Introduction:
Nehemiah 13:25 - And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair.
The 3 People You Meet in Church (and How to Deal With Them.):
(Titus 3:9-15)
- The Divisive Person: You Avoid . (Titus 3:9-11)
4 Things Divisive People Major In:
- Foolish Controversies .
- Genealogies .
- Dissensions .
- Quarrels about the Law.
Romans 16:17 - I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
2 Thessalonians 3:14 - If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.
- The Other Servants: You Support . (Titus 3:12-13)
- The Person in Need: You Help . (Titus 3:14-15)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:47-00:48
I'll tell you this, chapter 3, are you there?
00:51-00:55
Do you know what the best part of church is?
00:57-00:58
The sermon?
00:58-00:59
That was a really good answer.
01:00-01:01
That was a smart answer.
01:03-01:06
And I'm not surprised that that was said over meet and greet time.
01:08-01:09
It's the people.
01:11-01:13
The people are the best part of the church.
01:15-01:17
You know what the most difficult part of the church is?
01:19-01:20
Did somebody say the sermon?
01:24-01:25
Somebody said the sermon.
01:25-01:26
There are two exits.
01:31-01:37
The worst, what's the worst, the hardest, the most difficult part of church?
01:38-01:40
It's also the people.
01:43-01:43
It's the people.
01:45-01:53
Right, and I can tell you, and those of you who have been in and around churches for a long time, there are so many blessings that come with people.
01:53-01:54
So many blessings.
01:54-02:00
Think of the baptism services we have here, hearing people make their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
02:00-02:09
I think of the weddings that I've had the privilege and honor of being part of, seeing people coming into covenant with one another before God.
02:10-02:15
I think of counseling sessions, seeing people respond to the gospel and applying God's word.
02:15-02:26
I think of these fellowship activities that we have where the church just gets together and we love being together and the people are the best part of church and they're also the hardest.
02:30-02:44
I think of dealing with people in unrepentant sin, people who gossip, people who are offended by everything.
02:47-03:00
And I remember many years ago, when I was serving as associate at my former church, going through a season of incredible frustration, and I walked into the senior pastor's office, I was just so frustrated, and I just walked in.
03:00-03:05
And I said, "Is there any aspect of ministry "I can get involved in that doesn't involve people?"
03:07-03:08
(congregation laughing)
03:09-03:16
As it came out of my mouth, as it came out of my mouth, not before, as it came out of my mouth, it just hit me.
03:16-03:20
I'm like, that is such a jerky thing to say.
03:20-03:25
And that is so dishonoring for a pastor to say something like that.
03:25-03:29
And as soon as it came out of my mouth, I'm like, Pastor Bob is going to rightly rebuke me.
03:30-03:34
And I deserve it, because that was a real jerk thing to say.
03:35-03:39
And he sat there and looked at me silently for a couple of seconds.
03:40-03:43
And he said, "Well, you let me know and I'm gonna join you."
03:45-03:45
(congregation laughing)
03:50-03:51
But here's the reality.
03:53-03:54
There's not.
03:55-03:56
There's not.
03:57-04:01
There's no aspect of ministry you can be involved in apart from people.
04:02-04:04
What did Jesus tell Peter?
04:05-04:06
Remember on the beach?
04:07-04:11
"Feed my sheep." That involves people.
04:12-04:14
What's the clear command of the New Testament?
04:15-04:17
We are to preach the word of God.
04:17-04:19
And who do we preach it to?
04:20-04:20
Anybody?
04:22-04:24
People, right?
04:24-04:33
The Great Commission, the reason this church exists is to go make disciples, and disciples are what?
04:34-04:34
People!
04:35-04:36
So guess what?
04:38-04:39
There's no way around it.
04:41-04:42
We have to deal with people.
04:43-04:50
We gotta get it right when it comes to relationships in the church, even with difficult people.
04:51-04:55
You know, one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, it's from Nehemiah chapter 13.
04:56-05:06
You know, here at this point, Israel, you know, judged by God through the Assyrians, through the Babylonians, kicked out of the land, and God was restoring them, and they're going back into the land.
05:06-05:09
It's like, we're repenting, we're gonna do it right this time.
05:09-05:14
Well, you know, people are wayward as we all are.
05:14-05:21
And Israel, the Jewish men were starting to marry pagan women.
05:21-05:24
Part of the problem that got them in trouble in the first place.
05:24-05:27
They were starting to marry pagan women again.
05:27-05:38
And Nehemiah 13, 25, this is one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, where Nehemiah says, And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair.
05:43-05:50
And in my quiet time, I read that and I think to myself, man, I wish I lived in Old Testament times.
05:57-06:01
But I don't. And neither do you.
06:05-06:07
So, let's see what Paul told Titus.
06:09-06:11
All right, it's the title on your outline.
06:12-06:15
The three people you meet in church and how to deal with them.
06:16-06:18
The three people you meet in church and how to deal with them.
06:20-06:24
Number one, let's talk about the divisive person.
06:27-06:29
Divisive, you avoid them.
06:30-06:31
The divisive person you avoid.
06:33-06:37
Divisive, somebody that causes division.
06:40-06:44
All right, gonna define that because we're gonna be using that word a lot here for the next few minutes.
06:45-06:46
What do you do with a divisive person?
06:47-06:48
Here's what you do, you avoid.
06:50-06:51
Look at verse nine.
06:54-07:22
He says, "But avoid foolish controversies, "Genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, "for they are unprofitable and worthless." And leading into this, listen, the biggest danger for the church always comes from within the church, every time.
07:23-07:25
Take this church, for example.
07:25-07:38
Do you realize through the last couple of years of COVID, and government overreach and mandates and threats, our church thrived.
07:41-07:42
Inexplicably.
07:43-07:51
And I'll be honest with you, there was a, in the early days, in a moment of faithlessness on my part, I wondered like, is this gonna sink our church?
07:51-07:52
That was wrong.
07:53-07:57
That was not from a position of faith, that was from a position of the flesh.
07:58-08:02
And the Lord showed me, we thrived.
08:06-08:09
The danger isn't from the outside.
08:12-08:13
The danger is from the inside.
08:15-08:23
When you deal with dissension, when you deal with divisiveness, when you deal with our own people attacking one another.
08:26-08:30
And he gets into some of that here and tells us, what do we do?
08:30-08:32
Well, look at verse nine again.
08:32-08:46
He says, "But avoid." That word in the Greek is in the continual tense, which means you constantly be looking to avoid such people and such circumstances.
08:46-08:48
It means to treat them with indifference.
08:49-08:50
It means to walk away from them.
08:52-08:56
It means we're not entertaining nonsense here.
08:57-08:59
Like, but what do you mean specifically?
08:59-09:04
I'm so glad you asked because he gives us four things that divisive people major in.
09:06-09:06
All right?
09:07-09:09
This is straight from the text.
09:09-09:11
Four things divisive people major in.
09:11-09:13
These are the people and the things.
09:13-09:14
We have to avoid this.
09:15-09:19
I'm gonna talk about what that means in a second, but let's understand what the thing is first.
09:21-09:27
So four things divisive people major in letter A, foolish controversies is the first thing.
09:29-09:35
The word for foolish in the Greek is where we get the English word moron.
09:37-09:42
He says, you need to avoid moronic controversies.
09:45-09:48
It's getting wrapped up in idiotic debates.
09:49-09:50
That's what he's talking about.
09:51-09:55
And churches get caught up in all kinds of these things.
09:57-10:02
Where we get on some minor little non-essential thing and we make that the main event.
10:02-10:07
And that's all some people wanna do is fight and argue and insert this into everything.
10:08-10:10
You're like, well, like what?
10:10-10:11
Well, I'll give you some examples.
10:11-10:12
Music is a big one.
10:13-10:14
Music is a big one.
10:14-10:21
There are people and ministries, and unfortunately I've attended some of these seminars, where they preach certain beats are evil.
10:21-10:27
You know, if any music has the beat on the second and fourth, that's Satan's music.
10:27-10:34
And that's, you know, when we bring that into the church, we're inviting demons into the church and they make that the whole thing.
10:36-10:37
That's moronic.
10:40-10:41
That that's what we're fighting about.
10:41-10:42
That's what we're talking about.
10:42-10:44
That's what we're discussing, moronic.
10:46-10:50
Some people fight whether there should be music church at all.
10:51-10:53
And they make that the thing.
10:56-11:01
For some people, the controversy we want to bring in, it can be schooling your kids.
11:02-11:05
Home school, public school, private school, Christian school.
11:07-11:09
And they want to make that the thing that we fight about.
11:11-11:15
Oh, here's my favorite, fresh on my mind.
11:16-11:19
This is probably my favorite, and I I hope you catch the sarcasm in that.
11:20-11:20
Halloween.
11:21-11:25
I hate Halloween, but maybe not in the way you think.
11:25-11:29
I hate being a pastor during Halloween time because you have these two camps.
11:29-11:34
You have the people that are like, "You can't possibly be promoting Halloween.
11:34-11:38
"It's the devil's holiday." Like, okay, all right, I understand where you're coming from with that.
11:39-11:42
And all right, we're gonna pretend Halloween doesn't exist.
11:43-11:53
But then you have the people that are like, "How in the world can you not offer a Christian alternative?" Are you telling the kids to get out and trick or treat by not offering an alternative at the church?
11:54-11:56
And I'm like, "Okay, I guess we'll offer an alternative at the church.
11:57-12:00
We're gonna have a," what do Christians call Halloween parties?
12:01-12:08
We're gonna have a harvest party where we give out candy and you can dress up and it's nothing at all like Halloween.
12:10-12:16
And then the people were like, "I can't believe you're offering a trick or treat alternative.
12:17-12:24
"We're acting just like the world "and we're showing kids it's just okay." So every Halloween for years, for years as a pastor, Halloween would come.
12:24-12:26
And I'm just like so tense.
12:27-12:33
Like, "I don't know what to do." And do you know what Paul says to do?
12:36-12:38
Avoid foolish controversies.
12:40-12:41
Like you all do your thing, all right?
12:43-12:45
But I'm not getting involved in that.
12:46-12:50
Now listen, he's not talking about discussing important matters of doctrine.
12:50-12:51
He's not saying that.
12:52-12:53
It's all these non-essential things.
12:54-12:58
It's all these personal conviction things.
12:59-13:02
Again, and some people want to make that the main event.
13:05-13:05
Avoid.
13:07-13:08
You got to rebuke the people that are doing it.
13:08-13:10
Look, hey, we're not talking about.
13:11-13:12
We're not arguing about that, all right?
13:14-13:16
That's not what we're about at this church.
13:16-13:19
We're about gospel, right?
13:21-13:23
And we're not giving you a platform.
13:23-13:32
We're not having a seminar where you can get up and give your spiel about your, you know, why we shouldn't have certain types of music in the church or whatever.
13:32-13:33
We're not doing that.
13:35-13:35
It's a distraction.
13:37-13:38
That's why Paul says to avoid it.
13:39-13:40
It's distracting the church.
13:40-13:41
It's getting us off of our mission.
13:42-13:43
It's a complete waste of time.
13:45-13:53
Or to use the word that he uses, again, it's moronic for us to be sitting around debating these non-essentials.
13:53-14:00
All right, secondly, letter B, four things divisive people major in is genealogies.
14:02-14:05
Genealogies, you're like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hang on.
14:05-14:07
How can genealogies be bad?
14:07-14:09
I mean, aren't they in the Bible?
14:09-14:13
Yes, they are in the Bible, but that's obviously not what he's saying.
14:15-14:23
He's talking about people that want to argue about them, people that want to make them, and I've heard people do this, they wanna make them allegorical.
14:23-14:32
They take some of the names, and there's all these legends and fables attached to some of the names and the genealogies, and they wanna make that the thing.
14:34-14:42
And really, it points to a broader principle, right, of twisting the word of God in any way, right?
14:43-14:58
It's, as many do, using the Bible to teach, twisting the Bible to teach all sorts of goofy things that the Bible doesn't actually say.
15:00-15:00
Here's one.
15:02-15:10
I want you to listen very closely because if you tuned out and you're not tuning back in or you're fading in or out, You're gonna hear part of this and you're gonna hear the whole thing.
15:12-15:29
There are people that believe dark-skinned people are cursed because, and the belief comes from when Noah cursed Ham.
15:31-15:34
And you're like, you mean like he didn't like pork products?
15:34-15:36
No, not that kind of ham.
15:37-15:37
(congregation laughing)
15:37-15:40
Like this bacon is terrible, I curse you bacon.
15:40-15:42
No, he had a son named Ham.
15:43-15:46
And I won't go into the details, that's a sermon for another time.
15:46-15:50
But the Bible says that actually he cursed Canaan.
15:51-15:57
And people have used that to say, well, people with dark skin are under a curse.
15:58-16:01
And that has been justification for slavery.
16:03-16:03
Moronic.
16:05-16:07
The Bible doesn't say anything about that.
16:09-16:11
Nothing about that.
16:11-16:22
But that's how people take something from a genealogy and they give it that little bit of a twist and they justify wicked, unbiblical, hateful action.
16:24-16:26
And there are people that still believe that.
16:26-16:28
I had somebody telling me about that.
16:28-16:29
I'm like, that's not in the Bible.
16:31-16:31
That's moronic.
16:35-16:37
That's exactly what he's talking about here.
16:38-16:39
He's like, "Avoid that person.
16:40-16:54
"Let's bring that stupid stuff." Look, our job is to pull information out of the Bible, not try to read information into the Bible.
16:55-16:56
That's our goal.
16:56-16:59
It's exegesis, not eisegesis.
16:59-17:01
We wanna see what God has to say.
17:01-17:03
Information out, not information in.
17:04-17:14
Like hypothetically, if you wanted to communicate some information to me, would you have the ability, the wherewithal, the capability of texting me information?
17:15-17:15
Could you do that?
17:16-17:18
About anything, could you text me information?
17:18-17:20
If you wanted to tell me something?
17:20-17:22
Yeah, I would think that you can.
17:22-17:23
Now let me ask you this.
17:23-17:35
Do you think the God of the universe, the sovereign almighty creates all things by speaking them into existence, Do you think that he has the capability of communicating to us what he wants us to know?
17:38-17:40
I think that he does.
17:41-17:45
So our goal is to approach the Bible straightforwardly.
17:45-17:47
Read it as presented.
17:47-17:50
God didn't give us a riddle to try to figure out.
17:50-17:54
He gave us a book to understand and apply straightforwardly.
17:56-18:03
So genealogies, people to try to make something out of that more than what they are, avoid that.
18:05-18:10
All right, fourth thing's divisive people major in letter C, it says dissensions.
18:12-18:22
Dissensions, that's rivalry, that's contentions, that's being divisive, that's people that are intentionally trying to divide the church.
18:24-18:27
We've already talked about it a couple times because it's come up in our text here.
18:28-18:29
It's gossip and slander.
18:32-18:49
It's passing on things that you've heard where maybe you only heard one side of it and maybe that's not entirely true, but you're gonna pass it on because the goal is to make other people think less of someone else.
18:49-18:50
That's the goal.
18:52-18:53
It's divisive.
18:54-18:57
You're trying to get people on your side.
18:57-18:58
hey, did you hear what happened?
18:59-19:00
Did you hear what so-and-so said?
19:00-19:14
Well, I talked to this person the other day, and here's what they told me happened, and again, you're getting one side, and we're passing that off as gospel, and the goal is to get people to think less of other people.
19:16-19:17
That is divisive.
19:21-19:22
But here's the problem with gossip.
19:22-19:23
Do you know the biggest problem with gossip?
19:25-19:26
Nobody thinks it's them.
19:27-19:28
Right?
19:28-19:42
Like if I said, "Show of hands here, church, "who thinks gossip is a bad sin?" Everybody would be like, "Oh, I think gossip is terrible!" I'd be like, "All right, put your hands down, "show of hands, who here has struggled with gossiping?" Nobody put their hands up.
19:43-19:45
Like I know people that gossip, but that ain't me.
19:48-19:48
That's a problem.
19:50-19:59
Gossip, slander, those kinds of divisive, through words, sins, those are the hardest sins to see in yourself, they really are.
20:04-20:07
And our commitment to you is to make it clear, right?
20:08-20:26
So if you're calling, texting, emailing, in person, talking about other people in a negative way, or it comes to you and you're engaging in it, You're the problem and you need to repent.
20:29-20:33
Because he says dissensions, we avoid dissensions.
20:35-20:41
Then letter D, quarrels about the law, four things divisive people major in, quarrels about the law.
20:43-20:46
Some people think that they are amazing theologians and they are not.
20:48-21:03
Our very first open house for this church was up at a hotel in Cranberry, on the banquet rooms, or this open house to talk about the church being planted and the guy showed up with his family, including his two wives.
21:06-21:07
Yeah.
21:08-21:09
You're like, wait, wait, I tuned out for a second.
21:09-21:10
What'd you say?
21:10-21:15
Yeah, a guy showed up at our open house with his family, including his two wives and sat in the front row.
21:16-21:18
And I said, I don't think this is the church for you.
21:19-21:22
Well, he sent me emails with links.
21:23-21:24
And do you know what I learned?
21:25-21:29
I shouldn't be surprised, but come on, it was like 11, 12 years ago.
21:30-21:35
So I've gained a couple bits of experience and wisdom along the way.
21:35-21:37
I've learned that there's an entire subculture out there.
21:38-21:39
It's all about that polygamy.
21:42-21:43
And I was like, what?
21:45-21:55
He called, and he's like, you know, basically calling me out for being unbiblical and saying that I don't believe in polygamy.
21:57-21:59
And he just kept after me.
22:00-22:02
And I just had the same response every time.
22:02-22:04
I'm like, this church isn't for you.
22:05-22:06
This church isn't for you.
22:08-22:11
I wasn't going to debate him on this.
22:11-22:11
Why?
22:13-22:14
Because it's moronic.
22:16-22:17
The Bible teaches so clearly.
22:19-22:25
What good would it do to engage in long phone calls or back and forth emails or texts?
22:27-22:28
That's not my mission.
22:31-22:32
Quarrels about the law.
22:33-22:37
Again, okay, now we're not talking about straightforward commandments, okay?
22:37-22:42
We're not saying, you know, is it okay if I murder someone or not?
22:42-22:44
We're not talking about that.
22:45-22:49
We're talking about things like, As a Christian, can I watch an R-rated movie?
22:49-22:50
Can I dance?
22:50-22:51
Can I drink alcohol?
22:52-22:54
Can I wash my car on a Sunday?
22:55-22:57
That's a real issue for some people, by the way.
22:57-23:03
It's issues requiring wisdom, conviction, the application of the principles of the word of God.
23:04-23:05
Yes, but they are not things to argue over.
23:08-23:10
Because he tells us why right here.
23:10-23:11
He says it's unprofitable and it's worthless.
23:11-23:13
It is a big, fat waste of time.
23:14-23:14
All right?
23:15-23:17
So listen, don't get me wrong.
23:18-23:34
It's okay to discuss points of theology, points of personal conviction over a cup of coffee with a friend, or you're on a road trip, you have windshield time, you're talking about these things in a friendly, engaging way.
23:35-23:35
That's fine.
23:37-23:46
Obviously, he's talking about people that are being divisive, people that are like, "You need to think like me "or you're wrong," and they're just like lying in the sand.
23:48-23:53
He goes, "You gotta avoid that." They're like, "Well, what do I do with the divisive guy?
23:54-23:57
"What do I do with him?" I'm so glad you asked, look at verse 10.
23:59-24:15
He says, "As for a person who stirs up division "after warning him once and then twice, "have nothing more to do with him." Again, avoid, reject.
24:16-24:23
Look, our purpose as a church, we need to be loving and we need to be unified.
24:24-24:36
And anyone trying to break up that unity, anyone trying to be disruptive, anyone trying to be divisive, it's the baseball rule, right?
24:36-24:37
Right, Folsey?
24:37-24:38
It's the baseball rule.
24:39-24:42
Three strikes and you're out.
24:45-24:47
He tells us very clearly, he says, "You warned them.
24:48-24:57
"Hey, look, you're gossiping and it's causing division, "it's causing problems." Okay, you know, that's not what we do here, okay?
24:58-25:06
And if it persists, crank it up a couple notches and warn again, like, "Look, we've already talked about this "and you're persisting.
25:08-25:11
"You need to stop the gossip, you need to stop the slander.
25:11-25:17
"You're causing problems, you're making waves, "you're causing division." That's not how we address things here.
25:17-25:20
That's not how we conduct church business.
25:23-25:28
And if they still persist, it's, "Hey, we're done here." Okay, we're done.
25:28-25:35
He says, "Have nothing more to do with him." That means do not associate with them.
25:36-25:37
There's no fellowship.
25:38-25:40
"Hey, we're having a bonfire, can I come?" No, you cannot come.
25:44-25:45
Hey, I'll see you at small group.
25:45-25:46
No, you won't.
25:46-25:47
You're not welcome at small group.
25:48-25:49
Nothing.
25:50-25:51
We are ignoring you.
25:53-25:55
Like really, is that what the Bible says?
25:56-25:57
Not just here.
25:57-25:59
Look at Romans 16, 17.
25:59-26:07
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you've been taught.
26:07-26:08
What does he say to do?
26:09-26:10
Say it, come on, say it.
26:11-26:13
Avoid them, right, avoid them.
26:14-26:16
Not just here, we went through 2 Thessalonians.
26:16-26:17
That was somewhat recently, right, Mark?
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Not one too long ago.
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2 Thessalonians, I can't remember.
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He said, we went through this.
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If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and what's it say?
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Wow, we're not really preaching that with much conviction, are we?
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I'm gonna give you another run at that.
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Take note of that person and what's it say?
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Have nothing to do with him.
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Why?
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That he may be ashamed.
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Do you see that?
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The goal is restoration.
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That's the ultimate goal.
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You know, the person's like, you know what, I feel like I'm being ignored.
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That's because you are.
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Your feelings are accurate.
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Because we're not tolerating your foolishness.
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We're just not.
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You're like, "Oh, that sounds so harsh." It's not, because it's protecting the rest of the flock.
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It's cutting out a cancer.
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You're causing division.
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We're ignoring you.
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Stop it, we're ignoring you.
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You give the warnings, right?
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You gotta give the warnings, and if they still persist, then the answer is, look, we're having nothing to do with you until you repent.
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When you repent, we good.
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Until then, I'm having nothing to do with you.
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You're like, oh, but Pastor Jeff, what if they go to another church?
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They probably will.
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And I can't help that.
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I just hope that if they do, they've either learned their lesson or the new church doesn't tolerate divisiveness either.
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All right, look at verse 11.
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He says, "Know that such a person is warped and sinful, "he is self-condemned.
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"A divisive person is wicked," and he says he's passing judgment on himself.
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A healthy church demands unity, and unity demands that we are united in God's truth.
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All right, the three people you meet in church and how to deal with them.
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The divisive person you avoid, number two.
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The other servants of Christ, the other servants you support.
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The other servants you support.
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Look at verses 12 and 13.
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He says, "When I sent Artemis or Tichicus to you, "do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, "for I have decided to spend the winter there.
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"Do your best to speed Zenos the lawyer "and Apollos on their way.
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"See that they lack nothing." And stop there for a second.
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He says, "Titus, take care of these four guys.
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"Artemis, who's that?
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"I don't know, the Bible doesn't really say anything "about him, just mentions his name.
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"Tichicus, he's mentioned in Acts, Colossians, Ephesians, "1 Timothy." And Paul here basically says, "Hey, one of them's gonna come to Crete and cover you, "and you're going to meet me at Nicopolis." Right?
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And then he talks about Zenos.
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You know, Zenos is the only Christian lawyer mentioned in scripture.
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Did you know that?
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That's just an observation.
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That's not, you know, I'm not reading anything into that.
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I'm just saying.
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And he talks about Apollos.
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We know about Apollos, right, from Acts, from 1 Corinthians, and Paul says, "Meet their needs and send them along." You know, when you read those verses, you see why, don't you?
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You see why we can't waste time bickering about nonsense.
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We see it right here.
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Because we're on a mission.
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And Satan loves nothing more than for us to be gossiping and arguing and divided because when we're putting all of our time and energy into fighting each other, we don't have any time or energy to reach the lost.
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We don't have any time or energy to make disciples, to strengthen the saved.
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We don't have time or energy because all of it is going towards this internal battle royal.
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Satan loves that.
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And that's why we have to avoid it.
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But that was, okay, that was the last point.
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Here's what's happening in this point here, right?
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Pardon the sports analogy.
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But what I see here when I read these verses is like Coach Paul drawing it up on the chalkboard.
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Anybody else see it like that?
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He's like, all right, you know, Art and Titchicus, I'm gonna send one of them.
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They're gonna come down to Crete to cover you, Titus, and then you, you're gonna fade out and you're gonna meet me at Nicopolis, right?
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Then we're gonna send the Z train down and Apollos, and they need equipped and they need launched, all right?
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Does everybody know what they're doing?
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All right, let's go team, right?
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And then he ends with like, hey, hey guys, teamwork makes the dream work.
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I'm sorry.
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That's, that sounded a lot less cheesy in rehearsal.
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But saying that in front of you, I'm like, okay, that was really cheesy.
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However, you get the point.
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We're part of a team, right?
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That's his point.
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We're part of a team, got stuff going on, got pieces moving.
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Everybody doing their part.
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Every part matters and we need to be supporting each other, right?
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That's all we say.
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And finally, number three, the person in need, you help.
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The person in need, you help.
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Pretty obvious, right?
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Look at verse 14.
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And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.
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Our people, I love that.
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He's talking about the home congregation, our people.
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He says a couple of things.
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First of all, good works.
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Get busy serving Jesus.
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I'm not gonna talk about that because Pastor Taylor covered that excellently last week.
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Something else he adds here is meet urgent needs.
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You know, as a church, we are called to love one another.
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But love isn't just sentiment, right?
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Like, I like you, I enjoy talking with you.
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It's that, but it's so much more.
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Love is action.
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And church, meeting each other's needs is one of the most tangible ways that we love each other.
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And I'm just not gonna spend a lot of time on this because I know who I'm preaching to.
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And I know this church gets it.
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You get this, right?
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I've seen it so many times over the years, whether it's a need for a furnace or an air conditioner or yard work or a car emergency or a transmission needing replaced or helping watch each other's kids during a crisis, countless meals cooked.
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You guys get it.
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And it is such a privilege for me to be serving at a church that is so on top of meeting people's needs.
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As soon as a need is made known, people are like tripping over each other to rush to meet it, and that's what the church needs to be doing, so I commend you for that.
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And I would just encourage you to make your needs known, Right?
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Because sometimes we feel like, well, I don't wanna bother or burden people with the needs that I have.
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And I would say, look, there's no shame in that.
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We are called to take care of one another.
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It's our job.
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And this is reality of life, that sometimes you're in a position of need, and we come beside you and help.
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And sometimes you're in a position where you can help me to need, and you run beside that person and help.
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That's how it works.
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You get it.
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And I love that.
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Verse 15, "All who are with me send greetings to you.
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Greet those who love us in the faith.
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Grace be with you all." Grace be with you all, right?
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All of this made possible by grace.
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The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves us, transforms us and gives us eternal life.
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And it brings us into the family of God.
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It brings us into the body of Christ, the church.
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So one of the most important lessons in Church 101 is how to conduct our relationships in here.
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Look, we have a mission to fulfill together.
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We have urgent needs that pop up in our family right here.
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We just don't have time to be arguing with divisive people, all right?
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I'd like you to bow your heads and pray with me, please, as our worship team comes forward.
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As we said in the outset, relationships are the biggest blessings we have and also the biggest heartbreaks we have.
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And the world certainly does things their way, but we are called to do things God's way.
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So Father, as we come to you now, we thank you so much for this body of believers.
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And Father, we love the church because you love the church.
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And you have been very clear in your word how we are to love one another.
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So Father, I pray, as we just spent several weeks walking through this book, Father, we're not trying to be some self-help club.
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We're not trying to be some common interest group.
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We wanna be the body of Christ.
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Father, according to the straightforward teaching your word and empowered by your Holy Spirit in us, I pray that you are greatly honored in the way that we carry out the mission of evangelism and discipleship, and in the way that we love each other in this body of believers. We pray in the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Titus 3:9-15
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How do you know who is stirring up division (Titus 3:10)? What’s the best way to confront them and warn them?
How can a divisive person be restored after being avoided (Titus 3:10)?
BONUS - What’s the craziest “foolish controversy” (Titus 3:9) you have ever heard a church fight over?
Breakout
Pray for one another to do your part to make HBC a healthy church: avoiding divisive people, supporting fellow servants, and helping those with urgent needs.