Okay, Mark, where's the button? You told me that you guys were putting in a hydraulic pulpit. You didn't do it yet, okay. All right, well, as I've had to do for 38 or 39 years, I'll adjust. For those of you who aren't sure, being short is exciting, even in this country. If you'll take your Bibles, let's go to Titus chapter three as you're turning. It's so good to be here. I'm fourth generation for this area. We have three sons and 11 grandkids here in town. The rest of my family, is at the end of Mountain at Grandview. My parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, so they're all down there and of all the places that the Lord has allowed my wife and I to minister in and visit, this is always home. So we get excited when we come 70 and then see the first tip of the Rockies. But I really get so excited when I see the first Fort Collins exit, so great to be back here. My wife Denise is with me. We celebrate our 46th anniversary in a couple of weeks. We are back to pick up our three, some of our most dangerous grandchildren. And every few years we are up at Pioneer Bible Camp in the mountains above Ogden, Utah. And this year we've got them going up with us. We'll have about 110 to 120 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. So pray for us and pray for them. But we will leave early in the morning and start tomorrow night up there. So it's good to be here. We have eight kids, 24 grandkids, and we're approaching our 39th year of full-time ministry. We're thankful for God's goodness and grace to keep going. Recently, earlier this year, we took a church in Troy, Missouri. It's northwest of St. Louis. Great opportunity, but it's a church that was like so many across the country within a few years of closing. And we're in what we call a revitalization or a restart ministry. so appreciate your prayers the Lord's already blessed and we've had some families come back that had left in the past so that's what we're doing right now now if you'll take your Bibles and I'm going to be focusing this morning just on verse 8 but to get the context of the chapter so you understand a little bit about what Paul is saying to Titus, to the believers on the island of Crete, and to believers in the centuries since then, we'll begin reading at verse one. I'm using the ESV this morning. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. A number of years ago, a group of Americans were in Russia on a business trip. And as part of their tour, they were shown a number of buildings that had been revitalized from the last century. One of those was a church. It had the traditional appearance of a Russian church, the onion-shaped tops on the steeples, And it looked just like you would expect a church over there to look. And once they were inside, they saw the foyer with the doors leading into the auditorium and the lobby that looked much like an American church. But when the doors were opened, the group of business folks were in for a big surprise because they were shocked to see that all the pews were gone. And in their place, they had stacked chicken coops from the floor to the ceiling. They asked their guide why in the world that this had been done. And the guide proudly looked around the church and with great pride says this, our church building is the finest hatchery in the region. And then looking at the American guests, he sarcastically said, God is not real. Chickens are. While this scene wasn't what the visiting business group expected to see or hear, surveys in recent years in this country indicate that a growing number of people no longer believe that God exists. And the shocking thing is, is that some of those people can be found in churches just like this across this country who have gotten to the point where they are beginning to doubt the existence of God. Now, families are real, jobs are real, houses are real, terrorism is real, sickness and suffering are real, money is real, and yes, even chickens are real. But when people look at the current culture in America, and when they see where we're headed as a nation, they ask the question, where's God? What's going on? Well, these are new questions. Because if you read through the Old Testament, you find out that the psalmist, prophets in the nation of Israel more than once asked the question, where's God? What's going on? They asked those questions during difficult times. And surely, we're in difficult times for our nation and times that are growing worse. Now, please don't make the mistake that many do. We had the wonderful privilege of being missionaries in the Philippines for a number of years. The church around the world has suffered in ways and been persecuted in ways that we in this country cannot even begin to imagine. We may very well be headed toward that. There are many around the world, believers who pray that persecution will come to America because they believe that's the only thing that will wake the church here up. We're so comfortably, anemically serving the Lord that when we do have our rights infringed on, or what we call our rights, all of a sudden we think we're persecuted. Like this editorial from the Atlantic Journal that made this observation. The writer said, the world is too big for us, too much is going on, too many crimes, too much violence and too much division, too much devotion to entertainment. Try as you will, you get behind in the race in spite of yourself. It's an incessant strain to keep pace and still you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in bewilderment. The political world is news seen so rapidly you're out of breath trying to keep up with who's in and who's out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature cannot endure much more. You agree with that editorial? Many of us can relate to the words of it because it sounds like it was written last week. However, that editorial was written June 16, 1833. How do we go about as believers communicating to people in 2017 that God is real? It is a daunting task. with a country and a culture, and yes, far too often a church, that is moving away from the authority and integrity of the Word of God to a pragmatic viewpoint of life. It's a big job. How do we explain to our culture in 2017 that Jesus is the only hope? How do we explain to them that the gospel is real and that God's grace is abundant and available? How do we communicate to them in the midst of terror, a changing America, and the storms of life, that Jesus is the only safe harbor? Many are trying to figure out the answers to those questions today. Because although we have a good crowd this morning, the church across this country is in trouble. where we will stand, if we will stand, what pastors will preach, what they will be intimidated not to preach. It is a growing problem. As I mentioned, we're involved in a church replant, restart, revitalization. And recently, a friend of ours from a church in Raleigh, North Carolina, he's the executive director, was up the week before a team from that church came up and did a lot of work outside the building and inside and he and I are good friends we were driving from his motel out west on the highway that the church is located on and we were about two miles west of town of about 13,000 people We have about a quarter of a million people within 20 miles. So he and I had been talking about how can we restart this church? How do we reach the culture? 28.6% of those around us are 18 and under. How do we reach them? So as we were driving along, my friend Roy looked up and he said, hey, look. And to my left, on the south side of the road, was a great big billboard. and it had a phone number on it and its implication was call this number and rent the billboard and he said that would be a good way to advertise the church because just a half a mile down the road is the 11 acres the church sits on and the church is interesting because the five and a half acres that fronts the highway is empty We have a farmer who grows hay on it, and he splits the hay profit with the church. He's been doing that for 30 years. And just past the five and a half acres is a big trailer sales and a propane gas company. And behind the propane gas company and the trailer sales is the church. So when you drive by at 55 or 60 miles an hour, you have no idea that the church is there. New shrubs, new paint, chairs, old pews out, and all of those things. We've also got to cut a new road in, hoping to utilize the five and a half acres and perhaps move the church so that people know there's a church there. And as we drove by, I looked up at that big sign in the phone number and I thought, oh man. And Roy said, can't you just see your face on that billboard? And I said, Roy, that is a scary, scary thought. But there are lots of ways to advertise. There's billboards. There's newspaper ads. There's the internet, to mention a few. But the advertisement program that God chose to utilize is us. In Matthew 5 16 Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. We are to be his billboard. The gospel light is to shine and the potency of its salt is to be seen in and through us by the lost every day that we're alive. Why do we come to church? Well, some come to church because this is the greet, meet, and feed Sunday. And believe me, that anomaly goes on all over the country. You have food after church and you see people that you haven't seen in weeks come. But in reality, from a biblical point of view, when you look at Ephesians chapter 4, we come to church as believers, those of us who really truly know Jesus Christ as our Savior, to be equipped for what? The ministry. What ministry? Our ministry. You'd say, wait a minute, I on purpose avoided Bible college and seminary. What are you talking about? I'm not talking about that at all. I'm talking about the responsibility that every one of us, as a born-again child of God, has to live out what we say we believe. Not just voice the gospel, but demonstrate it by how we live. And we come to church to be equipped for the afternoon and the week ahead. The people we meet, the places we go, the faces we see, that is who we are to be God's billboard to. Now, let me outline the book of Titus real quickly and don't panic because I cut my message in half so it's only 90 to 104 minutes so we'll be alright. But I want you to understand what's going on in this little book, three chapters, 46 verses. The only other person that Paul referred to as his son in the ministry with more affection than Titus was Timothy. And if you would work your way through this little book, you would find out although it is a small book, it is power-packed. You could spend weeks studying it, weeks, months preaching through it. It's an amazing book. Chapter 1 and 2 deal with life inside the church. Chapter 1 deals with what a pastor should be, what a pastor should not be. Chapter 2 deals with older men, younger men. Older women, younger women. And it talks about slaves because that was existent in that time. But really we could apply the slave-master relationship to the employer-employee relationship today. But then when we come to chapter three, Paul, in writing to Titus, changes gears. And instead of focusing on what goes on inside the church, now he's focusing on what takes place outside the church. So in verses one and two, he reminds Christians how to act outside the church. And he reminds them in verse 3, as you're trying to reach unbelievers outside the church, please remember who you were and where you were before you came to Christ. Remember where you lived. Remember your sin. Don't ever forget that. Because you know what we do, we all do this in different degrees, and sad to say, I've seen some pastors do it, They get their Sunday coat on and they get this attitude like, I am so glad that you're all here to hear me this morning. And that's not the ministry, that's not pastoring, that's not the biblical picture. If you're here this morning and you're a Christian, you may have your brand new socks on, your best belt, your newest clothes, and you may have just for the first time this morning used your $50 tube of new toothpaste. And you've come to church, and you're all dressed up to one degree or another. But in reality, if you're really truly a Christian this morning, in all of your Sunday finest and best, you and I are just simply sinners saved by grace. nothing more, nothing less. And we have a responsibility. And if we're going to effectively be that billboard and communicate the gospel both in our words and with our life, then we need to never forget where we were before we came to Christ. And then the third thing in verses four to seven that he points out, he says, remember your salvation. Remember your salvation. What a sad thing it is that so many of us, as we get older chronologically, and as Hebrews 5 says, we should be growing in the faith, as those who are able to discern both good and evil, we get old in the faith, and when that happens, we oftentimes forget our salvation, and we get over it. And we get a little bored when we hear about people coming to Christ, and we should be rejoicing, we should be thrilled. We should never get over and get tired of and get used to the fact that the King of Kings, the Creator of the world, of the universe, is our Savior. And He's forgiven us. He took our sin and nailed it to His cross. And on our writ, our bill against us of our sin, it's cancelled, forgiven. should never get over that because never getting over that is what keeps our Christianity vibrant alive and excited so it is that context that we come to verse 8 in chapter 3 because Paul is telling the believers Titus and Titus was told to remind them in verse 1 of chapter 3 what they need to do but he's saying in verse 8 to remember our job by living the Christian life, living out our Christianity in a way that is intentional. By that, I mean on purpose. If you notice in verse eight, this saying is trustworthy. that saying that saying it's trustworthy can also be translated a trustworthy statement or it can be translated this is a faithful saying this was a common expression that was used in the first century we find it in some of Paul's writing. For example, in 1st Timothy 1.15, he wrote, this is a faithful saying or a trustworthy saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. In verse 8, the phrase these things is referring to the way believers are to treat one another inside the church, as outlined in chapter 2, verses 1 to 15, and how they are to treat believers outside the church in chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. Paul told Timothy in verse 8 that you are to insist on these things or affirm constantly. Now the construction there is similar to chapter 2 verse 15 where Paul told him, Titus, declare these things. It is a strong statement. It is not something that we can say, well I'll take it or leave it. No. He's saying to Titus, you need to insist on these things, declare these things, affirm them constantly. As he reminds Titus, the believers at Crete of their job responsibilities, both inside the church to believers and outside the church to unbelievers. Let me throw out a thought that may not have crossed your frontal lobe in a while. Who are we afraid of? Rising crime all over the country. Terrorism. Cults that might come to your door. We live in changing times, times that those of us who are older look back not that many years ago, and we couldn't have imagined where we're at today as a nation. But you see, it's very easy for us to say, well, those people over in the Middle East who want to do this and that, they are our enemies. And those people who commit crimes, wasn't that many years ago in St. Louis, you'd hear of a murder once in a while. Now St. Louis is starting to chase Chicago. It's crazy. Let me tell you something, folks. From a biblical perspective, those people that we say are the enemies of our nation, of Christianity, of freedom, and of everything else, they're our mission field. And we better figure out how to reach Muslim people. We better begin to think in a way that we can reach them. And for those of us who are older but still claim to be cool, We better figure out how to reach the millennium generation who looks at things differently than we do. We better figure out how they think and how we are to approach them. And Paul's saying to the churches and believers on Crete that they have a job responsibility both inside the church to believers and outside the church to unbelievers. Those who have believed in Christ and have been changed from what we once were, sinners without hope, to those whose sin has been forgiven should be careful to maintain good works. Good works. Paul is saying believers should affirm constantly, without ceasing, and speak confidently about the things, these things in verse 8, which is also a direct reference to that long sentence from verse 4 in chapter 3 to verse 7. Remember what those verses contain? Starting in verse 4 down to verse 7, I mentioned it a minute ago. He's encouraging them to never, ever, ever forget or get over their salvation. As believers, we should be able to confidently and intentionally, on purpose, communicate to our culture the truth of God's love and kindness in verse 4. That only faith in Christ alone, apart from good works, can save us, verse 5. We were changed and cleaned up by the Holy Spirit in a bath of redemption, verse 5. The Holy Spirit is in the process of renewing us every day, verse 5. Jesus' death on the cross was sufficient to save us, verse 6. Christ has replaced our sin with His righteousness, and all charges against us have been dropped, verse 7. God has graciously made us co-owners of His coming kingdom, verse 7. That's the message that we should be able to articulate to our culture. But you know what most people do if they're confronted by somebody in our culture with a question about why is Christianity better than any other religion? How is the Bible different from the Quran? Who did Cain really marry? You know what a lot of people do? They get out a little old bulletin or a business card and say, here, call my pastor. That's his telephone number. But you see, if that's our attitude, we will never reach our culture. We will never see our world turned upside down for Christ. You'd say, oh, but that happened back in the first century. It's happened many times since, and we are long overdue. But it is not a matter of having a political party that decides to show favor on Bible-believing Christians. We've tried that. It didn't work. Not that it was a bad thing, but it didn't work. It is not the matter of trying to get a Christian president elected, and he'll make a difference. It's not a bad thing, but it hasn't worked. We find ourselves at a juncture, the church, what will we do? We need to be able to clearly communicate what God has done for us, in us, and through us, not only at the moment of our salvation, but every day since. But for us to be able to do that, then we have to be able to know the word. And for decades, we have been in an all-time low of people who profess Christ as their personal Savior about how much time they spend in the book. I'll tell you what, you live in the St. Louis area, if you don't know that the Cardinals won a game the night before, you could get beat up in church on Sunday morning. We are big on the Cardinals. We're so big on everything but God. We're so big on everything but His Word. We're so big on everything but the Savior. You see, rather than beat around the bush with the message of the gospel, the Christian is to be intentionally confident as he represents the King of Kings. You know what one of our problems is in the church today in this country? We've lost our voice. Why have we lost our voice? Well, I'll tell you what, after surveying 2,500 teenagers back in the mid-80s and reading a number of research studies since, the answer is quite simple, adults, and it's not one that's exciting to hear, but it's true. You know what they say? And I don't want anybody under 25 yelling out amen. Here's what they say. I used to go to church. I grew up in church. Bible-believing church. Yep. Why did you quit? Because my dad was a deacon and I saw how he talked on Sunday and how he lived Monday through Saturday. Because my dad was a pastor and I saw what he did at home. I'd love to tell you that I have not had owners of bars near churches where we've served. I'd love to tell you that some of those owners have not said to me, hey, two are guys from your church that are your leaders. They're in here every Friday and Saturday night. And the first time I heard that, I was like, in where? And he was a big guy, and he went, at my bar. What was I supposed to say? That's interesting. What opinion did he have of our church? You see, in verse 8, Paul is talking to those who have believed in God. The current statistics are that in Bible-preaching, teaching churches, just like this one, 10 to 40 percent, at the most, are really, truly believers. The others are engaged in some sort of playing church. thinking that by buying a pew, a stained glass window, cleaning the floors, providing food for a meal, that will somehow get them to heaven. Paul is talking to those who have believed in God. This isn't talking about a verbal acknowledgement of God. James says that the demons believe in God. They at least tremble at his name. He's saying those who have a personal relationship with the real creator of the universe. His point here is that he's calling Titus, the believers of Crete, the Christians of that first century, and every one of us right up to today to live an intentionally extraordinary Christian life. We can no longer, as the church, have the example that I just gave a few minutes ago where we act one way on Sunday and another way the rest of the week. It won't work. It won't work at all. This week I will show these kids a bunch of slides on PowerPoints because kids have to have interaction to stay awake. And one of those pictures is a photograph of Spud Webb when he slam dunked in 1985 and won the slam dunk championship for the NBA. Now I've showed that picture before and I said, here's a picture of me when I played for the NBA. And I've had kids come up and say, wow, I didn't know you played for the NBA. And I'm like, whew. Now, if I told you I played for the NBA, you would say, that's ridiculous. And I could give you a couple of examples of guys kind of my size, and then you'd still say, that's ridiculous. But you see, that's the problem that we have in our church circles today. We try to talk to people about Christ and they say, that's ridiculous. They look at us as believers as ridiculous. They call us hypocrites. And we may not like that, but you know what? They're right. We can no longer afford to say one thing and do another. You've got to be the real deal. If I pass myself off as an NBA player, I'm not the real deal. I mean, I'm doing good if I can bounce a basketball four times and keep it in front of me. That's the truth. We need to be the real deal. What's the real deal? We're sinners saved by grace. You may say, well, I go to Providence Bible Church. You come here every single Sunday, every activity, and coming here and just sitting here is not going to get you to heaven. It is only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. What the world needs, what our culture needs, what our country needs, what Fort Commons needs, are people who are real. Not perfect, but forgiven. who back up their words with a life that's consistent. Not perfect, but consistent. And until the church confronts the culture in a way that the culture says they are real. I'm not sure that we're going to see things happen. Now how do we show them that we're real? Well, if you go through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament, all 70 books, thank you. Because I've had a lot of people through the years go, oh yeah, yep, Moses built the ark, yep, yep, I know. Isn't that terrible? I even had a deacon one time say, well, Moses did build the ark. Okay? But you see where we're at today. You can go all the way through all the books and nowhere does it say we can live a double life, a double standard. We are to be intentionally who we say we are. And Paul is writing to those who are believers and he urges believers to constantly affirm the message of the gospel. He's also saying that we should maintain good works. devote ourselves to good works. The word devote or maintain in verse 8 means to set or place before, and that's exactly what we are to do as the light of Christ shines in us and through us so we glorify our Father in heaven. That's what God's after. Molding, shaping you, me, to be more like His Son, Romans 8, 29. He's got a plan. He's got a purpose for your life and for mine. And we are to be actively engaged, communicating the message of the gospel to our culture, but people see the message and they hear it when they watch how we react. The Bible never says that as believers we escape the hardships of life. We all go through it. I remember when I became a Christian years ago, 46 years ago, I thought, wow, the bad stuff's over. No more problems. Boy, was I wrong on that one. But it is how you respond. And when cancer knocks on your door, or when your house burns, or when tragedy strikes, It is how we respond. It's when our country is in a turmoil. Our nation's capital is way past a disaster. And people are afraid and they're scared and they don't know what to do. And we are able to exhibit a trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that God is in control and he's still on the throne. And when people see us consistently responding in a biblical pattern, they come to us and say, why are you different? I have seen some of the most powerful Christian witnesses exhibited by people who had terminal illnesses in the hospital before the medical people that they cared for. We are to maintain good works. Paul made it very clear in verse 5 that our good works can't get us to heaven. We do good works because we're on our way to heaven. We do good works because we love Him. And the least we can do is say, Lord, take my life and use me for your glory, because that's what He's after. He wants the glory. He wants the praise. Look at Moses. When Moses hit the rock out of anger, God said, you took the glory. when God told Israel, you are going into captivity, but I will keep a remnant, I will continue to bless, not for your sake, but for my name's sake, why God wanted the glory. Paul saturated this little short letter with the idea of living out our faith by doing good works. For example, in chapter 2, verse 7, he said, show yourself a pattern of good works. Be an example of good works or deeds. In chapter 2, verse 14, he said to be zealous for good works. In chapter 3, verse 1, the believer is to be ready for every good work. Here in chapter 3, verse 8, he stresses the need to be engaged in good works. And in verse 14 of chapter 3, we're to maintain good works to meet pressing needs. Verse 8 says, we're to be careful to maintain good works. This is the only place in the New Testament where this phrase appears. It means to think about and to be intent upon. In other words, be intentional with what we do. Being creative and thorough in our investigation of how and what to do in the form of good works. The idea of being careful is not just an isolated good deed, it is a mindset, a way of life, our daily goal and prayer. You see, we look at good works as something that we're glad we don't have to do because we're forgiven. But God created us. Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10, for good works. There was a guy a number of years ago who lived in a subdivision and everybody had well-kept lawns, manicured shrubs, everybody hoping to own the homeowner's yard of the month award. except one family. And in that house, that guy didn't cut the grass. There were beer bottles all over the driveway. He was one of these guys that was about nine and a half feet tall, even though he wasn't. And he was a great big muscular guy. And he always wore a sleeveless undershirt. And he had all kinds of tattoos over his arms. And when he came outside and threw his beer bottles, the neighbors all slipped back into their garages. And across the street, there was a guy who had a family who told his wife every Saturday morning as he'd sip his coffee and look out the kitchen window, I'll tell you what, that creep across the street, he needs to be arrested, he needs to be sent to another country. The guy won't mow his lawn. Guy's a bum. He's a blight on our subdivision. And then one Saturday morning, the Lord spoke to him. Because this guy was a Christian. Faithfully went to a Bible-believing preaching church. And as he stood there with his coffee this Saturday morning, the Lord told him something that he didn't like. You know what the Lord said? Go mow his lawn. And the guy that told the story, he said, I try to be nice when I said, Lord, no. The Lord continued to deal with him. That afternoon, he got out his mower, and he went over, and the grass was higher than his knees. And he was like, I'm going to have to bail this grass, Lord. But he mowed it. But of course, he had to stop and pick up all the beer bottles and step over the dog messes, and he finally got it done. And he went back home and hosed off his mower and put it back in the garage. And then he went and he stood in the kitchen window and said, oh, that house looks pretty good. Filled up his trash can with beer bottles, but it looks pretty good now. And he waited. Sunday afternoon passed, and Monday, and Tuesday, and Thursday night, and Friday afternoon, and the next Saturday. And he stood there at the kitchen window again with his coffee, and he told his wife, that guy is a jerk. And his wife said, now what's wrong? He hasn't come over to thank me. And the guy said, as he told the story, that's when it happened again. Go mow the lawn again. This time he didn't say no, but he grudgingly drug out his mower and filled it up, went over and it was easier this time because the grass wasn't nearly as high, but he mowed the lawn. Next morning they got up and went to church. and went to Sunday school, came in, and sat down. And everybody in this community knew who this guy was, because he was bad. And as they were sitting there in their pew, you know, that's the pew that if visitors sit in, you tell them to move. They were in their pew, and they heard people go, making noise, and they turned around, and this guy grabbed his wife's wrist and said, sweetheart, look, it's the neighbors. And in came this guy with his family. And they came up and sat down not far from this guy and the whole service. This guy who mowed the lawn was scared because he thought, I wonder if he's mad at me because I mowed his lawn. He came to church to punch me out. At the end of church that day, the pastor said, if there's anyone here who does not know Christ as their personal savior and would like to find out how you can go to heaven by what the Bible says, then please see me after the service. Before that, Sunday service was over and the doors were locked and the family who lived across the street, whose dad and faithful leader of the house mowed the lawn, the neighbors had all come to Christ and dad was first. And the guy couldn't stand it. He finally went up to this guy, and he looked up at him, and he said, I'm your neighbor. I live across the street from you. Yeah, I know who you are. Oh, you do? Oh, yeah. He said, can I ask you a question? Yeah. What made you come today and trust Christ as your Savior? And the big, tough, mean neighbor bent over and said, you mowed my lawn. And the guy stepped back. Huh? I mowed your lawn. He said, I know you go to church. I've been watching you for years, but this is the first time I've seen you do anything like a Christian. He said, as a matter of fact, you're the first Christian I've met. And the guy said, I don't understand. And the big guy said, because you did something and didn't just talk about it. We've lost our voice because we talk, talk, talk, but then they watch the way we live. Galatians 6.10 says that we are to do good to all people, but especially to those who are of the household of faith. In the last part of verse 8, Paul indicates that our good work should go beyond our family and our church family and extend to all we meet. That's not easy. Hey, it's easy to help people at church. They're like us. We know them. But somebody we don't know, somebody who looks different, somebody who may act different, get involved with them, wait a minute, I don't do that. I'm a Christian. That's the very reason we should do that. You see, demonstrating our good works says that our faith is real because we serve a God who is real. Would people who know you say your faith is real because your relationship with the Lord is real? Like it or not, we are a billboard for God's grace. When the world says children are a burden, the Christian says they are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord. When the world says climb over to people to make your way to the top, the Christian says serving others is what matters most. When the world says they've never seen God, the Christian says I can tell you what He's done in my life and what He looks like as He engages in good works that are profitable to all men. To make an impact on our culture and reach people for Jesus, we must live a life that backs up what we say we believe. We get in our little church box and we do the same thing Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. And people pass by us on Sunday on our way to church. They stream by our buildings during church. We pass them during the week. Are we reaching them? You'd say, well, they won't listen to me. Maybe it's because we need to do something. Maybe we need to respond in a way that says to them, these people are different. He's different, she's different. Maybe what they're really looking for is the real deal instead of the same old thing that we've been presenting. Now, I know that this is not a politically correct message. I know that. That's what makes it so exciting. When the world notices our good works and asks us why we do them, then we have the wonderful privilege of telling them the message of the gospel and pointing them to our Savior. You see, those of us who know Christ have been called to live an intentionally Christian life. Not perfect. but a forgiven life, sinners saved by grace, living in such a way that we look for opportunities to demonstrate what we say we believe, why? Why would you go mow the neighbor's yard? Why would you go out of your way? Why would you try to help somebody? Why in the middle of trial and tears would you praise God? Because your ultimate goal is to bring glory to God and in that be able to witness to him through the tall grass or the tall trials. While the greatest advertisement is a Christian who brings real faith to life, the greatest hindrance to Christianity is a Christian who will not live out his faith. Many in the country and around the world are convinced that families are real, jobs are real, houses are real, terrorism is certainly real, sickness and suffering are real, money is real, and yes, even chickens are real. Sadly though, they're not too convinced that God is real. We are His billboard. When a Christian comes along who has a real relationship with God, and is trying to live a real Christian life, that is not only heard in the words they speak, but seen in the works they do, the world stands back and watches. And eventually, they might ask, why? And you might just have the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus Christ. You see, I think it's true that many of us who know Christ as our Savior, we know what we believe, but we don't know why. so we're not able to express it. We've got to know why. We've got to be the real deal. If we're not, we're not going to reach our culture. And folks, our window is growing smaller and smaller. We're running on God's time, but we're running out of time to have the freedom in this country to be the witnesses that we need to be. Intentional Christianity I pray that that will be the way that all of us say we have to live because there is no other way to live for him. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your love and your faithfulness. Thank you for the marvelous book of Titus. Short but so profound. Father, help us To make sure, first of all, that we really know Christ is our Savior and we're not trusting in good works, our good deeds, our gifts, our talents. But we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're on the way to heaven because we have accepted the finished work of Christ on the cross. Our sin is forgiven. He is our Savior. We have repented and turned to Him. And help us, Father, that as we know that wonderful truth and live with that daily, that we never get over it, that we maintain the excitement of our salvation, of our relationship with the King of kings. And Father, help us as your children to live out what we say we believe, not just by what we say, but how we live the lives you've given us. How we do what we do. And help us to realize The good works are not an effort to gain brownie points. They can't get us to heaven. But good works are what we do because we love you. Because when we look at what you did for us, we realize that the least we can do is say, Lord, let my life count for you. And those good works, those deeds, those correct biblical responses to the hard things and issues in life are what give us the open doors to be able to share the truth of the gospel. in word with the people who watch us. Father, may you continue to use this church in Fort Collins, not just to be here, not just to hold services, but to be actively engaged in intentional Christianity and turn this town upside down for Jesus Christ. For it's in his name we pray and give you the honor and praise. Amen.