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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. That's where we're going to be as we wrap up our series and looking at this letter.
If you're a first-time guest, I want to echo what Berger said. We want to thank you for being here.
Thank you for worshiping with us. At the end of the service today, I will be along with my wife back
here at this table. We would love for you just to stop by for just a moment for us to be able to meet
you and thank you for worshiping with us. It is an opportunity, if you have any questions about us,
who we are as a church, wonderful opportunity to get those questions answered. But on behalf of all
of us, we want to thank you for taking the time to be here to worship with us today. We, you know,
we had a team that I was a part of go to India, and then right now we have a team that is ministering
with our partnering Plant Church in Salt Lake City, Hope Valley Church. And so we got a team with them
right now. And so they're going to be wrapping up ministry between today and tomorrow and then making
the journey back here. So I want to encourage you to be praying for them. Mike Morgan's one of the ones
on the trip, and I saw Christina this morning, and she was telling me yesterday they were able to go to
Park City and experience snow. I know, right? I mean, am I a little jealous that I've got pollen and
they've got snow? Absolutely, absolutely. But I'll repent for that later. But pray for them as they're
wrapping up a wonderful week of ministry. They'll be worshiping with Hope Valley Church today and
encouraging them in just a wonderful time. I can't wait to hear about all that God has done
in Salt Lake City. I did want to share with you guys, I don't know if y'all saw in the news, but the
earthquake that happened in Southeastern Asia, in Myanmar, Burma, and in Thailand. And so one of the
questions from the team that they got asked to me this week that was with me in India was about
roughly about half of the students at the Bible College, and I shared, you met a young man through
his picture last week, is from that part in that area of the world. And so I reached out to the
president of the Bible College this week to ask him, you know, were any families of the Bible College
students affected? And I'm going to share with you guys what he shared with me. He shared that
for the most part, everyone there had been able to communicate with their family and know that their
family is okay, but that there are a couple of students who have not been able to get in touch with
any family members. And so there is concern there is they're still finding bodies and thousands have
died. And so we're going to go into our time of prayer this morning. And so kind of two things that
we're going to pray for, we're going to pray for our team in Salt Lake, and we're going to pray for
Hope Valley Church, but we're also going to pray for that situation that's happening there. And I would
just encourage you this week to continue to pray for that situation as God is working and moving even
in the midst of the chaos and in the tragedies. So would you go to him with me in prayer this morning.
Father, we come to you and what a blessing today is.
God, even in the midst of the of the pollen and the coughing and the sneezing, it's it's the reminder
that spring has come. The reminder of new life and the beauty of the work of your hand in creation.
And so Father, we thank you for that. God, we pray for our team in Salt Lake as they continue to
minister and encourage and share the gospel and serve. God, as they are preparing for their trip to
come home, God, give them the ability and the strength to continue to persevere, to do well and to serve
in the ways that you've commanded them to. God, be with Dustin this morning as he opens up your word
and Father teaches your truth. God, may his words resonate because they are your words
in the power of the Holy Spirit. And God, we pray that as men and women visit who are not believers in
Jesus Christ, that today would be the day of their salvation. God, we lift up all of the people in
the countries that were affected by the earthquake. God, we pray that in the midst of this tragedy,
Lord, that you would use it in a way to bring glory and honor to your name. God, we pray for those
students at the Bible college, far from home, left with their thoughts. But God, I pray that right now the peace
of Jesus Christ would fill them. God, that they could trust you. God, I pray that they would hear from
family, from friends. God, we pray that their family would be safe and be sound. And God is just limited
in how they can communicate at the present time. God, I thank you for those students. I thank you for
their faithfulness. God, I thank you for all that you're going to do, not just here, not just there,
but all over the world, but all over the world. For your name and for your glory. And it's in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, as we wrap up this letter to Titus, we're going to talk this morning about
remembering. It seems the older that I get, the harder that it gets to remember things. It seems that
I have to constantly be reminded, well, will dad remember this? Or from Aaron, Bo, do you remember this?
Well, as Paul ends most of his letters, he will draw toward a time of remembering. He'll move from
instructing and commanding to remembering. And this morning, we're going to look at four different
reminders that Paul gives Titus that we can look at as reminders for us today. And it's this
illustration that we're going to give of, here's all of the details, but I want to rise to the top. If
we're going to do what we're going to do, if I'm going to entrust the ministry that I'm entrusting to
you, these are the things of greatest importance. And you and I do that all the time. When we go out of
town, the Bradberries do, I'll be honest with you, it becomes an ordeal.
At our house, we have a, what I would say is the equivalent of a small functional zoo.
We have 12 chickens, one bird, one rabbit, another one on the way, and two dogs.
And the chickens are easy. The rabbit is easy. I hope the next rabbit will be easy as well.
The bird is really easy. But then there's the two dogs.
We have two dogs with two different personalities.
One of them is my dog. His name's Vader.
Vader's 14 years old, black lab. I'm pretty sure he's deaf and blind until he hears you pick up his
food bowl. And then that dog can hear, that dog can see, and he can move
quickly. But for the most part, he's
extremely calm, borderline lazy, older dog that just wants to, he's just happy to be inside. He was
outdoors for the first 11 years of his life. He's just happy to be inside.
Then there's another dog.
And if you, if you track with us, I hear Michelle laughing. Michelle knows.
If you track, especially with my wife on social media, you will know that there's this dog and
he is, his name is Otis. Otis is Grayson's dog, even though he probably functions more like my dog.
Grayson's, I'm sorry, not Grayson, but the, maybe this is the same description for both of them.
Otis is high energy, but Otis is also high maintenance.
And when we leave to go out of town, it is not the stressor of, is the car going to get us there?
It's not the stressor, did we pack everything? It's the stressor of, what is Otis going to do
while we are gone?
About three years ago, we went away and we'd had Otis for about a year at that time and
we decided to put him up in a, at a boarding place that our vet owns and operates. Now,
I want, I want to explain to you that if you're not aware of what a professional dog boarder does,
they are supposed to be professionals at boarding dogs, right?
So they should be well-versed in how to take care of high maintenance, difficult dogs.
So I bring Otis to the border and they come out and Otis is wagging his tail.
He's jumping up and down.
He's happy to see them.
They're happy to see him and as quickly as I can, I pay my money, I hand him over and I get out of
there. And as soon as they take that dog back, I hear roar, roar, roar. His bark, like a father
knows his own son's cry, right? I know this dog's bark. We go out of town, long weekend. We come back
three days later. I pull into the parking space. I get out of my truck and I hear from inside,
roar, roar, roar. I walk in. I said, I'm here to get. And they said, Otis,
we've been waiting for you. So they send one lady back to get the, get the dog.
And I'm standing there with this other lady. And I'm not going to say that the look that she was
giving me was complete disgust and judgment, but it was pretty close.
And basically, here's how the conversation went. Thank you for entrusting us with your dog.
But please do not do this ever again, right? They're pros at this. This is what they're supposed
to do. This is their specialty. And Otis broke them, all right? He's a little high maintenance.
So we, we traveled, we tried with, with different dog sitters. Well, we found some dog sitters that
work, man. They, they take off work. These two sisters that come and stay at our house for while
we're gone. And they love dogs and they love Otis. And it just takes a special person to love Otis.
And they do. And we leave them a list. Remember, cause, cause he's high maintenance. Now my wife made him
high maintenance. I had nothing to do with making him high maintenance. All right. I just got the look.
Okay. She did not make him high maintenance. That was a bad joke. It was me. It was all my fault. I did
this. I'm sorry, babe. We leave a list, two to three pages typed out ready for him. But for the sanity
of our mind, as we are leaving, now remember, they've got the experience. They've been with him. They've got the
instructions. They've got it typed out. But we know that there's three things. That if you do not do these
three things, it will not be a good week for us. Because they're going to be on the phone with us going,
what in the world is wrong with this dog? Number one, we tell them, please do not forget to charge his
collar every night. Because we keep a collar on him. Because he's a little bit hyper. And I can take
that collar. And if you're in my small group, you've heard us do this numerous times. And it goes,
beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And Otis knows, whatever it is that I'm doing at this point in
time, I need to stop. Remember, make sure that collar gets charged every night. Number two,
number two, Otis has some digestive issues. Number two, make sure you put pumpkin in his food every
night. He gets pureed pumpkin mixed with some chicken broth in my sweet little baby's food.
And that helps him. Remember, don't do it. Don't forget. If you forget, it's going to be bad.
And the number three, number three, there's a special pill that Otis takes every morning
that just helps Otis manage the day better. You know, like it just, it just helps. And if you don't,
if you don't, you might not regret it immediately, but you will. You will. There's these three things
that if you forget everything else, there's these three things that matter. And we do this all the
time. We do this with work. We do this with life. And one of the beauties about what we see oftentimes
from God's word are these beautiful pictures of reminders. And so Paul's going to give Titus just
these, just these four reminders, these reminders that he gives us as well, that help us keep our mind
fixed on the prize of what's there. Our mind fixed on the mission that God has for us. Because if we're
not careful, we might forget these things. We might become distracted. We might become moved off for what
God, for what God has for us. So remember, Paul's right into Titus. Titus is pastor in a very difficult
church with a difficult group of people. False teachers have come through. It's in a difficult, sinful
part of the world. And Paul is helping him establish the importance of the gospel work through effective
leadership of what's there. And then there's this peel back of the message of the reminders. Look at
Titus 3.3. He says this. He says, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves
to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one
another. Now, here's what's interesting. Paul just got done telling Titus to remind them. Remind them.
Like, there's this definitely, there's a narrative, there's direction in verse 1 of chapter 3 that Paul
has given to instruct them, remind them. But now Paul peels back and says, but remember we.
For we were once. And the importance of what Paul is giving Titus here, the importance of what Paul is
giving us today is this. The remember is remember this. Remember your past. Remember your past.
Now, remember the goal of this is ministering in a culture. Ministering in a culture far from God
with people who don't know God with people who want to reject God. Kind of sounds similar to the culture
we find ourselves in. And so, Paul is saying, look, remember your past. That as we minister to those
in our culture around us, that for you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, who've been saved by the
blood of the Lamb, who've been redeemed, who've been chosen, who know that this is who we are in Christ,
in Christ alone, it can be easy to detach ourself from our past, who we were before Him. And in doing so,
we can begin to see those around us as the problem and not the mission.
We can begin to see them as, this is what's wrong with the world, instead of the mission of what
God has for us. And so, so Paul says, let me remind you who we were.
In verse 3, folks, is not a very positive picture of who we were before Christ.
Now, Satan wants you to remember your past, too.
Satan wants you to remember your past so that you can live in your shame.
Satan wants you to live in your past so that you can live with excuse.
Satan wants you to live in your past and the lie to disqualify you from ministry.
But God wants you to remember your past so that you can see your fallen nature is not that far removed from us
as an encouragement to not go back, but to celebrate God who's brought us this far.
Right? We see the difference in what Satan wants to do.
This is not Paul beating Titus up.
This is not Paul beating the church up.
This is not Paul tearing himself down.
This is Paul saying, let's wait a minute.
Let's make sure that we're not so critical of the culture that we don't forget that this is the culture
that we came from, and this is the culture that God saved us from.
Because in the power and in the truth of your and my life,
we ourselves are the living proof, the living evidence of God's grace.
I heard a pastor say one time, you are the greatest miracle you know.
You are the greatest miracle you know.
Because you know who you were.
And now you know who you are in Christ.
And that when we begin to forget who we were, we begin to forget the miracle that's happened.
And so when God says, remember, it's not so that you'll be put in your place.
It's to remind you and I of the place that God sits.
It's to remind you of who He is.
It's to remind you of what you've done.
I read this week four things that we remember when we remember the work that God has done.
Number one is this.
What it creates in us when we remember back to who we were before, it creates gratitude.
It creates gratitude for how God has changed us.
Like, do you ever sit back and see something play out in front of you that's sinful and broken and apart from God?
And you see your old self in that?
Can I say it?
That should create in you in that moment, not I'm better than, but it should create in you and I in that moment the gratitude for what God has done in us.
Because the truth is, left to our vices and works and deeds of the flesh, ourself, that's still who we are.
Gratitude for how God has changed us.
Number two, it should create in us humility.
Humility.
As we see that it was His work who changed us.
So where is the arrogance?
Where is the cockiness?
Where is the boasting?
Not in ourselves, but the confidence that we have is in Christ and what Christ has done.
And what that creates to us is humility before Him and humility before others.
Brother, I'm not better, but Jesus is.
It's a heart of gratitude, a positioning of humility, and a mindset of kindness.
A mindset of kindness.
If those who are still lost in their trespasses and sins are not the opponent,
but they're the mission.
When we understand where we were and the kindness that God showed to us in our trespasses and sins,
then the kindness that we show to others in their trespasses and sins.
So it means serve more, care more, love harder, press in more and more and more.
Well, though, but they don't deserve it, but neither did you.
And neither do I.
But God and His kindness.
And then what it continues to build is faith.
Faith.
I don't know about you, but every time that I look back at who I was before Christ,
and to see what God did.
And to see what God did, what God is doing,
and prayerfully what God is going to do,
it builds in me a stronger faith
that this world is not without hope,
but that there is hope,
and His name is Jesus.
So remember your past.
But let's read the next several verses, 4 through 8.
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
He saved us,
not because of works done by us in righteousness,
but according to His own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by His grace,
we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The saying is trustworthy,
and I want you to insist on these things
so that those who have believed in God
may be careful to devote themselves to good works.
These things are excellent and profitable for people.
So what we see in here as we remember our past
is that we are to remember God's story,
to remember the purpose and the plan of which God has for us.
We see here laid out in these verses
the evidence of the work of the plan of salvation
of what God's going to do.
And what is remarkable over and over and over again
is we see phrases like,
He saved us,
His own mercy,
He poured out on us
by His grace
that what we see
over and over and over again
as we remember God's story,
it's remembering God's story,
how He's working
and how He's moving.
And praise the Lord
that I get to be
a part of His story.
Remember back to what this began with,
the false teachers of what's there,
the false teachers
that are trying to penetrate
and to move people away
from the gospel of Jesus Christ
that are trying to point them
to a false gospel of works
that isn't going to work.
It's going to fail.
And so Paul's remember
is you've got to remember
we have the tendency
to want to take back
and say,
this is my story,
this is my plan,
that when we share our testimony
that we turn into the hero.
But we're not.
God is.
That we remember
that we didn't save ourselves.
Our works couldn't
and our works won't work.
We see that God
is the initiator
through the Holy Spirit.
It's not you and I pursuing Him.
Folks, it's Him pursuing us.
We see that as we're lost
and as we're dead
in our trespasses and sins,
the washing,
the regenerating work
that needs to be done.
We need new birth.
We need new life.
It's the reminder of Jesus
in His conversation
with Nicodemus
in John 3.
You need to be born again,
Jesus says.
Nicodemus is like,
that's impossible.
And she's like,
mm-hmm,
yep, you can't.
But it's the work
that I'm going to do.
But that God does
allow us
to play a part
in the story.
And then time and time again
to remind us
that He saves us.
Not so that we can
just jump up and down
in thanking
for what He's done.
We should.
It's why we gather
to sing songs about Him
and not sing songs about us.
It's why we gather
to sing songs
of praise to Him,
of our heart of gratitude,
of how He's worked
and how He's moved
and what He's done.
But then at the end
we go
because we're saved
for the good works
that He has.
We're saved for the good works
that He's called us to.
We're saved for the good works
that He's appointed us for.
We're saved for the good works
that He's chosen for us.
so that we go
and live
as saved,
redeemed,
born again people
not by our power
and our will
but by His power
and for His will,
for His name
and for His glory.
Paul continues on
verses 9 through 11.
He says,
but avoid foolish
controversies,
genealogies,
dissensions
and quarrels
about the law
for they are unprofitable
and worthless.
Worthless.
As for a person
who stirs up division
after warning him
once and then twice
have nothing more
to do with him
knowing that such a person
is warped
and sinful
he is self-condemned.
Whoo!
Some strong words
from Paul.
This is a reset.
This is a remember the plan.
This is chaos.
It's happening
all around Titus.
Titus,
a young pastor.
Titus,
a pastor
who can be influenced.
Titus,
a pastor
who can be brought
off course.
Titus,
a pastor
who can begin
to get his mind
torn through different things.
Titus,
a pastor
who can see
these things
happening within here
and he says,
but here's what you've got to do.
You've got to remember the plan
because what wants to happen
within here
is Satan wants to distract you
from the plan.
If we're going to do
the good works
that God has promised
for us
in verse 8,
we have to remember
to keep the course.
In my study
that I'm teaching
on Sunday mornings
at 9 o'clock,
we're walking through
angelology
and with that
we're talking about
angels,
Satan,
demons.
We're talking about
we're wrapping up
kind of our time
on Satan
and talking about him
and it's been a great
conversation this morning
talking about how Satan
from the things that we see
of his attacks
in the Gospels,
how that still kind of
plays out today
and how Satan
is attacking men
and women today
but what we see here
is Paul's warning
about how Satan
is going to attack
the church
and he describes
two things
of what happens here
in the church
in his warnings
he says
Satan is going to
to use distractions
and divisiveness.
This is how he's
going to work.
He's going to work
and what he's doing here
is to avoid
unfruitful works,
to avoid these
unfruitful
intellectual discussions
and instead
to turn the other way
because it's getting people
moved from the mission
of God
as they want to sit here
and argue about things
that honestly don't matter
as they want to argue
about things
that are secondary
as they want to argue
about things
that are apart
from Scripture.
He says no, no, no.
That's not what we need
to be.
That's not what we want
to do.
When Satan distracts you
and moves you away
from the effectiveness
of what God's calling us
to do through his word
then people are putting
their focus
on what interests them
and not what interests
the heart of God.
That's a social club.
And we're here
to do
and to be
and be a part
of what God
has called us to
for the heart
of God
that we as a church
have to keep
reminding ourselves
of the great commission
work that God
has called us for
and so that's what
we're working toward
that's what we're
pushing toward
that's what we're
spending our prayers on
that's what we're
spending our finances on
that's what we're
spending our time
on together
discipling up
raising up
mobilizing
one another
for the work
that God has us
to do
for here
there
and everywhere
and don't get
distracted
don't get
distracted
that's why
every message
every study
every small group
it's not about
the secondary
it's not about
these things
but about
the mission
of God
and he says
this
reject
divisiveness
reject
divisiveness
look back
at verse 10
look at how
harsh
these words
are
as for a
person who
stirs up
division
warn them
once
warn them
twice
and then
in the
inspired
words
from God
through
Paul
I have
nothing more
to do
with him
knowing
that such
a person
is warped
and sinful
he is
self-condemned
if Satan
wants to
attack
my family
the divisive
work that
he is going
to do
is going
to be
between
my wife
and I
that would
be the
goal
to break
up the
family
to see
the family
destroyed
and in
Satan's
goal
to destroy
a church
he will
work through
matters
of division
as sinful
people
hopefully
who've all
been saved
but still
struggle
will be
used
as tools
and pawns
and to
forget
that we're
part of the
same family
we're part
of the
same team
that God
has brought
us
together
as the
body
of Christ
to work
in unity
and in
harmony
together
and that
we can't
let
anything
divide
that
even if
it's
someone
that we
love
in the
body
yesterday
Grayson ran
in a
track meet
in Spartanburg
and I don't
know if
you've ever
been to a
track meet
but let me
tell you
what a
track meet
consists of
a Saturday
track meet
a Saturday
track meet
consists of
eight to ten
hours of
sitting in
the hot
sun
to watch
your athlete
compete for
literally seconds
all right
it is
exhausting
and you
run out of
things to do
quick
so what
happens at
the beginning
of a track
meet is
everybody shows
up you got
everybody's parents
there they
got their
t-shirts
on like
we're pulling
for Lexington
they're pulling
for their
people and
then as it
kind of goes
on throughout
the day here's
what you realize
as the audience
and this is
never going to
end and we're
here together
all right we're
here together
so there's this
gentleman who
is standing up
about three rows
in front of us
his son was
running it was
like to the
next to the
last event
and he had
a Westwood
high school
shirt on
and he stands
up and he
stands up in
front of me
and I can't
see anything
but like his
shoulders which
were massive
shoulders right
so I'm not
going to say a
word
you stand there
man I'm good
he turned around
and he said
I'm sorry I'm
blocking your
view
he said but I
don't like to
sit down
in video
because I get
the back of
everybody's heads
and my son's
running on the
4x400 team
and I want to
see every single
one of them
and we got
family who can't
be here and I
want to record
them and I
said well man
why don't you
come on up here
with me I'm
standing I'm
on the top
row I got the
cheap seats
so he came up
to the top
and he stood
up and I
said which one's
your son
he pointed at
him he said
he's running
the third leg
and I said y'all
Westwood right
he said yeah
he says your
son running
I said no no
my son's not
running in this
one I said he
ran in the
in the 4x8
and he ran in
the 1600
earlier and he
was like cool
is he gonna run
later it's like
maybe he may
run in another
race he said
well point him
out to me so I
can pull for him
I was like well
if you don't mind
me screaming into
your video then
man I'm gonna
pull for your
son too and
what happened
is two dads
who were hot
hungry and
tired of
sitting there
together
decided it's
beneficial as we
get through this
together right
and we cheered
why
I got a
Lexington shirt
on
he's got a
Westwood shirt
on
we're two
different teams
but see here's
the deal
we're not
because here's
the team we're
on
we're on the
dad team
that wants to
love and
encourage our
sons
we're on the
dad team that
wants to encourage
their teammates
and pick them up
when they do
poorly
and celebrate
when they do
well
first leg
and Westwood
got out
seven teams
running
go to hand
the baton
to the next
and he drops
it
they go from
third to last
like that
I looked at
him
and I said
are we in
trouble
he's like
nah we're
good
watch this
kid
that kid
picked it
up
and I don't
know
he like
if you remember
like Super
Mario
where you
could hold
B down
so you
could run
faster
like he
held B
down
and he
threw that
head back
and he
went from
worst to
first
and I
said
he's
handing it
to your
son
and he
said
yeah
I hope
he keeps
it going
right
and he
handed
and his
son
took
off
and he
ran
and he
ran
and he
kept it
in first
and I
was sitting
there
thinking
please
don't
drop
it
and he
handed
and Westwood
won
Westwood
won
our team
won
my team
dad
team
dad
won
don't
let
the
division
the
world
tries
to
put
you
in
distract
you
or divide
you
from the
team
that you've
been put
on
we're on
team
Jesus
we got
to remember
that
and we got
to remember
about that
in this room
and we got
to remember
that
about those
of us
around us
don't
let
the
foolishness
and the
divisiveness
of this
world
cause you
and I
to miss
the fact
that we're
here to
celebrate
and encourage
one another
because this
life
is hard
and we
need each
other
and this
ties me
into our
last verses
as we finish
out
Titus
he says
when I
send
Artemis
or Tychius
to you
do your
best
to come
to me
this is what
he's saying
to Titus
right
do your
best
to come
to me
at
Necropolis
for I've
decided to
spend the
winter
there
do your
best
to
speed
Zenos
the lawyer
and Apollos
on their
way
see that
they lack
nothing
and let
our people
learn to
devote
themselves
to good
works
so as
to help
cases of
urgent need
and not
become
unfruitful
all
all who
are with
me
send
greetings
to you
greet
those
who love
us in
the faith
grace be
with you
all
remember the
people
remember the
people
what we've
been allowed
into
in these
few verses
in the
bible
is the
spiritual
father in
Paul
discipling
his
spiritual
son
Titus
we not
only see
the beauty
in how
they love
the lord
but we
see the
beauty
in how
they love
one another
we see
the beauty
about how
the very
end
if I could
use like
my words
like if I
were speaking
to my
son
hey buddy
here's some
things I
need you
to do
here's what
I need you
to take
care of
here's
people who
are special
to me
that I've
invested in
and that
have invested
in me
I love
verse 14
let our
people
let our
people
hey those
that are
with me
man
they love
you too
remember
the people
remember
the people
when
God
gave
us
himself
God
gave
us
one
another
I
understand
the
phrase
personal
relationship
with
Jesus
but I
think most
of the time
when we
say it
we misuse
it
that somewhere
along the
way
Satan has
tempted us
to believe
that my
relationship
with Jesus
is my
relationship
with Jesus
and that I
just need to
always focus
in on me
and Jesus
and him
and me
and him
and me
but the
truth is
that that's
not really
how Jesus
saved us
at all
that it
was him
saving me
and my
faith
in him
but then
he gave
us
a people
and he
called us
to be a
church
and he
called us
to invest
and he
called us
to be
invested
in
but to
also
invest
in
others
we
attempt
to take
discipleship
I'm a
structure
and order
guy
I was talking
to somebody
this past
week
of our
goal
and our
structure
of what
we're trying
to do
with Sunday
morning
where you
can take
this
and you
can do
this
and you
can attend
here
and you
can engage
here
and you
can invest
here
and you
can be
invested
in here
and we
try to
make that
and we
try to
help
you
walk
alongside
that
but let
me tell
you
what we
are doing
here
is this
entry level
get your
feet wet
into
discipleship
and my
hope
and my
prayer
is that
outside
of here
you're
seeing
cross
continental
discipleship
through men
who can't
walk next
door to
see one
another
they can't
pick up
a phone
and send
a text
or make
a phone
call
or facetime
they can't
shoot it
over an
email
they can't
do any
of those
things
and in the
limitation
of what's
there
they say
remember
we gotta
I'm gonna
invest in
you
you're gonna
invest in
me
we're gonna
invest
in one
another
and my
challenge
for you
today
is to
answer
these two
questions
number
one
who
are you
investing
in
who
are you
investing
in
now
God
may give
you a
tool
of entry
into
investment
but I'm
gonna tell
you the
greatest
thing you're
gonna do
in this
life
is not
teach
someone
how to
throw a
curveball
the
greatest
investment
you're
gonna
make
in
this
life
is not
teach
someone
how to
play
an
instrument
or how
to work
an
equation
how to
read a
book
or how
to make
a
repair
the
greatest
investment
is God's
given
you
the
tools
and
passions
that
you
have
in
your
life
is
how
can
you
use
those
tools
and
passions
how can
you use
the
curveball
how can
you use
the
reading
how can
you use
math
how can
you use
all the
things
that he's
given
you
to make
an
investment
that's
going to
matter
in
eternity
who are
you
investing
in
and then
secondly
who's
investing
in you
who's
investing
in you
who's
asking
you the
hard
questions
who's
opening up
their life
to you
who's
being
Paul
so that
you can
be
Titus
and
who's
being
Titus
so that
you can
be
Paul
in
2nd
Timothy
2nd
Paul
writes
to
another
child
in the
faith
his beloved
son
Timothy
and here's
what he
says
in what
you
have heard
from me
in the
presence
of many
entrust
to faithful
men
who will be
able to teach
others also
I'm
holding up
four fingers
because the
expectation
of the
inspiration
of God
through the
apostle Paul
through Timothy
is that
what Timothy
should see
is four
generations
of spiritual
discipleship
in his
life
and folks
that doesn't
happen
if you
don't step
out of
this
and step
into the
investment
into someone
else
and allow
others to
step into
you
would you
pray with
me
God I
thank you
for the
truth of
your word
I thank you
for the
reminders
that you
give us
God may
we remember
who we
were
what you
saved us
from
our past
not so
that we
can live
in guilt
and shame
but so
that we
can live
in the
freedom
of praising
you
and of
thanking
you
of what
you've
done
God may
we
remember
your work
who you
are
what you
have done
that this
is not
of ourselves
so that we
may boast
in ourselves
but that this
is the work
of you
of your
story
and God
thank you
for saving
us
God may
we remember
the plan
and the
purpose
we are to
go and
make
disciples
baptizing
teaching
to obey
may
we
not
move
from
what
you've
called
us
to
and
get
distracted
by the
ways
of the
world
and the
pursuit
of
Satan
God may
we live
every day
in every
moment
and God
can we
remember
the people
and God
I thank
you
I thank
you for
this group
of people
Lord
who challenge
me
who
speak
truth
to me
who allow
me to
challenge
them
and speak
truth
to them
to do
more than
just congregate
together
but to
make
investments
not just
investments
that matter
in this
life
but
investments
that matter
for
eternity
God
I thank
you
that you
send us
to so
many
different
places
with so
many
gifts
and so
many
talents
Lord
and I
pray
that we
would
use
them
for
your
kingdom
and for
your
name
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
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and YouTube
thanks again
for listening