We're turning in the book of Titus to chapter 3 today. This is the last of our sermons in this series. We've been studying this since the end of May, beginning of June, and on through until now. The officers had asked me to speak about some of the things in the earlier chapters about elders and so forth, and we just kept on going, and so now we've come to the end of this book of Scripture. And what Mike read earlier is back up to what we're looking at here today in verses 12 through 15 of Titus 3. Very similar, only what Mike read is a little bit longer text, basically saying the same thing. So we could take our sermon title and shift over to that text and preach it from there if we wanted to, basically realizing that God says similar things in different places. Let me read verses 12 to 15 of Titus 3 from the New King James Version. When I send Artemis to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenos the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let us, or let our people also learn to maintain good words, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. Nutshells are not very large, are they? Even a coconut shell can be held in one hand. And that is why we have the expression that says, give it to me in a nutshell. Give it to me in a nutshell. That is, make it small enough for my mind to hold it easily. Make it simple enough to get the first time. Put it in such a way that it does not need layers of repeating and layers of explaining. Trim it. Reduce it down to a minimum. We like nutshell summaries in so many areas of life, don't we? We want the medical diagnosis given to us in a nutshell without all the complicated terms. Just give it to me straight, doctor. In a nutshell. We ask the automotive mechanic to tell us what needs to be fixed without a lengthy explanation of the many workings of the internal combustion engine. Just what's broken, how are we going to fix it? We hope that the police officer will skip the lecture, just write the ticket, and let's be done. That's why I like Bible passages like the one that we read in Titus. It describes, in a nutshell, the church at work. You, a local church, described in a nutshell. Certainly more could be said than is here, but it's a good summary. More could be talked about in terms of worship or evangelism. There are other things, certainly, that we can bring in. I don't know that Paul intended this to be a picture in a nutshell of the church at work, I don't know as he was guided by the Holy Spirit to write this text of Scripture that he said, in a nutshell, and he wrote it down. But he is concluding his letter to Titus with some personal notes of one kind or another. And as I collect these little notations, I get a sense or an idea of church work in the first century, which becomes a pattern for church work. in the 21st century. If you sit and you say, what are we supposed to be doing? What is supposed to be going on here as we do church? Well, here it is in a nutshell. If you can call a seven-point outline a nutshell outline, here it is. We're going to follow Paul's pen as he concludes this letter, as he concludes another book of the Bible. Here are, I think, seven signs that Christ's church is at work for God. And I want you to take these seven signs, I want you to make a frame, like a picture frame, and I want you to put it in front of this congregation. Are these seven signs, things that are in the picture of Grace Reformed Baptist Church? This isn't everything, but are these things here? Let me tell you right as we begin, I think so. I see all seven of these and we want to underscore them. We want this to be an encouraging opportunity for us, one with another. We're not going to take the space shuttle altitude of theology here. We're going to just go with a paper airplane. We'll just be down here. These things that are common everyday kinds of things in the local church. So point A, the commitment of manpower, you can write in there woman power as well. Right here in these few verses, there are six individual men mentioned. Paul, Titus, Artemis, Tychicus, Zenos, and Apollos. And verse 15 refers to some who are with Paul and others who are with Titus. I don't know who they are. These are the congregations with Titus on the island of Crete. Six men, several congregations. That's a lot of manpower. That's a lot of woman power committed to the Lord. You have to do a lot of reading between the lines here. It's okay to do that as we just think about these congregations. Who are they anyway? Where did they come from? They came from an awful background. The culture of Crete, terrible. About most of these people, we know nothing. We only know the name of Artemis. We're told that Zenos is a lawyer, but not what kind. Could have been a lawyer of Jewish law, could have been a lawyer of Roman law. What kind of a lawyer is he? I don't know. From reading other scripture, we learn a bit more about Tychicus and Apollos. Mike's reading mentioned Tychicus and you can look up maybe some little exercise in your own. Who are these fellows? What did they do? Where are they found? Elsewhere. But they are qualified and they are faithful men. We don't learn anymore about the congregations. I wonder what they were like. I wonder what kind of a mix of people was in those congregations there on the island of Crete where Paul had been there ministering and he has Titus there now leading to get things organized in that place. But what is revealed here is commitment. Some people are travelers. I'm sending this one and this one is coming and they may be going, you've got travelers here in the work of the Lord. And some are staying put for these travelers to come to. Some are out front. Others are behind the scenes. Together, they are the wheels of church work. This is it right here in a nutshell. People coming and going. People you see out in front. People that you never hear about. People that are no names. People that are a little bit known about. But that's church work. That's a congregation. That's the work of God. That's who you are, we are here. You see, together, this manpower, womanpower, committed men, women, boys and girls, We are challenged to be such people. Church work is the church at work. Have you got it? Church work is the church at work. Praise God that you are committed. I enjoy it when we come in here. I pull into the parking lot and there are some young fellows carrying signs out to put out near the road. somebody's already been here to unlock the door somebody's working with the bulletins uh... teachers are getting ready in the classrooms and and uh... equipment is set up and and their greeting and all kinds of things going on just when we get here commitment of manpower. This place would not exist, this place will not continue as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ without the commitment of manpower and woman power and boy power and girl power. Mark that down. And the reason it's where it is that it's grown, that it's continuing to grow, that it's looking forward with a new pastor to come. The reason for all of that is that we have a church at work. Commitment of manpower. Point B, the companionship in ministry. You know, even though Scripture and even though history offer examples of God's servants working alone, the recommended norm seems to be the opposite. You can go way back into the Old Testament if you want to and follow on through there. You have Moses, who his father-in-law gave him a talking to one day and said, you're going to wear yourself out, Moses. You need some help. And Moses got this whole great group of elders that God allowed him to have to work with him. And that pattern has continued. How many disciples? Twelve of them. How do they go out? Two by two. Read through the book of Acts and you see constantly this idea of companionship in ministry. The coming and going of the men in verses 12 and 13 here. I'm sending Artemis to you, or Tychicus. And then we've got verse 13, Zenos and Apollos. They're on their journey. But you see the plurality in the groups here. Plurality is going on. You've got companionship in ministry. Have you ever been alone, and in being alone, been lonely? God understood that. Why is God a Trinity? Why does He have that continued fellowship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Why did He say to Adam in the garden, it's not good for you to be alone. Let's give you someone to be with you. That whole idea, that whole theme is so necessary. The commitment of manpower in church work is a commitment to companionship in church work, supporting one another. Christians should seek and accept this. Ministry teams are not a modern idea. Missionary teams are not innovative. They've been going on for centuries. Committees are not new. Why is it that in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul describes the church as a body with all kinds of parts? Many members, one body. Giving that idea, companionship, all working together. Why is it in Acts 20, verse 28, Paul is reminding the elders to take care of the flock? I don't think you can have a flock of one sheep. I think if it's a flock, it suggests there are several. There's more than one. There's companionship. Why do we have in 1 Corinthians 3, verse number 9, the church described as a building. A building made out of a variety of pieces and parts all put together, supporting and helping and beautifying one another. That's the church. So church workers today want co-pilots and flight crews, not solo flying. Why do we want this pastor to come, whoever it might be? Because you have one elder now, and it's not good that there be one elder, that there be others in order to support and supply. Why is it that you have multiple deacons? That's the biblical word, companionship in ministry. ministry companionship, if you want to put it this way, is stylish biblically. It's in style church work by committed manpower. I'm glad there's a good beginning of that here, a good progress of that in this place. This is the church at work in a nutshell. Point C, the compliance with management of the compliance with management. There's a lot of leading and following going on in just these little short verses here. Some are leading. Some are directing. Others are following. Others are taking directions. Paul shuffles his staff. He sends a memo to Titus to instruct his congregation. This is all going on here. Compliance with management, there is order, there is organization and compliance. You notice it's not complaining, not conflict. The compliance makes it work. complaining and conflict pop up in Scripture from time to time. Does anything jump to your mind as a situation of complaining or conflict? But it always slows down the work of God. Do you remember what was going on in the book of Numbers? Numbers 12. Let's see, that was Moses. He had a brother Aaron and he had a sister Miriam. And one day, out of the blue, Miriam and Aaron gang up on Moses, and they complained to him about his marriage. God had never complained about the marriage, but Aaron and Miriam thought, we don't like the way this is here, and they complained. They were to be following even Moses' leadership here for the people of Israel, but that didn't last. And they complained. And you know what happened? Everything stops for the nation of Israel. Nobody's moving anywhere. Nobody's going anywhere. First of all, God gave Miriam leprosy just to teach her a lesson. But you can't move on, God says, until her leprosy is gone. Now what do we do? We all have to stop. We all have to wait. But we all didn't do anything. They did it. But sometimes just one or two can affect the progress of everybody. And so for a week they're waiting. Is Miriam all better yet? Is Miriam healed yet? Is Miriam cured yet? And finally she gets cured. Okay, now has everybody learned a lesson here? Let's move on. Church work is a top-down program, starting with God's Son, the Head of the Church, and levels of opportunity and responsibility under Him. And He's broken it down, the Son has, through the Scriptures. We've already studied about elders and deacons and so on and so forth. You see the importance of this for each one of us. This is in and around these few verses that we've got. We've got compliance with management. We've got Paul saying, do this, and everybody doesn't say like, fun, we're not going to do that. No, they said okay, and that's where we're going, and that's what we're doing next. It's important for every one of us. All the commitment of manpower in the world seeking to have companionship in ministry needs compliance with the levels of management. You can have all kinds of committed people, and you can have them join together, but they've got to say, wait, we need some structure here. We need some order. levels of management. That may be church officers, that may be a new pastor. What do you have in your mind about what he's supposed to be and what he's supposed to be doing and what are his responsibilities and what does it mean for him to be an overseer of the congregation? We've also had some thought here in the text about the older men and the older women guiding the younger men and the younger women. That's some order. That's some structure. That's compliance with the management as God has set it up. Paul told Timothy, I want the men to lead in prayer and some other things. Point D, the common sense about meteorology. Did you ever hear a point like that before? I had to go with that. I didn't know what else to do. I've been going, if you've noticed, with the letters C and M. So what do I come up with here with the common sense of meteorology? I didn't know how else to describe the end of verse 12. You see it there? For I have decided to spend the winter there. That sounds like meteorology to me. Something going on with the weather. Paul tells Titus that Paul plans to go to Nicopolis for the winter. And he wants Titus to meet him there. Now we may say, why do we even have that detail? What does that matter? What does it mean? Well, it seems to me that Paul weighed his options. He could have gone anywhere. He could have been anywhere. But he weighed his options for the coming winter months and he decided that his best choice for ministry was to move to a fairer weather spot. Simple as that. Perhaps Paul considered his age, maybe his health, maybe the difficulties of winter travel. the inconvenience to others to connect with him with supplies and messages. Maybe he's thinking about his goals. There's a lot of things that could enter into this. And he's thought it through. Wait a minute, this is a fellow that's dealing with justification by faith and all kinds of other things that we have in the Bible. And he tells us where he's going to spend the winter. That's like you and me. I'm going to Florida for the winter. Isn't it always wise to use God-given common sense? That's a church at work. A church that uses God-given common sense, especially toward things that are out of our control. What could Paul do about the winter? Absolutely nothing. But he says, I need to react with some common sense. On some mission fields, the missionaries adjust plans for the dry season, or it's the monsoon season, or whatever it is. They know they make some changes here in light of what's going on with the weather. In the United States, a hurricane may alter services, or evangelism projects. outreach opportunities, but there's a hurricane. We had this planned for Tuesday evening, but we have to think about that. Use some common sense. Christians do not have to unnecessarily expose themselves to troubles like, have you seen them, like the weather reporters do. standing knee-deep in floodwaters, fighting strong winds in order to give their weather report. Now, do they have to be out there? I guess it's more dramatic and it helps us who view it to see some of the weather, but Christians don't have to act that way. They don't have to put themselves The church at work does not have to be the church at work at the most inconvenient and the most uncomfortable circumstances if there's a common sense alternative. There is no guilt in crude for delaying or canceling a service or a meeting. I grew up with the idea that no matter what You have a schedule. You keep the schedule. What are people going to think if, with the three feet of snow, you cancel church? Well, they might think you used a little common sense. Paul says, I've got to get out of here. I've got to go there for wintertime. Paul would not have been more holy and more committed if he had picked the worst spot for winter ministry. And I don't believe we receive divine bonus points standing in the rain, hail, sleet, and snow handing out tracts. A little bit of humor here maybe, but a church at work is using some common sense about what's going on. It's okay to do that. Point E, the compassion for missionaries. Can verse 13 be any clearer? Send Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack nothing. Paul knows that Zenos and Apollos will be passing through Crete. It is even possible that they will bring the letter from Paul to Titus. They might even be the carriers of this very letter here. Where they're going after that, we don't know. But it is clear that Paul expects Titus To do what? To organize some support for these men. Titus and the churches should see to the needs of these men when they come and when they leave. Take care of them, see them on their way. The missionaries should not have to fend for themselves while they're in Crete, nor leave with empty purses and crumbs in their lunchboxes. That's what it means. They shouldn't lack anything while they're there with you and when they go. Somehow the Christians should do their best to encourage and enrich these traveling ones. What do we call it today? Love offering? We're going to take a love offering. That's the idea here. Usually it's money. But sometimes missionaries lack other practical necessities. Shoes are worn through. Come on, I'm taking you to the shoe store. We're going to get you a new pair of shoes. Hear of a missionary in Africa? They travel around on bicycles. Bicycles broken down all in pieces. Wore that one out. We're going to buy them a bicycle. That's what he's talking about here. Medicine? came through, can't afford to get it. What do we do as a church? You see, the church at work does not turn a blind eye or deaf ear to the missionaries that it supports. How great to see the board out there with the missionary display and different ones and the focus on these kinds of things. How wonderful for Nomi to have the tub there. We need some clothes for folks. What can we do? Where can we get some? Do we have a benevolence fund to go buy some? Compassion for missionaries. And then the next point F, the command to meet needs. This point is riding piggyback on the last one. It's connected. It's coupled. Verse 13 expands into verse 14, doesn't it? Verse 13 sends Zenos, Delor, and Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack nothing and Let our people, let us also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. It's not only the needy missionaries who should be noticed. You ever wonder if you're producing fruit spiritually? Paul explains to Titus, about one measure of your productivity spiritually. It is learning to meet needs through good works. I like to see bulletin boards and see sign-up lists, and we need help with this, and then I see thank you notes on the bulletin board. It's a learn-by-doing process. Paul says that our people, or ours, must not put missionaries on a pedestal. Well, that's a missionary. I'll do that for them. Others have empty purses. Others have crumbs in their lunch boxes, maybe right in our own midst. Others qualify for the love offering. It's interesting, this is the fifth time, a little short book of Titus, three chapters, not really long chapters, but here's the fifth time, and last, that Paul mentions good work. Good works, good works, good works. This is the church at work doing good works like this. Faith without works is dead. Ephesians 2.10 reveals that saved people are created to do good works. That's one reason God saved you. Why? Well, He's ordained that you do good works. Well, what kind of good works? Well, empty lunch boxes, worn out shoes, All of those kinds of things. You see, the church at work is gathered to worship, but not just to gather for worship. It's sent out to witness, but not just sent out to witness with a track. Our people bear each other's burdens, love their neighbor as themselves. That's as much church work as other types of ministry. Sometimes some folks kind of feel bad, feel they need to duck a little bit, or they feel a little guilty. Well, I can't teach. I can't stand up there and do this. I can't give a lot in the offering. But you can do something. It's work that we all can do. Galatians 6.10 sums it up this way. Do good to all men. Boy, that spreads around the world, doesn't it? Do good to all men, and then it narrows it. Especially to the household of faith, especially to the people of God that are right around you. Or you remember Jesus said, I've got two commandments for you. I've got the first one, the greatest one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But there's a second one that's like it, he says, love your neighbor like yourself. It brings us to point G. The communication between many The family of God is a big family. Most of you know, some of you may not, that in 2014 I stepped down from being the pastor of a church in Liverpool. I was there for 45 years and felt it's time for me to do some other things. And what I've been doing is preaching in churches here, there, and everywhere. And it has been such a blessing to see the family of God in different places, all laboring to be the church at work. What a delight it is for us to do that. The family of God is a big family. Paul encourages keeping contact with other Christians. You see, verse 15, that's typical. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Let's keep up that connection, that contact, that greeting one to another. Don't forget me. I won't forget you. It doesn't matter if everyone knows everyone on each end. You see Paul's greeting and he's looking for greetings and they can't say, ah, we know every single one of the people there. I hardly can remember all of your names. What is important is that Christians see the big picture of God's church at work. Do you see that big picture? You realize you're not the only ones around. You're not the only ones trying to do God's work, trying to be the church at work. It should really encourage you to know that there are dozens and hundreds of other congregations just like you trying to do the same thing. Boy, that's a shot in the arm. Good! We're not the only ones. That's what he's doing here. You need to do that. What's the motivation that Paul mentions here? Greet them that love us in the faith. You know, there are those that love you in the faith. Do you love others in the faith? Those who care seem to want to communicate with each other. Do you do that? Those who care about the same thing, the same gospel, want to communicate even more with those who are doing the same thing. Why is Christina on the other side of the world? Can you imagine that? With people who are doing the same thing you are, different setting, different circumstances, different potential diseases. I don't know what it's like over there. But look at those people over there saying, we love Christ. We love you. What can we do to contact and keep in contact with our spiritual family in other places? What can you do? What should we do? Should we have a letter of the month that we send off to some fellow congregation and ask them to respond. Well, two points of application. One, a commendation. Thank you for the part that each of you does to make this a church at work. And I mean that. I commend you for what you do. Your commitment of manpower, your companionship in ministry, your compliance with management, your common sense with meteorology, your compassion for missionaries, your obedience to the command to meet needs, and your attempts at communication between many. I appreciate that. I commend you. Keep it up. You're doing a good work. I'm sure the Lord Jesus is glad for what you do. Then a question, is there anything that each of us can do more of? We need to be challenged by this. Is there something, Lord, that I could do that I'm not doing? Something that I could do better in this thing called church work? Any way that I can pick up my end of the piece of lumber we're carrying here? What is the Holy Spirit laying on your heart? Maybe nothing. But if something, you could make this an even greater church at work for the Lord Jesus Christ. So, that's it in a nutshell. Let's bow in prayer. Father in Heaven, thank you for Paul writing to Titus and mentioning people at work for you. Help us, our God, to know what to draw from this, what to use from this, how to be more useful for you because of what we've learned. Continue to bless this congregation as a church at work for you. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.