Gotta Serve Somebody

In one paragraph

This message was part of an ongoing study in Titus 2, picking up where the previous week left off. The pastor worked through the fifth and final group in Paul's household code, bond servants, and drew out what their instructions reveal about what it means to belong to Christ. The sermon closed with a challenge to every believer to examine whose will they are actually serving. Paul's letter to...

Read together

1. Luke 12:6 quoted during greeting time about sparrows not forgotten by God
2. Titus 2:1 opening of the household code, teach what accords with sound doctrine
3. Titus 2:2 older men to be sober minded, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith
4. Titus 2:3 older women to be reverent, not slanderers or slaves to wine, to teach
5. Titus 2:4-5 older women to train younger women to love husbands and children, be self controlled and submissive
6. Titus 2:6 younger men urged to be self controlled
7. Titus 2:7-8 Titus told to show himself a model of good works with integrity, dignity, and sound speech
8. Titus 2:11-12 grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions
9. Titus 2:9-10 bond servants to be submissive to masters, not argumentative or pilfering, so they may adorn the doctrine of God
10. Titus 2:13 waiting for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ
11. Titus 2:14 Christ gave himself to redeem us from lawlessness and purify a people for his own possession zealous for good works
12. Titus 2:15 declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you
13. Titus 1:1 Paul identifies himself as a doulos, a slave of God, apostle of Jesus Christ
14. John 3:16 God gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes would not perish but have everlasting life
15. Romans 12:2 closing benediction, do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Talk about it

1. The pastor talked about self control appearing four times in just the first few verses of Titus 2, and then admitted he struggled with it himself that week. Where in your own life do you notice the gap between knowing what self control looks like and actually practicing it?
2. The sermon described how the household code in Titus 2 was meant to be lived out so that 'the word of God may not be reviled.' Can you think of a time when a believer's conduct, good or bad, shaped how someone around them thought about the gospel?
3. The pastor explained that the Greek word doulos, translated 'bond servant,' is used in the New Testament with what he called the highest dignity, referring to believers who willingly live under Christ's authority. What does it mean to you personally to belong to Christ with no ownership rights of your own?
4. The sermon made the point that the grace of God has appeared not only for our salvation but also for our sanctification, our ongoing process of being made more holy. How have you seen that play out, or struggle to play out, in your own life since you believed?
5. The pastor closed with Bob Dylan's line that you are going to have to serve somebody, and said most people do not consciously choose to serve the devil but drift that way through self and pride. What habits or practices help you stay in a posture of voluntary submission to Christ rather than drifting back toward serving yourself?