Preserving The Gospel's Beauty In Difficult Circumstances

Ross Sawyers: [00:00:00] What a beautiful thing when we're able to sing God's praises and to exalt and honor Him in song. I'm grateful for our time this morning, and grateful that God gives us the privilege to have the freedom, to gather and to unpack His Word, and to worship Him, as we look in His Word.

Ross Sawyers: [00:00:20] Spring break, for the majority, it seems, was this last week. And college students head to two different places as a norm, either to the mountains to ski or to the beaches to enjoy the ocean, both of those are really beautiful settings. I've talked to a couple of people that were in Colorado skiing this past week, and apparently depending on where you were, there was a large amount of snow that dumped at the end of the week. I know one family that came back early. I know someone else that was delayed, as a result, from their original plan. But what a beautiful backdrop and setting to be able to ski or snowboard or snowmobile or just enjoy just kind of whatever your thing is when you're in the snow. And how amazing when God clothes his mountains, with the snow from above in that beautiful white clothing on those mountains, it's a beautiful setting to be able to enjoy. When we go to the beach, I'm aware of several, that were at different beaches, doing beach reach, where students were going to be able to communicate and share the message of Jesus with other students that are out on the beach celebrating whatever they are celebrating this last week. And what a beautiful setting, to be able to communicate the beauty of the Gospel, on a beach, with people who are not familiar with it. And to be able to see and hear the waves rolling, the vastness of the ocean, and all that goes with that. The settings matter, the luster of things are all the more beautiful depending on the setting that we're in.

Ross Sawyers: [00:02:23] Or you might have found yourself like us, our family, my wife and I, my two sons, my daughter-in-law, and our 11-month-old grandson went to a artificial, beautiful setting to the Fort Worth Zoo on Friday. And every 11-month-old will remember that they saw what they saw on that day. What we did not anticipate or think through is how many other people thought it was a great idea to go to the zoo during spring break. And when you're driving down I-30 and there's that sign, where they're just kind of changing the signage, and it says, exit 12B or C, I don't know, it's 12 something, for zoo traffic. I mean, when the zoo gets the prime real estate on the sign, you know, this can be a busy day at the zoo. There were several of us who failed to look at the weather report that showed up at the zoo, or believed the night before that it would be over by noon, that the rain would be done. Instead, we spent the bulk of our time at the zoo with our new friends, undercover in between the men's and women's restroom, hoping that the thunder and lightning and rain would pass. And then we went into a restaurant for a while, and finally, for about 30 minutes, went out into the rain and saw the animals, a few of them. I don't know if you think rhinoceroses, I don't even know how you're supposed to do the plural on that, I don't know if you think rhinos are beautiful or not. I do, I think the armor and the way that God made them is really beautiful and majestic. We saw one rhino in the dirt and mud and just his behind, and that was one setting. And then we continued, and the other setting, because Fort Worth Zoo has done a phenomenal job, really, of creating the settings and environments for their animals. But this one I'm looking down and all I can see is the rhino in the pool of water that they've concocted for it against a rock formation, the clouds above and the rain dropping on it, and all I could see was the immersed rhino in his armor just kind of shone in that water and the immersion of it, and it looked totally different than the rhino in the dirt and in the mud. and it was really beautiful to me to see the setting in which that Rhino was. Settings matter,

Ross Sawyers: [00:05:02] And what I want us to think about in the next few minutes from Titus, is the beauty of the Gospel itself. And when I talk about the Gospel, I think sometimes we need to pause for a moment, make sure we all know what we're talking about when I say that word. The word gospel means good news, and we're talking about the good news of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and in the power of the resurrection. We're talking about the good news of the story of which we just sang, of the King of Kings that we praise and that we hail. And what we want to see is not just the power of the Gospel, not just the truth of the Gospel, not just the grace of the Gospel, but the beauty of the Gospel. It's the most beautiful story of any story ever.

Ross Sawyers: [00:06:01] And when we sang a moment ago, I thought about the angels, when we just sang, and how they stood still, and heaven kind of stood still. There's a verse in Scripture, and this came to my mind earlier as we were singing, and it says that the angels that they're actually, if you can just imagine for a minute that this is Earth and I'm up in heaven, you have to really use your imagination for that, but just imagine that. And above the clouds, and what the Scripture says, is that the angels are looking over, they're peering over the clouds, looking to see who's going to respond to Jesus next, because they don't know. And every time somebody says yes to Jesus, there's this celebration that breaks out in heaven. And as we were singing just a minute ago, I wondered if that's what it was like. When Christ was crucified, and on that cross, he took on every bit of your sin and my sin, he took on the shame of that, the guilt of that, the condemnation of that, the penalty of that, he took all of that on himself and he was dead. And I wonder what that was like in anticipation and waiting to see, and I wonder if they're up there just leaning into like, oh, it's moving, it's moving, and then it's gone, and he's alive. It's the most beautiful story ever, and it's what gives us the most hope today, Jesus Christ crucified, Jesus Christ risen. And we spend our days anticipating, like the angels, who's next that will believe it? Who's next? Their life will be changed forever because of what Christ did. Who's next that with all their heart, will actually sing, All Hail King Jesus. See the most beautiful story of all, had a setting that initially we wouldn't think, is that beautiful? Because the setting is the cross, and Jesus Christ on that cross. It's beautiful what he did that day, and that empty tomb is beautiful as well. That's where our hope lies today.

Ross Sawyers: [00:08:42] So I want us to think about, from Titus, about preserving the beauty of the Gospel. Preserving the beauty of the Gospel. And I want to do it two ways today. I want to go back to what I spoke about a week ago in chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, and I want to make sure that we can see how we can be beautiful and make the Gospel beautiful in our relationship with the government. And then I want us to talk about slavery, and how the Gospel can be beautiful in the midst of slavery. Two places we might not think like this, and yet, when we tether ourselves to the Word of God, in Titus, it'll make sense at least from God's perspective. The beauty of the Gospel and how to preserve it.

Ross Sawyers: [00:09:44] Just by way of a reminder, if you're newer or are just kind of jumping in, we're about at the end of a series on Titus. I've loved this series. I hope you have as well. I'm kind of bummed that we're just about done, and next week we'll wrap it up, but I hope the fruit of it will continue. But Paul's writing to Titus. Titus is in charge of several young churches on the island of Crete in the south of Greece. There, the island is basically a perverted people, living immorally. not interested in God at all. But among them, there are people that are starting to respond to the good news of Jesus, and their lives are starting to change, and churches are forming. And then they have leaders that are emerging, and yet there's some that are starting to push false ideas in the church. And Paul says the solution to that, in chapter 1, is to have strong leaders in the church itself. So Titus, make sure that you start raising up strong leaders in the church.

Ross Sawyers: [00:10:47] In chapter 2, we see the solution to that false teaching and compromise teaching is that we have strong leaders in the home; that the older men and older women, the younger men and younger women, they're given specific instruction about a way to live. And then he adds in there, this is how bondslaves are to live. And for all of those, it's to be done in such a way that it's really a beautiful setting. As our lives reflect Christ to all, the more magnified the beauty of Jesus. And then we come to chapter 3, and context matters. And if I'm doing my job right, then I'm understanding the context of what I'm speaking and what the emphasis is that the writer has in mind as he writes.

Ross Sawyers: [00:11:36] When we get to chapter 3, the focus is on those who are outside the church, and how to be a light to those outside the church. How to bring the Gospel this good news to those who are outside of the church? And he starts in chapter 3 by talking about our relationship with those who are in government, those who are in authority over us. And he tells us how we're to live in that authority. So I want us to begin there, and then we're going to come back to chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, and talk about slavery in the way that Paul talked about it with Titus being careful to make sure we're working in the context of what he's writing.

Ross Sawyers: [00:12:20] So when we think about preserving the beauty of the Gospel, in government kind of relationships, this is what I mean by that. Let's look at the verses real quick, again, I don't have time to work through them like we did a week ago, but I would encourage you, if you weren't here, maybe to go back and listen or watch. But he says "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed," And so it's a reminder that you're going to forget, probably along the way, this is how you're to conduct yourself, and so he reminds them that that they're to be obedient, ready for every good deed and subject, to the rulers and authorities.

Ross Sawyers: [00:13:03] And then we go to verse 2 of Titus, and it says, this is how you're to conduct yourself, "You're to malign no one." That means to insult, you're not to insult anyone. You are to be peaceable; you are to be gentle, which is strength under control, and you're to show every consideration for all people. Paul's concern in our relationship with the government is that we are a bright and shining witness of Christ to those who are ruling over us, that's his overriding concern. And then we know throughout Scripture of how we're to do that. And candidly, today, my bigger concern is how few lost people who don't know Jesus that we actually see come to know Christ. I'm way more concerned about that than I am about government policy today. That doesn't mean I'm not concerned about government policy, but I'm as concerned as Paul is about the lostness of people and that they'll know Jesus. When hearts are changed, things follow. The way we would legislate, the way we would set policy, the way we would lead anywhere changes when the heart changes. And that's Paul's concern, is that the believers will be living in such a way, conducting themselves in the manner of Christ that people will be changed from the inside out.

Ross Sawyers: [00:14:51] So what does this look like? Here's what I want to do. I want to give a few practical examples here of what I mean. When we look at who Jesus chose as his 12 disciples. He didn't pick his 12 buddies from the college of his choice, who all majored in the same thing, that all of these particular sports that hang out together in their man cave, that's not who he chose. Even sometimes we'll do life groups, and we'll try to disciple and match people and say, well, they're similar in this way. And, you know if that's what God has, that's fantastic. But Jesus chose a really motley crew of men that very few of us would pick to be the twelve to change the world. And two of those twelve, Matthew was one of those, a tax collector for the Roman government. He basically was betraying his own people, his own Jewish people, and doing the tax collector job. That's one.

Ross Sawyers: [00:16:05] And then Simon the Zealot. He was actively trying to overthrow the Roman government. Now imagine choosing those two guys, and now we're going to be my close 12, and we're going to hang out together day and night for the next three years. And then I expect you're going to catch what I'm doing with a different allegiance and take it from there. And I have a question for us if you're familiar with the Gospels. And I'm not asking, did you see this on the chosen or not? I'm asking you from the Gospels, do you recall one conversation that the Gospel writers highlighted between Simon the Zealot and Matthew about their government differences? No, because there's something about Jesus when he enters in, that everything else becomes secondary. It's about Jesus, that's the primary concern. How do we best represent ourselves where it's beautiful for people to see Jesus?

Ross Sawyers: [00:17:31] There's a second thing I would say, by way of an example, all of us at a minimum, are called to pray for kings and those who are in authority. First Timothy 2:1-, that means if President Trump is in office from 2016 to 2020, we pray for him. And that means if Joe Biden is president from 2020 to 2024, we pray for him, that's what that means. So what do we pray? Here's how I pray, I pray in categories. For better or for worse, that's how I'm wired up. On Tuesdays, I pray for our nation, our state, our city, and the cities around us. I pray for the school board, city council, governor, senators, mayors, president, and his cabinet, I pray for social media influencers, for athletes who are influencers, for artists who are influencers, for musicians that are influencers, for tech people that are influencers, for corporate people that are influencers, for the education system, the university campuses, for university presidents, for profs, I pray for them. And if I believe that they know Jesus and they're following Christ, there seems to be some evidence that they are following Christ, this is what I pray. I pray that they will continue to abide in Christ. That they will love him and intimately grow in relationship with him, and that they'll stand firm in their convictions that come out of their relationship with Jesus, that they'll not compromise on the things of Christ and the positions that they're in. That like the Proverbs tells us that they will have wisdom and insight and discretion because they cover so many things that I have no clue how to pray for. But I ask God to give them the wisdom and knowledge that he has, which in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and that they'll lean into Christ and know how they're to respond in every situation, every conversation that they're involved in and that they will be a fragrant aroma of Christ to everyone there around. And that their lives, the way they conduct themselves in their roles, that they will be a setting that causes the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be all the more beautiful.

Ross Sawyers: [00:20:26] If it's an unbeliever, and I look at their life and I say, giving it my best shot, it doesn't look like to me Jesus is really their deal, it doesn't look like the things of God are their thing, then this is what I pray. And I might be off, but from what I can tell, this is what I see, and so this is what I ask God. I pray Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, and Israel is currently in exile under Babylonian rule. Nebuchadnezzar is walking out one day. That looks messy, sorry. Nebuchadnezzar is walking out one day and he's looking out and he's saying, look at me, look at what I did, look at what I've built. And God says, yeah, I'm kind of done with that, and so Nebuchadnezzar gets relegated to the grass fields of the cattle, and for the next seven years he eats grass. The Scripture says that his hair grew like that of an eagle's feathers, and his nails grew like that of a bird's claws, seven years. And then this is what I pray, I pray, verse 34, for our leaders that I believe are not Christian or following after God. Verse 34 says that Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes toward heaven and his reason returned to him. You see, when our eyes are set on God, our reason returns to us and we're rational again. But if someone's eyes are not on God, they will often be irrational, unreasonable, and prideful. So, God, will you cause the leaders in all these realms who do not have their eyes on you, but on themselves, will you cause them to lift up their heads and look to you? And that their reason would return to them, and that we could have things that actually make sense because they're in line with who God is. And Nebuchadnezzar then blessed God, and he said that God is the Most High and true God. The Scripture says then that God restores Nebuchadnezzar and reestablishes his reign. And then Nebuchadnezzar, rather than walking around pridefully, he says, praise goes to the true King of whom we just sang, he would have been right here singing with us. His works are true, and his ways are just, and he's able to humble those who walk in pride. That's an example of what I pray for the unbelieving leaders that we have, that rationale would return when they look to heaven and put their eyes on God.

Ross Sawyers: [00:23:58] What about when the government does things that are not in line with who God is, and they're against him, and we're being asked to do something that's against God? I mentioned last week, in Acts chapter 4, God is the authority, and when that which is under God's authority chooses to do something against God, at that point, depending on how God is working in your own relationship with him, there will be things that might be called to resist. So how do we do it? In a manner that makes the Gospel beautiful. We do it by not insulting people, by being peaceable, and gentle, and showing every consideration for all men. When you read the end of the Book of Acts, Paul is held in chains, he's being moved from person to person, to all the political leaders of the day, and do you know what his interest is with those leaders? Their salvation. He's just trying to tell him his story and the truth of God, that's his focus when he's in horrid conditions.

Ross Sawyers: [00:25:14] But what about when there are things going on that we can do something about? We have a government system where we can participate in it. So Monday, March 11th, this last week in Breakpoint, I've mentioned it multiple times. I think these guys are great examples of how to do chapter 3:1-2 well, when there are things that the government's doing that are counter to who God is. And David and Barbara Green are going to be honored for their work, and their generosity. In 1970, they founded Hobby Lobby, today it's over a thousand stores. And interviewing with the Green family, he talked about how they were growing up in Oklahoma, what wealth was to them was not money, wealth was a relationship with God, and wealth was a relationship with family and with friends. That's what they've always preserved, and then God has chosen to give them a wealth of resources and money as well. But under the Obama administration, the Department of Health and Human Services attempted to force employers to cover drugs that would induce abortion. Facing devastating fines, they sought to honor God, their family didn't compromise, they worked within the system, and they won a Supreme Court case that allowed other companies as well, to not be forced to participate in that part of the insurance. That's an example of working within a system against something that you're opposed to, and that's opposed to God.

Ross Sawyers: [00:27:05] I am grateful that also as a church, that we partner with ministries that are within our own church, helping women who have had abortions or are working through the guilt of that, and that there can be freedom in Christ. And I'm grateful that we're working with ministries that are helping abortion-minded women to consider another option, and I'm grateful that we're working with women, even if they consider abortion, we will still love that woman. And I'm grateful that we're walking with those who choose to have their baby, we walk with them before they have the baby, and after they have the baby. There's a full range of ways that we're walking in this particular realm.

Ross Sawyers: [00:27:56] And then there's the International Justice Mission. A month from now, I'll be with a team of people in Colombia working with IJM, who is working with governments all across the world to help abolish and end sex trafficking, domestic violence, and other issues that are in that same realm. They work with the governments, they work with police forces, they work with attorneys, and they work with the whole system to understand what justice and mercy look like for all that's happening in that realm. We're working in a number of ways, and IJM reflects Titus 3:1-2 about as well as anybody I know. This is a way that in working through issues with the government, we actually can be a really beautiful setting for the Gospel, and that people would be attracted to who we are as followers of Jesus, and that we wouldn't cheapen the Gospel and discredit it by making it ugly in the way we conduct ourselves.

Ross Sawyers: [00:29:18] There's a second piece to this, and that's regarding slavery, and the way that I've chosen to write this is to be a witness in a mostly hard relationship. So when we think about, slavery, one there's nothing good about the institution of slavery, we know God can bring good out of things, but slavery in and of itself, is horrific. In Titus chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, this is what Paul says to Titus of how to think about it. So in verse 9, he says, "Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative." So he says to "Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing." So the issue of slavery creates all kinds of problems.

Ross Sawyers: [00:30:31] I was talking to a friend this week, and he had recently had a conversation with a Yale student, and that Yale student was good with everything he was reading in the scripture, but the slavery he can't deal with. And he said, you know what? He said I can't follow a God who sees slavery the way I read it in the Scripture. So what would we do in a conversation like that? It's a little uncomfortable. Because not only does Paul say, here to Titus, this is how he's to respond, they're to be well-pleasing, not argumentative. And then in verse 10, "They're not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." That word adorn is to arrange in a setting.

Ross Sawyers: [00:31:32] So what I've talked about so far all morning is that what we're invited to do as Christians is to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect, to be the kind of arrangement in the setting that someone would see the teachings of God and they would love it. So in First Timothy 6:1-2, Paul also writes this, he says, "All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. 2Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles." So what we find happening in the scripture regarding slavery, is how to respond in it, and how to live in it. What's troublesome is we don't see in Scripture God condemning it, but we don't also see God condoning it. What we see is the brokenness of humanity, choosing to do things that would be counter to who God is in his character. We also don't see Jesus, or Paul, necessarily challenging it. but they're not sanctioning it either. Rather, they've walked into a system, in the Greco-Roman system, that has slavery deeply embedded in it for their whole socio-economic system. But what we also know over the course of history is that there are different forms of slavery. So when we think of slavery, there's probably a particular thing that comes to mind. But when we think about the different forms of slavery, we see early in the scriptures that the children of God, Israel, that they are taken and made slaves in Egypt, they had become too numerous in the way the Egyptian government dealt with it was to enslave the people of Israel, for the next 400 years they would be in bondage as slaves, and treated, in so many cases, horrifically.

Ross Sawyers: [00:34:10] We also see unfolding, both in history and in the scriptures, that when war takes place, and whichever nation wins, rather than killing the prisoners of war, they'll make them slaves in their nation. And then we see what is probably mostly happening here in the bondservant or the bond slave, and that's an indentured slavery. Someone owes a debt, they can't pay, they go to a person and say, I'll give myself to you, I'll sell myself to you, now you're my owner until I pay this debt off. And then over time, people would manipulate that system. as well.

Ross Sawyers: [00:35:01] And then we can fast forward to our own nation's history, and it's more of a racial slavery that is nothing but horrific in the way that has played out. That's probably how we think of slavery when we think about slavery in the US. So Christians have been a major part of the institution of slavery coming down. When we look at what God has done in his layout of Scripture, we see that it's actually the power of the Gospel and the changing of the hearts of men and women that actually cause institutions to change. And we've seen that over history. They were both, for example, in our US history, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Harriet Tubman black men, black women, white men, and white women were all significant in the coming down of slavery. William Wilberforce in England spent his life's work in the government fighting for the abolition of slavery, and it was. So Christians have had a significant influence in the coming down of slavery; it's also true that Christians have played a part in encouraging the institution of slavery, and that's not okay. Even in our own history, if you go to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., which if you're there and get that opportunity, it's a phenomenal museum, but there's a slave Bible on display. I saw it a few years ago, and it's called that because parts of it were cut out. And so what the slaves would read or what they would have read to them orally would not be the totality of the scriptures, but the things about the slaves, the Israelites being slaves to Egypt, for example, those parts are cut out, and so it was manipulated against them. So we have both sides, we have Christians that have not done well at all, and we have Christians that have done well and changed by the Gospel, they fought for the freedoms of people in slavery.

Ross Sawyers: [00:38:01] That being said, Paul's concern here is in the church for the Bondslaves to be a beautiful representation of God our Savior, in their conduct and in their behavior. It's the same thing he's really asking of every category of people, and he's very specific with them and says that they are to be subject to their own masters. And the idea if we could have, verse 10. they're to be, or verse 9, I'm sorry, "Subject to their own masters in everything." So they're to yield to their masters, they're to be well-pleasing, they're to seek to please those who are their owners, and they're not to be argumentative, they're not to not to fight back, and be argumentative, they're not to pilfer or steal, but they're to show all good faith. They are to be trustworthy, is what that means. But why? This is the key to the whole thing, so that, that's the purpose clause so that they will adorn, as I mentioned earlier, the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

Ross Sawyers: [00:39:20] See what Jesus has done and what Paul has done is actually lifted the status of the slave in that day, just like they've lifted the status of everyone else. In Galatians chapter 3, verse 28 Paul writes and he's talking about really letting us see the dignity that we have in Christ. In Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." He is simply saying, there is no distinction in the dignity of who we are in Christ, that Christ is the difference maker. And then just one page over from Titus is the small book of the Bible Philemon. If you want to have success in reading a whole book of the Bible, read Philemon, it's one chapter, just a few verses. But Paul is in prison, and he writes to Philemon and he says, you've refreshed my heart often. And he said I have Onesimus with me, he was formerly your slave, but he said, now he's my true child in the faith, he's a brother in Christ. He said I'm going to send him back to you, and I'm asking that you'll take him back, but not as someone who's been useless to you. Those are Paul's words, so apparently Onesimus wasn't on his best behavior while he was with Philemon. He said I'm sending him back as a brother in Christ, and will you refresh my heart today and take him back as a brother in Christ. He was raising the value and he said, if there's anything that he owes you, let me know and charge it to my account, and I'll pay the cost for it.

Ross Sawyers: [00:41:41] And then we go back to the Old Testament in Genesis, Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob had several sons; Joseph was the 11th out of 12. In his teenage years he didn't necessarily endear himself to his brothers, he had a couple of dreams letting his brothers know, hey, one day you're going to be bowing down to me. It didn't go well, and out of their jealousy, they decided they would kill him. They took him outside, found a dry pit, and dropped him into that dry pit of a well.

Ross Sawyers: [00:42:24] But then they were over there, I guess, just talking about it, and here comes some Ishmaelite traders. And I don't know if y'all ever watched Monk. We've been watching Monk episodes, and he's kind of obsessive-compulsive, so that drove me crazy. But these Ishmaelite traders come and, they say, hey, why should we not make some money off this deal? And so they get him out of the pit, and they sell him to the Ishmaelite traders, so now he's a slave to these traders. They take him to Egypt, and not only did he get sold that one time, he gets sold another time, to Potiphar, who's kind of up in the Pharaoh's government, and now Joseph is a slave to Potiphar. But while he's in Potiphar's house, Potiphar's wife is kind of enjoying him, so she starts to seduce him, but Joseph's got it right, he's upstanding in his conduct at this point. And he says, why would I do this evil against God? He understood that his primary evil and sin would be against God. But she ended up continuing to pursue him, he fled, he ended up in trouble, and then spent the next several years in jail for doing the right thing. He later emerges out, and he has God's favor in a horrible circumstance, as a key leader in Egypt. Later in the story, his dad dies, the brothers are concerned now because they figured the dad was the only thing keeping him from harming them, and he looks at him and he says, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result to preserve many people. See people may intend to evil, but God brings good.

Ross Sawyers: [00:44:37] And isn't it interesting in a slave context, that that's a metaphor that Paul used for all of us? In Romans 6:5-6, it says that we are all slaves to sin, and the only way out of that slavery, to not be owned by sin, is to believe in the beauty and the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. And when we believe that, we actually become a slave of someone different. Romans 6:22, we become a slave of God. See we're owned, all of us, by someone or something. It's just a matter of if we're going to live in the devastating effects of allowing sin to own us or are we going to believe the beauty and the good news and the power and the truth of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, now God's our owner. God is merciful, gracious, kind, and has the best purposes for our lives.

Ross Sawyers: [00:46:07] It's interesting that Paul begins this letter to Titus, verse 1, and he says, Paul, a bondslave of God. That's how he identified himself. James, Jesus' half-brother who didn't believe him at first, writes in his letter. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Could you write today, your name, comma, a bond slave to Jesus Christ? I am his servant, totally yielded to him and everything, not arguing, not stealing, being well-pleasing, that's what he invited us into.

Ross Sawyers: [00:47:05] One practical way we can invite other people, and as I mentioned earlier, my concern is that people are lost and that they need Jesus. We've asked you to take sticky notes and write the names of people that you know that are lost and don't know Jesus and stick them on the wall out there and ask people that you put up there and invite them to come, either the Easter egg hunt or to Easter weekend. And our prayer is that we will be a beautiful setting for them to see the Gospel, the good news of Jesus. This week, I was able to invite a waitress and her eight-year-old son. I learned she had an eight-year-old, and she wasn't that stoked when I invited her to Easter services. But you know what? When I told her there was an Easter egg hunt for eight-year-old, she got pretty fired up. And you never know where somebody is, that's a first step for them to see the good news of Jesus and a setting of people that love him. And then I invited another guy who was actually on one of my stickers out there. And you know what he said? Not a lot when I first invited him, but when I said there was a 4:00 and a 5:30 service on Saturday, he lit up. And that's my observation, over time, during the Saturday services, people are lost and unchurched, they tend to gravitate to that. Our desire is for people to know Jesus like we do.

Ross Sawyers: [00:48:37] So Saint Patrick's Day weekend, several of you have done the green thing. I put on my Christmas socks; I've got green. My shirt has some pale green, I didn't get credit for it earlier today, and then I was given a bracelet that has one nine in green. I've got my green just like you. But in 390 AD the young man Patrick was born, and he was born in England, and then when he was a teenager, after growing up in a home that believed in Christianity, but he didn't buy it. So he was in a home where he was raised in it, but he didn't buy it. And as he was in his teenage years, he was taken captive to Ireland, and he became a slave as a teenager in Ireland to the Irish King. He was assigned a role as a shepherd, and for six years he was a shepherd in Ireland as a slave in a lonely, bitterly cold job. And while he didn't much believe what he grew up in, while he was in that field night after night, he started to pray, and he started to sense he was being surrounded by the love of God and life started to change. Then a few years later, he had a dream, and in that dream, he was told that he would be freed and there would be a ship waiting for him on the coast. So this young slave in faith takes off and goes on a 200-mile journey to the coast, and there's a ship awaiting him, and he returned to England. Changed by his experience with Christ on those fields, he went to a monastery and became a priest and a Bishop. Thirty years later, God called him to be a missionary back to Ireland, where he had been enslaved as a teenager. It was a murderous and barbaric people, but Patrick said, come what may, I'm ready to be murdered for what Christ did. He made his way back to Ireland, and thousands of people became followers of Jesus through Patrick. You see, Saint Patrick's Day is really not about green beer and green shots, green clothes, and big parades. Patrick himself was a beautiful setting, whose life looked like Jesus and it was attractive, and thousands said yes to Jesus.

Ross Sawyers: [00:51:55] Would people at your work, in your home, in your neighborhood. on the sidelines, in the theater, on an airplane, would the people around you look and say, man, there's something about the way they've arranged their life, their conduct, the way they talk, it really has a beautiful luster to it, and I'm attracted to that, and I want to know what that is?

Ross Sawyers: [00:52:46] God, I pray that you would cause us to be a beautiful people as a church, but even in the hardest of relationships, that we would conduct ourselves in the way that you instructed Paul to write to Titus. Father, I pray today that in any places we need to repent, that we'd be quick, quick to repent, that magnifies you when we repent. Father, I pray you'll cause our hearts to burn for the leaders of nations to know the truth and the beauty of the Gospel. That you would cause those all around us, whatever the relationships are, would you cause our hearts to be broken over the lostness of people? I pray Jesus, that we would have you as the very center of everything. That is, we abide in you and continue to lean into you and follow you, God, I pray that more and more we look like Christ in our character and in our ways, everything we're about looks like you. So we just ask, God, to work whatever you want to work in our hearts today, from your word, and that as we respond that we'd be able to respond with hearts that genuinely want to magnify and cause you to be beautiful in our lives. So Lord, thank you again for the privilege to gather, and I ask God that we never be the same because we have. I pray these things in Jesus' name.



Recorded in Grapevine, Texas.