Unfinished Business Part 1 Series

“Unfinished Business!” - Titus part 1

Thesis: Many of us have been given a task that is unfinished by the Lord and we wants us to complete it for Him. The result if we accept these missions is that many will come to understand the truth, many will embrace the truth and many will live by the truth.

Text: Titus 1

New International Version

Titus 1:1 (NIV)

1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—

Titus 1:2 (NIV)

2a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

Titus 1:3 (NIV)

3and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

Titus 1:4 (NIV)

4To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus 1:5 (NIV)

5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Titus 1:6 (NIV)

6An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Titus 1:7 (NIV)

7Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Titus 1:8 (NIV)

8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

Titus 1:9 (NIV)

9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Titus 1:10 (NIV)

10For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.

Titus 1:11 (NIV)

11They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

Titus 1:12 (NIV)

12Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”

Titus 1:13 (NIV)

13This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

Titus 1:14 (NIV)

14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

Titus 1:15 (NIV)

15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

Titus 1:16 (NIV)

16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Introduction:

Titus was given the task by Paul and the Lord to minister to the Cretan people and to make sure that he completed the unfinished tasks and to raised up leaders - elders in each town so that each church would have spiritual leadership which would hold to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Titus was given a couple major responsibilities by the Apostle Paul so that the Crete people could be discipled in accordance with sound doctrine.

In this near year of 2004 my challenge for you today is to have you answer the following question: “What unfinished business is there in your life that the Lord wants you to complete?”

In other words:

• What tasks have you not completed that you know you need too?

• What action points in your life still have remained motionless?

• What messages are still unspoken?

• What appointments have been unscheduled and ignored?

• What gift given to you by the Lord still remains dormant in your life?

• What ministry opportunity in your life remains on the back burner?

• What passion for Jesus is left chained in the corner?

Many of us have had the answers to these questions race through our mind in the last few moments. I honestly believe the Holy Spirit is speaking too many of you about the necessity of finishing the unfinished business in your lives. The message is delivered to you today just like in the movies Mission Impossible. They hear the mission then they get the choice to accept it or to reject it. You have that choice today. You can accept the responsibility of completing the task or you can reject it and go on with your life as is. It can stay the same – no thrills – no challenges – just the mind set of getting by – just a ho hum life – or you can decide to step out complete the unfinished business for the Lord.