How are doing?
We're so,
and we,
this is what freedom feels like.
This is what heaven, like we,
this what, this is
what freedom feels like.
This siz heaven. Like
What? Heaven
You freedom.
Hope it is so good to see you tonight.
Um, we're gonna actually, um, continue in worship, but
before we do, why don't you turn to your neighbor
and say hello
And welcome,
who the hope,
and in Jesus, he won't
for
bless God, bless God in the fields
of bless God in the dark.
Every chance I get Bless, bless God.
Bless God. Praise that. Bless God.
Yes, he,
yeah.
Come on, you can give God some praise today. He's worthy
Of all of it.
Amen. I just love that song.
Um, bless God in the fields of plenty,
but bless God, when my hands are empty,
every single chance we get, would we just praise
His holy name?
And that's what we're gonna continue to do together today.
Um, and I just wanna encourage you today, wherever you are,
if you're in the room today
or if you're watching online, I just encourage you
to just close your eyes for a moment.
I just don't wanna breeze by another moment
in worship together.
And I just, I just invite you
to just make your praise personal today.
And so, while our eyes are closed,
just all across the room today, I just invite you
to begin thinking just about your story.
What has God brought you out of?
What are you thankful for today, guys?
He's worthy of all of our praise
that we could ever, ever bring.
And so just with your eyes closed, I just invite you
to just, to just tell him he's worthy.
Just tell him you're thankful, but be specific today.
Lord, I'm just thankful just for the life
that you've given me.
The breath, the very breath that's in my lungs today.
Lord, I'm so thankful for my marriage, Lord,
I'm so thankful for my family.
Just begin to tell him, maybe you're thankful for your kids.
Maybe you're thankful for healing in your life.
And as we worship together today, just tell him he's worthy,
Lord God,
Hallelujah.
For the Lord. News,
holy,
holy, are you
sing,
throne
are
You,
Are You
sing
you all
of it, all
you worthy of it.
Thank you.
You deserve the glory.
Come that He's worthy
of it all, every situation you see,
he's worthy of it all.
All for you
who deserve one
More time. Tell him today
That is worthy of it All.
It your voice,
you worthy of
It all. Thank
You. Thank
the for
hits you, you
who,
who? Come on. He
Deserves the glory church.
He's worthy.
Oh, you love me,
Lord, we love you.
You are worthy of all of our praise, of all
of the adoration we could ever bring.
Lord, we just say thank you today.
Thank you for your son Jesus,
and for the sacrifice that he made on the cross, so
that we could walk and live in your freedom.
Lord, we just say thank you. We love you, Lord.
We praise your holy name in this place.
And the church said, amen. You may be seated today.
Oh, come on. Let's give God some
praise for our time in worship.
Yeah, Listen, welcome
to Hope Community Church.
Uh, if you are new to Hope, welcome.
We're glad that you're here.
If you've been attending here for any amount
of time, welcome back.
Uh, we hope that as you spend time here today,
worshiping together that you feel like even more of a part
of the family than when you first showed up.
And we pray that that family feel is what you experience,
because I believe that the church was always supposed
to be the family of God at hope.
We like to say that we are a family who loves God,
follows Jesus and shares hope.
And all three of those things are extremely important
as a part of that family.
And so we really do try to genuinely live that way
as the body of Christ.
And the way that we do that is by taking steps of faith, one
by one of following Jesus closely.
Uh, as we hear songs, we hear the words
and we sing them out.
Uh, they remind us of steps of faith.
As we hear the word of God preached.
It reminds us to take steps
of faith in following Jesus each day.
Now at Hope Community Church, we have an area
that's been set up and designed at each
of our campuses just to assist you.
In doing that, we actually call it the next steps area.
And before you exit today,
we would love it if you would be our guest.
And stop there if you have any questions to ask.
If you'd like to know how to get connected here at Hope,
is there anything that we can do to serve you?
Next steps is your right next step.
If you're watching at home at Get Hope tv, uh,
just chime in on the chat, let us know how we can serve you,
and we will help you in any way we can
to take your next step as well.
Now, we have been in a series, uh, since last week.
Uh, last week we heard from Jason go, our lead pastor,
and this week we get to hear from him again
as we explore verse by verse through the Book of Titus.
So let's all prepare our minds and our hearts to hear
and respond to the word of God.
Welcome to hope. We're glad you're here,
Paul, A servant of God
and an apostle of Jesus Christ
to Titus my true Son in our common faith.
I write to you now with instructions on how to equip
and establish a local church fueled by God's grace.
We must strive to be equipped
and established in sound doctrine, qualified leadership
and godly living
Well, what is going on?
Hope family, glad to be with you this week.
Man, I don't know what just happened at whatever campus you
were if you're listening to this online,
but Maddie, who was leading worship, she just said, Hey,
just wherever you are, I wanna give you a moment just
to close your eyes, sitting quiet and,
and to, to have a personal moment of worship, thanking God
for what he's done in your life.
And this led us in this chorus.
Think you, you deserve the glory from you all.
All things that threw you are all things
that I just found myself like undone over here.
I told Dwayne, I said, you need to buy me a minute, man.
I don't know I'm gonna go out there.
Uh, but God is on the move here, thankful for
to get the time, some time to spend with you all this week.
Um, turning your Bibles to Titus chapter one.
Uh, we'll pick up there in a moment.
Uh, I wanna remind you, so we're in this series,
we're calling field notes.
We've got a subtitled, uh, good doctrine,
leads to Godly living.
And that can be kind of a big word,
but we said last week, Hey, theology, it's not really a,
it's a big word, but all it really is, is the study of God.
And then our, our theology, our study of God should inform
our doctrine, which is just about
how this theology works itself out in our lives personally,
how it works itself out in the life of the church.
And really what we're doing in this series
is we're just walking verse by verse
through the book of Titus.
And, uh, I'm telling you, there's things
that you see when you just walk verse by verse
through the Bible that you don't pick up if you just do like
topical sermon series.
And one thing I'm incredibly proud of, uh,
with our church right now with our teaching team
is we've said, Hey, we're gonna move a little bit away from
just topical teaching.
Like, hey, this is a series on marriage
and this is a series on pan parenting,
and this is a series on finance.
All that stuff's good. We're gonna continue to do that.
But when you do that, you miss out on some really rich stuff
from scripture, uh, that otherwise, uh, you wouldn't catch.
And I'll tell you, this week is one of those weeks
because we're moving into Paul's charge
to Titus, and he's really talking
to him about the importance for,
for if a church is gonna be healthy, there's gotta be
faithful shepherds that are put in place.
And so you've gotta appoint elders
and what are the qualifications of, of elders?
And I'll tell you, I've been in
and around church for, uh, uh, hope for over 20 years.
And I can't think of a time
that we've ever just opened the Bible
and sat in like, Hey, these are the qualifications
for an elder, and this is why you need elders.
And before you tune out
and say, okay, well, I don't know
that I'm ever gonna be an elder, and so I don't know
how this gonna apply to my life.
Two things I would say to you.
Um, one, if the church is the family of God, which it is,
uh, and the church is overseen by spiritual fathers,
which are elders, uh, you should probably know
what scripture says, needs to be true
of those spiritual fathers of those elders.
Because the reality is whoever you follow in your life is
going to dictate where you end up and where you're heading.
That's number one. Number two,
when we look at qualifications of elders, which we're going
to, what you're gonna see is these are must haves
in the life of an elder.
But as a Christ follower, these are things
that every single one of us should aspire to in our lives.
And so, uh, I think I, we're gonna get something out
of this together, but before we jump in, I do want us
to reflect just for a moment on an event that took place
in the history of our country.
1972, Richard Nixon was reelected the president
of the United States by one
of the largest landslides in American history.
He was brilliant politically unmatched.
The guy was a master strategist on paper.
Nixon was one of the most capable leaders
that our country had ever seen.
But just two years after being reelected, he was resigned.
Why? It wasn't because of a lack of talent.
It wasn't because of a lack of intelligence or gifting, but
because it, because of a character crisis
that we know as Watergate.
Uh, it started with a few men breaking into an office.
Okay, not a good idea. I don't recommend it.
Probably not the end of the world, but it started spiraling.
One coverup led to another,
and eventually the cracks in his integrity,
it unraveled his presidency.
See, skill got him to the top,
but character brought him down.
And that gap in character,
like it didn't just cost him his job,
it didn't just cost him something.
It actually shook a nation's trust. And here's the reality.
Just as we know, the character
of a leader matters in politics, it's even more
so true in the household of God.
And so we've gotta pay attention to this,
but I want you to know, God cares more about
obedience than optics.
Uh, our God is a God
that cares more about character than charisma.
And listen, this, this fit,
this speaks directly to you in your life.
God cares more about who you are than what you can do,
because the reality is God can do whatever he wants to do
through whoever he wants to,
whenever he wants to do it, period.
But it's about our heart's posture
and is our, are we willing to submit
and to approach God with humility
and say, God, you know better
for my life than I know for myself?
Or do we go before God thinking
that we actually have all the answers?
And so what we're gonna see this week is when it comes
to the household of God, character is the foundation
for spiritual leadership.
We're in the book of Titus. Uh, we saw last week that Paul
and his understudy, Titus, they had, uh,
spent time setting up these churches on the island of Crete.
And then Paul had gone away
and he's writing this letter back to Titus
to help him establish and really
to give him a survival guide.
But these field notes for how to establish a healthy church.
And what we saw last week was he said, Hey, I'm writing this
to you so that God's elect, so that God's family, the family
of families that is the church, would have faith,
that they would have the knowledge of the truth,
which leads to godliness.
So it has the ability to transform our lives,
and so that we could have an eternal hope, so
that we could have hope and the gospel in our lives in spite
of whatever situations or circumstances
that we find ourselves in.
But this week, he starts out by saying,
listen, the job's not done.
We're just getting started. But first things first, you have
to choose leaders that are actually going to be faithful
to shepherding the family of God.
And in a world that tends to flock towards influencers
and flash and personality,
what Paul shows us is there should be a different
playbook inside the church.
So hopefully by now with that intro,
you're at Titus chapter one.
Uh, we're gonna pick up, we ended last week in verse four.
We're gonna pick right up in verse five.
This is what Paul says to Titus,
this is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put
what remained into order
and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.
So Paul's saying, Hey, our responsibility in Crete,
we're not finished right now.
These are young churches and they're in a dangerous place.
Like culture is gonna lie to them.
They're gonna deceive them, they're gonna pull them away
from the direction that God would have for them,
and they need leadership.
And the first step in doing that is to appoint elders.
Our first field note this week is healthy churches
need faithful shepherds.
And you could hear that word, elder, uh,
or shepherd for that matter.
I might be like, okay, uh, am unfamiliar with the word
that could be confusing.
What exactly does an elder do? Like, does an elder preach?
Do they boss people around? Um, are they old?
How elder do they have to be to be an elder?
Uh, in the Bible, the word elder, the words elder, pastor,
overseer, uh, often used interchangeably, okay?
Different words, same roles and responsibilities.
Now, the people who fill those roles
and responsibilities might do it in different ways based on
their own personal gifting or the needs of the community.
But in the New Testament, elders are spiritual leaders
who care for the church
and their responsibility is to shepherd the church,
the spiritual fathers, they're not just decision makers.
Uh, they're not just figureheads.
They're spiritual fathers who teach lead, protect.
They ensure the care is happening for the family of God.
Now, you all know this on li in life,
like you don't send a tornado through a junkyard
and just an airplane magically appear like you,
you don't drift into health.
You know, healthy things don't just happen.
Healthy churches don't just happen. They're shepherded.
It takes a skillful shepherd.
And Paul's saying, if we're going to be, if they're going
to be shepherded, if the churches
and Crete are going to be shepherded,
it's gonna require leadership.
And so healthy churches need faithful shepherds.
Then he says that you should do this in every town,
appoint elders in every town.
Why do you think he says to do this?
I mean, we just have one president for the us, right?
Like, can't can't there just be one elder?
Can't there just be one overseer?
And the answer to that is no,
because the role of elder isn't about being a
totalitarian dictator.
It's not just about getting up on a stage preaching
to a bunch of people, and they're going, that's not
what should happen inside the family of God.
It requires care. And so elders are appointed
because there's a level of care
and oversight that needs
to happen in the life of the church.
And Paul's saying, Hey, we need elders in every town.
We need the elders who are close enough to the family of God
that they can ensure spiritual growth.
They can ensure that care is happening in their lives in
light of what is going on in this unique town,
in this unique community.
I'll give you an example of this at Hope.
Uh, we say that we,
we are one church in multiple communities.
Um, and so within your church family
and that you are a part of, you have multiple campuses.
Well, one elder could not properly el
or shepherd, um, all of those individuals.
And so at your campus, you have a campus pastor,
and we've already said this term, pastor, overseer, elder,
same word, same roles and responsibilities.
And so out of Fuqua, uh, you've got Matt Curtis.
And so if you're Fuqua right now,
you're probably cheering at Garner.
You've got Sean Sullivan, Northwest Kerry,
you've got Eugene, uh, here at Raleigh.
You've got Dwayne Calvin out at Apex.
You've got Doug Stride, you've got Jamie McDonald.
But they are there to actually ensure
that the flock is cared for, to protect,
to lead God to shepherd.
Another thing that we gotta realize is it relates to elders,
uh, that what we see throughout the Bible is
that elders is always plural.
Like it's not a singular leader.
It's not one person that that's doing everything.
It's a team of biblical shepherds that are working together.
They're accountable to one another,
they're accountable to God, they're living lives.
Listen to this word of mutual submission to one another,
to guard both the doctrine of the church
and the health of the church, uh, at hope.
Just to give you some context here, uh, outside
of our pastoral team
and our pastoral staff, we have a team
of eight directional elders.
Okay? So there's eight men on that team, of which I'm one,
and as the lead pastor,
I'm the only paid elder, uh, on that team.
So when it comes to voting, if it comes to anything
that we need to vote on, I get one vote just like
everybody else gets one vote.
Um, these men do not work for me,
that they're not on my payroll.
They're not on the payroll here at Hope.
So their responsibility is to oversee, um, with a,
a different level of accountability.
In fact, our shared leadership
and shepherding is marked by mutual submission.
Um, I am, uh, I am accountable to each one
of these men individually
and collectively as any one of them would be
to me as an individual.
Um, I will tell you at hope over the years, like
what elders has looked like here has changed quite a bit.
And I've, you know, I first started coming
to Hope in like 1997.
I think I was the first college student, uh,
that ever showed up around here.
But, uh, we, uh, back then we had elders that I would argue
probably shepherded that church.
I mean, it was probably only about 200 people.
And so we had elders in place,
everybody knew everybody's names.
And then over the years, what happened,
this explosive growth happened
and quite honestly
Wanted to save your ears there for a minute.
Uh, quite honestly, uh, it grew so fast faster
that we than Hope was able to actually develop other leaders
and to raise up other elders.
And so over time,
and our, our current elders would agree with this,
I'm not throwing anybody under the rug in any way, shape,
or form, probably shifted to a little bit more like a board.
Um, hey, we're here to make decisions.
We're here to approve a budget, but you know, we pay pastors
and you know, they kind of go and do the thing.
Uh, and that led to some challenges.
I mean, it led to some disconnections in areas
where we probably needed to be more disconnected.
I would argue that it probably had a little bit to do
with our church family as a whole, not being
as mature as it should be.
I mean, one day the Bible says one day, as elders we're our,
we're gonna have to present the body of Christ
that God has entrusted us with back to Jesus
and say, Hey, look where we are.
Look how beautiful we are.
And, um, we're gonna be held accountable to that.
That's a heavy weight.
And so for the last three really four years, myself
and the elders and a couple
of other pastors on staff have been going through scripture
and really seeking goddess to
what should an elder look like in today's world in,
in this body called Hope Community Church.
And how in the world do we get there?
And I'm telling you, we've moved to a place like men,
we gotta up the game a little bit.
And this group of eight isn't gonna be enough.
We have to raise up other leaders.
And so, um, we,
there's this preferred future out on the horizon
that we would have community elders at every single campus
that kinda serve under the alongside of,
and the, the, the headship
of the campus pastor at that campus.
And so energy needs to put in, needs
to be put in this direction
because healthy churches need faithful shepherds.
And so you're gonna see some changes,
you'll be hearing about stuff along the way.
So Paul says, appoint elders in every town.
So the next question would be, okay, that sounds great.
How do we do that, Paul? And
so I'm gonna read a couple verses, um, just straight
through, and then we'll come back and we'll unpack it.
But I want us to hear all of it together.
So, so how do we, uh, appoint an elder?
He says, if anyone is above reproach, the husband
of one wife and his children are believers
and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.
For an overseer is God's steward. He must be above reproach.
There's that word again, must be above reproach.
We'll talk about that in a second. He must not be arrogant,
quick tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,
but he must be hospitable.
A lover of good, self-controlled, upright,
holy and disciplined.
I'll probably mention this again later,
but I want you to know that I had to sit in this text
for over a week, and this is one of the most, this is one
of the most humbling list
of qualifications I've ever read in my entire life.
That's a big list. It's incredibly important.
But I want you to note this. There is nothing on
that list about talent.
There's nothing on that list about gifting.
Remember the Nixon story? Like talent got him in the role,
but his character brought him down.
So our field note here is godly character is
what qualifies leadership within the church.
It's godly character two times. Paul says above reproach.
Just to be clear, that does not mean perfection.
The reality is there is no human on this side of eternity
that's actually gonna be able to say, Hey,
I got all my stuff together all the time.
Uh, the Greek word here, it literally means blameless.
It's like not open to accusation, uh,
not open to accusation.
Cannot be called into an account regularly.
Uh, no charge can stick consistently.
This is really about consistency and integrity.
It's saying there is nothing
that defines their character in their everyday, regular life
that goes against the life that they should be instructing
and shepherding the church towards.
Must be above reproach.
He goes on the husband of one wife,
and his children are believers.
So husband of one wife literally translates
a, a one woman man.
That's what that means. Uh, in the first century,
Greco-Roman world, sexual immorality was a big thing.
Polygamy, concubines, uh, casual affairs normalize.
And Paul saying, Hey, not so in the church.
That's not how things operate inside the family of God.
Period, end of discussion. That's not how God created us.
That's not what he calls us into.
You go all the way back to Genesis, God created Adam.
It took him about two minutes to be like,
it's not good for that guy to be alone.
And so then out of Adam takes a rib, he creates eve,
and he says, okay, no, no, no, no, this is very good.
Now you guys be fruitful and multiply.
But you go all the way through scripture,
like God's heart is for man
and woman to be together for one family.
It says, children are believers. This is a big one.
Believe it or not, there is some theological, um,
disagreement out here in the world
around us about what this means.
But the word for believers, uh,
that was used in the Greek was this word, um, pasta.
And it's debated.
You know, some people say, Hey, believer, like that means,
uh, a follower of Christ.
So they need to be a follower of Christ.
They need to be baptized. But another translation is really
faithful or trustworthy.
And so if you take that interpretation, uh,
that really reads, children must be faithful, um,
or well-behaved.
And this is, in my opinion, take it for what it's worth.
I think this is more likely, uh, a faithful interpretation
because Paul immediately clarifies by saying, uh, not open
to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.
So he's pointing here to behavior, uh,
to character, not belief alone.
So this is about, is the man leading his household
and leading his family in a biblically sound
gospel centered manner?
Like, do his children follow him?
Do his children respect him?
So here's the field note here,
and this is a big one, um, leadership in the church.
It starts in the living room, not on the platform,
not in the spotlight within the family of God.
Everything starts in the home.
And these two qualifications are important all throughout
scripture because you see throughout scripture, God's desire
for healthy, thriving families
to be the foundation for his people.
And not only that, there are incredibly strong parallels all
the way through scripture for
how our household should operate underneath our roof,
and then how the household
of God should operate the family of families.
It is the church. It's really
the same way all the way through.
So Paul's saying, listen,
if a man isn't faithfully loving his wife
or intentionally raising his kids in the way of the gospel,
how can he be trusted to shepherd God's family?
Because that's what it's about.
It's about saying it the same way that you would love
and care for your family,
like you are now a spiritual father for this church.
And you look out in the world right now,
and the world needs shepherding.
And so if you're not gonna do it in your home,
how in the world can we trust you to do it
with the bride of Jesus Christ?
And I told you I had to sit in this thing for a whole week,
but you're looking for a man whose family respects him
because he's been faithful for
how he loves them, for how he leads them.
And man, I wanna say this, men, men,
I, I wanna talk to you for a minute.
Uh, by the way, next week, it's Father's Day.
If you're a father, um, I want you to be here.
Uh, and I'll say it like, uh, my wrestling coach used to say
to me in college, um, this is a voluntary workout.
I can't make you be here, but you better be here. Okay?
So we want you here on Father's Day.
Uh, if you're, if you're dad, if you're any man,
we want you here, but especially for Father's Day,
go golfing on Saturday or take Monday off.
I gave you permission. Um,
but listen, I say what I'm about to say, just
as Paul opened this letter at the beginning, he said, Paul,
a servant of the living God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I'm not an apostle of Jesus Christ,
but as a servant of God, I'm sharing this with you.
From God's word is a slave to the word of God,
not my personal opinion,
but sound doctrine, which this series is about, says
that whether you are an elder
or not, you have a God-given responsibility
that nobody else can do
but you, for which you will be held accountable for,
to love your wife and to be faithful to your wife,
and to shepherd your children
and to point them towards Jesus.
And I know that can be intimidating,
and I know that could, um, in today's world,
that could not sound politically correct.
Um, that's not my job to worry about that.
It could be incredibly tough to balance, man.
I know what it's like. I feel like, hey,
we gotta put food on the table.
We gotta work hard, and we gotta go and we gotta grind.
And how many people wanna sit around
and hear a man complain about
how tired they are or how they're feelings are?
Nobody, they don't, they don't wanna do that.
So we feel like we carry this weight,
but I want you to know that as your church family, we want
to be here to encourage you if you need help.
And the reality is you need other men
in your life to encourage you.
And so if that's you, I want to, I wanna encourage you, go
to your campus pastor this weekend
and let 'em know you need help.
Go to one of your men's gatherings, man, I've been
to the men's gatherings out at the Fuqua
campus, out at the Apex campus.
There are men there that would love to come alongside of you
and to encourage you in the roles
and responsibilities that God's given to you.
Okay? I'm gonna step off that soapbox now, by the way,
I say that looking in the mirror.
And I'll tell you, you know what I, I'll,
I'll be very transparent with you.
Um, my wife told me this week, she said, I love
that you are so intentional about praying
with our children every morning before they go to school
and every night before they go to bed.
I mean, I'm on this thing, she said,
but can I be honest with you outside
of like praying at dinner, I can't remember
the last time we prayed together.
I was like, it wasn't that long ago, but it,
but it's too long like that.
That's not me shepherding my family the way
that God's called me to shepherd my family.
Um, okay, what else? Where are we going?
I don't even know where the heck I was. Verse seven.
Okay, for an overseer as God steward must be
above reproach the word, again, he must not be arrogant
or quick tempered or a drunkard or violent
or greedy for gain,
but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled,
upright, holy and disciplined.
So what Paul does there is he gives five things
that elders must not be.
And then he gives us six things that elders must be.
And because it's in the text, we're gonna talk about it.
We're not gonna talk about it
long, we're gonna go through them.
So five things that elders must not be.
One must not be arrogant.
We've all known that person that thinks
they know everything, right?
Like an elder should not be the person
that thinks they have the answer to everything that thinks
that if people don't do exactly
what they think they should do,
when they think they should do it, like, oh,
doing the dumb thing again.
Like, that's not the posture of an elder. Quick tempered.
Does anger control them?
Like, are they quickly triggered into anger?
Um, a drunkard does, does one escape through alcohol,
through substance abuse, through excess?
Um, John Stot,
a theologian and pastor, uh, he's quoted as saying, um,
not all must abstain, okay?
Not all must stay completely away from alcohol.
Um, but all must use in moderation.
And what this is really about is,
is there something else in our life that is controlling us
that we have to turn to regularly outside
of being controlled by the spirit of the living God?
If so, that's an issue. Violent. Is he harsh?
Is he domineering? Um, it, uh,
this could be translated into the word ignatious.
If you're really smart, if you're a journalist, you,
you might use that word, but you could
translate, is he a brawler?
Uh, if, if the kids were saying this, they would say like,
is he quick to throw hands?
That's literally what it means.
Like, is, does he, does he, is he looking for a fight?
Greedy for gain? Can't be greedy for gain.
Does one have a tendency to, to use ministry
and their platform for power, for influence,
for game, financially or otherwise?
And the reality is, if we find ourselves in leadership
and we're already tempted by those things, being in a,
in a place or in a role of responsibility of leadership,
you're just gonna have an opportunity for that to grow.
These aren't red flags.
God's word says, these are disqualifiers.
I mean, could you imagine someone marked by those things
as a regular part of their
character trying to lead their family?
It's gonna show up. If he can't lead his family towards
health, how can he lead in the context of the church?
And you get to verse eight, what elders must be six things
Here, let me just say this before we move on.
That's not saying that someone can't
lose their temper, okay?
All of us lose our temper every now
and then, especially if we have kids.
Um, but how quickly are they to repent?
How quickly are they willing to own it without turning
around and saying, well, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, I'm sorry,
I shouldn't have done this, but, and then
turn around and blame someone else.
That's what we're talking about here.
Is there a repentant humble heart? Okay, six things.
Elders must be hospitable.
Does he invite others into his home?
Does he love other people as followers of Christ?
We should love other people. This doesn't mean that you have
to be extroverted, okay?
Um, you can be introverted and still love people.
Do you invite people in your home? If you're not gonna be
hospitable at your home, how in the world are you gonna be
hospitable and welcoming people into the family of God?
Lover of good? Does he genuinely enjoy what is right?
And what is life giving? Do we love that in our life?
God's word tells us what's good
and what's right and what's pure.
Do we love those things? Do we,
do we encourage those things?
Do we, do we, do we call other people into things
that are good self-control?
Uh, do we lead ourselves before we try to lead others?
John Maxwell, uh, he wasn't a disciple of
of Jesus in biblical times, though lovers
of John Maxwell might, would think that you'd think
that they thought he was, when you hear him talk about him.
But, um, he said, Hey, look, all of us are leaders, okay?
Leadership is influence,
but the most difficult person to lead is ourselves.
Are we self controlled? Are we upright?
Is he fair, honest, dependable in his relationships?
Is someone upright? That just means,
does this person ask the question regularly?
What is the right decision?
Not what's the most cost effective decision?
Which decision take saves us the most time?
Which decision is gonna benefit me the most? No. No.
What is the right decision in my
relationships with other people?
Holy, this is a word that man, man, when you want
to talk bad about somebody
that's a little bit snobby, oh, he's a holy roller.
Like this word has a negative connotation.
We are called to holiness. It means set apart.
And where upright might be talking about like our
relationships and how we interact with others around us,
holiness has to do with how we interact.
Um, our heavenly Father.
I'm just telling you like, it would be a blessing someday.
I don't want it to be tomorrow, okay? Or for a long time.
But on some day when I step over into the other side
of eternity that maybe my wife
and kids would say, um, man, he was, he was holy.
Like he didn't carry himself arrogantly or snobby,
but like you can just tell he's had an
encounter with God in his life.
And then the last one is discipline.
Does he does, does one pursue what matters?
Even when it's hard? Well, what areas are you looking
for discipline in all of them.
And that doesn't mean perfection,
but you know, you're not disciplined if you do
what you're supposed to do in the areas
that are easy for you, right?
Like, and we know this stuff spills over.
Like, do, do you eat the foods that you should eat?
Do you not eat the foods
or drink the things that you shouldn't drink?
Do you take care of your temple?
Do you take care of the body that God has given to you?
Do you, do you maximize the minutes that God has given
to you in every day to accomplish the things
that he is set in front of you?
Does your yes mean yes
and people know that your no means no?
Are you dependable? Are you disciplined?
Character's the first qualification, it's not charisma,
it's not clout, it's not content creation.
It's, it is possible to have impressive theology,
to have multiple doctorate degrees, to have wild gifting,
be able to preach the paint off the walls.
Listen, it's even possible to be able to be able to,
to fill an auditorium with the words that you can say
and have rotten fruit what's going on on the inside.
And God's word says it's not how the church is to be led
and shepherded, godly character qualifies leaders.
Um, I'll
give you an illustration here.
Um, I was working on this this week
and I just had this visual in my head of, of an iceberg.
And you, you've probably heard people say like, 90%
of the iceberg is underwater.
What sinks ships isn't usually what's visible.
It's what's beneath the surface.
Character is the part of our lives that very few,
if anyone ever sees,
but it impacts every aspect of our life.
Um, godly character qualifies a leader.
Uh, we're gonna wrap up here with verse nine.
Kind of brings it home. It says, he must hold firm
to the trustworthy word as taught.
He's talking about the, the
apostles teaching the word of God.
He must, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught
so that he may be able to give instruction
and sound doctrine
and also to rebuke those who contradict it, to hold firm
and to clinging to the word of God.
It's how elder shepherd, how do elder shepherd
by holding tightly to and clinging to the word of God?
Because it's through the word of God that we shepherd.
It's not personal opinions, it's not even through gifting.
I will say though, this is, this is the only skill that
that Paul highlights here,
and it is rooted in, um, in, in conviction.
He says that an elder must be able to give instruction.
I mean, that is a skill. How, how
to speak the truth to someone in love.
And he says that we do it in two ways.
One, by teaching what is true,
and then secondly, by correcting what's false.
But elders must be able to instruct through the word of God.
And I started this, this whole time by saying this, like,
why, how does this impact you?
You know that that's what elders are supposed to do.
Thanks for letting me know.
But again, it's because the kind of leader
that you follow will shape where you end up in life.
And we talked last week about, Hey,
what kind of map are you following?
And God's word says, within the family of families, this is
how the family is to be shepherded and cared for.
And the church needs elders who can rightly divide the word
of God and to teach and to lead and to correct
and to care for the flock through the word of God,
through sound doctrine, which leads to godly living.
Which by the way, if you don't know, like
that godly living is important
'cause that's how we were created to live.
Jesus said, I, I came
that they would have life and have it abundantly.
There's an abundant life that is available to us
that we will not experience
unless we're trusting in the word of God.
And so, what does this mean for us? Um, three things.
Uh, three things I would ask for, for all of us
who call hope, community, church, home.
Um, one, I would say pray for your elders.
The task is weighty.
I've told you this has been one of the heaviest weeks,
like spiritually for me, um, in my life, like having
to look in the mirror and study this stuff
and say, man, how in the world do I match up
against these things?
Knowing my own heart
and my own proneness of what I'm, what I could be, uh, prone
to chase after in life.
But pray for your elders.
They will answer to God for how they lead that.
That's a weighty responsibility.
Pray for their families, for their humility,
for their perseverance.
Uh, and you might say, I don't,
I don't know all the elders that you mentioned.
That's okay. I I you most likely know your campus pastor.
Pray for them by name.
Good gosh, pray for me, pray for my family.
And you can pray for them and not know their name as well.
But your campus pastors, they, they,
they know the elders, but pray for them.
Uh, secondly, I would say pursue this kind of life.
This is not a life that's just for pastors and elders.
It, these are qualifications
that must be present in the life of an elder.
It's a high standard. They must be present again,
doesn't mean perfection, but they must be.
But they're, it's also a pretty good picture
of what all of us as followers
of Christ should be aspiring to in our lives.
Like the knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness
so that we can have an eternal hope in the life
that we're in right now.
Not perfection, a life marked by repentance
and integrity, Dependency on the Holy Spirit.
And then lastly, I would say follow
leader's worth following.
Don't be impressed by flash. Um, look for fruit.
Ask. Is this, is this person, uh, shepherding
or are they self-promoting?
Does this leader live like Jesus?
'cause I'm telling you, the leaders, the shepherds
that you follow, it is going to dictate
and have an impact on where you end up in life.
Uh, we live in a time where,
where church scandals make headlines.
Okay? Um, spiritual abuse has left deep wounds.
I want you to know if that is you.
I am very well aware
that any talk on church leadership can be
incredibly triggering.
And there's probably like 10 plus things in this message.
It can be like, ah,
but I, I want you to hear me say, I, I understand.
Um, you name it, I've probably experienced it.
Um, I was in middle school when I found out
that my pastor at my church was having an affair
with my dad's wife, with my stepmom.
And, um, that's like the start.
I would love to say that's the only thing
that I've experienced from unhealthy unbiblical leadership.
Um, but I can tell you as one who somehow by God's grace
and mercy managed to stay in the game.
It doesn't have to be that way.
It's not supposed to be that way.
Those are, those are men
and women just like all of us who
are prone to step off the path
that God's laid in front of us.
But that does not mean that God's word is not true.
That does not mean that God's word is not right.
That does not mean that God's word is
not, is not best for us.
God's word says in a chaotic world,
this plan hasn't changed.
Godly churches are led by godly leaders.
And so my prayer is that would we as Hope Community Church,
would we be a people that that study and honor
and live the word of God?
I'd encourage you go through this book of Titus every day,
let's study and honor and live out the word of God.
Would it be be a people that uphold godly leadership?
And would we be the kind, uh, of followers
of Christ whose character preaches louder
than any sermon on any stage could ever preach?
Let's pray together. Father, uh, I thank you for your word.
I thank you that we can open it up
and just walk through verse by verse
and that it can come to life
and help us see how you designed us
to live life and experience life.
Lord, I thank you that you have shown us a clear picture of
what shepherding the church and what leadership looks like.
Your way. Father, my prayer would be
that we would be a church that would take seriously the
calls that you have placed on our lives,
that we would stand strong on the foundation
and the theology and the sound doctrine that you have said.
This is how the church should be shepherded, Lord,
that our elders here would continue to step into the roles
that you have set, uh, in front of them.
And Lord, I know there's some that have said, you know what?
That's the right way to go.
But I don't know if I can give everything that
that takes in this moment.
And Lord, when that's the case for them in their lives,
I feel that they would experience grace and peace
and for the new men that are coming on, Lord, I thank you
for them, father, um, I pray that you would protect them.
And for the men that are in, uh, going
through training right now, Lord, I pray
that you would watch over their lives,
that you would protect them.
We know that when we're chasing
after the things of God, we have an enemy.
And Lord, I pray for the men and women
and students who call hope community Church home.
Lord, this is not just a call, um, for the spiritual elite.
This is a call for the followers of Christ, um, that,
that you have called your elect, that you desire to come
to know the knowledge of truth, which accords with God,
godliness and leads to the hope of eternal life.
We love you. We pray these things in Jesus name.
And everyone said, amen.
Hey, I wanna say one thing before we turn the cameras off.
I was supposed to say this in the message.
Um, right now across all of our campuses, we have 15 men
who have said, Hey, I want
to jump into this elder training program that's 18
to 24 months long, where they're going
through hundreds and hundreds of pages.
They're, uh, going through the accountability, sharing
what it's doing in their lives.
We're having conversations with them and their wives
because they've said, I want to be a, a shepherd
at Hope Community Church.
I love this church and I wanna invest in this church.
We've got three men who are about
to roll on of what you all will get to.
They'll be presented before you soon.
And then we've got another 15 that are in that 18
to 24 month pipeline, which I think is a beautiful thing.
Can we just celebrate that
and thank them for what it's that you're putting in?
Yeah. Okay.
Love you guys. Father's Day next weekend.
We wanna see you there. I know you're gonna hear
from your campus pastor now. See you next week.
Hey, Jason, don't head out yet.
Come on back over here with me.
Hey, can we just take a moment
and, uh, lift one of our elders up before the Lord?
Um, this guy, um, I've seen him go
through a lot over the last few years
and I'm thankful for his leadership.
And so I just wanna take a moment to pray for him right now.
And so if we would, as a church, let's just lift our hearts
and our, and lift him up before the Lord.
Father, I thank you for, uh, my brother in Christ.
I thank you for a man who desires, um, to shepherd well,
to follow you closely, to be an elder in your church,
and not of a sense of haughtiness,
but not of a sense of duty, uh, a sense of honor
and a sense of obedience.
And so, father, God, I pray. I pray for our lead.
Pastor, I pray that you would help him
and strengthen him for the road ahead.
I pray that you would help him to follow you and you alone.
In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Come on, y'all, give him some love.
Listen, as we close out our time today, um,
we talk about steps of faith here at hope
and the steps that we take, come
through the decisions that we make.
You know, it's one thing to talk about
taking steps of faith.
It's a whole nother thing to move foot to pavement.
And God is ordering those steps.
And so if he's encouraged your heart through the word of God
or through worship today, uh, to take a step of faith,
again, I wanna remind you about the next steps area.
And if you're watching online, make sure you chime in
and if you have questions to ask, ask those questions.
Uh, we are all supposed to be walking
by faith and not by sight.
And the steps of the journey are ordered by God.
And so I want to encourage you as we end our time together
to be the kind of church
that loves God follows Jesus.
And I also want to encourage you to share hope.
God bless y'all. We'll see you next week.