Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Sexual Ethics”
Our Bible verse for today: “For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age.” Titus 2:11-12 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must simply be the Church.”
In his book “Love into Light”, author and Pastor Peter Hubbard draws on the lessons of Paul’s letter to Titus. Hubbard uses that example to provide Christians in our day a roadmap for dealing with the cultural shift in sexual ethics which is occurring in our society.
Titus was appointed by Paul to be the Pastor of the fledging new church on the island of Crete. It was a difficult task because the culture there was extremely immoral and the people were not receptive to Biblical standards of conduct. So Paul gave Titus a simple three-step process to follow:
1. Appoint elders in every town (1:5-16) “This is the reason I left you in Crete … to appoint elders in every town.”
2. Apply sound doctrine to every situation (2:1-15) “But you must say things that are consistent with sound teaching.”
3. Be courteous in every situation (3:1-11) “… be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.”
Paul’s explanation to Titus helps us to understand how we are to conduct ourselves in our culture. First, as the Church, we must be a strong and confident presence in our community. Second, we are to stand firm on the clear teaching of Scripture, refusing to give-in to pressure or to compromise sound doctrine. And third, our manner is to be kind, respectful, and gentle. Ours is to be a winsome witness that draws people in rather than pushes them away.
In short, we are to simply be the church. Evangelism and a convincing, compelling witness is the answer. The battle is not ours, it’s the Lord’s. We are to simply persevere and be faithful; He will take care of the outcome.
History is on our side. Cultural shifts have come and cultural shifts have gone but through it all the kingdom of God has endured and continued to grow. The same will be true in our day. We just need to be faithful. But we are also to bold and courageous, smart and clever. Over the next two days we will consider how to do that.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 