JUST SAY NO (3 OF 4)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Titus 2:1-15, Titus 3:1-5
This content is part of a series.
Just Say No (3 of 4)
Series: The Successful Church
Jeff Strite
Titus 2:1-3:5
OPEN: The popular author Robert Fulghum once wrote in the Kansas City Times, ''Most of what I really need to know about life… I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but it WAS always taught in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody . . .
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.''
APPLY: Can't get much simpler than that, can you?
If everybody lived like that, life would be more pleasant wouldn't it?
And, as I was reading over the passage for today's sermon, it occurred to me that the things Titus was supposed to teach the Christians in Crete were fairly basic instructions for good behavior as well:
Exercise self-control
Don't steal
Don't lie
Don't gossip
Don't get drunk
Obey people in authority over you
Be good workers in the workplace
Love your family
I could preach entire sermons on each of those topics… but I shouldn't have to.
Everybody knows Christians should behave themselves like this.
I mean, these principles are so simple - so basic - that every Christian should live in this way.
ILLUS: There's a comic strip called ''Dilbert'' in the Newspaper - he once observed:
''I decided to start a discount religion. The tithing would only be 5% and I'd let people sin as much as they wanted. The only problem is that I don't want to spend time with anyone who would join that sort of religion.''
The way the Bible teaches us about Christianity, this is a religion that people should want to join because of the basic moral life that is taught. The kind of lifestyle Paul described inTitus 2 should be par for the course with believers. Preachers shouldn't ...
Series: The Successful Church
Jeff Strite
Titus 2:1-3:5
OPEN: The popular author Robert Fulghum once wrote in the Kansas City Times, ''Most of what I really need to know about life… I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but it WAS always taught in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody . . .
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.''
APPLY: Can't get much simpler than that, can you?
If everybody lived like that, life would be more pleasant wouldn't it?
And, as I was reading over the passage for today's sermon, it occurred to me that the things Titus was supposed to teach the Christians in Crete were fairly basic instructions for good behavior as well:
Exercise self-control
Don't steal
Don't lie
Don't gossip
Don't get drunk
Obey people in authority over you
Be good workers in the workplace
Love your family
I could preach entire sermons on each of those topics… but I shouldn't have to.
Everybody knows Christians should behave themselves like this.
I mean, these principles are so simple - so basic - that every Christian should live in this way.
ILLUS: There's a comic strip called ''Dilbert'' in the Newspaper - he once observed:
''I decided to start a discount religion. The tithing would only be 5% and I'd let people sin as much as they wanted. The only problem is that I don't want to spend time with anyone who would join that sort of religion.''
The way the Bible teaches us about Christianity, this is a religion that people should want to join because of the basic moral life that is taught. The kind of lifestyle Paul described inTitus 2 should be par for the course with believers. Preachers shouldn't ...
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