The United Methodist Church of the Resurrectionin Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow Pray Study GPS Guide for Monday, 1 July 2019 "Direction for the early church’s Crete 'campus'” Daily Scripture: Titus 1:1-9
Church of the Resurrection <info@cor.org>
Titus 1:1-9 1 From Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I’m sent to bring about the faith of God’s chosen people and a knowledge of the truth that agrees with godliness.
2 Their faith and this knowledge are based on the hope of eternal life that God, who doesn’t lie, promised before time began. 3 God revealed his message at the appropriate time through preaching, and I was trusted with preaching this message by the command of God our savior.
4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was to organize whatever needs to be done and to appoint elders in each city, as I told you. 6 Elders should be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse [Or they should be a one-woman man], and have faithful children who can’t be accused of self-indulgence or rebelliousness. 7 This is because supervisors [Or overseers, bishops] should be without fault as God’s managers: they shouldn’t be stubborn, irritable, addicted to alcohol, a bully, or greedy. 8 Instead, they should show hospitality, love what is good, and be reasonable, ethical, godly, and self-controlled. 9 They must pay attention to the reliable message as it has been taught to them so that they can encourage people with healthy instruction and refute those who speak against it.
Titus 1:1-9 1 From: Sha'ul, God's slave and an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, sent to promote among God's chosen people the trust and knowledge of truth which lead to godliness
2 and which are based on the certain hope of eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised that life before the beginning of time
3 but made public this word of his in its own season through a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by order of God, our Deliverer.
4 To: Titus, a true son in the faith we share: Grace and shalom from God the Father and from the Messiah Yeshua, our Deliverer.
5 The reason I left you in Crete was so that you might attend to the matters still not in order and appoint congregation leaders in each city-those were my instructions.
6 A leader must be blameless, husband to one wife, with believing children who do not have a reputation for being wild or rebellious.
7 For an overseer, as someone entrusted with God's affairs, must be blameless - he must not be self-willed or quick-tempered, he must not drink excessively, get into fights or be greedy for dishonest gain.
8 On the contrary, he must be hospitable, devoted to good, sober-mindedness, uprightness, holiness and self-control.
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy Message that agrees with the doctrine; so that by his sound teaching he will be able to exhort and encourage, and also to refute those who speak against it. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions: In this week’s GPS we will read the entire letter to Titus—all 3 chapters. Titus was a trusted co-worker of the apostle Paul (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:16-23). Now Paul had assigned Titus to carry on Paul’s mission by overseeing the launching of a set of new Christian “campuses” on the island of Crete. But it was vital that Titus not function as the sole leader. He had to find other leaders who could “encourage people with healthy instruction” in each new Christian community.
In his greeting, Paul said God sent him to bring about faith and knowledge in people who chose to follow Jesus. Their faith and knowledge, he said, were “based on the hope of eternal life.” Humans do not have “eternal life” on our own; it is a gift from God (cf. Romans 6:22-23). As scholar William Barclay wrote, “The Christian gospel does not in the first place offer men an intellectual creed or a moral code; it offers them life, the very life of God.”* In what ways have you experienced God’s gift of a different quality of life and hope as you have chosen to follow Christ?
In verses 6 and 7, Paul seemed to use the Greek words rendered “bishops” (or “overseers”) and “elders” interchangeably. It seems the terms did not yet refer to firmly defined offices. What counted was that the various congregations’ leaders live in ways that represented their Lord well, privately as well as publicly. Bullying or greed were not okay. Have you ever seen the sad result of a church leader who fell short of those ideals? The good effect of a leader who lived up to them?
Prayer: Lord God, give me a spirit willing to work toward “whatever needs to be done” in my church. Let my service grow out of a way of life based on your gift of the hope of eternal life. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, pp. 228.
Want more reflection on today's GPS?
Read the GPS Insight by Donna Karlen:
Donna Karlen serves in Communications at Church of the Resurrection by creating and managing social media content.
Do you “should” on yourself? Are there times when you find yourself stuck in “I should’ve done this” or “I shouldn’t have done that…” SO productive and self-affirming, right?! Especially when the “shoulds” start to attack around 3am. “Wake UP! YOU. SHOULD. HAVE… Nope – you’re not going back to sleep. Let’s talk regrets!”
My friend Ginger Rothhaas, Compassion Fix blogger, Insight writer and Life Coach, writes this about those 3am wakeup calls: I look at that time as a gift to practice gratitude, connect to God, and listen for loving guidance.
The Apostle Paul is giving “loving guidance” in today’s scripture as he jots down some “shoulds” in this letter to Titus: the new church elders should be faithful to their spouse, show hospitality, love what is good, be reasonable, be ethical…
The “should nots” in this passage lay out some pretty good points as well – especially the instruction for supervisors to steer clear of bullying and being irritable. And while Paul also writes that the Christian leaders should be without fault, and their children should be free of self-indulgence and rebelliousness – well, no one is perfect. Good for moms to remember since we generally take “shoulding” on ourselves to a whole other level when our children behave in self-indulgent or rebellious ways. (Check out some compassionate insight for moms by my other Life Coach/blogger, Insightwriting friend, Wendy Connelly, at MoJoforMoms.)
OK – so this all leads me to the wonderful most-awesome best thing:
Jesus, our beloved teacher and savior, instructs us on the most important "shoulds" of our faith: to love God and love our neighbor. These two “shoulds” can help us change the world!
Like this post? Share it!
If you have a question or comment about today’s GPS or Insights blog, you can send it to GPS@cor.org. We read them all, but because of the number of responses we receive, cannot guarantee replies.
You might also like:
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
2 Their faith and this knowledge are based on the hope of eternal life that God, who doesn’t lie, promised before time began. 3 God revealed his message at the appropriate time through preaching, and I was trusted with preaching this message by the command of God our savior.
4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was to organize whatever needs to be done and to appoint elders in each city, as I told you. 6 Elders should be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse [Or they should be a one-woman man], and have faithful children who can’t be accused of self-indulgence or rebelliousness. 7 This is because supervisors [Or overseers, bishops] should be without fault as God’s managers: they shouldn’t be stubborn, irritable, addicted to alcohol, a bully, or greedy. 8 Instead, they should show hospitality, love what is good, and be reasonable, ethical, godly, and self-controlled. 9 They must pay attention to the reliable message as it has been taught to them so that they can encourage people with healthy instruction and refute those who speak against it.
Titus 1:1-9 1 From: Sha'ul, God's slave and an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, sent to promote among God's chosen people the trust and knowledge of truth which lead to godliness
2 and which are based on the certain hope of eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised that life before the beginning of time
3 but made public this word of his in its own season through a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by order of God, our Deliverer.
4 To: Titus, a true son in the faith we share: Grace and shalom from God the Father and from the Messiah Yeshua, our Deliverer.
5 The reason I left you in Crete was so that you might attend to the matters still not in order and appoint congregation leaders in each city-those were my instructions.
6 A leader must be blameless, husband to one wife, with believing children who do not have a reputation for being wild or rebellious.
7 For an overseer, as someone entrusted with God's affairs, must be blameless - he must not be self-willed or quick-tempered, he must not drink excessively, get into fights or be greedy for dishonest gain.
8 On the contrary, he must be hospitable, devoted to good, sober-mindedness, uprightness, holiness and self-control.
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy Message that agrees with the doctrine; so that by his sound teaching he will be able to exhort and encourage, and also to refute those who speak against it. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions: In this week’s GPS we will read the entire letter to Titus—all 3 chapters. Titus was a trusted co-worker of the apostle Paul (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:16-23). Now Paul had assigned Titus to carry on Paul’s mission by overseeing the launching of a set of new Christian “campuses” on the island of Crete. But it was vital that Titus not function as the sole leader. He had to find other leaders who could “encourage people with healthy instruction” in each new Christian community.
In his greeting, Paul said God sent him to bring about faith and knowledge in people who chose to follow Jesus. Their faith and knowledge, he said, were “based on the hope of eternal life.” Humans do not have “eternal life” on our own; it is a gift from God (cf. Romans 6:22-23). As scholar William Barclay wrote, “The Christian gospel does not in the first place offer men an intellectual creed or a moral code; it offers them life, the very life of God.”* In what ways have you experienced God’s gift of a different quality of life and hope as you have chosen to follow Christ?
In verses 6 and 7, Paul seemed to use the Greek words rendered “bishops” (or “overseers”) and “elders” interchangeably. It seems the terms did not yet refer to firmly defined offices. What counted was that the various congregations’ leaders live in ways that represented their Lord well, privately as well as publicly. Bullying or greed were not okay. Have you ever seen the sad result of a church leader who fell short of those ideals? The good effect of a leader who lived up to them?
Prayer: Lord God, give me a spirit willing to work toward “whatever needs to be done” in my church. Let my service grow out of a way of life based on your gift of the hope of eternal life. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, pp. 228.
Want more reflection on today's GPS?
Donna Karlen serves in Communications at Church of the Resurrection by creating and managing social media content.
Do you “should” on yourself? Are there times when you find yourself stuck in “I should’ve done this” or “I shouldn’t have done that…” SO productive and self-affirming, right?! Especially when the “shoulds” start to attack around 3am. “Wake UP! YOU. SHOULD. HAVE… Nope – you’re not going back to sleep. Let’s talk regrets!”
My friend Ginger Rothhaas, Compassion Fix blogger, Insight writer and Life Coach, writes this about those 3am wakeup calls: I look at that time as a gift to practice gratitude, connect to God, and listen for loving guidance.
The Apostle Paul is giving “loving guidance” in today’s scripture as he jots down some “shoulds” in this letter to Titus: the new church elders should be faithful to their spouse, show hospitality, love what is good, be reasonable, be ethical…
The “should nots” in this passage lay out some pretty good points as well – especially the instruction for supervisors to steer clear of bullying and being irritable. And while Paul also writes that the Christian leaders should be without fault, and their children should be free of self-indulgence and rebelliousness – well, no one is perfect. Good for moms to remember since we generally take “shoulding” on ourselves to a whole other level when our children behave in self-indulgent or rebellious ways. (Check out some compassionate insight for moms by my other Life Coach/blogger, Insightwriting friend, Wendy Connelly, at MoJoforMoms.)
OK – so this all leads me to the wonderful most-awesome best thing:
God loves us anyway.
Anyway – when we don’t do what we should. Anyway – when we do do what we shouldn’t. God is right there giving out the grace.
As Christians let’s certainly strive the way Titus did to live as a “true child in a common faith.” But when we miss – and sometimes we miss REALLY BIG – we are still God’s children. Jesus, our beloved teacher and savior, instructs us on the most important "shoulds" of our faith: to love God and love our neighbor. These two “shoulds” can help us change the world!
Like this post? Share it!
If you have a question or comment about today’s GPS or Insights blog, you can send it to GPS@cor.org. We read them all, but because of the number of responses we receive, cannot guarantee replies.
You might also like:
- Prayer Tip: Grace for Today… Hope for Tomorrow
- God: You’ve forever got a friend in me
- Making sure nothing happens to each other
- “Sorry specimens” brought to life by love
- Enduring all things in Christ’s power
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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