This week at Ember we're launching a new sermons series on the book of Titus called Further the Faith. Titus is a very short letter, written by Paul to his friend
Titus had a difficult job in front of him. Paul left Crete after being there for only a short time, so there was much work to be done. His charge to Titus is found in 1:5, "The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you." For whatever reason, Paul was not able to see the work on Crete through to the end. In fact, it seems as though the work was just getting started. The Gospel had been preached throughout the island, and some had converted to Christ, but there were not yet leaders in every town. Titus's task is to further the faith by setting things in order in all the churches, and by raising up leaders in each town.
Our task, at Ember, is similar to Titus's task on Crete, albeit on a much smaller scale. We have intentionally been very simple about the way in which we have begun the church. We don't have any extra events (besides the Trunk or Treat). We don't have small groups. We just have our weekly worship service. But, as you know, that is not all that a church is, nor is it enough to sustain the lives of individuals or a community. So we have to "put in order what was left unfinished", and one of the things we're going to do is small groups. Ember was born out of a small group, after all, so it's kind of in our blood. We'll be talking about this more in the coming weeks, with groups starting up soon.
So we approach the book of Titus, expecting to see God move in our midst, furthering our faith to others and deepening it within ourselves. God has something for you here; I am confident of that. Come further your faith at Ember Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment