Good morning everyone. Welcome to Boon Fairy. If you're new, my name is Matis. I'm the teaching pastor here and we are walking through Titus. I guess I should direct your attention to the welcome cards before I get into scripture today. This is a way for us to connect with you. So, give us the information you're comfortable sharing. Uh if you never have, uh go ahead and hand these off to the connection table
and we have a gift card for you. We also use these as prayer requests and we pray for them um every single Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. Um which anyone is welcome to attend. If you feel like God is leading you to embed prayer in your life, maybe in the midweek in a way that stirs more prayer outside of that time as well. Just come or join us on Zoom. Um you go under the uh Wednesday prayer tab and then you can just join us on Zoom and you don't have to request to.
You can just show up. Um, but anyway, we pray for anyone that turns in prayer requests like this and you can turn these in at the connection table as well. Um, I don't have any other announcements. Oh, we're doing a um now I don't have my phone, so someone's going to have to shout it out the nose. We're doing a boating event for the youth group that we would like to announce. And uh can someone shout out the date here that knows? July 21st. July 21st. So, you can look forward to
that. Uh hold that date open. more details to follow in an email, but I'm excited about that. It'll be I think it'll be great fun. Um, all right. So, let me pray and we'll get into Titus chapter 2 and we're finishing 1 through 10 today. Heavenly Father, thank you for this letter that you had Paul write to Timothy uh summarized in the idea that truth that transforms a knowledge of doctrine that leads to godly living in our lives. And this passage is no different. The intent is right there.
And I pray that we would both understand what the truth is that you want us to understand today and that we would apply it to our lives. That there would be no
interruption between those two. In this uh sermon in particular, I pray that people would understand how uh this content is directly related to the mission that you've given the church to be and make disciples and that each one of us has a part that you have gifted us for um that you have called us to and that is extremely valuable in the local church when we devote ourselves to that calling, gifting and um development of the mission. We pray these things in
Jesus name. Amen. So, I want to just give you a uh a metaphor. That's all it is. It's a picture of a car driving down a road and then you can attach ideas to the road, to the car, to the motor, and to the fuel. Okay? Those are the main the main words I want you to remember. In this case, as we walk through this passage, you're going to see that the road uh you could call it the way of Jesus, but maybe um even more specifically
practicing what you preach. You're going to see that Paul is talking here about um teach what accords with doctrine. A modern way of saying that is practice what you preach. Teach people to practice what we preach. And that's the road that we should be driving on. That's the way of Jesus. Not just knowing the truth, but actually living it out. The car is the local church, but not just the local church. The local church led well. We talked all about
qualified elders. So, if you're thinking about the car, what does the car represent? Well, the card represents in this case uh the local church led well and we might go over just that those qualifications shortly again. Uh the motor um the motor is the mission to be and make disciples. We're going to be talking a lot about that and you're going to hear me use the word mentoring others. You see that in parenthesis there. Um I want you to remember the word mentoring and and what we mean by
that. it we mean exactly what it means but not a lot of people have necessarily understood that there is a component of actually mentoring others in being and making disciples and I'll show you that from scripture as well from this scripture and from others and so if you remember what's the motor about well that's the mission the motor is the mission two M's there maybe easy to remember and then there's the fuel and that is the grace of the gospel and that's in particularly important in the
context of Titus where Paul is is commanding them to oppose anyone that would try to introduce any other fuel. In this case, the fuel of legalism. And so, we'll talk about what happens if you use any other fuel in that motor other than the grace of Christ. Let me repeat those one time. And if you can go through the slides again, that'd be great. There's the road um and that's practicing what we preach. True godliness in words of uh of Paul to
Titus. Then there's the car and that's the local church led well qualified elders. Then there's the motor and that's the mission of being making discip disciples and and in particular mentoring others. That concept shows up here. And then there's the fuel and that's the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if I was going to tell you what I hope to accomplish by the end of this sermon, um there's buy in. And you know, in a way it fits with the metaphor. Um if if you're going to get
in the car, you got to buy in. you know, you don't want to get in a car that's going down a road you don't want to be driving down. And so, there's something in this passage that makes that car look attractive. In fact, if you look um at verse uh let's see, I should have I should have put a little tab here, but it's uh so that in everything um the doctrine of God our Savior may be adorned. It's basically that one. So, someone shout it out if you see it. Uh, it's right there and my eyes can't
see it. We'll get there later. The point is that there's something that we can do to adorn the gospel. Adorning is in modern words, making it look more attractive. And I don't know how many times you've heard people accuse the church of Christians are basically just hypocrites. And that that um that ought not to be true. But there is truth to that idea. We do not always practice what we preach. And when we act pridefully about our doctrine or about our preaching, then people like, "Oh,
they're all they're hypocrites. They act like they're so good and like they do so many good things and they don't even practice what they preach." And that hypocrisy is not attractive. And I really believe this passage is the antidote to that kind of potential hypocrisy. Um, we can be humble and recognize, yeah, we don't always practice what we preach. And um that's that's not the same kind of hardened prideful hypocrisy that the Pharisees
had. It's still not good. It's a it's a disconnect between what you believe and how you actually live between your doctrine and between godliness. But those can be connected. And mentoring has a lot to do with it. And I want to show you that today. If you um don't remember anything else from this passage and the other ones that I'm going to bring in, it's our main point today that mentor mentoring style disciplehip helps us to practice what we preach so it's attractive to
others. When that happens, people buy in in a church. They get in the car. They want to drive down that road. They want to do their part. They want to see grace being the fuel and they want the motor to be that mission of being and making disciples. So let's get into it and we'll walk through this. Um and I'm basically going to walk through this with the road, the car, the motor and the fuel and buyin and then we'll
conclude. So the very first verse of chapter 2 of Titus says, "But as for you teach what accords with sound doctrine, what accords with sound doctrine." uh to use a slightly different metaphor and I even thought about getting behind the piano and playing chords that do not harmonize and and are really dissonant and chords that harmonize. When chords harmonize, there's a beauty to it. They fit with one another. Think of it like that. Teach what harmonizes with sound
doctrine. And what is it that harmonizes with s sound doctrine? Well, the rest of what he's about to say through verse 10 is all those kinds of things. And we're going to be walking through that. And and he and he speaks to different demographics. Older men, um older women, younger women, younger men, and bondervants. Uh it to cross the uh you know, ancient divide. We might consider uh employees in this case, people that are um being contracted to be employed.
Bond servants would have been contracted in a far more significant way. They weren't necessarily slaves. They may have contracted themselves into a situation that's not too much different than uh than slavery, but maybe without the oppression and and violence and
things like that. But either way, no matter what you find yourself in in terms of a demographic here, and I think we need to look at these partly spiritually, too, you might think, well, I'm I'm a younger guy, but I've been walking with the Lord for a long time, and you may actually consider yourself more mature in the faith, and therefore fit in a different category than you would just naturally think. And that's
okay to think of it that way. I do think Paul actually means older men um older women, younger women and younger men. And you'll see why because the very applications of what accords with doctrine of them fits within their season of life. So we ought not to um mess with the age in that sense. Um but as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Practice what you preach is another way of saying that. uh don't just say the things, don't just believe those things, but actually allow them to
be lived out in your life. Surrender to the Holy Spirit so that when you would be impatient in your natural self, you become patient beyond what you even thought was possible. And so we need to define those kinds of things really deeply, too. Just to take patience as example. Patience is not where you just like hang on without getting angry until finally your buttons are so pressed that
you blow up. Um patience is the is a a long-suffering kind of steadfastness where um even when people push your buttons a whole bunch. The anger doesn't lead towards sin and you know God has this kind of patience with people it doesn't mean that he doesn't get angry. Paul says, "Be angry, but do not sin." And do not let the so sun go down with your anger. Because when when we do that, when we let uh anger sort of settle overnight, it has the opportunity
to turn into bitterness. And it's failing to obtain the grace of God in a in a short account kind of way. Um and so forgiving people quickly, letting go of that anger, letting God dissolve that, and going to sleep peacefully in the fruit of the spirit in that way, even when the problem isn't already resolved. Uh that's the kind of example of practicing what we preach. It's great
to say be angry but do not sin. But then in your life when you get angry, do you just blast right through the temptation and end up sinning or do you wait and look for the way out that God has provided you by the Holy Spirit? So it's those kinds of thoughts. Look deeper than just uh what other people see uh in your quiet moments. Are you really living these things out? But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. And this is the road. This is what we're
really called to in disciplehip. It's not just understanding the truth of God's word. It's being transformed by it. Uh do you guys know what I mean by transformation? I think I assume that everyone does. And I don't want to assume that people don't. But if you don't know what transformation means, it means true inner change. You've heard people say people don't change. And
naturally that's true. PE people may swap alcoholism for something like uh ultramarathoning and ultramarathoning is way healthier and way less dangerous for your body than that. But if if the real problem was uh distance in the relationship from God or no relationship in the first place and as you've heard Bla1 Pascal maybe say we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts and trying to fill that with alcohol. Well, the next thing you might do is sort of fill it with ultramarathoning and then that
becomes the thing. And although on the outside it looks healthy and like fittest people on earth may be these kinds of people um but at the end of the day your relationship with God is still empty and that hasn't been dealt with and the enemy exploits that. So uh the real issue in our lives is an issue we have in relationship with God. We'll talk about later why the fuel is so important. But we really do have to practice what we preach. And when we don't, we need to admit that. We need to
confess that. And God says that he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's just another attachment to the fuel of grace. So, I'm not going to spend much more time on the road because almost every verse coming up here defines the road. It's the the the narrow and hard road and the narrow gate that Jesus uh uh talks about. And not not many find it. Um, and I I I really have hope and uh enthusiasm and excitement to see us grow in the way of
practicing what we preach. Now, I want to talk about the the local church and it's not in the next verses. It's in the context of Titus and uh we went through Titus 15 uh through9 and it talks about just this is why I left you in so that you might put uh the remaining what remains in order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. And then he gives these spiritual qualifications
of the elders. Uh the husband of one wife uh uh as children or believers not open to the charge of debauchery and subordinate. Basically wild and rebellious and they're not. He's he's a good leader. As an overseer, as God's steward must be above reproach, he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and
disciplined. and he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also rebuke those who oppose it. I don't know if as I was reading you noticed this, but if an elder was qualified in these ways, he would most certainly be practicing what he preaches, right? If he says uh that it's a sin to get drunk, but then is getting drunk in his own life, well, that's not practicing what you preach at
all. So these men need to what they say on the outside needs to match what's on the inside. That's how deep those qualifications are. But when you have elders that are qualified this way, think of them in a way representing Jesus behind the wheel. You've heard the se the saying Jesus take the wheel. So, who's really in charge of directing uh the the car around a curve or to take a right turn or to take a left turn or even to back up when it's done something wrong and and take a different
direction. Well, it's really Jesus, but he's put these under he's the great shepherd and he's the only truly good shepherd, but he's put these undersheperds on in the in every local church. Uh well, ideally in every local church there would be elders and they need to be qualified. And I think one of the deepest reasons they need to be qualified is that these are the kinds of qualifications that men that will actually do what Jesus says, especially when it's hard, especially when they
don't feel like it. Especially when they're concerned that it may lead to relational separation. Uh sometimes things you need to tell people uh do that. And so if if the only thing people care about is people liking them, well then they may not say hard things to people. Um, or if people uh are lacking in gentleness and way too forceful. Um, this is an issue I've talked to you guys about that God has just hammered over and over in my life. Um, I'm less concerned about what people think and I
was that way from a very young age. I still remember like the difference between my brother, I'm not saying he's a people pleaser, but he's he he's way more interested in that kind of thing and and uh outgoing in that way. And so PE kids in Germany would come to our door and they would ask uh if if we to come play a game outside and he would just immediately rush outside and I would stand there. My parents told me the story I don't remember and I was
like what game are you playing? Like it depends on if you're playing a game I like. My brother just wanted to go out cuz he was so excited to hang out with the kids. Uh but so I was like that from the very beginning. Um but if I would say the the issue I work out in terms of self-control um is the idea of of sharing those difficult messages with gentleness, a perfect courtesy, kindness, uh now not allowing fear or frustration or even anger to enter that meeting in a way that warps what I'm
saying. Whether it warps it in content or in vibe, you know, kids these days talk about the vibe. You can sort of tell people's uh attitude even if they're saying the right word. So it really has to be spiritual. So these are the kinds of things that you're looking for in men and the areas that they are they need to be above reproach. We talked about that. They need to really be qualified, but they also need to be growing. They need to recognize their own issues. When men like that lead, the
car is safe and sound in doctrine. We talked about that concrete. Uh it's it's well-guided. It's being steered well. And then and then people trust uh the church and they think, "Okay, the these are leaders that are qualified. I don't see a lack of qualification and so the road itself and the direction of the church can be trusted. Right? So enough about that because there was a whole sermon about that. Let's go to the motor. And this is where we get into uh
some other passages. So the motor um the thing that really makes a church go the power behind it is it to for it to be missionally focused. The mission to be and make disciples. So there you may have heard this before at Boon Fairy that our mission is to be and make disciples. Um but it seems to me that too often the idea of mentor style disciplehip is not part of that idea. I don't know any churches that are trustworthy where preaching is not part of the idea of discipling and it should
be. Um and I know plenty of churches where small group disciplehip is part of their plan for being and making disciples. Um, I know very few churches, and I think I also know why I know very few churches that actually develop mentors that go beyond the preaching to groups, beyond small group discussion all the way to the really deeper one-on-one kind of conversations you have where the mentor takes some responsibility for some time for the spiritual development of another person.
and you talk about the deepest things and there's deep trust and and they're the kinds of people also kind of like elders that can tell you the hard things but you know that they love you and they'll speak into those blind spots that are hard to see but you trust their discernment that this is something that you need to look at and take care of. The times I have grown the most in my life were a time where I had a trusted mentor um and I have plenty of blind
spots on my own. In fact, I'm going to be talking about Peter, but I've also learned I'm a lot like him. And I uh my dad knows that, too. And he says things like, "Mate, you don't yet know as well as you ought to know the things that you say you know so well." And I hated it the first time he told me that. I thought it was nonsense, but it's actually a passage in the Bible. Uh our faith has to grow in layers of depth. And it takes humility to add another layer. And it's just you know something,
but how deeply do you know it? And Peter thought he knew he would never abandon Jesus. And then he did. And you know later on in his life, we don't see it from the Bible, but in scripture, he ended up being crucified upside down. He didn't run anymore. Something happened. Jesus related to him, and it was very much a mentor style conversation afterwards. We're going to go there. In our church, we're reading through the Bible. Uh we call the the read through
uh word like fire. And we I think we're nearly finished with Genesis and John here. And uh so I'm going to go to the very end of John and show you uh the way that Jesus mentored Peter and it changed him dramatically. But Jesus had some things that were painful, cut to the heart. Peter was cut to the heart, but what Jesus said, but it changed him forever, especially when he realized how true it was and how Jesus words were
trustworthy. But before that, let me lay a foundation for what the mission of the church is. This is the um the the uh the motor. We're at the motor here and it's found in Matthew 28:18-20 and it's a very famous verse. Some people call this the great commission. Um it really is the mission of the church and there is no other mission. Um Matthew 28:18-20. And Jesus came to them and said came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Um, I have preached sermons just on these verses. They're on our website. Um, I think they're actually they're on our website, but
they're also on YouTube. It's easier to find them probably on YouTube under uh a playlist that might be called something like the mission. And you just find the one that's on Matthew 28. And I prove the point I'm about to make shortorthhand by going to other passages in the Bible. But one thing I think a lot of Christians and churches have gotten wrong about the idea of disciplehip is that it's among the
things that we do. So um if you read the whole New Testament, there's only so many things the churches is commanded to do. And you can define it in terms where everything in the New Testament fits into one of these categories. Uh and and these are not necessarily in order, but if I were to put them in order, I would put worship as the first one. Uh loving God, glorifying him. The church is is supposed to be about that. Uh the church is also supposed to be about fellowship,
loving one another. Um and in some ways, those that those are the two greatest commands, but those are not the only people that we are to love. We yes, we're to love one another. And there's a special focus on loving one another within the church. They'll know you by your love. That's very attractive. When you practice what you preach, that's a very deep kind of love. You ever been in relationship to someone that says a certain thing, but then behind the scenes it's different and then it hurts
you. You know, I have. Unfortunately, I've been that person to people sometimes. And uh they never feel loved when they are standing in the gap between what you practice and what you preach. But often times people really do feel love when they see what on the is on the outside matches what's on the inside. When something comes and tests the relationship, uh you don't just run. You're still there for them. Um so when it comes to that, I want to I want to talk about that
misunderstanding. Uh so you could you could say worship, fellowship, um evangelism. I might put evangelism if I was ranking these over fellowship, but I don't I don't really think these are ranked. I don't think you can rank them. And then service. And it's it's service to the poor. Jesus modeled over and over again caring for people that don't have the means to care for themselves. And there's lots of different demographics
of the poor. Sometimes the poor are just like Emily read uh people that need a cup of water, you know, and I think in a ways that's a spiritual metaphor when when people have a need that you can meet. Uh Jesus feels loved by that as though he was the person whose need you were meeting. Um and there's rewards for that in heaven for doing that. The least
of these could also be children. People who don't really have the power to protect themselves, people who do not have uh the power to take care of themselves. We call that the least of these. Um so, and then if you put disciplehip on that list, then you'd have five things. Worship, evangelism, fellowship, um service to the poor, and uh and disciplehip, right? But it's a misunderstanding of categories. Disciplehip is not one of the things we
do. It's the method by all of the that the method by which all of the other things get done. What do I mean by that? If you think of disciplehip as mentoring well then do people need to be mentored and helped and taught how to love the Lord, how to glorify him, how to worship him. Absolutely. That a lot of doctrine is about what glorifies the Lord and what doesn't. Right? It does not glorify the Lord to know the right thing but not do it.
James, a guy that seemed like he had a lot of practicing what he preached, you know, a lot of lean spirituality, said that when we hear God's word, but don't do it. We're like someone that looks at some self in the mirror and then walks away and forgets what they look like.
That's how deep it is. Your identity is what God says it is, and you have to live by that identity and not just walk away and forget that identity as it would be weird like someone look in the mirror and then just I forgot what I looked like. But that's what it's like when God watches us read his word and just hear it but not do it. You know, so we're supposed to be like James, like
Jesus in that way. There ought to be a lean, not a fluffy spirituality, but a really solid lean spirituality there, a strong one. And that that mentor style disciplehip um is modeled by Jesus over and over again. So when the disciples heard the idea of go and make disciples, they would have they would have had already experienced for three years what that looks like. You know, the first thing the disciples did with Jesus, they went to his house. They had fellowship with
him. This is John the Baptist pointing, "This is the lamb of God, the Christ." They're figuring out this is the Messiah. And the first thing they get to do with him is just go home and spend the rest of the day with him. So, and how many times throughout the uh throughout the gospels did Jesus eat with him? Even after he was resurrected, he ate fish with them. I think partly to prove that he wasn't a ghost, you know, they saw, whoa, this is him. He eats fish with us and he's really eating.
Look, ghosts don't eat, you know. So, I think or spirits and uh so he spent a lot of time in fellowship with them. He modeled fellowship in small groups one-on-one. He had a even closer relationship to Peter, James, and John. I tend to think that's because they were going to be the leaders of the pillars of the church. All these apostles were were really pillars of the church, but Peter, James, and John took really significant leadership roles as apostles. Um and so you see a lot of
time spent with them mentoring them. Uh think about mentoring in this way. When they prayed and to try to cast out a demon one time, you can read this in Mark. The demon wouldn't leave. And so they come back to him and they ask him what happened and they say, "What? You remember this one only comes out with prayer and fasting. That's mentorship where he sends them out to go do a task
he'd already watched them do. they uh in his name try to cast out these demons and it doesn't work and they don't understand they can come back and evaluate with them with him. This is this is mentor style disciplehip. So um and he and he did preach to large groups, right? So they would see him preach to large groups. So it'd be natural for them that disciplehip includes preaching. That's even commanded preaching to large groups. And
he preached to giant groups too. So whether it's a smaller group or a giant group of people, preaching is part of it. a very important part of it. Um, and and but he was constantly with the 12, right? He spent so much time with the 12 and that's clearly a small group. So, it's it's where a lot of pastors get their idea about the importance of small groups. There can be a lot of discussion. Sometimes there's friction. You know, when you're in a small group, you're right next to another Christian.
Sometimes they say things you don't like and then you got to talk to them about it and maybe you got to forgive them. You know, if you're just kind of always in a big group and in a sermon like this, there's not that much interaction between people. So, it's a and people kind of on their best behavior on Sunday. It's not the same thing as real tight-knit community. Jesus had to deal
with jealousy among the disciples. He had to deal with guys like Matthew who t or Levi, same same person who's a tax collector. And then Simon the zealot who is the kind of guy that wants to overthrow Rome. And this guy's joining Rome. This guy says, "This guy is a traitor, you know, like the most detestable kind of person." And they're in the same small group. Jesus leading all of them. You don't think there were times where they where they crash
clashed? Definitely. Uh it seems like Peter was competing with John all the time. So much so that John had to make sure that everybody knows for all eternity that he got to the tomb first cuz he was faster. Right? I always find that funny. Um so that's the context in which Jesus disciples us in. And notice how it says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Evangelism is definitely involved in that. And and
Jesus taught them how to evangelize. He also taught them difficult lessons like when a neighborhood or a city uh doesn't receive you, shake off the dust from your sandals in in judgment of them. Basically, like don't get stuck constantly trying to convince people that want nothing to do with God in that season. There are other people that will listen to you. Just continue to share the message. Um, and don't necessarily
consider that a failure. Some people re will reject the message and it was still faithful for you to share it. We don't have any control of the result. It's just we're faithful witnesses. That's an important thing. I think when people become convinced that they have to be effective witnesses like like you could somehow cause the result uh and then when they have enough experiences of failure um they get discouraged by that and it's like oh I guess I'm not a good
evangelist. It's like just be a faithful witness. Let God deal with the result. Well, that's the kind of thing you can help people in mentoring them. There's some things that you preach and then it sticks and and some things that just don't. Um, and there's some things that you can talk about in a small group and and then there's others that you can't. uh it's almost it'd be like oversharing
to talk about it. But with a with a with a mentor that you've gotten to know and and is trustworthy and and trusted by the church as well, you can discuss the deepest things of the heart, the places where you're really actually stuck. The kind of issues that you're afraid to talk about publicly, but with that mentor, you can. And and these things got dealt with with Jesus, too. I'll
show you in a minute with Peter. But so it actually says in verse 20, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. To observe all that I've commanded you. What's that like? To practice what they preach. Right? To teach what accords with sound doctrine. It's right there, too. And I can't tell you how many times I've been blind to the ways that there's a this patch in my life. And maybe it only comes out when I'm when I'm pressed. You know, you ever
feel pressed? You're like hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Someone said halt. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Stop. The enemy wants to use that that state and and tempt you to act. And we all have different areas. I call them besetting sins. Things that like pop up in your life that need to be conquered. Uh for Moses, one of those was anger, right? Trying to do God's justice in his own power. And he ended up not even making
it in the promised land. And before that, God had already made him right that he's the most humble man on the earth. Imagine having to, you know, being that man and then telling God's like now write, "You're the most humble man on the earth." And you're like, "Really? I have to write that?" You know, I imagine what that was like for
him. But even the most humble man on the earth at his old age was fed up with Israelite stiff necks and pounds that rock and like, "Look what you made me do kind of attitude and took credit for it in a way." And it did not glorify God. And it was this anger. Again, it might not seem that serious, but to God, it was just one more area of unredeemed anger. And the consequence was after leading the people of God probably
better than any other leader. Maybe David was in there, but Moses was absolutely a hero in Israel and famous for that and still doesn't get to go to the promised land, right? So, there was some mentoring happening there even just from God and teaching them to observe what I've commanded you. I like to think of of that kind of disciplehip like fingers in the dough, you know. Yeah. Uh the pasta dough, it has to it has to have certain ingredients. You can't leave the flour out. You can't leave the
water or maybe sometimes milk out. You can't leave the eggs out either. And you can put other ingredients, but if you don't have those three, it's not really going to be pasta anymore. I know some of you are thinking like, I could make pasta without one of those. I don't know. It's just an example. But the point is that uh you got to really work
the dough. And in those kinds of relationships, I I uh had a mentor that um uh I used to run with all the time and uh I asked him to mentor me and he said, "Well, so you want to meet like outside?" So, we can just talk while we run. We're both in good enough shape at this point where we run slow and like we can talk about that. If you want to go
to coffee, we can too. But we would have some of the most difficult conversations of my life while we're running and Tryon Creek and no one's else listening where he's just talking about issues he sees in my life and he would never really mention more than one. And sometimes I disagreed. I I was I don't think that's an issue. I I feel like I even disagree theologically with you about that one.
And then he ends up being right. And so finally I just stopped thinking saying disagreeing like hey I'm not even disagree. I'm just it's hard to hear. It's painful to hear. I don't like that that issue may be there and I don't see it, but I'm going to go pray about it. You know, and metros are not always right. Uh that's not the point. Uh but often times the people that love us and care of us, they see things from the outside that you just can't see from the
inside. You know, it's just pride has a way of blinding us. So, in order to teach people to observe everything that Jesus has commanded them in that sermon, I proved that that's really the whole Bible. Uh not just the red letter points. Um and so you can go back to that the missional sermon on Matthew 28. But um the the mission he Jesus modeled that mentor style disciplehip. Now I want to hone in even closer on that idea because the Titus passage I'm not just
preaching this cuz I feel like it. The Titus passage itself hones in on the idea of mentor style disciplehip. In this case older women training younger women. So let's go back to Titus and talk about that and we'll read through the very first uh uh verse which is actually about older men with older men, older women, younger women, younger men. Um so this is what harmonizes with with uh true doctrine. This is what it looks like to put into practice what we preach
for older men. What would it look like for you to practice what we preach in the context of Cit and Titus? But uh I this is true for everyone everywhere all the time. So God wrote this and he knows these are the things that older men uh really often need to hear. Older men be soberminded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfast. Uh there's a really like the word regal faith comes to mind. Really
upright and noble. Um when you put all of these different kind of things together, um soberminded does not necessarily mean uh anything related to alcohol. Obviously, it doesn't not include that because you're not going to be soberminded when you're drunk. But soberminded is a reasonableness. There's a I I think older men in the faith often times when they have applied and practiced what they preach for many years
are reasonable under pressure. You know, when you're under pressure, your emotions uh will oftenimes flare up to the point where you hear yourself saying things that you know aren't reasonable. you know, um, and and you want to stop, but you're just so upset and they feel so good and they also kind of convinced that it's true. And then your spirit cools and you realize, "Wow, I can't believe I said those things. I don't really believe those things. Look at the
damage that I've done." Well, maybe one of the reasons why older men are more sober minded in that way after having surrendered to the spirit over and over again is that they've just realized over and over over again, there's no point in letting my anger get away with me that way. And I've seen lots of older men that have that kind of sobermindedness um that don't allow their emotions to run away with them and start thinking all kinds of things. You know, the enemy
wants to do that. He wants to he wants to take those places where he can just like in a way run through your mind and convince you of all kinds of things that aren't true. And emotions without control will allow him to have a lever to do that to some degree. Um dignified. I think I'm not going to define all these words because I think some of them you just know what it means. signify self-controlled. Uh, notice, by the way, that by the time we get down to younger men, the only thing he says is
self-controlled. I think that's funny. Um, so I I think as those that consider themselves in the younger men category need to realize that uh God's like, "You have one thing I want you to work on. Self-control." And it doesn't always look the same for for every single person. But the fact is, these are spiritual qualities. And the battles with self-control that older men have may not be the exact same battles that younger men have, but there are still battles for self-control. Uh sound and
faith. We talked about the word sound meaning without mixture of air. So I think it's it's exact same word. So really solid in their faith. Uh that doesn't happen by the way if you're not studying God's word. You can be 80 having not studied God's word and you won't just be sound in faith just cuz time went by. It's time spent in the word, time spent walking closely with the Lord, time spent in prayer, uh sound in faith, sound in love, and in steadfastness. So the word sound has an
effect on each one of these words. And so uh sound in love, have you noticed how our society will define things that uh like this is love, but the truth is just completely divorced from it, you know? Well, this is the loving way to treat people, but it's so false. Well, that's it's true love that he's talking about here. False love isn't love. It's not love at all. It's really crooked. And it's not just about like loving one another, but the first relationship is
vertical. And if God says this is what true love looks like, and you say, "No, it's not. You're not in a loving relationship towards him." And therefore, uh the loving others is just like a you thing. And you don't have the power to love uh the way God actually commands us to love. So you got to be attached to the source of all that love first, which means defining love with all the truth of scripture and not breaking those truth boundaries. Well, that's the kind of love that older men
are ought to have. Not not this nonsense fluffy rotten kind of love, but a love that's conditioned by the truth, true love. And and you can have that by the word as well. And steadfastness. They're not easily moved. you know, when when things happen with with younger men and um they get sort of flustered and ruffle the feathers and uh there can be these volcanic reactions and it can have caused all kinds of trouble in the church. Well, again um some reason we've
been watching through Star Wars. I kind of think of Yoda uh in in this whole thing, but I this was a Star Wars was written in a very secular way. So like a deeply Christian Yoda, you know, he's not easily moved. He's very humble. He knows what's right. He's got a lot of wisdom. And we just went through Emperor
Strikes Back. And Luke is allowing himself to be twisted by the plan that Darth Vader has to capture him by taking his friends uh technically his sister, but he doesn't know Leia and Han Solo captive. And so he foolishly and pridefully goes and thinks he can fight this guy. And and Yoda's telling him, "Don't, you're not ready." He was concerned that Luke would be like this and not finishing his training. Uh but he doesn't force him to do anything. He had the power to stop Luke from going.
He doesn't do it. And so older men know when to to let go in that way as well. Um so what about older women too? Three. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good. And so train young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be
reviled. So actually I found it. Verse 10, the part the my eyes could not see. It says, um, as a result of all of these qualifications, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our savior. Um, I just wanted to go back to that, but it's connected to this verse. When people practice what they preach in in all these different uh uh demographics, then the word of God can
never be rightly divi reviled. There will still be people that wrongly revile it, but it can never be like the claim doesn't stick. Oh, you just hypocrites, right? But also when we practice what we preach so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our savior. When you adorn something you make it
more attractive. Right? So that's why I said that mentoring style disciplehip helps us to practice what we preach so that it's attractive to others and and that that is the kind of attractiveness that God has actually designed. Not all these you know lights and uh fog machines and all that kind of stuff. That's just all humanmade attractiveness. the the real attractiveness is is people that live according to their doctrine. So back to the mentor style disciplehip though
because you pick it up. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good. So to train the young women and then it lists the ways that they should train them. Um, so if those older women haven't yet been tempered in this way, um, I want I want to be careful to to slam um, women
of our society. And so, but I have noticed that even in the older age that wine and alcohol seems to be involved in almost every single social gathering of of the women of in our neighborhood. And I'm not saying they're all slaves to wine, but I've noticed this thing where I think some of these women that are not Christians are somewhat disillusioned with the problems in their marriage. Not that they've said that, but you just kind of see it in the
eyes. They're unhappy. And life is not necessarily going the way they wanted to. And they're not terribly angry about that, but they're just sort of resigned that they weren't going to have the dream marriage, weren't going to have the dream life. And there's this resignation, maybe even like a somewhat of a desperation, maybe a numbness. And I wonder sometimes like is is alcohol the way that they're kind of trying to overcome that, you know? Uh men do it too. We're talking about women right
now. That's the only reason I mention it. But I think the enemy knows um how to tempt women and how to tempt men. And alcohol is one of the one of the ways. And it's not dignified. It's not stately. It's not noble for an older woman, a more mature woman in the faith to be controlled by a substance like that. That's something that she should have overcome. It says, "Do not be filled with wine, but by the spirit." So older women need to be regularly filled by the spirit uh in under his control is
what that means. Displaying, manifesting the fruit of the spirit and and alcohol just interrupts that. It interrupts all of that. Um, you can even pretend to be nice while that's happening, but it's not the joy or the kindness of the spirit if you're slave to much wine. Um, and so they are to teach what is good. But the teaching, it's not, you might think I I I do think it's it's just fine and really good and ought to be well-developed and trained for um women in women's directorial roles to be
preaching to women. You know that Paul commands that the mixed audience would only be men. uh he does not permit that um women would teach or exercise authority uh um over the church in that way. And so that we went through that with um in second Timothy. And so there are boundaries, not because one group's more valuable than the other or more intelligent or even more spiritual. It's just what God has decided and it's anchored in creation order. Uh but in this case, there is a teaching role for
these women. But notice that it's not just some kind of upfront teaching role. There can be that kind of teaching and preaching in in women's gatherings in the future at Boon Fairy too. And I don't think there's anything wrong when a church does that. Um, but it says, "And so train the young women." Train, right? Think of training. You ever worked with a personal trainer? He's he or she right there next to you. So you're doing a bicep curl and you're not
really turning. They talk about turning the thumb down to get the full rotation of the the the bicep muscle head and and so you're just doing this. Well, that's a hammer curl, but they're wanting you to do one. They turn it all the way over. So they might even take your wrist. It's like just turn it a little bit more. Think of a picture that you're pouring out backwards like that. You know, they're right there helping you, train you how to do it. Um I I think of
that kind of training. I want to say something about about women, too. Um I think in in generations past, there were more legacy Christian young women. What do I mean by that? Their grandmother was a Christian, their mother was a Christian, and they're a Christian. And and maybe even goes farther back. And so how you parent? Well, they've just been watching it fall through the generations for a while in a good way. Um how you deal with this, how you deal with that.
Maybe how do you deal with the fact that you're just doing laundry and and raising those little children, training diapers, and no one's all that thankful about it and the kids can't even talk and it's just tedium in data and out. Well, I I think a grandmother that taught her mother that taught her daughter, there's a lot of power in that kind of grace legacy throughout the generations. But what if there's not? You know what? What if this woman didn't
really have a good example? This young woman and her mother and her mother didn't really have a good example. And so there's a lot of maybe brokenness in how you're to parent. Maybe they're given a really bad example. And so they need someone to walk beside them that knows. And maybe you didn't know when you first started, but you really grown. I can't tell you how much I wish I could
go back in my football career. There was a moment my senior year in college where the position of defensive tackle just clicked and it was like the whole field slowed down and I was so much I could react to my keys. I was making way more tackles for loss. I think the same thing about Christianity. If I could only go back 10 years and apply everything I've learned, I'd be such a better pastor. Well, you know, there is a time capsule like that and it's people that are 10
years or more ahead of you. and when they're mentors and when they're trained and developed to be mentors, you can learn things now so you don't have to look back and be like, "I wish I knew it." There will always be things like that. Um, and and I think regret of that kind, especially of things that you've asked God for forgiveness for is just another way the enemy accuses us like push if you've been forgiven something, push that shame or regret or guilt away.
That's not from the spirit. But what would it look like at Boon's Ferry for women to actually take an interest in training the young women? And that can be really hard work. Sometimes there's some reactivity, but man, it can it can lead to that that legacy grace relationship being restored even though the chain was broken generationally. It's such a powerful thing. And so, first of all, they need to be an
example. They need to have their doctrine be in accordance or uh they need to have their lives be practice what they preach lives. But let's go through some of the things they should train because at one of them at least is pretty controversial and I think it needs to be defined rightly and then we'll move on. We're still talking about the motor here. We'll move on to one other passage about men doing the same thing. And then we'll move on to the fuel. So um training them to be
self-controlled. We've defined that again. Uh it's it's really interesting. It's it's everyone that needs to have this kind of self-control. Self-control really comes up. being slaves to much wine or being slanderers, gossiping about people. Slandering is like reputation destruction gossip. And Christine has come back from some of these like meetings with with friends that are not Christians and alcohol was present and she said, "I don't know if I
want to go anymore." And I said, "Why?" It's like they just say such mean things about people that are not there. Um, and so it's slander really, you know, and it's not our job to judge outsiders, but um, that's something that that men and women both need to be really careful. This in this case, he's talking about older women. Um, it's a it's a sin that
needs to have been overcome. Uh, the idea of of gossiping and uh, jibberjabbering about other people that in a way that if they were there, they'd be so hurt. And and it's like that's not that's not practicing what we preach. You need to be in those moments. exactly who you'd be in front of them. Kind and tender and gentle and not judgmental and not trying to sort of vent about whatever they did about you. Go to them. And older older women will often times have a tempered way of applying Matthew
18. They've learned I just got to go straight to that person. Well, that can be passed on. So, let's talk about it. Self-controlled, pure, working at home. That's the one that often times gets controversy. Now, we're about to go to the fuel. And legalism is like putting diesel in a gas motor, right? And I'm talking about legalism specifically cuz that's one of the um kinds of uh non-grace-based gosp like introduce to the gospel, it blows it up. The gospel stops existing in any saving way if you
introduce deep legalism. And that was happening. They were the circumcision party. I've talked about that a bunch. I'm not going to go over it in much again. But in this case, we don't want to be legalistic about this idea of working at home. You can go to Proverbs 31 and it describes a very industrious
woman. Um, and so, for example, I don't think there's any problem with, um, uh, let's say my wife was a nurse and she was considering, uh, in order to keep your nursing license up, you have to work at least about once or twice a week. And she was considering working once or twice a week. I don't think that in any way violates this command. Um, I think the command is to be a homemaker. That's what is controversial. I really believe that's what it says. Uh, it
doesn't really matter what I believe. In a way, it does because I'm the preaching pastor here, but a as a young woman um or a woman that is raising children, you have to decide from this and other passages, is it really God's plan for me to raise these children? Well, think about mentor style disciplehip. I remember talking to a woman that was a a teacher and she'd had a young child and I said, "Are you going to continue to
teach?" It wasn't a challenge. I thought maybe she would uh uh for a time stay home or maybe just find a way to be able to come at times and be a substitute. And she looked at me like with fire and eyes. She goes, "No one else is raising my children." And I was like, "Wo." Uh what she was saying is, "I'm not going to put my children in a child care and I'm not going to just be teaching. I want to raise these children and teach them." And I that kind of passion was
very encouraging to me. Again, I don't think it's a problem like you're letting someone else raise if there's uh once or twice a week, but every single day in child care, that's somebody else discipling those kids. That's somebody else raising those children. I really do believe the Bible teaches basically single inome household. Um that is not necess one of you uh has to work. Not necessarily. I think it'd be to totally
fine. But once children are involved, the calling of that woman um turned towards nurture, love, um a teaching them. There's so much training that can happen. You want a legacy child like a child that's been tempered by the grace of God from a young age all the way through that has that same kind of children. God's looking for godly offspring. Well, I I there's no one I want discipling my children um as much as I want my wife to disciple children. And so what happened is she found her
heart being drawn to the kids. Even on those days that she was working, a lot of the other ladies were like, "I just can't wait to get away from my kids." And that oftenimes is a secular attitude. Not not to be found in the church. Although I understand it's so much work and you should take breaks. You know, husbands, if you see your wife really being tired, maybe send her away for a weekend on a retreat and let her
just recharge. Maybe take a whole afternoon where you take a time off of work and say, "Honey, I want you to go out and just have a day for yourself." I've done that for Christine and and I want to continue doing it for But yeah, it's hard work. It's hard work and still we don't want to let those kind of attitudes like our children are a curse uh develop in our in our lives. Uh that children are a blessing and when you train them well, you start seeing that develop more and more in their lives.
So, what would it look like if you're really trying to do that? I think a lot of the ladies at our church are convinced, yeah, I I do want to make sort of my home the base of my operations and I do want to be industrious and so yeah, I'll work here and there, but I would really raise these children be a homemaker. I think that's the command. I think it's
actually pretty straightforward. I think it's just frustrating because um I was going to go into feminism a little bit, but it's about to be like 95 today and I don't know if I'll survive uh a long sermon myself. So, um I'm going to continue. But the culture has convinced women basically that you can go and earn the bacon and then come home and cook it too. And that is overwhelming. It's simply a fact that you cannot be in a full-time job at work and a full-time job at stay at home.
Those are two mutually exclusive jobs. And women really react. But I'm just saying a fact here. It's too much. It's too much. I mean, literally, you can't be there during the hours that a full-time stay-at-home mom would be there. And I know it's very difficult cuz let's say you went through all this college to get trained and then you have children and what's that training going
to do? You know, maybe it was training an area that doesn't really have anything to do with raising children and then you wanted to be in a job and you had all this desire and then it's like, oh, that can be there's a sacrifice. There is a sacrifice to it. Um, but I think that when when we give ourselves to the callings of God in our demographic and when we allow that calling to take root, I have seen great
joy in the hearts of mothers. Um, I even see I've even seen Jordan Peterson talk about how um, statistically women that are in their starting to get into their late 40s start deeply regretting that they did not have children and their their vocation is no longer fulfilling and they become deeply disillusioned. and he was talking to a woman that considers himself a herself a feminist and I don't think Jordan Peterson's a Christian yet and she definitely wasn't.
And you know what happened as a result of how he spoke to her? She decided, you know what, I think he's right and I'm going to have children and I'm going to put my career on hold for a time and she now goes around talking about how h she didn't even realize the joy that was missing in her life. It's such a high co high calling and you are most certainly so what would happen if older women were training these younger women how to train their children. This is legacy
disciplehip. It's such a powerful thing and it's so good. And man do does the church today need children that were raised in doctrine that teaching that accords with doctrine truly godly. I mean they're going to have to be warriors. Our culture is declining. Uh, I I really believe it is the twilight of America. And I know that's hard for you red-blooded Americans to hear, and I consider myself a red-blooded American, but you simply cannot survive the
abominations we're committing. God would be unjust if he doesn't eventually pour out his wrath. Let me tell you what's happening. I don't know if you read this. Uh, it's just in Eugene down in Springfield. There was It's Pride Month. They're hosting spirit week. Well, it's Pride Spirit Week. This is I think it was an elementary school. may have been uh uh middle school, but I'm pretty sure
it was elementary. And the kids are so young, and they're being told to dress up in drag and they're being told not to tell their parents, right? These are wicked teachers and administrators. That's what God calls them. And that is what our culture is declining into. You don't train your your children up to be able to withstand that kind of evil, they're not going to be ready. It's going to get worse. The Bible promises that in Timothy that it's only going to get worse as we are racing
towards the end of the end times. So, it there's an urgency. I know I got very serious. I wasn't even meaning to say that, but there's a real urgency to train your children up in the Lord. Um, so let's continue here because um I've shown you the training there and I want to um keep moving through the categories. Um but it's I think it's awesome that it's it starts with women because I think sometimes the church overfocuses the uh role of disciplehip on men. Women are to be doing it too.
But um men are ought to be doing as well. And I want to show you where Paul tells Timothy that 2 Timothy chapter 2 I'll read verse 1 and two. You then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The fuel's found right there too. Fuel's always just the grace found in Christ Jesus. and what you have heard from me in the presence
of many witnesses. So like the doctrine that I taught you, the life that I lived, the the doctrine that accords with godliness, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. We call this reproductive disciplehip. It's the same with men and women. What is reproductive disciplehip? It's when you take what you've learned and look to train other people in order to reproduce
that same thing in them. And remember, what you're trying to reproduce is the ways that you've learned to have your the things that you believe be in harmony with the way that you live. That's what needs to be trained. Okay? So, that's that's the motor. That's the motor. Let's go to the fuel. The fuel is actually next week's sermon, and it's just in the very next verses. So, let me read those verses verses and show you how Paul says, uh, that's the fuel very
specifically. So after we're not quite through the chapter, but after all of these things that accord with good doctrine, godly living, Paul says in verse 11, for so why why do that? Because for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to
do what? renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for the blessed hope, the peering of our great the peering of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all uh lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
confidently insist on that that that's the fuel, the cross, the grace. I I mean, it's kind of a a a gruesome image, but like it's it's the blood of Jesus Christ that fuels the engine of the church. And it has to be that. It cannot be anything else. Um you know what happens if you put diesel in a gas
engine? And uh I know there's lots of funny videos and I was kind of researching on Reddit about about this and I found at least I thought this was it was like a young lady doing a public service announcement to not put diesel in your car. Like that's what people need. And she started up like don't put the green gas in your car. That's diesel. I thought it just makes your motor louder but it just like I it it ruins your motor. My car won't drive at all. And then I was reading the
comments. The first comment was uh it made it quieter instead. Another comment was uh cuz she kept saying, "Hey guys, don't do this." Like it was like really serious. And another person goes, "Hey guys, don't drink bleach." I like a little bit dark humor like that. Uh another one was, "I bet she bought the extended warranty, too." I don't know why this one's so funny for me, but someone said Fert. It just hit my funny bone. Another
one was, this one's pretty smart. Uh, people like this, uh, read instructions on shampoo. And another one, I don't know why, but I just feel like it was a Southerner that said it, said it. Uh, we're circling the drain, guys. But my absolute favorite, and the closing one is, you might consider running for
Congress. Anywh who just a little levity here on on that but yeah if you put diesel in a gas motor um according to guys in our in our church that are very competent in these areas I'm not competent and I don't intend to become competent. I don't like being responsible for fixing things like that but um that was a joke but also serious. So um so uh if you put diesel in a gas engine it might actually run for a while. you might actually get a certain place, but it'll end up seizing up the
motor. And it's the very same with same thing with legalism. It might seem like on the outside things are going okay and the car is going down the road, but it's the wrong fuel. And so if if we use any kind of legalism in our mentoring of people, it will end up seizing up the motor. It will at at a minimum veer us off the road and we're not on mission anymore. Because what is legalism? It's hypocrisy. It's acting like you can actually always practice what you preach
and you're doing it. Uh it's it's the kind of thing that Joyce Meyer says. You guys know who Joyce Meyers? Joyce Meyer, I don't know how long ago said, but I was just reading a quote. She goes, "I finally got it through my thick skull that I'm not a sinner anymore. And when I started realizing that I'm righteous, that's when I stopped sinning and I have not sinned since. I am not a sinner." She said, "This is heresy. This is
making out God to be a liar. There is no one that's not a sinner and that no one that doesn't sin. And when people claim to not have sin or to not be a sinner, the Bible says in first John, you make God out to be a liar. But it's what one of people want to hear. It really sounds great, but it's just this hideous, ugly legalism. We ought to forcely oppose messages like that from people like Joyce Meyer. And let's not say that we
shouldn't name them by name. Paul mentions Alexander the Coppersmith and multiple other people as heretics. So the Bible gives us an example. If you don't know them by name, how would you know not to to avoid them? you need to avoid them. So, I would not have anything to do with that ministry. But the point here is that imagine teaching that to people and then the whole church thinks they can actually, oh yeah, I'm righteous. I'm not a sinner on the inside. And when I notice that, I don't
even sin anymore. Is there truth in it? Yeah. By Jesus, God sees the righteousness of Christ superimposed on you, right? But has that righteousness taken its full root in all your life? never this side of the grave. Never claim there's sinless perfection is a terrible, terrible legalistic doctrine. That doesn't mean that we ever have an excuse for sinning. The Holy Spirit will always give you the power not to. It just happens to be. I think this is why even the righteous are scarcely saved.
Our sin is so deep that even when we're given all the power not to do it, we still do it. Even Paul identifies that with that in Romans 7. So legalism will destroy the mission. But let's go to the buyin. And for this, I'm gonna go to John and we're going to close. Okay. And we're done. And I don't know how hot you feel, but I think we're we're going to
survive here. Um, so I said I would go start going to uh the places and just highlight them as maybe a little bit of reward for those of you reading the the Bible read through. This is an awesome place where Jesus is is through mentorship restoring Peter after his failure and the grace is the fuel but it's hard for him to hear. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to si to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? Do you love me
more than these? The question is very much designed to deal with the pride that caused Simon to think even if everyone else abandons you, I won't. I love you more than these was the was the prideful uh conviction. That was the the thing that he didn't really practice when he got pressured. And he got pressured at the cost of his life, right? Associating with Jesus may have cost him his life. That's what he was
afraid of. So, we ought not to make fun of I mean, are you certain that if someone pointed a gun to your head that you might not fail? I think we ought to say, "I hope by the grace of God that I confess your name even at the point of death." Right? That's what I'm going to say. I don't I'm like Peter. I don't want to say I do it in my own power. You know what an example of that that young woman at Coline was. I'll never forget that story. Do you love me more than
these? He said to him, "Yes, Lord. You know that I love you." But it doesn't add more than these. He said to him, "Feed my lambs." Right? It means teach my my people, teach Christians, feed them my word. Right? Well, he just got done failing by denying his Lord and Savior. Hard to imagine a worse failure. And that here Jesus is restoring him. There's so much grace, so much forgiveness. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he said, yes, Lord, you know
that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep and take care for them. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Then Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" How many times had Peter betrayed Jesus, denounced him, denied him to a little girl, terrified of of losing his life? Three times. So, I'm cut to the heart for him in this way. But I've also I've
done things like this in my life. And I I also am like Peter, like I'm not actually a soldier, but I can imagine myself actually trying to kill a Roman to save Jesus. And it's very hard to think that he says, "Put your sword back in your sheath." You want to be a soldier for him, but it cannot be in your own power. And there's a brokenness that is required for men like me who want to do it in their own power. And he was experiencing that
brokenness. And what did he say? Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." And Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. It's not because I am not a sinner or ever will not be a sinner. It's not because I I've found out that I'm righteous and stopped sinning. I I am I I don't want to compete with Peter, but I feel worse when I when I read the lists of people who won't make it into the kingdom of
heaven. I've done most of those things. And and and Jesus made me a pastor. It's the grace. It's the fuel. Anything else kills. I can't even contain my emotion thinking about it. So, and and nothing has caused me to buy in like that. I I I will never leave Boon's Fairy of My will. I can't say that. I know for certain that it's God's plan for me for the whole time,
but I hope it is. I'm here to stay. I uh I want to retire here someday and hopefully have a guy like a Joshua that takes over and just continues the mission. But I am in my heart deeply devoted. But it's Jesus that has devoted me. It's his grace. It's his forgiveness. I don't deserve it. And there's nothing like it in all the world. And and it can devote you to if
that's the fuel you you we use. And I'm not even saying I always practice what I preach, but it's by the grace of God that even though I don't, it it inflames my heart with desire to figure out the areas where I'm not in line with what I believe and and that God would change those inner places and that I would start even in those weak areas practicing what I preach. And I believe there's nothing more attractive. Let me continue reading and finish out. There's
nothing more attractive than that. And and I I hope that you devote yourself in this way too. The car is the local church led well. It's not just you can't devote yourself to the church ethereal the church universal. It's like you can't taste it. You can't touch it. You can't see it. It's it's people in real relationships face to face that need to be built up and mentored and discipled and taught to observe everything that Christ has commanded. And they need to see your devotion first.
I want to say this also with grace, but I do think Christians take their commitments to their local churches far too lightly. There's not enough devotion. First sign of conflict, they're out. I've seen it so many times, but it won't be by my power or by some kind of legalistic message that they become devoted, but by grace, by the call to repentance and forgiveness. So likewise, younger men ought to be
self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching show integrity and dignity. That's about pastors and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may not may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us. Again, the outside witness even to opponents. Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything and they're to be well
pleasing and not argumentative. One of the hard conversations I had to have with my mentor is about how argumentative I was. And then you know what I did? Argue. So stubborn guys like me take some real fingers in the dough kind of mentorship. Not pillfering but showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our savior. Let's put the main point up and finish up here. Mentoring style disciplehip helps us to practice what we preach so
it's attractive to others. I just want to take three short minutes to give you a little bit of vision of something that's going to be happening in Boon Ferry. I don't know exactly what God's timing in but it's the next thing we plan to do. So the first phase when I came to Boon Ferry was to just get the service and the preaching in order and the ministry of the children downstairs
in order. That's something we have to do every week and it was not easy to make any changes in that and um so it had to be done slowly and we kind of got that phase done and it's about what it'll be today and it'll still grow. But then the second phase and this was pre-planned with the elders was developing our
disciplehip communities. are Bible studies as the as the second layer of disciplehip preaching upstairs an hour of teaching for the kids downstairs supplemental to your parenting kind of teaching and disciplehip you're the primary disciples of your disciples of your kids it's really important uh we not only know that but have passion to support that but our disciplehip communities are just our way of copying what a the early church did in Acts 2 but also what Jesus did is to walk in
community and they ate together so we eat together they studied God's word together so we study God's word so pray together. So, we pray together, but uh one of the next steps in what I consider to be phase three is developing mentors. And I'm just going to cut this section short and talk about it more um next week as well. But, um we are planning on developing official um uh uh mentors for Boon Ferry, people that have significant training. You might think I can't be a mentor.
Um I'm a legacy child in developing mentors. It's all my dad was passionate about and he passed it on to me and and so I know a lot. I have a lot of
experience. It's not true in every area of ministry, but in that area I can tell you there's not anyone here that if you have a passion for God, compassion for people, teachable spirit, if you're reliable, um, and these are all things you can choose to become and and and you all have gifting if you're a Christian and those qualities uh make you very much trainable to be a mentor and it will not be as hard as you think it is.
Uh, so we're going to be training mentors and the way that we're going to be doing that is in men's w men's and women's ministry. So the primary purpose and mission of men's and me women's ministry will be to train and develop mentors that get in relationships to mentees um disciplers and discip disciples in in that way uh in a mentorship style. And the same thing
with men's ministry. It won't be different in in the sense that most of what you may have experienced in women's ministry, there'll probably still be a monthly or bimonthly or even weekly meetings at some point where there's teaching uh discussion and fellowship and maybe some food. Um there will most likely be retreats, women's retreats and men's retreats where there's also some
of those things. Uh but there will be behind-the-scenes development of mentors and we're going to be trying to at least offer the opportunity for people to get into those relationships. And uh let me just say one more thing. I I didn't even sleep last night at all. I think it was a spiritual attack and I'm so tired. I feel incredible amount of passion and energy for this whole thing.
Um, I think that Satan does not want churches ever to get to this point because what happens when you have mentors like this that are trusted and entrusted, that have good relationships, the elders, that have training, the development of people having their doctrine come into accordance with how their lives, the practice, it's so powerful and it's it what leads other people to watch that and become devoted.
So, last thing I just want to say is as you come to the table and as Emily comes back up here and leads us in worship. Um, were you convicted by any of those areas? You know, is there self-control missing in your life? And what's Jesus going to tell you? He's like, "Yeah, there is. But I died for that." He's not going to condemn you. He'll never tell
you you're sinless either. So sometimes it's hard to hear what Jesus has to say or through a mentor or through another person or a preacher, but the table's right there. If you see your life not matching up with what you believe, come to the table and reconcile that in the blood of Jesus Christ. Let me pray. Father, I'm so passionate about this vision, but I know it's because of the spirit of Jesus living in me. It's I'm not even really sad. I just cannot contain my emotion about these things.
But in the deepest places of my heart, that emotion is just reserved for absolute adoration of you. For forgiving me for all of my sin, for even considering me to be someone you would qualify to be a teacher and an elder. Lord, I pray that my own doctrine would be adorned by obedience in my life as
well more and more. that it would be a model to these people and that they would never feel that we're obeying from some kind of legalistic or hypocritical place, but rather because we want to make your doctrine look as good as it truly is, and we want to devote ourselves and help others devote themselves to the mission as well. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.