So back in August of 2014 was when I started pastoring this church. And the elders liked me, but I had to preach a couple times before I was affirmed as the interim pastor. And at that time, the church was going through some rough times, really. And so I wanted to encourage unity and togetherness in the church. So my very first sermon was on Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 through 22. I talked, like I did last week, about the foundation of the church. being the apostles and New Testament prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, and that unity comes as we're all connected to this foundation. At that time, I said the same thing I said last week, that no one keeps building the foundation once the superstructure has begun to be built. And that happened the moment that the apostles on the day of Pentecost started preaching and 3,000 were saved, the superstructure began to be built. Well, somebody came to me at the end of the service and said, so you must not know what's been happening to the foundation of this church. I'm like, no, what are you talking about? He said, oh, the foundation of this building and the building next door is crumbling, it's sinking. And we've actually had to come in and strengthen and build the foundation here because it was crumbling, it needed strength. Now, sadly, if you've watched the news or you're keeping up with popular Christianity, you know that our foundations are crumbling at an alarming rate, and they are in desperate need of strengthening. I mean, you think about it. Many truths that we held as inalienable are now being attacked and questioned today, whether it's who God is or what it means to be human, what a man is, what a woman is, what sin is, who Jesus is, what he actually did. All of that is up for grabs today. Things as simple as what does it mean to be a Christian is up for negotiation. That's because Christianity today is really whatever you feel it is. How you become a Christian is whatever you feel it is. How to be a Christian after becoming one is whatever you feel it is. We've traded sola scriptura, the highest authority in the church, is scripture, for sola singula, a Latin word that refers to the highest authority in the church today being the individual. Our thoughts, our feelings, our experiences now define the basics of Christianity. But Titus is a letter about the basics of Christianity. As we make our way through it, we're gonna see that really we're just getting back to the basics. So as we make our way through it, that's what we're gonna do. And we're gonna need, we're gonna do that at a time when we desperately need to just get back to basics. So if you're not there, turn to Titus chapter one. Titus chapter one, page 1099. This morning, God, through his word, is going to establish the pattern of true Christianity. The pattern of true Christianity. There is a pattern to true Christianity that follows in every person's life who is truly a Christian. Rather than establishing that pattern based on our feelings or our experiences, which is what most people that go to church today do, we're gonna establish that pattern based on God's word. Now, there is a pattern that true Christianity follows. There's a progression from point A to B to C that we'll see in the text. This pattern marks the lives of every true Christian. It's a pattern many of you will easily identify with as we go through the text, which should assure you that your salvation is secure. For others, If you don't see this pattern, you should talk to me before you leave, or one of the people that'll be up here to pray for you. You should not leave here without talking to us and saying, okay, help me understand this more, because this pattern is critical for every Christian. It marks true Christianity. There's a ton of confusion about what happens when a person becomes a Christian, and our passage this morning establishes that there is a pattern for every true Christian. So what Paul says in these opening verses of chapter one, lay the groundwork for the rest of the book. So let's see what God has to say to us, starting in verse one. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. That's where we'll stop today. This is the only time that Paul opens a letter with these words. And here we are at the end of verse one. Paul states the reason he is an apostle. He's defining what his work is as an apostle. Notice he was to work notice for the sake of the faith of God's elect. and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Most of the time, Paul starts his letters by saying, this is where my, my office, my apostleship came from the will of God commanded by God. This is the only time he opens a letter by saying, this is why God made me an apostle. That was, this is the purpose. Well, what's the mission he was supposed to fulfill was the work he was supposed to do. How does he know that he's doing what God wants him to do? If he sees these things, it's spelled out right here at the end of verse one. Now, It may be that someone here has not heard a single thing I've said since I read verse one, because they got stuck on those two little words in verse one, God's elect. This is one of the ways that Paul identified Christians, God's elect, but that word is so unacceptable to so many in churches today. People leave our church every single time we talk about the idea that God, because of his free grace alone, chose who would be saved before the foundation of the world. If you're tempted to do that, I just want you to notice something. Look at the text again. Those words, God's elect, Aren't my words. They're right there in the text. And that that word elect has a verb form in a noun form. The verb in any standard Greek dictionary means this to choose, select or pick, choose, select or pick. And the noun form, which is what we have here, means chosen, selected or picked. That's what the word means.