Gathering Growing Going
Kids are an important part of our church family. We love having them amongst us and see in them an opportunity to grow and mature them in Christ
There are a wide range of ministries which cater for kids such as playgroup (Wednesday mornings) and holiday kids clubs in the April and October school holidays.
An elder must be able to feed the sheep and shoot the wolves – his character is the foundation for this. His life is a living example of someone who ‘knows the truth that leads to godliness’. As Titus appoints these elders, they have some wolves at the door, even in the mob. The elders must handle the truth well, proclaiming it, so that these wolves are kept at bay. The wolves are obvious – by their teaching (which takes people away from the truth) and by their conduct (which denies God). The wolves are not new – they have a historical track-record that even their own people know. They must be dealt with (‘silenced’ and ‘sharply rebuked’). But it is not about protection but also restoration – did you see that there in verse 13? The elders share the same concern as Paul and Titus – that God’s people know the truth and are transformed by it.
On the one hand, the church is God’s church – it is the body of his Son, Jesus. Gathered, and sent out, it is commanded to display the nature of God to the world. And to this end, it is led: it has leaders. Its chief leader is Christ. And he delegates this shepherding role to under-shepherds, for the good of leading God’s people to reflect him more fully. A leaderless church is not God’s design. On the other hand, as we see in Acts 19, the leaders of God’s people have a very particular role: they are to teach God’s people the truth of Jesus so that they grow in godliness. And this ‘knowledge of the truth … leads to godliness’ (Titus 1:1). Godliness does not stand only in public or hide in the bedroom – godliness is always, in every facet. So, the leaders that God appoints to lead his people must themselves display godliness at home as they lead the house of God. They must teach the truth in such a way that God’s people grow in godliness, in public and private. And all this so that the world knows God, through Jesus!
Letters are remarkably personal pieces of literature. Academics mine them for information on topics of choice, knowing that information in letters is often personal and reflective. Fans treasure them for their insights into the lives of those they adore. And journalists love them for often salacious details that they reveal about writers and recipients. The letters we have in the New Testament are no different for their personal revelations. But we treasure them as God’s people because they are God’s word through the pens and lives of His people. Today we start one of those letters – Titus. It is deeply personal, a letter from an older Christian apostle to a younger protégé. It contains deeply personal exhortation from Paul to Titus, as Titus is left to do a difficult job. But the last line of the letter – in the plural – widens the scope of the letter’s significance to all God’s people, everywhere – and that includes us in Narrabri. This week, we will meet the writer and the recipient, and next week the context of this letter’s composition.
Have you ever been lost and without someone to guide you? It can be very disorientating and scary. Here in Psalm 23 we see that God is able to guide us through all of the ups and downs of life. He can do this because He knows the way to go. In Jesus, God the Son shared our life with all its ups and downs. He has been through the darkest valleys and found the greenest meadows. Now as the Good Shepherd of His people He is able to guide us through every part of our lives, until the day we join Him at the victory feast in the new creation.
The Witness of Creation and Scripture.