Sermon Tone Analysis

TITUS: Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Church

“Godly Relationships” -

INTRODUCTION

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According to a survey conducted from LifeWay Research (2014) developing relationships in a church matters.

The results of the survey reveal that the majority of people in a church long to develop relationships with one another

· 74% surveyed said they had developed significant relationships with people at my church

· 53% of people try to get to know new people at church

· 42% spend time with other believers to grow in my faith

What an interesting study!

The survey reveals that developing significant relationships in a church is valued by the majority of the people, but just over half try to get to know new people (how will these people develop significant relationships if now one cares to meet them), and less than half of the people spend time together to grow in their faith (Why?).

God has called us into a relationship with Himself and to one another – the church is designed to be highly relational – remember we are a family!

(JOKE)

Need

Our relationships with one another matters!

We are called to be in fellowship with God and with one another.

God’s Word says the world will know that we are followers of Jesus by our love for one another but hopefully we like each other as well.

I hope you will not simply “attend” MBC but “belong” to MBC by developing significant relationships and getting involved in our disciple-making mission.

If you are a visitor, I hope this will be a place you are warmly welcomed and find a church family where you belong.

Sadly, the church can be known for its “superficial” relationships.

Much of the superficiality can result from being too inclusive (holy huddle), too judgmental (critical spirits/attitudes), and too self-focused on what “I” get out of a church instead of what “I” can give to a church (consumer driven mentality).

We desperately need to become a church where authentic relationships are developed and deepened for we are called to live as a family.

How does God want us to live in relationship with one another as a church family?

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Titus.

Preview

Today we conclude (wrap up) our series in the NT book of Titus.

Over the last seven week’s we’ve been uncovering “the Essential building blocks of an Effective Church” from the book of Titus.

Let’s take a moment to review each building block.

Up to this point we’ve considered seven challenging and convicting essentials.

Gospel Ministry (1:1-4)

Godly Leadership (1:5-9)

Sound Doctrine (1:10-16)

Godly Living (2:1-10)

Grace (2:11-14)

Godly Citizenship (3:1-7)

Good Works (3:8-11)

Today we uncover the eighth and final essential building block in . .

Follow along as we read .

I) GODLY RELATIONSHIPS

We come to the end of Paul’s letter to Titus.

Many of Paul’s letters conclude on a very relation nal tone.

We can feel the warmth of this first century letter.

In the final section of this letter we find personal exhortations and the inclusion of individual names of people which is a distinctive mark of several NT letters (; ; ). .

These personal conclusions to the NT letters are some of my favorite passages of Scripture.

One of the things that I love about these passages is that they introduce us to new people and new places.

I love that these sections of the NT reveal the humanness of the first century believers comes to life, these are people just like us, they have with real desires, struggles, and interests.

I love that these sections remind us of the deeply personal and relational nature of the Christian life.

At first glance we might quickly dismiss the importance of these passages or we might wonder how they apply to our lives in the 21st century but these passages are “God-breathed” and profitable in our lives.

highlights our eighth essential building block of an effective church—“GODLY RELATIONSHIPS.”

Godly Relationships is our final essential building block of an effective church from the book of Titus.

I’m excited for God to speak to us about our relationship with one another as believers in Jesus Christ.

Our world is consumed by the desire for relationships.

Relationships are at the heart of our families, vocation, teams, and friendship.

Most of the places we go are focused on developing and fostering relationships.

We can see the pursuit of relationship at the heart of a coffee shop or a local bar.

Starbucks has made millions of dollars selling over-priced coffee, it’s good coffee but what was so unique about Starbucks was the atmosphere were people could meet and develop a sense of community.

The same is true for a local bar.

Like a coffee shop it’s a place where people go to have a drink but again the deeper need being met is connecting with people.

We see this played out in every stereotypical bar scene in a t.v.

show or movie – someone walks in, orders a drink, and needs to talk with the bartender.

We see this best depicted in the classic t.v.

show Cheers.

The theme song of Cheers highlights the relational need being met at a local bar in Boston.

(LYRICS) I’m not here supporting or defending the need for coffee shops or bars.

I simply want us to see the deep need in the human heart for relationships.

If you still aren’t convinced take a look at the magazine rack as you check out at the grocery store – headlines like “Ten ways to enhance your love life” or “Five hotspots to hang out with your friends” address the innate need for humans to be in relationship with one another.

Why do you think we have something known as “social media” – Facebook (987 friends), Twitter, Snapchat, are all ways for people to connect relationally and find some sense of community, even if it’s superficial it’s better than nothing.

Dana has been watching program on the History Channel called “Alone” – the show tracks individuals dropped off in a remote forest with only ten survival items and a small camera to document their struggle to survive – the last person to survive wins $500,000 – but the greatest struggle they share on camera as the days go on is the mental strain is not the threat of being attacked by a bear, not starvation, not fatigue but the lack of human contact.

The mental strain of not being able to see anyone or talk to anyone for 30, 40, or 50 days is almost too much to handle.

God has wired us for relationships – it’s part of the “imago dei” – being made in the image of God..

The Christian life is all about relationships!

When we come to faith in Christ we begin a new relationship with God and we also begin new relationships with other believers.

The NT gives us several metaphors that highlight the “relational” aspect of the Christian life—we are called a fellowship and a family—for we are called to live together in community.

Therefore as we conclude this series in Titus we come to the priority of “Godly Relationships.”

If there is one thing that will keep us from being an effective church it’s isolating ourselves from community and neglecting our responsibility to deepen our relationships with one another as a church.

As we walk through this final section in Titus together we’ll be challenged to deepen our relationship with one another in this local body and with other believers in other local churches as well.

In we find four characteristics that should mark our relationship with one another as fellow-believers.

Let’s dig in!

A) Team Ministry (3:12)

The first distinctive characteristic that should mark our relationship is “Teamwork.”

Teamwork.

We see “teamwork” as an vital characteristic of a marriage relationship, the relationship between and employer and employees, and of course in the relationship between teammates.

This is true all the more for our relationship as a church family.

We see the importance of “Teamwork” outlined in —As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there—for here we see “Teamwork” on full display in Paul’s exhortation.

Paul’s desire is clear, he wanted Titus to come and visit him in Nicopolis where he was going to be staying for the winter but this will require sending a replacement to take over the ministry among the churches on the island of Crete.

1) Paul’s Plan (3:12a) – Please take note of Paul’s Plan.

Paul planned to send Artemas or Tychicus to Crete.

Paul had not decided at the time he wrote the letter if he would send Artemas or Tychicus but one of them would likely take over Titus’ leadership role among the churches.

What do we know about these two guys?

· Artemas - This is the only time a man named Artemas is mentioned in the NT.

Therefore we don’t know a lot about this man, he must have been a faithful man in order to be considered for such a ministry position alongside Titus and Tychicus.

· Tychicus - We get a better portrait of Tychicus in the NT.

Tychicus was one of Paul’s close ministry partners.

In we discover that he was from the province of Asia, he and Trophimus went with Paul to deliver the collection gathered for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.

Tychicus is described as “the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant of the Lord” ( & ) – he was the one who delivered those letters to the Christians in Colossae and Ephesus.

We don’t know if either of them had been dispatched (thus enroute) to the area by the time of Paul’s letter or if this simply reveals the over-all leadership plan for the future.

In we learn that Paul eventually sent Tychicus to Ephesus and Titus went to Dalmatia (just up the coast from Nicopolis) so it’s assumed that Artemas was the one sent to Crete.

The oversight and leadership among the churches in Crete would be passed on from Titus to Artemas, thus we get a glimpse into the leadership succession plan as Artemas would take over ministry in Crete.

2) Paul’s Plea (3:12b)

We move from Paul’s plan to send Artemas or Tychicus to Crete to Paul’s Plea.