The House You're Building

Sisters and Seekers, Glad to have you back for the final installment of our study on Titus.  Looking at this letter in detail and breaking down the study for you has renewed my passion for God's word.  I love logging on to see how many are accessing this resource.  I hope it has been an encouragement and brought many new insights in how God is changing us to your life. As typical of Paul's style in writing, he closes this letter to Titus mentioning travel plans and ministry partners.  Yet there is something deeper for us if we follow our study process of comprehension, interpretation, and application. Titus 3:12-15 Comprehension -seek to understand exactly what the passage is saying without adding any interpretation to it Define words you may have circled in the overview because you didn't know their meaning.  Look them up in a dictionary, then reread the verse.  After getting the context, write a definition in the margin or above the word you c...

Sisters and Seekers, God's grace is now able to be seen and we now know His plan is the save all the people's of the earth.  The message of grace instructs us to change, to abandon the things we do that don't reverence God and the human passions within us that the world encourages us to do to worship themselves.  Instead control yourself, be moral according to the Word of God, and loyal to Him until He returns.  We hope in this, that Jesus will come again in glory, all will see Him as the God who saves.  He paid our ransom when we were living in disregard of the law, violating it or even holding it's restraint in contempt.  He liberated us to change us, to work a new life within us so he could acquire a people who belonged to him so fully that they would enthusiastically serve others as He did.  This is the message for you to solemnly declare-encourage people under your spiritual care to live this out and adm...

Sisters and Seekers, Glad you are back in our 5th study of Titus.  Today we get into the "theology" behind what we studied last week, how our lives should look as we live out our faith.  By completing this study, you'll learn more about how how great our salvation is.  As previously mentioned, if you are just starting out, go back and find the blog post titled:  Titus: Overview . How did the Spirit speak to you through studying the different seasons of life last time?  Did He reveal an area where you can grow?  As we study, don't forget what He is revealing.  In fact, stop right now and say a little prayer that He would open your eyes to what He wants you to see as you approach His word and that He would bring it to mind in your time of need.  Hopefully you are praying each time you study; I know for me I find it very helpful as I battle distraction, motivation, and a hardened heart at time when I come to sit at His feet. When you get to t...

Sisters and Seekers, Welcome to week 4 of our study on Titus.  So far we have done on over view of the book and studied three other sections of the text.  We are halfway there!  If you are just joining us, look back a few posts to begin the study there, looking at the entire book before diving into sections.  As we study Titus we are using a method that repeats each time so you can learn to apply this to any book of the Bible! Last week we looked at empty talkers , those that were in the church  and teaching a mixed up message.  These were men that say they knew God but denied faith by what they did.  Paul is now shifting in his letter to Titus by giving him instruction for those in the church, contrasting the behavior of the members staring up trouble with what life should look like in every season of life.  As you study, I pray that God will speak to you right where you are at and give you practical next steps in your transformation to be mo...

Welcome back to our study on Titus.  Glad you are continuing along.  How did you last study go?  Are you keeping in mind what a good leader is? There will be many contrasts this week so continue to hold what you learned last week in mind to better understand this section's content. If you are just joining in, be sure to look back through older posts to start at the beginning of the Titus series to get an overview of the book and more details about the "how to" studty portions.  Like last week, our process will be largely the same, as we are taking in content from Titus and also learning a method on how to study that can be applied to any book of the Bible.  This week the scholarship required was a little more challenging and I had a lot more questions.   This required the use of more resources to understand some of the verses.  But I persevered and you can to!  Whatever level you are at, you can grow from studying God's word.  Trust H...

Welcome back to the third installment of our study on Titus.  I hope so far God has been opening your eyes to the truth He wants to you to see, to be transformed more and more each day to be like Jesus. Our work this week will be much like last time in that we will follow similar steps during the comprehension  and interpretation stages.  Remember this study is based on Women of the Word  by Jen Wilkin.  The process is repetitive intentionally.  My hope for the end of this study is not only do you glean many truths for your life from Titus but you receive a model to follow on how to study any book of the Bible.  Because I won't go into as much depth, please refer to the second week of the study for more details on each step if needed. In our very first week studying Titus, the book overview, you were to outline the book.  Today's passage will be the second "section" in the overview I made: qualifications of leadership.    In Titus 1:...

Sisters and Seekers, Welcome back to our study of the book of Titus.  How did it go last week?  Here are some things I hoped you gleaned in your overview of the book to catch us up as we look closely at the opening section this week.   The book of Titus was written to a pastor named Titus by Paul.  It is a letter closely aligned to first and second Timothy in content and style.  Titus and Paul had a special relationship in that they had served together in ministry: Titus attended the Jerusalem council (Acts 15) with Paul as an example of a Gentile convert full of faith.  He also delivered letters for Paul and was entrusted by taking money to churches in need.  This letter was to encourage Titus to complete the mission Paul had for him when he left him on Crete: appoint leaders and instruct the body in what life looks like as a follower of Christ.    This new way of living came out of an authentic response to the gospel and was a witn...

Sisters and Seekers, So excited to announce that I will be writing a bible study for you on the book of Titus.  I recently read a book by Jen Wilken called Women of the Word  and was inspired to study using her method and create a study out of what I'm learning for you!  Please check out her book as a resource if you want to dig a little deeper. Before we get started, I want to highlights some concepts from her book that I think are important to cover because they give a framework to keep in mind as we go.  The bible is a library, a collection of books with one big message.  It is the message of God and His story, it's not a book about us.  It has an overarching theme of creation-fall-redemption-restoration and every book in the Bible tells part of this one big story that God is telling through His word.  You may have heard this referred to as the metanarrative.  Knowing how what we are learning fits into this big story will help us make conne...