teach a

bunch of

18 to

24-year-olds

about the

truth of

your word

found in

Titus,

and Lord,

I thank you

for the

opportunity

for doing

that.

But God,

I thank

you.

I thank

you for

tongue-signed

chin.

God,

I pray

that I

will never

forget his

face.

that God,

his name

will be

burned into

my memory

and will

be lifted

up often

in my

prayers.

I thank

you,

Lord,

that what

he taught

me there

was much

greater than

what I could

ever teach

him.

That God,

to be

obedient to

you for

him meant

that he

didn't just

have to give

up his

pride,

his goals,

it wasn't

just about

an inconvenience

in a

moment,

but Lord,

it was

literally

willing to

give up

his life

for the

work of

the gospel.

So God,

I pray,

I pray

that we

would echo

the teaching

of Paul,

the teaching

of Peter,

the teaching

of Jesus,

the teaching

of tongue

in our

lives,

to surrender

our rights

for the

work of

the gospel,

to embody

and embrace

the sacrificial

kindness.

Jesus,

not just

that we've

seen from

you,

but God,

that we

live in,

because God,

it's not just

Judas that

doesn't

deserve,

but it's

me,

what I

don't

deserve,

but day

after day

after day,

Lord,

you've made

me clean.

When I want

to roll

back in the

mud,

when I want

to dive

back into

the sin,

when I want

to cover

myself with

the waste

and refuse

of this

world,

God,

you continually

make me

clean time

and time

again.

And God,

as I've

experienced

your sacrificial

kindness,

may that

be who I

am as a

child of

God.

And what a

privilege and

honor it is

to have

that.

May we

live in the

authority of

that.

For your

name and

your renown.

It's in Jesus

name we pray.

Amen.

That's it for

this week's

message.

Be sure to

check back

next week for

a new episode.

And in the

meantime, you

can visit us

online at

willowridgechurch.org

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

Facebook,

Instagram,

and YouTube.

Thanks again

for listening.

Thank you.

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