Titus 3:12-15

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.  Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.  All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.  Grace be with you all.

Ministry is a team sport.  Nobody can accomplish effective ministry by themselves.  Those who attempt to do so will eventually be ineffective or worse.  As believers we are all working together for the cause of Christ and the advancement of the Gospel.  The different gifts and different functions are essential to the advancement of the Gospel and reflecting the image of God to a world that desperately needs to know Him.

HELP FROM OTHERS: Paul wants to send someone to continue the work Titus is doing on Crete so he can come meet Paul and serve together for the winter.  Zenas and Apollos were other ministry colleagues who had apparently com to Crete to help serve there or were passing through the island on their way to another destination.  Certainly, they would have been of assistance while they were in town and now Paul wants Titus to assist them by supplying for them on their journey.  Paul needed the help of others in ministry and was not at all afraid to admit it or ask for it.  We are members of a body and must always remember that we need one another.

HELP FOR OTHERS: Just as Titus had received help, he was to give help and to leave instructions for the churches on Crete to be rich in good works.  There are so many needs that surround us in this fallen and broken world.  There is no way that we are going to be able to meet every need.  However, the most urgent cases of human suffering must be addressed.  There is a tendency to become overwhelmed at the needs surrounding us and think that if we can’t do everything that it becomes an excuse to not do anything.  We are called to serve the needs of the world around us and to love one another in a way that enriches our faith for the glory of God.

APPLICATION: Surround ourselves with people with whom we can go through life.  Recognize our need for relationships and partnerships and resist the tendency to be independent.  Serve the people surrounding us with the love of Jesus.  Love the body of Christ with affection.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

2 Timothy 1:3-7

I thank God   whom I serve, as did my ancestors,   with a clear conscience, as I remember you   constantly in my prayers night and day.    As I remember your tears,   I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.    I am reminded of   your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and   your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.    For this reason I remind you   to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us   a spirit not of fear but   of power and love and self-control. It is easy for us to forget many important things especially in the face of difficulty or danger.  Paul is in prison and Timothy is facing difficult times in ministry so there are important reminders that Paul wants to make sure that Timothy understands.  God has given us everything we need to face the difficulties He allows into our lives.  These blessings from God are always available to us as long as we remember the
Read more

2 Timothy 1:8-14

Therefore   do not be ashamed of   the testimony about our Lord, nor of   me his prisoner, but   share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,   who saved us and   called us to a holy calling,   not because of our works but because of   his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus   before the ages began, and which now has   been manifested through   the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,   who abolished death and   brought life and   immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But   I am not ashamed, for   I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until   that day   what has been entrusted to me.  Follow   the pattern of   the sound words   that you have heard from me, in   the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.    By the Holy Spirit   who dwells within us, guard   the good deposit entrusted to you. There is nothing more important th
Read more