Sermon Video: "make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" - Titus 2:1-10

Do the principles of marketing apply to the Church?  How is your church being perceived by first time visitors?  Does the church website help or hinder those who are looking for a church from choosing to come?  These and many more are important questions that well meaning Christians can disagree about.  I know that some feel that Church, the Gospel, etc. ought to be difficult and hard to approach, but much of that resistance to the idea of making Church accessible to the Lost comes from a rightful resistance to those who would change the content of the Gospel to make it more palatable.  Making sure that the sign at the road is clearly visible, or that the website contains the needed information in a orderly way, is not "selling Jesus", and it is certainly not changing the Gospel.  What it is, is following Paul's example of trying to save as many people as possible through whatever tools we have available.
In Titus 2:1-10, Paul gives Titus advice to pass along to various segments of the Cretan society regarding the morality of the people who make up the Church.  This focus on morality has a three-fold purpose in Paul's mind: (1) It keeps the Word of God from being maligned, (2) it silences critics who would otherwise rightly call God's people hypocrites, and (3) it makes the Gospel "attractive".  The Gospel message itself needs no, nor does it allow for any, tweaking.  The message is the power of God, it is doing just fine, it is the messengers that need to get their act together in order to deliver the message in a way that the Lost can hear and believe.  When God's people act like they really are God's people, it removes an impediment against belief and instead reinforces the message of the Gospel by offering living examples of its power.
So go ahead, make sure the church building is clean and in good repair with proper signage, make sure you have a friendly greeter at the door, do whatever you can to make the all of the Church experience reflect our love for God and commitment to him, and make sure that while you're at it, you work on getting God's people to reflect God's holiness too, when you do, it will certainly make the Gospel message attractive to those who need its saving power.

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

Sermon Video: "to the pure, all things are pure" - Titus 1:10-16

In addition to appointing elders, Titus also needs to confront a divisive faction within the Cretan churches that has been spreading a legalistic teaching that has already torn families apart by its controversial nature.  The exact nature of what was being taught is less important for us than Paul's instructions as to how Titus should respond.  Paul told Titus to "silence" those spreading these false doctrines and he points out the damaging effect of them as evidence of the need to do so.  It would seem that this was an effort to ADD to the Gospel by melding it with requirements from the Jewish Law, something that Paul had already opposed successfully in Jerusalem when Titus himself was the test case to prove that circumcision was not a requirement for Gentile believers in Jesus.  This same controversy is not around still today, but there have always been those trying to ADD to or SUBTRACT from the Gospel.  Those trying to add something case doubt on the sufficiency of the work of Christ to save by faith alone and thus advocate some new additional step or requirement.  Those trying to subtract cast doubt on the person of Jesus or the historical reality of his miraculous birth or resurrection, or perhaps on Jesus' claims to exclusivity ("I am the way...").
In the end, Paul sees this opposition as evidence that these people within the church do not belong to God because their minds have yet to be regenerated (transformed).  They continue to see external things as the people, nothing to them is pure.  Those saved by grace, in contrast, recognize that purity and impurity comes from within, that external things are not pure or impure on their own, it is the use to which we put them that matters.

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

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

God answers the prayer of children too

On April 19th my wife was almost two weeks past her due date and not enjoying the "extra" time at the end of her pregnancy.  I asked her to come over to the church at 6 while I was teaching the AWANA lesson to our group of 20+ k-6th graders.  When Nicole arrived, I finished up the lesson and then asked her to sit in front of the kids.  Most of these kids know Nicole already, about half of them are from the church, and they were aware of her pregnancy and had been asking if the baby had arrived yet.  I asked the kids to come around Nicole, place their hands on her to pray with me for a speedy and healthy delivery.  We always prayed to end our lesson, and had often prayed for various family members or others in need that the kids had asked me to pray for, so this felt like a teachable moment to me as well as an opportunity to add a few more prayers to those already going up here and back home in Michigan on Nicole's behalf.
It was twelve hours later that Nicole went into labor, nine hours after that Clara Marie had entered the world safe and sound.  God is good, God answers prayer.  This confirms my theory that God hears the prayers of little ol' ladies first, kids second, and the rest of us are in line after that (I'm kidding, of course, but then again I'll gladly take a 70 year old grandma praying for me any day of the week).
The following week in AWANA, I had pictures of Clara, Nicole, and myself for the kids to look at on the PowerPoint, but I also wanted to thank the kids for their participation in the previous week's prayer and encourage them that prayers do get answered, so I asked all of the kids who had been in attendance the previous week (most of those present) to raise their hands, told them the baby had come 12 hours after they had prayed for just that, and gave them all a high five in turn.  God answers the prayers of children too.

Clara Marie Powell, born 4/20/15

Nicole, Clara, and myself at the hospital

The dedication of Clara Marie

On Sunday I was had the honor of dedicating my six day old daughter, Clara Marie.  Infant dedication is a formal acknowledgement of the role of the parents in teaching a child about the love of God, and the role of the local church in demonstrating and reinforcing our collective faith.  It was an emotional ceremony for me to perform, and a bit humorous one as well because I was making statements for the father of the child as the pastor of the church that I myself in turn had to respond to.  Trying to adjust the pronouns from "you" to "we, us" was a hoot as well.  My thanks to the people of First Baptist of Franklin, I know that they will be the extended family that Clara needs, and I trust that the mercy and grace of God will take the seeds of faith planted within her heart and cause them to grow as they have in my life and the life of my wife Nicole as well.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Dedication ceremony for Clara Marie