Paul Makes me Groan: A Sermon

Don't be deceived by the photo, this guy is seriously interesting

Thanks to Ben Myers for pointing out this brilliant sermon from Luke Powery which is the most confusing and yet wonderful pot-pourri of african american preaching, theological jargon, wise cracks and pop cultural references all of which somehows form a marvelously compelling meditation on Romans 8. It is the sort of sermon you'll want to listen to again, even if you are as cynical and hard bitten as me!

Provocative 11th Hour Sermon

James kindly points out this fascinating sermon on Matt 20:1-15.  I think it is probably stronger on the deconstruction than it is on the reconstruction and I'm not convinced on either yet by any means, but it is always good to get that feeling when a treasured interpretation is being challenged and to test yourself, "am I more committed to the truth or to having been right all along?" 

Sermon on 2 Kings 5, "Don't Put a Price on God's Grace"

A sermon by yours truly can be listened to here, or downloaded from here.  About 40 mins long, preached at Greenlane Christian Centre on the 5th September.

Keywords: Naaman, Gehazi, Elisha, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, manners, compassion for others

Sam Wells' Doubtful Preaching

A little while ago I posted a plea for doubtful preaching, a sermon from Sam Wells of Duke University, I want to know Christ, available on itunesU, is a good example of such and from a passage we normally associate with faith bravado rather than doubt. (Although he speaks far too slowly and goes on for too long - but at least his English is properly accented!)

George Wieland on Messy Mission

A sermon on the relationship between church and mission, using Acts, by Dr George Wieland. Given at Manurewa Baptist church on 13/06/10.  A very engaging and accessible introduction to the idea that the church does not have a mission, but that God has a mission, which has a church.

Download from here, or listen to it here.

Sermon on Genesis 11:27-12:5, Galatians 3:6-9

pic from here

A sermon by yours truly, can be listened to here.  About 30 mins long, preached on the 25th July at Manurewa Baptist Church.  Can also be downloaded from here.  Texts: Gen 11:27-12:5, Gal 3:6-9.

Key concepts: the identity of God's people, whakapapa, introductions, pregnancy, faith, the gospel

BTW for non NZ listeners whakapapa ("wh" sounds "f") is a Maori word/concept which denotes ancestry, lineage, stories of identity and history.  See here for more details.

David and Elijah for today

2 very different sermons which have in common that they are both excellently imaginative readings of OT narratives:

Steve Taylor on Elijah and the Widow (1 Kings 17)

Sam Wells on David and Goliath (1 Sam 17)

Please note that being imaginative does not entail ignoring the text but noticing the details that a less imaginative reading might consider irrelevant!

Easter Blogging

Well I took a blogging holiday over Easter, not because I was being especially pious, far from it in fact.  I had a few ideas for posts but didn't want to take time away from family to do them.  However, no harm done to the world at large as there was plenty of quality Easter fare this year:

Good Friday sermons from Kim Fabricus, M&M while Doug Chaplin ponders "the cup" as does Glenn Peoples, but Richard Beck ponders the Passion from a Christus Victor angle.

James McGrath points out the importance of Saturday, which is something I wrote about (albeit from a totally different angle) in an old essay.

Easter Sunday Sermons from Kim Fabricus and Bruce Hamil meditates on materialism and the resurrection as does Jason Goroncy and Doug while others just wonder if we can prove it or not?  For Richard Beck Easter demands a decision from us but don't tell the bunnies.

New Kiwi Preaching Blog

The Kiwi Made Preaching event that happened earlier this year has now spawned a blog. Should be good, 25 diverse but experienced contributors will be posting here about faithfully and creatively communicating the Bible in contemporary NZ. There is also a useful and growing resources section.

http://kiwimadepreaching.wordpress.com/

(I've added it to my select blog list on the right.)

Two Sermons on Sin

Well, often you hear people complaining that preachers never preach on sin, they just keep it light and fluffy and entertaining. Well, without consciously setting out to do so, I have preached the last two Sunday mornings on sin. The first was on 2:Kings 5 @ Waiheke Baptist and today's was on Acts 5:1-11 @ my home church, Mount Wellington Community Church.

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2 Kings 5, I did this one following the flow of the three sections of narrative calling attention to the "small things" on which the story turns:

Vs 1-7. The contrast between the mighty military commander Naaman afflicted with a nasty skin condition and the nameless Israelite slave girl who takes pity on him. And the contrast between the King (Jehoram?) of Israel's poverty of faith and that of the slave girl.

Vs 8-19. We then have Naaman learning about the god of Israel. A God who is no respecter of persons. Who cannot be bought. And yet who gives his grace and healing in return for the simplest of obediences. It is another nameless servant who convinces his master to humble himself to such a small deed. And Naaman is healed and is converted to the worship of the God of Israel.

Of course this is a great point to talk about how God saves us in Christ, something we could never buy or acheive but that is given to us in the simple act of obedience when we come to Christ to be cleansed of our sin - so that's exactly what I did.

So far so good, God at work in the little people and the small things, and an OT gospel message as an added extra. At this point we are all feeling pretty good. But this story has a sting in its tail . . .

Vs 20-27. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, doesn't get that Naaman is being taught about God and doesn't want him to get let off lightly. He tells a little lie and gets a little treasure. in doing so he undermines the lessons Naaman has been taught, makes out that God's grace is something that can be bought, and on the cheap at that. Then he tells another little lie to Elisha. His punishment, he gets stricken with Naaman's skin disease.

So, the small things matter, both the good and the bad. Don't despise the little people and the small deeds, and don't imagine the small sins don't matter either.

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Acts 5:1-11, I did a little differently to normal as it is one of those texts where I think we need to acknowledge our discomfort and difficulty.

First I talked about the contrast between our cuddly domesticated God and the "wild God" of the Bible, who is dangerous and does things we don't expect or like. Christian maturity comes when we still seek to know and serve God when it turns out he is not tame and may allow or even cause bad stuff to happen to us and the people we love.

Then I pointed out that most of the questions we tend to come to this text with simply aren't answered here. E.g. why did they die? or, why didn't Peter try to warn them or intercede for them? Instead we are really told two things with certainty.

Vs 3 & 9. As Jews who had the history and scriptures, they knew about their "wild God" and as Christians they knew they and the community had received the Holy Spirit, and yet they still lied. In that moment they were acting as atheists, as if God were not dangerous and as if the Holy Spirit were not in them. In many ways the surprise is not that they were treated so harshly but that the rest of us get off so lightly.

Vs 5 &11. What happened to Ananias and Saphira had the effect of inspiring reverent fear in the church. I took some time to explain the difference between that sort of fear (fobos - terror awe, respect, reverence) and the fear described in 2 Tim 1:7 (deilia- cowardice, timidity, weakness). It should not be so much a case of, “God is watching you so don’t do anything naughty!” but instead of, “God is with you, wow! Live a life that is holy!”

I finished up with the suggestion that the issue is what we fill our hearts with (vs 3) and that we need to cultivate our sensitivity to and awareness of the Spirit and guard against getting filled up with sinful desires. I almost used the Native American illustration of the two wolves but didn't at the last minute. I also majored on the importance of being a people of truth and scrupulous honesty. I felt the application of this one needed more work, it seemed to go a bit flat at the end, (although it may just have been me running out of blood sugar) but hopefully that is something people can do for themselves anyway, I just dig for treasure it is up to them how they spend it . . .

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So, there you go, two sermons on sin, exactly what it said on the tin.

Let me know what you think :-)

Samson as a sign pointing to Christ

As part of our continuing series on Judges this week was Samson. I did an internet search on sermons about Samson (something I wouldn't normally do when preparing a sermon, and I hasten to add I did this at the end not the beggining) and I noticed that everyone seemed to be using Samson as an illustration of bad behaviour - e.g. don't be like Sampson. Now while this sort of moralising is OK (well, not really - but I cant get onto that now!), it sort of short circuits the point of having the Bible. Because pragmatic moral lessons are available to us whenever we read the newspaper. I argued that Sampson is more significant than this. He is the 12th of 12 judges, his story is the climax of the work of the judges before the descent into anarchy of chapter 17 onwards. He also gets four chapters devoted to him, more than any other judge. Finally his birth and death are described in more detail than any other judge. Leading me to suspect that he has some special significance.

The individual judges serve as examples of the way God saves his people. Like a road sign, they point to the reality ahead without actually representing it in great detail. All the judges point to Christ one way or another but Samson does so in a way that is especially significant:

1: A baby announced by an angel that is set apart for God's saving work

2: A person stirred-up by the Spirit of God and empowered by the same Spirit

3: A person whose greatest victory takes place through his humiliation, defeat, and death

There are of course many ways in which Samson does not represent Christ, but this broad outline of his life story in the three narrative sections of Judges 13, 14-15, and 16, clearly corresponds to the ministry of Jesus Christ and so Sampson serves as an important signpost pointing towards the saviour who will fulfill God's saving plan once and for all. And because of this the message is not "don't be like Samson" but "be like Samson - as and when Samson is like Christ." Which is something you wont find in the newspaper.

Let me know what you think :-)

Sermon Judges 2:6-3:6 (Intro to Judges as a series)

[Preached this on Sunday, but it should have been last Sunday, but I was hurling chunks into a bucket instead, so it got rescheduled! This is both an overview of the whole book as well as an exposition of the passage, which I think is OK to do not least because the passage itself functions as an overview.]

Judges 2:6-3:6

2:11-15
Orientating ourselves.
Judges looks back to MOSES – they have a covenant, an exodus, a Passover, a seminal nation forming event... but that seems a long time ago now (2:12, 17, 20, 3:4)
Judges looks forward to DAVID, a golden age when a king will rule in righteousness and bring unity and security: an end to conflict inside and outside. (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25 – no king, this is why things are so screwed up)

But Judges actually lives in the middle where it just seems like chaos.
• God’s people are unfaithful... repeatedly
• God’s people are surrounded by enemies who attack them
• God’s people are divided and often attack each other
• God’s people are influenced by the hostile pagan culture around them
• God’s people seem weak and helpless compared to their enemies
• Moses was a long time ago and David isn’t here yet and it is just chaos, anarchy, madness.

And yet, this is not chaos, anarchy or madness after all
• 2:14, The Lord let the enemies overpower them
• 2:23, 3:4, the Lord allowed the pagan nations to remain for his purposes

So when God's people were unfaithful, God allowed their enemies to overcome them, which would have the effect of making them cry out to God, who in his mercy would send them judges or leaders to be his method of bringing salvation...

2:16-19
And surely this is where the action is, what we have been looking forward to, the mighty macho men (and women) who acheive great things and kick but! But here is the thing, the leader/judges might get interesting stories, but it can all be summed up in 2:18-19. The judges were great while they lasted, but when they die things just go back to the way they were before, or even worse.

2:20-3:6
Unfaithfulness, Anger, Repentance, Rescue: A cycle with no purpose?
Testing through conflict or compromise, both tests of faith. The chaos is not outsude of God's sovereignty and the cycle is not meaningless, but is God's means to form his people.
Time to learn, time to become, time to be formed, time to be refined, time to get to know God

Last Sunday was ANZAC day and serves as a good illustration of how events in a nations past can shape that nation. Gallipoli was a meaningless wasteful military disaster, and yet for Kiwis has become a symbol of nationhood and has arguably shaped the whole national psche and character. History is important, the stories we tell about our past shape our identity. And for the people of Israel these stories of the Judges are vitally important as part of their history, as part of how God has shaped them as a people.

So what?

The fact is much of Judges should sound quite familiar to us.
• Like Judges we are stuck between times, not Moses and David, but Jesus’ incarnation (as bringer of the New Covenant and Passover lamb) and Jesus' return (as victorious King of all Creation). We are in the middle too!
• We are faced with the same conflicts and compromise with our surrounding culture.
• We, as a people, are plagued with unfaithfulness and division and would often rather spend our energy attacking each other than dealing with the true enemy
• We often see great victories when we work together,
• But individuals and small groups can have massive consequences when God is with them

We see God raise up leaders and movements that seem to win for a while, but always fade away within a generation or become stagnat institutions

And if Judges is God’s word to us today, which it is, then surely the first word that it speaks to us is, ‘anarchy, chaos, madness? Maybe from your perspective. But God knows what he is doing, what he is allowing to happen, for the testing and training of his people, that they might grow, be formed, and that they might know him.’

In Judges the good and the bad are all mixed in together... great triumphs and huge disappointments. There is victory, but also defeat and also apostasy. This is what life is like in the middle, and this is what it is like for us now. And strangely this is very comforting, it removes the need for us to attempt to manufacture the ultimate world changing revival, or alternatively to let things get so bad Jesus is forced to return. Rather the King will come in his own time, and in this time we just need to get on with the job of being faithful in our little corner praying and watching for victory, but also accepting and surviving defeat when it comes our way.

So as we read Judges we watch the parallels but also need to watch the differences:
• The type of conquest, success is not measured in real estate but faithfulness and transformation
• The type of weapons, war is not waged with swords but prayer, love, forgiveness, preaching and witness
• The enemy are not to be slain but loved and forgiven
• We do not take up our swords but our crosses,
• The Holy spirit is not available to only some but to all,
• And, best of all, we already know the name of the King that we are waiting for!

Amen! Come Lord Jesus, come!

The Gospel for Eunuchs: A Sermon on Acts 8:26-40

Here is in rough outline the flow of thought from the sermon I preached this morning.

A man is returning home from coming to worship at Jerusalem, he is an official in charge of the treasuries of Ethiopia and as a sign of his prestige rides in a chariot. Philip, following the instructions of an Angel and the prompting of the Spirit runs over to the chariot and hears the man reading from Isaiah.

Why Isaiah?
The official is also a Eunuch. As a foreigner there would have been some restrictions on his worship at the Temple, but as a Eunuch he would have been considered ritually unclean (Deut 23:1, Lev 21:20) and it is unlikely he would even have been allowed into the Temple. And yet something about Judaism has attracted and convinced the Ethiopian eunuch to be a worshipper of Yahweh. Who knows, perhaps it was the attraction of a God who, in contrast to most other ancient deities, was neither sexual himself nor demanded sexual acts as part of his worship; perhaps it has some connection with the extraordinary fact of 120,00 Ethiopian Jews living in modern day Israel today, or perhaps this man had already had some touch of God's Spirit upon his life to draw him closer and prepare him for the revelation of Christ? That is all speculation, but what I do know is is that if I was a eunuch and a worshipper of Yahweh, my favourite scripture would be Isaiah 56:3-7. Here a eunuch finds an extraordinary promise that despite his deformity God would find him acceptable, that God could give him something even better than children and grandchildren, if he lived in covenant relationship with God.

Why Isaiah 53:7-8
So why was the eunuch reading this bit? As Christians we are used to reading this as being about Jesus. We read those words and we understand that the prophet spoke them pointing towards how the messiah would die on the cross. But for the Eunuch he must have been struck by how the experience described mirrored his own of being castrated... humiliation, injustice, his descendants destroyed before they ever had a chance to live, his life blood taken from the earth as the family tree finds a dead end in him. That's why the question for Philip is "who is this about?" It could have been about him.

How is the news about Jesus good news to this eunuch?
Philip starts with this passage. This passage that describes the messiah suffering humiliation, injustice, and destruction of his potential at the hands and for the purposes of others. But that was not the end of the story. Because despite what others had done to the messiah God contradicted all of that by raising Christ from the dead to eternal life. Because of Jesus enduring Isaiah 53:7-8 the day promised in Isaiah 56:5-7 was now dawning. Something better than children was being offered to the eunuch. Because everlasting acceptance and honour were his if he would live in covenant relationship with God through Jesus. The eunuch's final question to Philip is incredibly poignant "is there anything to stop me from being baptised?" All his life he had been prevented from worshipping, from acceptance, from being a whole human in a society in which having children was how you secured your immortality, and now his question is one final doubt.. "is there anything?" And Philip answers this question "no!" because in Jesus no deed done by us or to us can cut us off from God's acceptance and grace.

So what?
1.) This story shows us something of how the Spirit of God flows. Prompting and prodding us towards the eunuchs of the world, those whose lives are without hope or meaning by the world's estimation. The Spirit calls us to find them, walk alongside the, join them, find out where they are at with this God stuff, and then starting with where they are at, tell them the good news about Jesus Christ.

2.) It tells us too that those things of the world which we might be tempted to measure ourselves by, either positively or negatively, our offspring, our legacy, our success, are nothing compared to the being accepted by God and to enter into his eternal life. If we are willing to live in covenant relationship with God there is nothing to stop us, no matter who we are, what we have done, or what has been done to us by others.

Acts 1:1-11: Sermon Outline

Here is the outline of the sermon I preached this Sunday (08/02/09), questions for discussion at the bottom.

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all the Jesus began to do and teach from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God. While staying with them he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

• Acts is a sequel, and like all good sequels starts with both a recap (of Jesus’ ministry on earth) and links the two parts together (how we got from A to B, from Christ to the Church).
• Jesus ministry/work is not finished with his earthly ministry, death, and ressurection, he still has more to do, Jesus the baptizer- see Luke 3:16 (this, of course, does not exhaust Jesus' "heavenly" ministry, see esp. Hebrews on that one).
• And the disciples’ job is to wait. Even after all that good teaching (pre and post ressurection), knowledge is not enough.

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

• Not only is knowledge not enough but it is not for us to have complete knowledge.
• It is not for us to have all the details of the end times, BUT it is for us to receive God's power to witness (to fulfil God’s saving mission in Jesus). We cannot all be evangelists, but we all must be witnesses.
• Holy Spirit is not wishy-washy feeling based nice churchy experience, but the Spirit of the living God that empowers our words and deeds to witness to the saving action of God in Jesus Christ. Spirit-ual not spiritual. Spirit-uality always comes from God then moves out from us to others.

When he has said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

• Understand God's story of salvation in Jesus and where we fit into it. Understand that we cannot play our part without the Holy Spirit's enabling. Know that this story ends with Jesus returning to earth and bringing heaven with him.
• Stop looking up to heaven wondering what the time is; it is time to be Christ's witnesses.
• Wait for the Holy Spirit. There is a time to go, and a time to wait. To receive first and then give from what we have received. How much time do you give for the Spirit to work and speak in your life, or are you just running around on empty wondering why nothing is happening?

Questions for discusion:

1. Can you find any other passages in Luke-Acts where the movement of the Spirit is outwards towards other people? Have you been aware of this movement at any point in your own life?
   
2. What does Luke mention in his 'recap' at the beggining of Acts and what does he miss out? Does this surprise you? What can we learn from this?
3. What does it mean practically to wait on the Holy Spirit as an individual, as a family, or as a church?
   

Reading Titus 3 with reality TV

[Here is a shortened version of a sermon/talk I did at my church this morning. Let me know what you think. Or if you were there let me know what you thought. Positive and negative comments are all appreciated, otherwise how can I get better? Just click on the word 'comments' below, thanks :)]

The Big Stuff, Downsize Me, Extreme Home Makeover, What Not To Wear, and Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares are a selection of TV shows shown in NZ that all follow a similar story line. The plot goes like this: once there was a messy house/overweight person/needy family/unfashionable woman/failing restaurant; but then Sian and Gez/Damian and Lee-Anne/ Ty and team/ Trinny and Suzzana/ Gordon Ramsey appear and bring about a miraculous transformation; so that now the transformed house/body/family/fashion victim/restaurant live a transformed life totally and wonderfully different to what went before.

This desire for and interest in transformation is not a new thing. It's not only the reponse of disgruntled post-moderns who are never satisfied. On Roman Crete (the stated destination of the letter to Titus) they were into transformation too.

Archeology shows that the Egyptian Goddess Isis was worshipped in Roman Crete at the time when the letter to Titus would have been written. Her followers had water 'poured out' onto them to bring them into a mystical rebirth. (There are a number of linguistic clues that suggest Paul may have had this ceremony in mind when he wrote Titus 3. I will deal with those and the implications of that in another post.)


So for those of us who have been exposed either to reality TV or the cult of Isis we can spot a similar plot taking place in Titus 3.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.

Here is the mess we are in. Here is the dysfunction. Now the common complaint about this verse is that while it may describe some people it certainly doesn't describe everyone. Dont we all know people, who despite their atheism are moral and content and peace loving, often more so that some Christians we know? I know I do. But here is the thing. What is the difference between your average upstanding Kiwi and a genocidal African? What is the difference between the secretary of the Lions club and a member of the Taliban? Is it one of kind or is it one of circumstance? We as a human race need to admit that we are better doing evil than good. Even if certain individuals are examples of good moral lives they do not outweigh the genocide, injustice, torture, war, child abuse, rape, oppression, degradation and misery humanity is continually practising. Watch the news, Titus 3:3 is what we are.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure.

Being transformed by someone else is humbling. You can see it in the resistance people put up to their television saviours, they argue with Gordon Ramsey, they refuse to follow Damien's diet, and they wont let Sian throw out that sofa even though it doesn't fit 'the vision.' Why do you think Extreme Home Makeover ships people off to disney land before they destroy the house? But when you are in a real mess, you need intervention. When you are stuck in the bog you can't pull yourself out by your bootstraps, you need to be connected to something or someone who isn't stuck in the same bog. And so at our moment of need, not because of anything we had done, Jesus appears and makes possible our transformation by baptism and the Holy Spirit. We are justified (made right) by grace (God's free giving), have the empowering Spirit of God richly poured out on us, and are made heirs of eternal life (part of God's family with an everlasting hope). This is all done for us, not by us.


But no reality TV show is complete without a final visit months later to see how people are doing after the transformation. To witness their new life. Have they stuck to the diet, have they kept their house tidy, have they followed Gordon's menu advice? The point of the transformation was not just for a different experience for a week or so but to initiate an entirely new way of living.

Titus 3:8 I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.

For the Christians on ancient Crete this meant a lifestyle of obedience, peace and politeness. Doesn't sound very radical does it? But the Cretans were a warlike people with a reputation for deceit. Thier national passtimes were piracy and inter-village warfare. These Cretan Christians were being expected to live in way way that was radically counter to the culture in which they lived. We are not saved/rescued from the human tradgedy by doing 'good works.' We are saved so that we can then live a life filled with 'good works.' These good works necessarily run counter to the culture we live in because our nation's culture is dysfunctional, though perhaps not in entirety. As those who have been transformed we need to take advantage of our transformation to live lives that are different. In order to 'be careful to devote' ourselves to good works we must observe our culture and notice those parts of it which which are not compatible with our new life. Here are some suggestions, I'd love to hear yours...

• Instead of consumerism, let's do stewardship
• Instead of avoiding suffering, let's spend time with those who suffer
• Instead of watching the news and doing nothing, let's act on the information we have
• Instead of thoughtless reactions and sound-bites, let's think more about the things we do and say
• Instead of obsessing over our leisure, let's obsess over worshipping God and serving others
• Instead of seeking punishment and retribution, let's seek forgiveness and restoration
• Instead of individualism, let's exist in community

And remember, this isn't about you trying harder. This is about living in the reality of the transformation that Jesus has accomplished. The empowering Spirit of God has been given richly to us who have been transformed. So let's stop mucking about and live in the new life.

Questions:

1. Can you think of other places in our culture where transformation is a significant theme?
2. Do you think Titus 3:3 offers a good description of the human race?
3. How would you describe the transformation that Jesus brings (Titus 3:4-7) in language that today's 'person on the street' might relate to?
4. If you have been transformed by Jesus, what do you think is the most important 'so that' for you? Could you choose something from my list to put into place this week?