The Ministry of the Minister
Titus 1:1-4
I was reading in a recent edition of SBC Life an article by Pastor Charles Lowry and he asked this question: "Do you get too much encouragement?" Are you one of those people that just gets too much encouragement? When you get up and go in to work in the morning does everyone quit their work and come over and tell you how much they appreciate you and what a fine job they think you are doing? After a day’s work, when you come home in the evening, does your family give you a standing ovation because of the fine job you are doing? Or are you one of those people that can drive down the highway and you don’t worry that a police officer is behind you because you know if he pulls you over it is only to tell you "I want to encourage you to keep driving they way that you’ve been driving. You are such a good driver . . . in fact, let me give you some money!"
Has anybody in here ever had anything like that happen to them? I really didn’t think so. In fact, Pastor Lowry says in his article that there is one sure sign you can use to tell if a person could use a little extra encouragement: If they are still breathing, they could use some extra encouragement!
He closes out his article with this illustration. He said there is a very unusual exhibit in the Smithsonian. It is an exhibit pertaining to Abraham Lincoln. In the exhibit is a handkerchief that is embroidered ’A. Lincoln.’ There’s a country boys pen knife. There is a spectacle case, hand sewn with cotton thread. There is a little clipping from a newspaper article that begins with these words: Abraham Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen this world has ever known.
You may ask yourself why would that article be there? Why would the president, why would the 16th president of the United States, why would a great leader of this nation need to carry that article around with him? Looking back we can see that history remembers Abraham Lincoln as a kind of folk hero, a president’s president. But you need to remember that at the time when Lincoln was serving he wasn’t quite a popular as he is now. In fact our nation was divided; there was a great war going on. There were people who were trying to subvert everything that Lincoln did and every step that he took was a constant battle.
Was Lincoln a megalomaniac? Did he need the attention that this little article gave him? No, he didn’t need the attention, but folks, he needed the encouragement.
And I just say that to tell you this, the book of Titus is a word of encouragement from Paul, that great apostle, that great missionary, that great preacher. It is a word of encouragement to Titus to continue in the work that he has started. Paul has received word from Titus that there is a bit of a conflict on the isle of Crete. There is a problem, not so much with those outside the church, but inside the church. There are folks that are stirring things up. In fact, in verse 10 and 11 it kind of describes what is going on there:
"For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake," (Titus 1:10, 11).
And Titus doesn’t know for sure what to do, so Paul writes this letter to encourage him. And I’m quite sure that if there were a Smithsonian for the great preachers days gone by, and we found articles that were left behind by them, under Titus’ exhibit would be a well-worn copy of this letter from Paul, who wanted to be an encouragement to him.
And I hope that as we go through this study this morning, and again this evening, from the book of Titus, I hope that this letter will be an encouragement to you, as well. This morning we consider the ministry of the minister. (And since this is clergy appreciation month, and in honor of Bro. Richard Green, tonight’s sermon is entitled "Look Closely." And I am going to challenge you to examine every area of his life, and not to leave you alone, brother, but my life, as well. To hold us up to the scrutiny of God’s Word!)
Titus chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, says:
"Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour."
As we take a few minutes together to look through this passage of Scripture, and we consider the Ministry of the Minister, I want us to examine a few things, maybe pick out a few key words that Paul uses examine them. So many times when we "read" God’s Word we just skim over it and we don’t really acknowledge what we are reading. Many times we don’t put any effort into what we are reading. It is as if there is a time limit that we have set for ourselves. Fifteen minutes is all that I am going to allow for the reading of God’s Word today, so I’ve got to as much read as I possibly can. When what we should do is take a smaller portion of God’s Word and study it in detail. This morning as we attempt to study this, let’s consider first ...
I. The Office of the Ministry
Paul introduces the letter, and himself, and in so doing he introduces the office or capacity that he is serving in. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul makes it very plain from the start who he is, what his work is, and what his authority is. Paul said, "I am a servant of God." Did you catch that? He said a servant of God.
At other times Paul refers to himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and it doesn’t surprise us that Paul would consider himself as a servant. You may not have a King James version of the Bible, and your Bible may say a slave of God. And that’s appropriate, too. The word translated servant here is the Greek word "doulos" and it means a slave or a servant. And I believe that Paul, the Apostle sees himself in both these capacities.
A. A Slave
First of all, recognize that a slave is a person who has absolutely no rights of his own. Everything he does is for his master. And that is the way Paul lived his Christian life. Paul did not live his life in such a way that he would be gratified. He did not live his life in such a way that he would be glorified. Rather, everything that he did was done to glorify God. But whether he was preaching, whether he was teaching, whether he was traveling with his traveling companions, whatever he did he desired that God would be glorified by his actions; his Master would receive all the glory.
So Paul would see himself as a slave, one who was locked into this lifestyle and there was no way out. And folks, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think he would have it any other way. I wish today that I could commit myself to the Lord the way that Paul had; that I could put myself off to the side and I could say "No more will my desires be sought after." No more will I seek to please myself, but from now on the desires of my Master, the One that I am enslaved to, that only His desires and His pleasure would I seek. So first, we see that Paul would identify himself as a slave. Also we see Paul identify himself as ...
B. A Servant
You may think that there is no difference between a slave and a servant, but let’s consider the difference. A servant is one who indentured himself to another intentionally. A servant is one who served because he desired to serve. We see that in Paul’s life. First, he is a slave, he is committed to the Lord, the Lord is his Master in everything. But he also desired to serve the Lord. He had chosen to serve the Lord.
Now, we all fall into that category to some degree. We, as Christians, have chosen at some point in our life, to make Jesus the Lord of our life. Since we have free will, we also choose at times to be disobedient. And that bothers the Lord and it even bothers us when His Holy Spirit convicts us. But many times we quit seeking what our Master wants, we quit seeking what our Lord wants, and we spend our time focusing on what we what and what we want to do.
We need to understand, right up front, that never was the case with the Apostle Paul. He continually sought God’s will and to be obedient to that will. So he identifies himself, first as a servant, and now he identifies himself as ...
C. An Apostle
Now, an apostle is a person who is sent with a purpose. We might use the term ambassador today. Under the New Testament concept of an apostle we want to narrow that down because an ambassador, all of us, as Paul himself says, "...we are ambassadors for Christ," (2 Cor. 5:20) , all of us that are Christians are ambassadors.
One television minister said that we are not identified as Christians, we are identified as disciples. Actually the term Christians is something that was a derogatory term. The Christians identified themselves as disciples. So we are all disciples, and we are all ambassadors, but we must limit the term apostle to those who where hand selected and hand trained by Jesus Christ.
We recognize, of course, the twelve apostles. And I won’t name them all because I wouldn’t want to embarrass you because you don’t know them, and secondly, because I wouldn’t want to embarrass me because I don’t know them, but anyway, we recognize that the Lord initially chose twelve apostles. We recognize that one of those men was "the son of perdition;" he was led by Satan; we was swayed by the tings of this world and he killed himself and could no longer serve as an apostle. But later the Lord Jesus called Paul, out of season as it were. He described himself as one "as of one born out of due time," (1 Cor 15:8). So he was the last one that was chosen by the Lord to serve as an apostle. And he has this apostolic authority. Paul has authority because he is an apostle.
It would be easy for me, and I suspect some of you, to let that authority go to my head. Recognizing that I had been hand selected by the Lord and had spent time alone with the Lord and had been trained by the Lord may cause me to desire to exert more authority than was actually mine.
Paul understood the limits of his authority. He mentions several times in his writings that he asks brothers and sisters to do something. He said I beg, I beseech you, at times. He said I could command you but I don’t. In other words, he had the power and the authority to command believers to do a certain thing, to behave a certain way, but he would rather beg them to do it so that they would do it willingly. In fact, it would be easy for us to think that he had let his power go to his head until we begin to examine his life and see how he responds.
1. As A Nursing Mother
Remember in First Thessalonians chapter two he give us his understanding of this office of apostle, he shows us how he serves in that capacity. He’s not one who lords it over others but one who has an entirely different perspective. First of all, Paul says "... when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ, but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children," (1 Thess. 2:7, 8). And the image is that of a mother that is nursing her child. Paul is basically saying that we could have overwhelmed you with our authority but we decided not to.
He said that as an apostle, rather than beat them over the head with the power that he had, he would rather love them gently, like a mother. And we see that in the life of Paul. Paul loves the church and he loves the new Christians and he loves them in a gentle way. And we acknowledge that when a child is nursing, when a child is receiving milk, we want to watch that milk and make sure the baby doesn’t get too much and begin to choke and throw it up. But we want to make sure that the baby gets enough to be nourished properly and grow. And that was Paul’s desire. Paul wanted to feed the church, those new Christians, and make sure that they were receiving the nourishment of the Word of God, but he didn’t want them to choke. At one point he said, "You should be on meats by now, but you’re still on milk, and you are choking on that!" (My paraphrase of 1 Cor. 3:2)
So Paul is very cautious and careful as he ministers. And he sees this office of apostle as one who loves like a mother does and also ...
2. As A Father.
"As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory," (1 Thess. 2:11, 12).
So we see a second idea that Paul has of his position as an apostle. He sees himself as a father. Now, it doesn’t take much imagination for us to realize there is a great difference there. While the mother is the one who wants to nourish, and nurture, and feed, and bring the child up, the father is the one who the responsibility of discipline and correction falls upon. And Paul acknowledges that on the one hand he wanted to raise them like a mother would her child, but he also recognized there were time when correction and discipline were necessary. And he was willing to do that.
He said, "I exhort you." And that means I’ve explained to you and tried to make you understand. But he also says, "I charge you." You know what it means to be charged with something. Those of you that served in the military, when you received a charge you received and order. You didn’t have any options. You had to do what you were told to do. And that is what Paul is saying. As a father sometimes I have to give you instructions that you may not like or you may not enjoy, but it is necessary for me to give them to you anyway.
So in the second chapter of First Thessalonians we see those two. But there is a third one as well. Paul later on says, "Be we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time, in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire," (1 Thess. 2:17). And the word in the Greek that we translate as "being taken" is the same word from which we get our word "orphan." Paul said my relationship with you is like that of ...
3. An Orphan
He said I have been taken away, stolen away from my family and I desire to be with you, I long to be in your presence so that I can worship with you, and love you, and minister to you.
So first of all we see the office of the minister. And Paul is not just a servant of God and is not just an apostle but he as an over encompassing view of what his apostolic office is and that is that of a mother, that he might feed, and teach, and love, and encourage, and that of a father, that he might discipline and protect, and that of a brother that has been orphaned and taken away and longs to be with them.
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ. That’s the office. The next thing that we see is ...
II. The Purpose of the Ministry
Paul continues by saying, "according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness," and although that is a short phrase look at all the doctrine that is poured into that piece of scripture. Paul talks about three things. First of all he talks about faith, then he talks about truth, then he talks about godliness. And Paul sets these up in an order that identifies the way that he teaches and the way he instructs, and points us to the way that we should be receiving them.
A. To Encourage the Faith
Paul says my purpose, the purpose of my office, the purpose of my ministry is that I might encourage you in the faith--that I might direct you in the faith--that I might teach you in the faith.
Last week we talked about faith, what faith is and what faith does, so we won’t go into great detail now, but we must recognize that it was essential for Paul to make everyone understand how important it was to him that they have faith. Many times we misplace our faith and Paul wanted to make sure this wasn’t happening.
B. To Affirm the Truth
One of the ways that we ensure that our faith is not misplaced is by continuing to grow in knowledge of Jesus and of God. Paul said, "according to the ... acknowledging of the truth." What is the truth? What did Jesus define as the truth? Jesus prayed before He was crucified. He prayed in the garden and He said to God, the Father, "Thy Word is truth," (John 17:17) .
Brothers and Sisters, it bothers me today that we have supposed men and women of God who are no longer willing to acknowledge that God’s Word is true. We have been overwhelmed with this concept of relativism--God’s Word is truth if I accept it as truth but God’s Word is not truth for me if I don’t accept it as truth. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said, "Thy Word is truth." It doesn’t matter if I don’t accept it as truth, it is still the truth. I doesn’t matter if I don’t apply it as truth, it is still the truth, and we need to get a handle on that. That is what is destroying our convention today.
I don’t know if you received the e-mails that I do or not, but daily, to the tune of ten, fifteen, twenty e-mails a day addressing this issue of which way the Missouri Baptist Convention is going to go. Are we going to stand on the authority of God’s Word and acknowledge that the Bible is God’s Word and that it is infallible and true? Or are we going to decide for ourselves that it may be truth or me but it may not be truth for somebody else? Folks, listen, just because you don’t believe God’s Word is true doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Just because someone else won’t accept God’s Word doesn’t me that He doesn’t want them to accept it. God’s Word IS the truth!
We must come to a knowledge of the truth, and the only way that we can is by studying the truth.
Now, we do believe in faith alone. But after faith must come growth. We are born again as "babes in Christ" and we must grow to become mature Christians. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Thessalonians when Paul talks about being a father, being a mother, being a brother.
What a tragedy it would be to be a parent and have a new baby and day after day you would watch that child for signs of growth. And after a while you noticed that there was no growth, no change. And you’d pamper the child and you’d give love and affection to the child and there was still no change. You’d know that there was something wrong.
And yet we come into our churches and we see Christians that were born again one day yet we don’t see any growth. And we try to feed them spiritually and we try to nurture them and we still don’t see any growth but we act like there is nothing wrong, that it is alright for a Christian never to grow, maybe that’s all the Lord has for them. But folks, the Lord has MUCH more for Christians than just salvation. He has a maturing relationship in Christ that He wants to lead us through. And it is by growing in the knowledge of truth.
Now, look at the way Paul phrases that. First, faith. Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, knowledge of God. That’s the time that we grow. But look what the conclusion to that is ...
C. To Aspire to Godliness
Did you ever see Christians who acted less than Christ like? It simply means that they have some maturing to do, that they have some growing to do. Have you ever examined your own life and realized that there are some areas in your life that, maybe, you’re not truly conformed to the image of Christ? It simply means that you have some growing to do, you have some learning to do.
And you increase your faith when you increase your knowledge, and you increase your godliness when you increase your knowledge of God and your faith in Jesus Christ. And Paul says that is what the purpose of the ministry is so that all those we come into contact with will, first of all, receive faith in Jesus Christ and begin to demonstrate that faith in their daily life. And secondly that they will affirm the truth, that they will know the truth. Jesus said, "...ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," (John 8:32) , but remember what He said before that: "If ye continue in my word..."
That is the essential part. Then we can live godly lives.
Now, there is a third area of Paul’s ministry that we see in verses 2 and 3. Paul defines ...
III. The Message of the Ministry
We’ve all got a message. We’ve all got something that we can’t wait to tell somebody. We’ve all got something that we want to share with someone else. For some it’s a fish tale. For some it’s a hunting story. For some it’s something about our children or maybe even our grandchildren. But for Paul it was the message of Jesus Christ. Now look what he said.
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour," (Titus 1:2, 3).
Paul said I’ve got a message. Paul said there is something that is so important to me, that is such a part of my life that I can’t wait to share it with others. And it is the hope of eternal life. It is ...
A. A Message of Hope
Now, Paul lived in an age very much like the age that we lived in. Paul lived in a time when other Gods were worshiped. You may say, wait a minute, preacher, we live in America. We live in the United States of America. We worship no god but God. But I disagree with you. In America we worship virtually every god but God and we have reached a point where we are free to worship any god we care to worship except God. And if you try to worship God through His Son Jesus Christ it seems that the State, the government, is ready to squelch it. And we can’t allow that to happen. Now, according to scripture we really can’t prevent it, and I see that day coming, but in our own lives we cannot allow that to happen.
I thank God for the men and women who serve in government, who serve in elected office, and who serve in the public eye that are Christians who are not ashamed of their testimony. But I fear that that number is growing smaller and smaller.
We have the same message that Paul has. Paul said that this is a message of hope. Even though we live in a godless world we have a message from God. Even though we live in a hopeless world we have a message of hope. Even though we live in a world that cannot see tomorrow we have a message about eternal life. We are looking to that day in eternity that we will spend with God and Jesus Christ in heaven. That is our message.
I read just the other day that hope is to the future what memory is to the past.
We can look at the past and we can remember those great days and we review them in our mind. And hope is to the future. Hope is a time right now that we can sit down and think about the future. We don’t know what is going to happen, be we, as Christians, know this: there is coming a day when Jesus Christ will return. We know there is coming a day that He will gather His saints and take them to a place that He has prepared. We know that John attempted to describe that place in the book of Revelation. and the beauty is so great that we can’t even imagine it. And that should be our focus. We should be living our lives as if we really believed that day is coming. And we should be witnessing to others as if we really want them to be with us on that day.
Paul said that’s the message I have. It is a message of hope. It is a message that comes from God, and God cannot lie. It is a message that has been promised in time past and it is coming to fruit even today.
He said, "But hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching." It is ...
B. A Message to be Preached
Pay close attention to this. I don’t want to insult anybody in the way that they worship, but look how Paul said this message is manifested. God manifests His Word through preaching. It doesn’t say we manifest His Word by standing up and clapping our hands together or waving our hands over our heads. It doesn’t say we manifest His Word by having "Feel Good Interrelationship" meetings. It doesn’t say we manifest His Word by singing repetitiously the same verse over and over and over. How is the Word manifested? THROUGH PREACHING!
It bothers me that so many churches today are willing to dismiss the preaching of the Word of God as a regular part of their services. You remember when Bro. Pete Ruble led our revival services and he said there was a church not to far from him that took out a big ad in the newspaper and they emphasized the fellowship and they emphasized the song service and that there would be no long sermon. Rather there would be about a ten minute devotion.
You know what they are leaving out, don’t you? They are leaving out the manifestation of the Word of God. They have cut out the preaching. It bothers me in my spirit that so many churches today call the music leader the Worship Leader. Let me tell you who the Worship Leader is...the Pastor, the preacher, the one who brings the Word of God.
Now, I can’t do it without our Minister of Music. He has to turn peoples hearts from the world, turn them from their cares, and a great way to do that is through the song service. And I appreciate Bro. Al. He always speaks to our heart through the song service. But we worship during the preaching, as well. When God’s Word is manifested we worship.
As Paul says this I get the impression that he pointing out a subtle change. He said in due time the Word was manifested through preaching. There was a time when the Word wasn’t manifested through preaching. It was manifested through visions. It was manifested through dreams. It was manifested through angelic appearances. Paul is saying that there has been a change in the method, not in the message. The message is still the same: The hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We wrestle with this today, also. There is a change, sometimes there is a need to change the method we use to present that message but we cannot change that message. Sometimes it may be necessary for us, as a church, rather than to present the message from the pulpit, the message of hope and eternal life through Jesus Christ, maybe rather than from the pulpit we might need to present that message through an Easter Egg Hunt. Now I understand that an Easter Egg Hunt is worldly. It even seems to be more pagan than godly. But there are some people who are not coming inside the church. Period. But that does not give us an excuse not to present the message to them. And if the only way that we can get the message to them is if we change the method. And if we host an Easter Egg Hunt and we tell them that we don’t believe in the Easter Bunny but we believe in the Resurrected Lord and if we tell them that we are here for a celebration of that resurrection then we have the opportunity to present the message of hope.
Sometimes it may be necessary for us to present the message through a medium that we don’t prefer. I’m talking specifically about the so-called Christian Rock. Now, I’m not sure that that is a legitimate term, I’ll be honest with you. Rock itself, rock-n-roll music itself seems to define some things that stand outside of Christianity. So it is hard for me to use the phrase Christian Rock as an appropriate term, but, there are some who will not listen to Southern Gospel music. There are people, well, some Christians won’t listen to Southern Gospel music. There are people who will not listen to Bluegrass Music.
Did you enjoy the bluegrass singing last night? Both singings were fantastic. The first singing was great. The second just seemed to get better. Maybe it’s because we had that good meal in between. That was real bluegrass music, but that wasn’t real bluegrass singing. I didn’t hear a single one of them singing through their nose!
But there are some people that don’t enjoy bluegrass. And there are some that enjoy rock-n-roll music. And it may be necessary at times for us to take the message that hasn’t changed and place it in that medium so that others may hear of Christ, as well.
Now, I’ve share with our Deacons before. I’m not entirely opposed to that. I am opposed to bring that type of music inside the church because I believe it is inappropriate here. If it is outside the church, if we have gone to where they are, to minister to them where they are, as Paul did, as Jesus did, then we can use that method. I do approve of being all things to all men that we might save some, as Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 9:22. And if that means that we have to use a pagan ritual, like an Easter Egg Hunt, or a worldly ritual, like a rock concert and put the message of Jesus Christ in them so that people who would in no other way receive that message might be exposed to the Word, then we should pray about it and we should consider it.
So Paul said there is a message in my ministry and my message has not change. And today it still has not changed. And then finally Paul shows us
III. The Result of the Ministry
The bottom line, I guess you’d say. That’s what we are all interested in. What are we going to get out of this? What can we expect to gain from this? What can we expect to see? Paul says in verse number four, he sums it up, he acknowledges that this letter is to Titus, but look at the next part. "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith." That is not just meaningless words that Paul is using. There is a meaning to this. Do we understand what Paul is saying? He is saying there was a time in his life, in some of his missionary journeys when he was in this Greek culture, with these Greek people who are entirely different from the Jews, who lived their life in an entirely different way than the Jews, than the way that he was used to, and yet some how, some way, he met Titus, this young Gentile, and he had the opportunity to share Christ and Titus accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
That’s the result of the ministry. Paul put together his office, and his purpose, and his message, and he expected God to do something. Remember last week we talked about coming to church expecting God to do something? We need to come to God’s house expecting God to glorify Himself and to reveal Himself, to show Himself in such a way that everyone can recognize Him. And when we go out into the world we need to present God in that way and we need to have that same expectation then. When we go out on Thursday night visitation, when we go and spend the weekend with our family, when we go and talk about Jesus to anybody we should expect the Holy Spirit of God to be a work in that person’s life touching their heart and raising questions in their mind and making them receptive to Jesus as Lord and Savior. And because Paul expected God to reveal Himself and to move where he went, the Holy Spirit was already at work in Titus’ life when Paul got there.
We don’t know that Titus accepted the Lord the first time that Paul told him about Christ. In fact, I dare say, he probably didn’t unless there was already some great thing going on in Titus’ life already. Maybe some catastrophe that had caused him to look at his own mortality and to look to the future in anticipation of what the future might hold for him. And maybe he, like some of the others, the Centurion, for one, had looked at his culture and had seen the decadence and debacle of their culture and had decided that that couldn’t possibly be right and there must be something more. Maybe then Titus would have accepted the Lord immediately. But maybe not. And maybe Paul took Titus, just like we saw in Thessalonians, and nurtured him like a nurse cherisheth her children, and maybe he comforted and charged him like a father doth his children. Or maybe he just treated Titus like a long lost brother and put his arms around his neck and greeted him and accepted him when no one else would. We don’t know. But we do know this, and scripture bears it out, that Titus responded to the offer of the message of Christ.
"To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour."
I wanted to share that with you this morning because this is Clergy Appreciation Month. Bro. Richard and I, we have an office, you call us pastor. And we feel ten feet tall when you say that. We have a purpose as we minister to you and that is to reach this community for Jesus Christ. We have a message: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. That’s our message. And we expect results. Not from what we do, but from what the Holy Spirit of God does when His Word is manifested, revealed, brought forth, through preaching.
This is Clergy Appreciation Month. This should also be Disciple Appreciation Month. Because as disciples you, too, have an office that God has called you to. You have a purpose that He has laid out before you. You have a message, yes, in fact, it is the same message that we have. And I know that you, too, can expect results.
Preached at Patterson Baptist Church 10/15/00
