Titus 3:12-15
August 4, 2019
preached by Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“How can this strange story of God made flesh, of a crucified Savior, of resurrection and new creation become credible for those whose entire mental training has conditioned them to believe that the real world is the world which can be satisfactorily explained and managed without the hypothesis of God? I know of only one clue to the answering of that question, only one real hermeneutic of the gospel: a congregation which believes it.”

~ Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), British theologian, missiologist, missionary and author

“This rather improbable message that the Son of God has come to earth and been crucified, in human form, and risen from the dead … appealed to a lot of perfectly ordinary people, or so they appear to us, in such a way that they were willing to change their lives and to become initiated into a group which brought them only hostility, estrangement from their families and neighbors, and the possibility of persecution to the point of death.”

~ Wayne Meeks, a New Testament scholar said this about the early church

“Loyal fellowship of believers is not an ‘add on’ to good doctrine. Fellowship of believers is often the vein through which the Savior’s blood pumps us whole and well.”

~ Rosaria Butterfield (1962-present), author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into the Christian Faith

“What matters more to us—that we successfully put others in their place, or that we are known to love well? That we win culture wars with carefully constructed arguments and political power plays, or that we win hearts with humility, truth, and love? God have mercy on us if we do not love well because all that matters to us is being right and winning arguments. Truth and love can go together. Truth and love must go together.”

~ Scott Sauls, contemporary pastor and author

“God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.”

~ Martin Luther  (1483-1546), German professor, theologian, composer, and author

“We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. (…) There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.”

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian

Sermon Passage

Titus 3:12-15 (NIV)

Titus 3

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.