Sermon Video: "instruction in sound doctrine" - Titus 1:5-9

Following his greeting, Paul recounts the mission that he left with Titus when he departed the island of Crete: the appointing of elders in each of the churches.  In this passage, Paul interchangeably uses two Greek nouns when speaking about the leaders that Titus needs to appoint.  Paul's ambiguity has helped contribute to the arguments and fights that have erupted over how church leadership structure is constructed.  In this passage, however, the qualities needed by those to be appointed would apply to anyone and everyone in church leadership no matter whether he/she be called a pastor, elder, priest, vicar, preacher, bishop, rector, brother, reverend, or something else.  The overall task is the same regardless of the title, shepherding the Church of Jesus Christ.
The qualifications demanded by Paul are strict, he requires that candidates have a stable home life, that they have self-control, especially in interpersonal interactions, and that they exemplify Christ-likeness by living righteously.  It is indeed a daunting list for anyone contemplating entering the ministry, one that reminds us that this too is a task of grace by faith.  It is not supermen who will live up to this high calling, only Spirit-filled men.
Lastly, Paul speaks of the need to encourage with sound doctrine, and refute those who oppose it.  I've often found that too many preachers spend the bulk of their time attempting to refute false teachings outside of their own congregation and too little time encouraging the flock they've been entrusted with.  The basis of that sound doctrine is defined by Paul as the "trustworthy message as it has been taught".  The Gospel, plain and simple, following the example of the Apostles, no more no less.  When we, as ministers, stick to the hard to liberating truth of the Gospel, we will indeed by an encouragement to the people of God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Ordination Picture with my parents

These are my parents, Walt and Kathy Powell. My dad has been with Amway for over forty years and taught me to love sports and persevere. My mom runs a day care out of her house (for her grandkids in particular), and taught me to wear my heart on my sleave. Love you both.

Ordination day picture with In-laws

These are my in-laws; Robert and Danora Brzezinski (yes I know, my wife's name is easier to spell now). Nicole's mom is the religious education director for the entire diocese of Gaylord and her dad is a Pharmacist who loves to tell you about the latest gadget he's purchased. They've both been very helpful to Nicole and I and supportive of our marriage from day one.

My Ordination as a Baptist Pastor

This is one of those moments in my life that I will never forget. There's just something about having the whole church leadership visibly entrust the church to my care. The man in the suit is my mentor, Pastor James Frank, a man who stayed with the same church (Galilee Baptist of Saranac) for forty years! Thanks to everyone who participated and to my wife for your continued support.

Ordination Council

Many of you are already aware that the church undertook the process of ordaining me to the ministry during June. The council of pastors that examined me occurred on the 19th and the ceremony itself on the 29th. The council lasted over three hours, at times grueling and pointed in the questions, and at times even a little passionate in the debate. These sorts of councils are supposed to be like this after a fashion, to test the mettle of the person being examined. While I admit that I have no problem with the debate itself there was one aspect of the discussion that I feel the need to address here briefly. The focus of much of the discussion that night was Ecumenism (church unity) as it relates to the Catholic Church. Most reasonable Protestants have little difficulty feeling Christian brotherhood toward a Methodist or a Reformed Christian, but we tend to get a little nervous when it comes to Orthodox or Catholic Christians. The phrase that was brought up during the council was, “unity for unity’s sake”. I would certainly not advocate that we claim brotherhood for its own sake, far from it. I actually feel compelled to foster Christian brotherhood because of the repeated teachings of Scripture (John 17:20-23 for one) in spite of all of the difficulties of the past and in spite of the ongoing doctrinal difficulties we have. If we fail to achieve Christian brotherhood (and history shows we’ve done poorly), it is certainly not the fault of our Lord or his Church, it must be that we are to blame because the foolishness and sinfulness of Christians has allowed us to become this divided. I’m not saying that we should seek total unity, we still have a lot of things to discuss (and we may never achieve the unity the church had prior to the East-West split in 1054), but we certainly need to start NOW with the attitude and the love that should be there. Let love come first so that we do not sin by denouncing someone whom God calls his own child. (Doctrinal divides do not have to equal hatred, we can still show the world the love we have for our brothers and sisters in the Lord especially when we disagree about important things. What a Gospel witness that is!)
I want to end with a word of thanks to those who participated in the council and the ceremony, especially the help that my wife Nicole was to me and the words she spoke from the heart on both occasions. It was amazing for me to have my family, my old church family from Galilee, and my new church family from Palo all there at the same time. I love you all and appreciate so much the support you’ve given me as I strive to make the most of the ministry opportunity that God has placed before me at the First Baptist Church of Palo. Thank you.