Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm Pastor Steve, and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today, and we pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement to you. Blessings as you listen or watch. The Good Life. The Good Life is the title of this series. This is message two. If you missed the first session, that's fine. The first message, you can go back to that. Last time, in the opening four verses, we learned that there should be good preaching. Good preaching is part of the good Christian life. And we need good, sound, healthy, Bible-challenging preaching. All good preaching also includes some teaching. But if you're gonna have good preaching, you need to have good preachers. And that's what he talks about in the verses that we're looking at in verses 5 through 9. In verse 5, Paul talks up to Titus and says, I'm sending you to Crete, and I'd like you to ordain elders in every city. So there's some administrative duties that Titus undertakes, and he goes around on this island of Crete. So here's a map of Crete. And you can see this isle of Crete. It's in the Mediterranean. It's the largest of the islands in the Mediterranean. And it was an incredible place 2,000 years ago. Crete was the epicenter of Europe's first advanced civilization. If you go back in history, learn about the Minoans, some of those people from Crete later on become Philistines. and it's an interesting study to look at their history. Crete was later on ruled by Rome and then the Byzantine Empire and then some Arabs took it over, then the Venetian Republic, then the Ottomans. And Crete today is an independent state. uh... part of greek of the greek state and uh... they're independent from the ottomans and they became part of greece in nineteen thirteen more recently but you can see on this map maybe it's kind of fuzzy but all along the perimeter along the shores of the mediterranean their cities their cities a lot along the shores where they would have like sea routes and trading and fishing vessels and things and then there would be some cities and towns on the inside. I remember when I was young, studying Crete in history class in school, and they had running water. They had running water where you could wash your hands. They had running bathroom, like toilet stuff too, on the second floor in their houses. It was very advanced on this island. And Paul, God calls Titus to ministry, and Paul says, I'd like you to go over to Crete. And at these churches, Paul had been there, these churches where I had gone, there's some things undone, and would you ordain elders in every city so that they could have these churches and have pastors of these churches? It'd be like today, someone saying, I'm called to be a church planter in Hawaii. So just think of it like that if you and I actually knew somebody that was a youth pastor in Hawaii and sometimes I'm contacted by missionaries saying I want to be a missionary to Hawaii and You kind of I kind of laugh when I hear that maybe you do as well Because you know what I could see some of some people be like well I don't even know about being called a ministry, but I'll go to Hawaii to help out and That's kind of what it would be like for anyone over there in Europe and the Middle East, because they would be heading to this really a beautiful, fairly tropical paradise called Crete. So good preaching requires good preachers. What makes a good pastor, elder, or bishop? We'll read the text here, and then we'll unpack some of the verses here in just a moment. Notice in verse five, for this cause left by the increase that now should set in order the things that are wanting that means to leave behind the phrase now should send order has the idea of correction but it has to do with addition so there's some things that were wanting or lacking some things that were unfinished as paul traveled through eighty says titus i'd like you to go there and add some things to these ministries at these churches that that were started when I passed through. And then he says, to ordain elders. That would be one of the first additions. Get somebody to be a servant leader in those churches. Ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless. Now he gives some qualifications for those in ministry. If any be blameless, that means above reproach. The husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot, that means wastefulness, or of unruly, that means they're not subject to being ruled or following along with the rules. For a bishop must be blameless. as the steward, that means manager of God, not self-willed or self-pleasing, not soon angry, that means passionate or inclined to anger, not given to wine, no striker, it's like a fighter, not given to filthy lucre, he's not greedy, but a lover of hospitality. that has the idea of loving strangers, being hospitable, even to people you don't know. A lover of good men, and this is the word philogathos, and it's related to that word Philadelphia. And so, love the good in good men, love good men, lover of good men. Sober, it means of a sound mind. Just, holy, it has the idea of righteousness. Temperate, temperate. And holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught. that he may be able by sound doctrine, that means healthy doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. As he hath been taught is the word didactic. And so he has some formal training. He has some formal education in Christianity. He has some growing that he's been a part of. And the gainsayers here, are those who speak against or those who are contradicting what is true. And he says, you can use this healthy doctrine to counteract those who are teaching things that are untrue on the island of Crete. And you can find faithful bishops here or elders that would be able to do that. Now, not all preachers are good. And that's why sometimes there's unresolved problems and scandals and difficulty and things from time to time in churches. A young pastor was making farewell visits to his congregation. He was going to be moving to another church. And he was visiting one of the homebound members who was not able to come out. And so he would visit occasionally to her home. And the pastor carefully explained why he was leaving. The woman sighed deeply and said, well, will never have another minister as good as you've been. And the young man blushed, and he kind of scuffed his feet on the ground. He said, oh, you know, the next guy, he'll be really amazing, and he'll do an excellent job as well, I'm sure of that. And the woman shook her head with determination and said, you don't understand. You don't understand, she said. I've been through the last five pastors here, and each one gets worse and worse. So it wasn't really that much of a compliment. Elders, pastors, and bishops are used in the scriptures to describe what Baptists historically call a pastor. God is looking for some good men for ministry. God is looking for some good men in ministry. Wow, over 25 years ago, I remember standing with about 300 other guys and singing this song in some kind of a service or something. And it was this song, A Few Good Men. And it goes kind of like this. What this dying world could use is a willing man of God Who dares to go against the grain and works without applause A man who raised the shield of faith, protecting what is pure Whose love is tough and gentle, a man whose word is sure God doesn't need an orator who knows just what to say. He doesn't need authorities to reason him away. He doesn't need an army to guarantee a win. He just needs a few good men. Men full of compassion who laugh and love and cry. Men who face eternity and aren't afraid to die. Men who fight for freedom and honor once again. He just needs a few good men. There's another verse, and it's a pretty dramatic song. I like it a lot. God's looking for some good men for ministry. Good ministry personnel have several attributes. I'll give you four of them. What kind of man is God looking for for ministry? In verse 5, we find that he's a man with some real skill, real skill. In verse 5, for this cause, left by thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee." And this has to do with administrative abilities, in verse 5. Some things were left undone, as already indicated, as Paul had left the island to continue his missionary journeys. The churches on this island of Crete needed some oversight. And some things were left wanting. It means to leave or to leave behind. And Paul said, I'd like you to go back and finish some things that I have started, that God had started in their life. And God knew, or Paul knew when he left Crete that there were some things that needed to be done. And so then when he engages Titus to go and appoints him to go, ordains him to go, then he sends this letter later on to remind him of what he needs to be doing there on that island. A church without organization or without the servant leader of a pastor, elder, or bishop, it could fall apart rather quickly. And you need a figure, a person that can direct, and Paul knew that. God called pastors on purpose for that very thing to kind of give guidance and service to the church. He says that you would set an order. That means to correct in addition. The word ordain means to set in order or to appoint. It's the formal recognition on the calling of a man and God calls the man the church and those in the church recognize that calling we call that an ordination service over the years I've sat in a lot of ordination councils and ask questions and interact with a candidate and for ordination. Our church has ordained a lot of folks over the years into gospel ministry. And so Titus would go and he would probably get a delegate of people within that church to lay hands on whoever they were ordaining to that ministry to be the pastor, the overseer in those local churches in those different cities. And so Paul, by saying this, is highlighting the administrative and organizational efforts and abilities of someone in ministry. He uses that word bishop. So we have the word elder that is used as well. He says to ordain elders. Later on, he uses the term bishop in verse 7. Elders is the word presbyteros. You get the word Presbyterian. And elders simply means like an older person, someone that's older in the faith. It could be how long they've been saved. It could be the amount of years their physical life has endured. and so elders. Then Bishop has to do with administrative and organizational abilities. Maybe you've heard of Episcopalian. Episcopalian and Episcopal or Episcopal. The word Bishop is Episcopal. It means a superintendent. churches that are denominational that use these names they they have their churches structured after the idea of these terms that i'm sharing with you today so a bishop that means a superintendent that means an overseer or a guardian Paul is telling Titus, and God is telling Titus and us as well about these bishops, they are to ordain them. And notice in verse 7, he talks about ordaining them to this ministry after he talks about the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, the bishop must be blameless. So he's a bishop. So it indicates really kind of like a young man, maybe a middle-aged man. He has some kids already in his home and they are submissive. They are following along. His wife is on board. She's following along as well. So it could be rather young men or men with families that he's directly indicating in verses five through seven. Now the first century church, think through this with me for a moment. The first century church did not have generational Christians. Now wait a minute, wait a minute, what about Timothy? He's a third generation Christian, okay? Lois and Eunice, his grandmother was Lois and Eunice, and then Timothy, but they probably were saved about the same time. when paul come through so by timeline they were probably say within just a short amount of time so it'd be hard to say like well the grandmother raised her daughter in christianity and the grandmother and uh... and the mother raised timothy in christianity it'd be hard to say that because they were saying that at the same time so there's not When we use the term generational Christians, like my parents were saved for 40 years, my grandparents were saved for 50 years, and that's how we think, but this would have been done in a short amount of time. So when they're looking for these people they're going to ordain to ministry, It's probably not like, well, you know, the last 20 years, I've been raised in a Christian home. It wasn't like that. It's probably like the last two years, Timothy was raised in a Christian home. The last couple of years, Titus was raised in a Christian home after following Christ. You see what I'm saying with that? So it's not generational, long, long term, like sometimes we would think right off the bat. So he was very selective, and we should be very selective when ordaining people to ministry. That's the point of what I'm trying to say. And this is such an important thing. Then there's another term that's used, pastor. Now the word pastor is used once in a New Testament. It's actually more of an Old Testament term. It's used in Ephesians 4.11. He gave some apostles, some prophets. and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So there's that word pastor there and it's the only time that it's found. Historically Baptist churches use the term a pastor and here's the reason why. Elder speaks of spiritual maturity. and that's a good term. Bishop speaks of overseeing responsibility, administrative skill, and pastor speaks to shepherding and guiding. So within the Baptist tradition to say that, the historical Baptist, they'll use the term pastor because of the emphasis on not just someone to preach and not just someone to administrate and not just someone who's older in the faith but someone who will help guide us and someone who will help shepherd us through life. That's the historical reason for that. By the way, there's skill required and skill that's needed. You don't have to be the best at anything, but you could train. You could find your spiritual gift. There may be some young men right now like, wow, I don't know if I could do it. Maybe there's a burning passion. I could serve God and minister. I could possibly do that. And that's a good thought. I don't know. I don't think I could do it. But God could. God could do that in your life. God could do that. And going to a faithful Bible college could help you hone your skill or refine your skill or help further prepare you for ministry. I've benefited much personally and professionally with a lot of extra ministry education. It's helped a lot. So maybe you feel a burden, but say, I don't know if I could do that. God could do that through you. If you're like, hey, I got this, don't do it. You don't want to be the guy that's trying to serve and lead if you feel like you have it all together. God equips those he calls, and you can with God. So find your spiritual gift in calling, refine your skills and abilities with training, and then purpose with all your heart. I'm going to rely on God and purpose with all your heart, I'm going to serve the Lord. So for anyone considering vocational ministry, I challenge you with that, some real skills. Number two, a respectable home. In verse six, he says that the bishop would be blameless. The husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. The word blameless means not to be called to account. Unreprovable. It's like unquestionable. Like, wow. It doesn't say not to question. It says unquestionable. It's what it has to do with. Like this, this is a solid individual. He's blameless. He's beyond reproach. We can trust this person. Blameless does not mean sinless. It does not mean perfect. There's none of that going around. Jesus is the only one who is ever sinless and perfect. So that's not through qualification, it's blameless. Pastors, the pastor's home is far from perfect. Don't put him up on a pedestal, they get knocked off really easily. And it's a real challenge. Life and family matters are hard to negotiate for everybody. And some would even suggest it's more difficult for a pastor of a church. And one of the reasons is, is because he's got a target on his back, or maybe right on his forehead. You know, Satan wants to throw those darts at him and his family in particular. And so we all have challenges, and maybe it's multiplied for those who are serving in ministry. So this could be young married men or middle-aged men with kids. It's possible. The word husband, it means an adult male. So it is a male who is serving as a pastor, bishop, or elder in a church. and it conveys the idea of an honorable man. When a word is used here, it signifies a husband, and that was a title of honor, to say that you are a husband. In antiquity, back then, it would have been like, wow, it's an honorable thing to say, a husband. And notice how he says, one wife. Now, people debate, what's this talking about? The husband of one wife. It means a one woman man. Whenever you find it mentioned in the New Testament, you have elders seen as being married and having children. As you see that here and in other passages in 1 Timothy and maybe Ephesians and elsewhere, you see men and a husband as a father as well. Some think this phrase means one wife at a time. Others say one living wife, but more than likely it means only one wife. It's probably what it means. And you have 1 Timothy 5.9, it indicates the same exact thing. You can look at that later. Now in this era when Paul wrote this to Titus, In this Roman era, polygamy was not practiced and men were married to one woman at a time. Some would be divorced and remarried. Sometimes that would happen often depending on the person and personality. But many had concubines or secret lovers. They had people on the side. And a bishop is to have just one person, one spouse in his life. That's what he's getting at. So if we can look back at the history and what could this be talking about helps with that. Next he talks about children. So non-rebellious children at home. It could be that they're faithful children. And depending on their age, they may or may not have yet trusted Jesus as their Savior. They may or may not have yet trusted, you know, that's an age thing, and that's a personal decision that they can make. The word here, accused, has to do with judicial procedure, not accused of riot or unruly. The word riot refers to a prodigal. Wastefulness. They're not just wasting their life away. This teenager's wasting their life away, and then the idea of unruly has to do with they're not submissive. They won't listen to anybody. It describes a person who refuses to be controlled, who defies authority. All right, so a pastor must have a respectable Oh, the word children, it means a child of either sex, a male or female. So it indicates a little child, a young child, sons or daughters, there that could be. now it's possible i've seen this a young a young adult male he gets married and he goes into ministry maybe doesn't have kids yet i'm i'm fine with that sometimes some churches will say uh... a uh... a minister on staff or a pastor here before your ordain what should be married some will say we uh... don't have someone at single i understand why uh... it could be just depends on the church and how they want to take uh... for they want to take this example in this passage, and one reason it's very important would be to minimize the possibility of sexual sins. You see whole denominational churches and think about, you know, the Catholic Church even, there's a lot of problems when guys aren't married and they have this great desire for marriage. And so a married person here is what he's talking about. Think about different Bible characters. Lot could not convince his family to follow God. Abraham, he had great discipline in his home and that really relayed into his home life and his family. Isaac, a mark of Isaac's family was discord, a lot of discord. You have The parents there playing favoritism with their kids, and there was a lot of issues within that home. Isaac, and Rebecca, and Esau, and all these problems there. And then you had Jacob. Jacob had a lot of disorder in his home. Eventually, they grew out of those disorders and these problems, and eventually found God's grace, and their homes turned around. Some of those bad choices, they were turned around by the grace of God. So basically, what family a man has when he's called to ministry, what family a man has is going along and supporting him in that ministry. That's just really an easy way to look at it. They're going along with it. The wife's on board, the kids are on board, let's do this, we're serving together. I knew of, I've heard of different times where a wife wouldn't move to the city, that her husband was going to be a pastor of a church and would never go to the church. I mean, I've heard of stuff like that. So that's an unhealthy thing. There has to be some support there for this to work out. So real skills, a respectable home. Number three, responsible character. In verses seven through eight, notice a bishop must be blameless as a steward or manager of God, not self-willed. That means selfish. uh... not soon to anger not given to uh... why no strike you're not given a filthy lucre but a lover hospitality turns to more positive things a lover of hospitality lover of good men sober just holy temperance john phillips writes and he's a great commentator if you want to get a good commentary on the bible when world war two broke out my father's small automobile business in south wales was virtually bankrupt The government commandeered all the private vehicles on which it could lay its hands and ration gasoline. And to all the extent that private cars were, in effect, then grounded. No one could really drive around at that time, except when it was used for war work. My father would pace the floor of his workshop as a mechanic, and he prayed and wondered, what should I do? There's no work for me to do. About that time, an acquaintance who ran a large automobile rental dealership visited him. And he knew my father was a skilled mechanic. Len, he said, we have about 200 cars. We cannot replace them until the war is over, but we need to keep them in repair. and the government will allocate us parts, and we'll give you the parts. Can you rebore and rebuild the engines if we give you the parts?" Wow, that was an answer to the prayer. Y'all do that. We'll give you one motor, one car, and see what you can do. The next day, they delivered an engine to his father's shop. with the instructions to strip it down, to rebore the block, to rebuild it with all the new parts that was supplied by the dealer, and then a few days later, they would come back and pick up the engine. Nothing happened for a week. He rebuilt the engine, they picked it up, he didn't hear anything, and then they came back. The dealer returned and said, well, Len, he said, I'll tell you what we did. We took that rebuilt engine that you had worked on to our own shop. We stripped it down, and we wanted to see if you were honest. We wanted to see if you replaced all the old parts with new parts. We've been getting ripped off by a lot of small mechanics in Wales, and we were looking for someone as honest. It appears that you're an honest man. So from that time forward, he had three to four cars to work on every week and it saw them through World War II. he was a man of integrity he was a man that was honest and that's what is needed in the church that's what's needed in ministry a blameless steward or manager a servant for god there's some negatives in verse seven a lot of knots not not this not that not self-willed or self-pleasing not soon angry or passionate or inclined to anger and i'm not perfect sometimes i can i can see a lot of things that are wrong or not right. And if one of these are ones that are a real test for me, it'd be to get angry. And you're like, whoa, we never knew. What are you talking about? Okay, it could be. It's something I've struggled. I grew up around a lot of angry people and angry coaches and people busting their hands on walls and stuff. So, you know, sometimes our sins come more naturally than others. There's some generational things. So that'd be one of those challenges for me. Not soon angry, inclined to anger, not consumed with alcohol. It's never been a challenge. I've never tasted alcohol. I'm not boasting about that, but I've never, never done that unless you count the cough syrup. That's it. Not a fighter. Not a fighter. Striker means contentious. You know, some people are always looking for a fight. I mean, they post something. It looks like their fists are up. OK? A guy like that shouldn't be in ministry. He shouldn't have a Facebook account. He's like, argh, you know. Don't have it. Not a striker. Not loving money. It has to do with greed. Now, all of these are sins, vices, problems that were rampant. They were always contending with back then. And by the way, aren't they the same things we battle with today? Every one of you. I named that list. Like, wow. And maybe it's not alcohol, but it's some other addiction. Maybe it's some other substance that controls your mind instead of letting God control you. You just look at that list. I mean, this is still a struggle. So these are the negative things. All of us can contend with this today. A blameless leader then with the positives. In verse 8, he loves hospitality. This has to do with how to connect with strangers and people even he don't know. It's not like, hey, I'm buddy-buddy with the same people all the rest of my life. That's not hospitality, that's just friendship. And that's important too, but hospitable means I'm going to go out of my way to make a new friend. to make a new friend with somebody that is a stranger at this moment. They won't be a stranger for long. He loves the good in good men. Notice how he's a lover of good men. That's what it has to do with. He knows they're not perfect, and sometimes we get all uptight, like, oh, I know there's none good, no, not one. Absolutely. But he says to love the good men. Love the good about those good men. So you're not always picking the people apart and being critical and negative about Other people. Sober, that has to do with a sound mind. It's not somber. It's not a funeral with eerie organ music every day. It's not that. It's sober, which means he has clear thinking. He's not having his mind controlled by other things or substances or other stuff. He's just, which means correct. It implies innocence and righteousness. Holy, righteousness, and pious, and devout, and temperate. That means strong, or he's self-controlled. It means a master of self. That's what temperate means, a master of self. So he's able to have these controlling qualities. These are spirit-filled qualities. Much of these character qualities are a struggle for all of us, and that's why it's important to guard your heart. to guard your mind. Proverbs 423, keep thy hearts with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. And the peace of God which passeth all understandings shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So some real skills, some respectable home, responsible character, and finally we have relevant ministry. He's holding fast. The faithful word as he had been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." One person told a story about a little church in France, and the new pastor had come to the village, and he'd started to call on some people of that church in a certain little cottage he went to. And when a husband came home from work, his wife said, the new pastor, the new pastor in town, the new pastor at our little church came to call today. What did he say? Asked the man. Oh, he answered, she answered, he asked, does Christ live here? Does Christ live here? She said, I didn't know what to say. Well, the husband said, well, did you tell him that we were respectable people? She said, I thought of that. I could have, but that wasn't what he was asking. Why, the husband continued, didn't you tell him that we say our prayers and we read our Bible? The wife replied, but he didn't ask me that. The man grew more vexed. He said, why, he continued, why didn't you say that we're always at church? Well, he didn't ask me that either. He only asked, does Christ live here? The man and woman pondered that question for many days, and it was really a grave question, and it was a question meant to cause reflection. Little by little, their lives were changed. Little by little, they grew to expect Christ, not dead, but alive, and alive in their hearts and lives, and alive in their home. And little by little, day by day and week by week, they changed, and they had this new radiance. about them, of Christ lived in their life and Christ lived in their home. Christ did live there. Here's a pastor, a minister who is conducting relevant ministry and there's gonna be opportunities for life change and he holds his Bible up. And he uses the scriptures. He holds to, holding fast, the faithful word as he had been taught. This also goes back to how he's not a novice. I mean, he studies the scripture. He has had some teaching and training. He has been taught the Bible. And he uses sound. That means healthy doctrine. And then, in turn, he challenges others. To follow the bible the term exhort means to call to one side to Encourage it's related to the word. Holy spirit. Like it's like the the paraclete who comes alongside Hey, come on. Come on. Let's go. I'm exhorting you. Let's let's walk through life together. Let's encourage one another Together. To convince means to expose, to convict, and reprove. And so with this exhortation and with this convincing as he's using the Bible, even a gainsayer. a gainsayer would be challenged to love the Lord. A person who speaks or contradicts the truth. Now, gainsayers may or may not believe. They may or may not believe. It's not the job of the pastor to make them believe or not believe. He's to convey the truth. A skeptic may or may not believe. A scoffer, they may continue to mock or they could be changed. We don't know. It's their choice. It's their decision. The pastor, elder, bishop, Delivering the message is to be faithful to deliver the Bible God's Word He's to be faithful in first Corinthians 4 to moreover. It's required in stewards that a man be found faithful Maybe you feel compelled to ministry. It's been a challenge when you think about what Paul is talking with Titus about that, that there'd be good pastors and we need good pastors. I didn't look up the stats, but in the next five years, there's going to be a mega shortage, a mega shortage in America of pastors. I think the average age of a pastor today is like 64. There needs to be some more young guys and middle-aged guys and some young adults who say, I'll consider it. God may call you. If he calls you, he'll equip you. We'll help you. We'll encourage you along the way. It's an important thing. I remember when I was young, I was really idolized baseball in a lot of ways. And I was pitching a lot and wanted to play baseball. I pitched baseball every day. I would train every day for baseball. And one day, I tore my rotator cuff. The coach took me out of the game, one of those games after a rotator cuff injury. I'd been weightlifting, too much weight, too aggressively. And the shoulder popped out, but I kept pitching anyway. And the coach was like, wow, Harness, you're pitching really slow now. He's like, it looks like watermelons out there. He's like, man, just have it. The guys could really hit it really easy then. And I couldn't throw anymore. My shoulder hurt. Couldn't pitch fast anymore. So I was done. So then the next year, I thought, well, I'll play basketball. You don't have to throw really fast for basketball. So I'll work out. And so I was playing basketball. And I thought, oh, I'll go out for the varsity team if I could dunk a basketball. So I was working out, my brother was nuts into basketball too, so he had all these things to jump on and we were conditioning a lot. And I got to where I could dunk a basketball. And then one day I was showing my cousin, hey watch this, I was dunking a basketball, and tore up my ankle. I couldn't walk without crutches for three months. Are you kidding me? This guy who's like always running around chasing the ball. I hate running, but I love chasing the ball. So that's what I would do. I just go chase the ball. As I was taking steroids and doing electric therapy on my ankle and doing rehab and all this stuff, this hot, cold, freezing your foot and stuff. I was laying on the bed with my foot propped up, and I was thinking and crying, like, why God is this happening? What's going on? And God was changing the trajectory of my life with these injuries. Now, I don't like it that my foot's still a little bit bigger on the left side than the right side, and that it hurts still a lot. I don't like that. I don't like it that this doesn't work all the way like it did before. But it's OK. It's totally all right. God could use a circumstance in your life to kind of capture your mind, to change your thoughts. It could be for salvation, like Malcolm was talking about. Hey, I want to be ready to go when he was on the hospital bed. and there he trusted Jesus to save him. It could be for ministry that this idol, I need to get rid of this idol of baseball or basketball, sports, and put the idol aside. But the point is, Christians, whether you are a vocational minister or a volunteer minister, we're all needed in this together. So if you never trusted Christ for salvation, trust Him today. Be safe. And then Christians, let's serve together. If you're not a preacher, help the preacher. If you're not in vocational ministry, volunteer for ministry. And together, this is what Titus was doing on the island of Crete. He was going around. organizing churches to work together to serve the Lord. So good preaching needs some good preachers, and God's looking for a few good men. Let's take some time to pray together. If God's challenged you, here's some questions on the screen. The first is this, by God's grace, I will be the kind of person who lives with these qualities. as my goal. When you're talking about these negatives, I don't want those. When you're talking about these positives, I want those. Lord, help me to have these qualities that if I was called into ministry, I could fulfill it. And maybe I'm not called into ministry, but I still would like to live in a way that the Bible describes here. God's helped me with that. By God's grace, that's how I would like to live. A lot of hands already flying up. God help us. Yes. God help each of us. Number two, I am willing to answer a call to ministry. If God calls me, I'm willing to answer. Any age, any person, I'm willing if God calls me. I see hands going up. Are there others? Lord, I'm willing. If you call me, I will do it. I will follow. All right, God help us with that. I'm willing to assist and help in gospel ministry. As the leaders administrate and lead and serve, I want to help out and assist in gospel ministry as well. I want to do that. Anyone like that? All right. That's the majority of us today. Yes, I want to help out in the life of the church as we share the gospel. And finally, I've not yet trusted Jesus, but today I want to. I want to know more about that. Is there anyone like that today? I want to know more about salvation. by God's grace. Just raise your hand. All right. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this incredible morning of worship and service to you. We thank you for what you did in the life of Titus in saving his soul and also calling him to ministry. We thank you for the lesson you gave Paul and to Titus and to us. about good preaching and good preachers and let us take this relevant and clear teaching and use it in our lives for our choices and for the administration and service in our church as well. I bless each one now as we go. Lord, thank you for working in our hearts and lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.