The Heart of Healthy Small Groups

Well, take your Bible and turn back to Titus chapter 2. And I think I did say in our scripture reading that we will look at a couple of verses in Ephesians 4. To be honest with you, I really wanted to go a little deeper in Ephesians 4, but because of time, I just don't think we'll be able to do that. And as always, I encourage you to read the verses that I'll allude to, go back and be a good student. And you know, we don't wanna just study these things to put them in our minds. We're not just trying to store biblical information. We wanna pray through these things. We want the Lord to form these things in us. We're in this journey together.

We're here under the taught word of God, and we wanna go back and be good students and seek the Lord and let the Lord form us into the people He wants us to be. I think everybody knows we've been in this subject for quite a while, this rather large subject of life in the body. We've been dealing with many subjects, some needed subjects. And to be honest with you, we're just about done covering this topic of life in the body.

And you know, we could come back to this subject in the future when there are needs, maybe difficulties, struggles, we might need to come back and just study what it's like to be living life in the body in the local church. And that is good. It really is good. But I wanna speak for just a minute about the unique work that I believe the Lord is doing. Now, you really need to get this. I believe that God the Holy Spirit can take the taught word of God and He can apply it to individuals in churches according to their day and their need.

And see for us, I believe that God is doing really more of a supernatural work than you may know, according to His will, according to His plan for our day and our time. I'll give you a good example of that kind of insight. Some of you know who the famous Martin Lloyd Jones was. He was one of the most famous, the most prominent and really one of the most influential pastors and expositors of God's word in the early part of the 20th century. He pastored there at Westminster Chapel in London, England for quite a few years. But he had a very high view of preaching and teaching. And he had an associate pastor back in those days.

And I heard the testimony of his associate pastor back in the 50s when this new phenomenon was coming on and it was audio recordings. And I heard the associate pastor tell the story. He was reminiscing about how they went to the pastor, they went to Martin Lloyd Jones and said, we wanna begin to record your sermons. We wanna record them maybe for the homebound and to use in the life of the church. And he forbid them. He said, oh no, he was fearful that someone would take the taught word and listen to it while they were doing something casual. You know, like washing the car. Because he had a high view.

He explained, listen, God has enabled me to preach God's word in this day and this time for the people there in the pew. And he said, you can't replicate that. What was he saying? There is a unique work that God is doing in the people as he taught the word of God. I heard Ian Murray go on to say that they really went on to record his sermons without permission. (laughs) They disobeyed the pastor. And he said, you know, it was better to ask for repentance later. And he went on to say that he really did know they were recording his sermons. Now, what's my point? How does that apply to us? Listen, folks, we're not here just to check off a box.

We're not here just to hear a sermon. We need to get that. We really need to be spiritually on the edge of our seat. See, God could be moving and working here just for you. And I believe that these subjects that we've been dealing with, and this large subject is part of a supernatural work that he wants to do in us. This is a sovereign plan. There are no accidents. There are no coincidences here. And you know, there might be a message that you say, I've got that. Well, a man or a woman across the sanctuary might need it more than you know. So we need to be on the edge of our seats spiritually in every way.

And this morning we're gonna look at small groups. We're gonna look at small group ministry. And you know, some of our church friends and some of our backgrounds, you know, they talk about Sunday school. There's nothing wrong with calling small group ministry Sunday school. And small group ministry is a very important part of church life. It's a very important part of body life. Now, in what I'm sharing and going to share with you this morning, I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on the form of the structure of small groups. I'm gonna speak to the heart of small groups.

I thought about this term, the marrow of the bone, if I can say it like this. We can talk about the structure, but I wanna talk about the heart, the marrow of it all. Now, we do need to see that small groups fit into a particular church structure, a particular church structure. We purposely structure the church and what we do in the church for a reason is small groups is a part of that purposeful work and structure. I'll briefly run you through that. See, the center of everything that we do is congregational worship, gathering together to be under the taught word of God, no matter who's teaching you God's word.

Years ago, I had a man come to me and say, "Pastor, you never let anybody behind the pulpit unless they're an elder or elder quality people." I said, "I'm doing my job." See, we have elevated this holy desk and the center of everything we do is congregational worship and sitting at the table to hear the word of God taught. And then there are other things that we do. Coming out of that, one of them is every member being involved in small group ministry. Another thing that we do and we really haven't been dealing with it much and that is the missions. And another thing we do is to take it into our home life.

See, we're really starting over in many ways. But what I want you to see is this is all structured for a purpose. It's not just an accident. We're not doing these things just because we think they're a good idea. Now, when I say the heart of small group ministry, I'm talking about what we should see when we peel back the cover. You know, we can think about a car or a truck illustration when we pop the hood and look under the hood. See, when we get into the life of the church, we should find certain things in the church and this should be more obvious even in small groups. And let me say it like this.

If we're missing what we're going to look at this morning, really and truly, we're gonna be terribly out of balance. That might surprise you. If we're missing what we're gonna look at this morning, we'll be very one dimensional and we'll be very unhealthy and out of balance. So I want us to look at the heart of healthy small group ministry. And that's really the title of the message. I know earlier in the week, Brother Keith asked me, so what's the title of the message? And I said, I'm still wrestling with that.

And then as it began to just form in me at the end of the week about the heart of what we do, the heart of this ministry, the title of the heart of healthy small groups just came to the surface from me. Now, like I said, primarily we'll be in Titus 2, although I will refer to Ephesians a little later. So first, Titus 2. I wanna give us a little background here, okay? A little background. The book of Titus, the little book of Titus was written by the apostle Paul to Titus. Some of you might say, pastor, I know that. Now along with first and second Timothy, Titus is commonly called the pastoral epistles.

If you hear that term, you need to know why. It's because these letters were written to pastoral circumstances, pastors and their pastoral responsibilities and the local church. So when you look at first Timothy, second Timothy, and Titus, know that this is all about local church life, pastors and pastoral ministry. Now, Titus the man, he's mentioned some 13 times in the New Testament. And Titus 1 starting in verse four in Galatians, second Timothy, and in Corinthians. Now, scholars believe that Paul likely led Titus to Christ possibly on his first missionary journey.

Scholars believe that Titus probably served with Paul as a part of his second and third missionary journeys. And Titus and Timothy were two unique young men. They became two of Paul's best disciples and really two of Paul's best associates and best workers in the ministry. Titus was very involved in the church there at Corinth. And this might surprise some of you. Titus was even with Paul and Barnabas as they went up to the great Jerusalem council, which was a very, very important time in the life and the development of the New Testament church as it was going out into the Gentile world. So Titus was a disciple of Paul.

He was a great servant of the Lord and he was a great worker for the gospel ministry and specifically in the New Testament church. Now what's happening here, specifically this book. Paul had visited the island of Crete before. Crete is an island there in the Mediterranean Sea. And later on, he left Titus there to continue the work of the church, just like he left Timothy there at Ephesus. Now let me pause here on my notes. If you think about what Paul's done, he's done these two young men a great favor. He left them in problematic churches to straighten some things out. And that's what's happening here.

Now the churches on Crete were somewhat new and somewhat fragile and they needed leadership. They needed some straightening out. And scholars say that most likely the first Christians on the island of Crete came from those who were converted there on the day of Pentecost and that great harvest of souls. The scripture says they were Jews there from Crete. But they were also converts to Christianity through Paul's efforts. So Paul, he's leaving Titus here on the island to further the work of the churches there 'cause there were multiple churches on the island. And here in this letter, Paul is writing back to Titus.

He's giving instruction for the work. Look back at verse five of chapter one. "For this reason I left you in Crete "that you might set in order what remains." In other words, there's work to be done here. So we have the church, these churches, they're on the island of Crete. Paul has left Titus there to straighten out the problems and to continue to work. And he's given him authority over the churches. He has authority. Paul is writing back to Titus, give him instructions in these matters. So this is all about pastoral ministry, folks. This is all about local church ministry. This is all about those churches there.

And Paul's care for the churches is through one of his best disciples and that would be Titus. Now in this letter we see Paul address some different people. Besides the problems now, in the letter we see different people, we see different groups of people and then we see different peoples and the fact that they had different responsibilities in the church. So first I want us to see Titus. We gotta look at Titus and his responsibilities because Paul addresses Titus and his responsibilities. Now I touched on some of this, but we need to see it. Titus was appointed by Paul as an elder, as a pastor with authority there over the churches.

We see that in verse five. I think that's obvious for you to see. And right away, Paul's tells Titus to appoint elders in the church. Paul also calls Titus to correct false teaching and false teachers there in the church in chapter one. And there in chapter two, we see that Paul calls Titus to address different groups in the church and their responsibilities. Now before we get into the groups, I want us to see a particular command or a set of commands that Paul gives Titus. Yes, Titus. This pertains to one of his most important responsibilities. This pertains to Titus and his responsibility to his preaching and teaching ministry.

Now we see this first in chapter one, verse nine. Many of you know that this is right in that block of scripture that pertains to qualifications for elders. Notice verse nine, holding fast to the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching that he may be able both to exhort and sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. That would be sound doctrine. Now here Paul calls Titus to hold fast to the word. Yes, this is addressed to the elders he will appoint, but this is addressed to Titus as he is an elder as well. Now this means that he, this was Titus, was to cling strongly to the word of God and its teaching.

This would be the revealed word of God. Now not only was he to hold strongly, to cling strongly to the word of God, but Paul calls Titus to faithfully minister God's word. To exhort, it means to strongly urge. It means to strongly encourage. And Paul is calling Titus to faithfully exhort, to faithfully strongly encourage and sound doctrine, all while refuting those who speak falsely or propagate false doctrine. This word sound is a very important word. It speaks to that which is healthy, that which is clean and wholesome. It speaks to doctrine and doctrines which promote and protect and preserve spiritual life.

Well then we also see his responsibility in verse one of chapter two. This is a little more obvious to see. I showed you how these qualifications for elder applied to Titus, but now the specific instruction. But as for you, you could say, as for you Titus, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Here Paul, he calls Titus to speak things that are in harmony with sound doctrine, in concert with sound doctrine. This would be doctrines which do what? They promote, they protect, and they preserve what? Spiritual life, healthy spiritual life. Now this word speak here, it refers to more of an ordinary conversation.

And the construction of the language here, it speaks of a continual, consistent, persistent speaking. Now notice how all of this comes together, just those two verses. We see a particular responsibility that Paul clearly elevates for Titus and his ministry there in the churches on Crete. That would be his preaching and teaching ministry in the churches. Titus, he had a responsibility to strongly exhort the churches in the word. He was responsible to speak the word and sound doctrine continuously, persistently, consistently. So Titus was responsible to exhort and to speak.

You see, to exhort and to speak the word, sound doctrine, doctrine that promoted and protected and preserved spiritual life, all while refuting unhealthy doctrines there in the churches, all while holding onto these doctrines in his own personal life. He had a job to do. Now if you take a step back here, and you look back at the other verses in chapter one, you see that verses six to eight, they speak about the elder and their character.

So Titus had to have this godly character as a qualified elder, but this one verse, verse nine, and verse one in chapter two, it speaks about the elders primary ministry, what he's called to do, and that is to preach and teach the word. Now what's my point here? Listen folks, the church revolves around the preaching of God's word. If we go back a book to 2 Timothy, what did Paul say to Timothy? He said, you preach the word son, you be ready in season and out of season. And so what we see is this, the preaching ministry from the pulpit and the elders in the life of the church, that is the hub of the wheel of everything that we do.

That's my primary job. And I must be qualified like Titus, and oh, I must step up, I must step up to my responsibility. So Titus and his responsibilities, now this ties closer to small group ministry more than you know. But second, I want us to see second, the older men and their responsibilities. These older men here, Paul calls Titus to address them and their responsibilities. Now here we see one of the things that Titus is to teach in the church, the responsibilities of the older men there in the churches. Now remember the context, I'm gonna wear you out here.

It's the local churches, out in the creek, multiple churches, that's the context of everything that he is instructing here. Now look at verse two, older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance. Now I question, who are these older men? Are these older men the elders in the church? Not necessarily. This would speak to men who were older physically, as well as men who were older spiritually. You see in the scriptures, older age is usually associated with spiritual maturity and wisdom. And we really see it clearly, more clearly in the Old Testament. And there are all kinds of examples there.

But another question, can an older man in the church not be spiritually mature and wise? Of course. Just because someone's been in the church for years and has lots of gray hair, it does not mean that they are spiritually mature. It doesn't mean that they're spiritually wise. That is a sad reality. So that's the lesson here. We need to just file away in our mind and heart. We don't need to forget this. Just because someone is older and they've been in the church for years, it doesn't mean that they are wise and spiritually mature. Now notice what Titus is to do here.

He used to call the older men in the church, in these churches to certain things. And these would be spiritual characteristics that come from spiritual maturity and characteristics which foster spiritual maturity. And I'm gonna be quick here. They are to be temperate, the New American Standard says. The English Standard says sober minded. See, this speaks to the use of alcohol, but more. This speaks to an area of conduct. The older they were to be sober minded in all of the areas of life. That meant that they were to have self-control, not being out of control. Sober in their thinking, sober in their living.

Of course in the area of alcohol because that was an issue in their culture and in their day. But this speaks to a broader self-control, a sober way of thinking and living. They were to be dignified. This speaks of being revered. This speaks of being honorable. You know what it means when someone is honorable? They are not arrogant. They are not haughty, no. And they are not superficial. See, they are dignified. They are revered. They are looked up to. They are honorable. And then they are to be sensible. The English Standard says self-controls. Now this speaks to discernment. This speaks about discretion.

They possess sound judgment about themselves and matters in life. They control themselves and they make wise sound judgments. But then there at the end of the verse, there's a lot right there together. They are to be sound in faith and in love and in perseverance. The English Standard version says steadfastness. We know what this word sound means. We've already covered it. This speaks to that which is healthy and good. So they are to be sound in the faith, meaning that they are to be strong in faith, meaning that they trust God in every way in life.

They are to be sound in love, meaning that they love God, they love God's word, they love God's people, they love the church, they just love people. They are loving, mature men. They are to be sound in perseverance, meaning that they do not give up when trial comes. Hardship, difficulties, when they come, they don't give up, no. And they are to be steadfast, meaning that they are to be strong no matter what happens in life. So notice what we have here. Titus was to call the older men. Yes, they're wise. Yes, they're mature. He is calling these men in the churches to this type of spiritual life, maturity.

Spiritual maturity, sober-minded in every way, spiritually dignified, honorable, having and maintaining self-control in every area of life. And they are sound, they are healthy in their faith in God, they are sound and healthy in their love and their loving spirit and demeanor. They are sound in their perseverance in the faith. Now in application, I thought about some words and phrases. First thing that came out of my mind and put on paper was the word Winnebago. You know what a Winnebago is? I thought about the word camper. And I thought about the word retirement home. I thought about the phrase moving to Florida.

I thought about the phrase retiring to just travel and see the world. See it and that what American retirement many times is all about. Now is there anything wrong with retirement? No. Listen, there's nothing wrong with retirement. Retirement is great, but look, spiritual retirement is terrible. And churches suffer from that. There are a lot of times people will serve the Lord and they retire and they just think their time is up. And they do what? They get them a Winnebago and a camper, they find them a retirement home, they move to Florida somewhere else and they travel and they serve their time and they just move on.

What a great tragedy and what a great sin. See, I thought about it like this. These are the men who are supposed to anchor things down in the life of the church. You know, when we first rented this church facility about a year ago, as I was walking around, I noticed some problems about the pews. One of them is the pew that I sit on. It's not really very firm. So you'll notice my wife doesn't sit with me. It might not hold us all up. But I noticed a lot of the screws were missing holding the pews to the floor. So what did I do? I got a handful of screws and I anchored those pews in the floor. But I thought about it like this, folks.

These pews should be anchored down with men. Yes, they might have gray hair, but they're older men and they exemplify and they live out these verses and they anchor the work of the church. They anchor the work of the church and the people of God here in a way that young men never can. And what is Paul saying here? You are to pour into these older men. They gotta be anchors in those churches. They gotta hold everything down in their own way. And then third, third, I want us to see the older women and their responsibilities. Paul calls Titus to address the older women and their responsibilities.

Here we see another thing Titus is to teach in the churches. The responsibilities of the older women in the church. Again, I wanna remind you this is all in the church. This is the context. And there's a reason I keep reminding you of the context. Now, a similar question. Who are these older women? What age are we talking about? Now, I'm gonna pause here now. I'm not the smartest pastor, but I'm smart enough not to talk about women and their age from the pulpit. But what about their age? Who are these older women? You see, just like with the men, there's no age mentioned here.

But in the scriptures, the understanding of older women is related to children and childbearing and childrearing. Biblically, women were considered older when they were past the childrearing age or really when the children were out of the house. Paul mentions this in 1 Timothy when he speaks about the widows who were qualified for support in the church. That is in 1 Timothy 5.9. So Titus is speaking to those women who really are finished raising the children. Maybe they have that empty nest. Now, right now, there's some of you ladies, you're getting nervous.

Some of you ladies had children younger and your children are getting out of the nest a little faster than some of the others. I remember quite a few years ago, there was a lady in the life of our church. She was in her late 40s and we were contemplating this verse. And she said, "I guess I have to realize I am the older woman." I didn't make a comment. Now, let's read these verses. Verses three, two, five.

Older women, likewise to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious or slanderous gossips, neither enslaved to much wine teaching what is good, that they may encourage or train the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be sensible, pure workers at home, kind, being subject or submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Now, notice that Paul speaks to their character just like he did the older men. And this will speak to their responsibilities. First, Titus, he calls the older women to be solid in their character. Now, I'm gonna zoom through this for the sake of time.

Notice he says they are to be reverent in their behavior. This speaks about a holy attitude, a holy disposition, and then a holy behavior. Really, this speaks about being holy, being set apart. They are not to be slanderers. The New American talks about malicious gossips. They do not participate or even, they've even contemplate slanderous speech concerning others. This is not just idle talk, this goes beyond idle talk. They are not to be slaves to wine. This is talking about their use of alcohol. They are not to be slaves to the drink. And this was a problem in the culture that came into the life of the churches. Now, Paul's here.

Notice that these matters do not pertain to behavior as much, but this speaks to character that comes out in behavior. They were to be reverent. They were to be holy in their disposition. And then in their behavior, not malicious in speech and definitely not slaves to wine. And then second, Titus is to call the older women, and I use this phrase, to pour into the younger women. Notice he calls the older women to teach what is good and that what the verse says. This speaks of teaching things that are high, that are holy, that are godly, things that are good.

Then starting in verse four, Titus is to call the older women to pour into the younger women in some specific areas concerning their responsibilities in the home. They are to be loving their husbands. Now, Paul is not referring to a physical sexual love here. This means a willingness to love their husbands because God commands them to love their husbands. This is a choice. This is not based on a husband's worth. John MacArthur says it like this, "Even unlovable, uncaring, unfaithful, "ungrateful husbands are to be loved." So you can get into what we do when a wife, a believing wife has an unbelieving husband.

So he says, "You teach the older women "to pour into the younger women to love their husbands. "Then they are to love their children." Again, Paul is speaking about a choice. This would be a selfless love, not a love based on any type of condition. And this is not an option. And they were to be sensible. The English standard says self-controlled. This means they were to have good judgment. They were to have common sense. And they were to be pure. This does refer to a sexual purity, a moral purity. This speaks to a marital faithfulness and a marital purity. And they were to be workers in the home. This means they were to be home centered.

They were to be focused on the home as homemakers. One commentator said it like this, and I'm quoting, "They should realize that this is a divine service "which can be done for the glory of God." And then they are to be subject or submissive to their husband. This isn't an acknowledgement that the husband is the head of the home and submitting to him as the authority in the home. Now Paul's right here. The older women, the verse says they were to train the younger women to love their husbands, train them to love their children, train them to be self-controlled, to be pure sexually.

They were to train them to be workers in the home and subject to the leadership of their husband. Now notice what Titus is doing here. He used to call, Paul shows him, he used to call the older women to be and to do. They were to be women of godly character which comes out in godly behavior and they were to pour into the younger women. They were to train them, yes, not gossips. I thought about it like this. I just couldn't help it, I wrote it down. Paul's saying, listen, older women, don't sit around and watch the soaps all day. Don't sit around and gossip. Don't even just pour your whole life into civic clubs and everything out in the world.

Is there anything wrong with civic clubs? No. What is he saying? Older women, now that you have your kids raised and they're gone, you turn around and take all of that energy, all of that experience, all of that wisdom and you pour into the younger women, pour into the younger mothers, pour into the younger women and mothers in the church. I thought about certain things. You know, young ladies sometimes could have troubled marriages even in the church. They ought to be able to look around at older women and know that the older women can help them in their troubled marriages. Young ladies many times will struggle with personal matters.

You do and you ought to be able to look around here and you ought to be able to see older ladies who have the wisdom and experience and the knowledge to just pour back into you. You know, the emptiness is a wonderful thing. Not just because of financial reasons, but if ladies who have raised their children and sent them off, listen, if they're coasting or even worldly, it's sinful. If the emptiness leads you to carnality and selfishness, that is sinful, you see. Now let's continue. I want us to see number four or fourth, the younger men. Paul calls Titus to address the younger men and this will be shorter.

Now here, Paul did not call Titus to teach the younger women. See Paul's smarter than you know, folks. He knows that would be a disaster for Titus. See, this is great wisdom. This is discretion even from Paul to Titus. Paul knows that the ministry for women is best from the older women, you see? This is all for a purpose here. What a question, who are these young men? Could they be young husbands and even young fathers in the church? Could they be younger than that? Could they be younger? Maybe what we would call a college age young man or even maybe a little younger than that. I think the answer is yes. See, there's no specific age given.

These are the young men. But notice what it said here. Paul urges Titus to teach the young men. This means to strongly exhort them, to strongly entreat them. And he is to strongly exhort them to be sensible or sensible in all things. This can be translated self-control, the English standard says. But a question, self-controlled in what? All things, all things. I ran across some good quotations here. I'm just gonna put them all together. This self-controlled is an appropriate word since youth is a time of brimming with zeal, restless energy and burning desires. One commentator said it like this.

Young men who frequently are impulsive, they have passionate ambitions, they're volatile, they're sometimes arrogant, they are to exercise self-control and to show good sense and judgment in all things. If we can teach young men to be self-controlled, we'll have awful lot of problems. Now notice what Paul says next. In the rest of verse seven and eight, I wanna go back, we didn't read them earlier. Notice verse six, likewise, urge the young men to be sensible, see, self-controlled.

In all things you show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity, doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach in order that the opponent may be put to shame having nothing bad to say about us. Here, Paul, he calls on Titus to be an example of these young men. He should be an example of good deeds and good doctrine and good teaching, you see? He is to be an example in speech as well. He is to be such a good example that he is beyond any condemnation, you see? What's Paul saying? Titus, you'd be such a good example, no one can point the finger.

Maybe he knows young men might learn a little better if they see it, not just hear it. Now, I wanna be careful how I say this, okay? There is no direct command here, but it seems that these young men are to look to Titus as that example. Paul's not saying, listen, young men, you look to Titus, but it seems that that's what we have. Seems there's this indirect command here. It's like Paul is commanding these young men to be self-controlled in all of the areas of life, and then he says, just look to your pastor, he'll lead the way. So notice what Titus is to do here.

He used to strongly exhort the young men to be self-controlled in all of the areas of life. Harness all of that zeal, harness all of that energy, all of that ambition, all of that impulsiveness. Control all of those feelings, the arrogance, the volatile emotions, the actions, and all of those sexual desires. And he's saying, you be an example to the young men, you be an example to those young husbands, even those young fathers. You know the first word that came to my mind in application was the word Frank. Yes, Frank.

A few years ago, I went to the Philippines and I enjoyed spending some time with one of the members of Grace Live Church at Muscle Shoals. His name is Frank Spires. It's an accountant. You know he was telling me about teaching me in the Sunday School, small groups. He said, you know, I got a group of men, and they're all 15 or 20 years younger than me. And he said half the time, I'm just telling them, don't do the things that I did. He said, I'm teaching them God's word and I'm sharing with them out of my life of what I did good and what I did bad about my marriage and about my child rearing. That's what we see here.

And I just said, brother, teach them the word and pour into them out of your life. But I also thought about all of my years in youth ministry. Now I know that I'm ministered in some unhealthy churches and I never want to absolve parents of their responsibilities. I will never do that, no. But I know this, there were many teenagers that I taught them the word and I sought to be that example because I knew a lot of times they weren't gonna get anywhere else. But I think about another man I met when I went to the Philippines, Pastor Timateo, there in the city of Manila, specifically an area of Manila called Quazon City.

Anybody know what Quazon City is famous for? The Thrilla in Manila. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Pastor Timateo has a wonderful ministry there. He's over all of the anchored in truth churches in Manila and in Southeast Asia. But I'm gonna tell you when I got there, I was gripped by all of the young pastors and all of the young men who were right there at his fingertips. And I saw how Pastor Timateo was pouring into those 25 and 30 year old pastors, even pastors who were almost as old as he is. And what was he doing? He was doing what we see in these verses. He was pouring into them, being a great example to them.

And listen folks, I think it's terribly sinful. It's a terribly sinful thing to have young men and young women in the church and not pour into them purposefully, strategically, specific teaching, specific ministry that pertains to their time and their age and their needs and the day that we live in and all through example. 'Cause you know what happens if we're not the example. They were a hypocrite. Now listen folks, think about it with me, okay. When we pull back the cover on the church, we should find these kind of activities and these kinds of people, see.

When we open the hood folks, when we pop the hood and we pop the hood and we look at the motor and we look at the inside, we oughta see these kind of folks and these kind of activities, we should see mature older men, mature older women and they're holding down those pews, they're spiritually mature and they are pressing on even in their older age, it doesn't matter, they're pressing on, they're desiring to be useful and listen, their retirement years are retirement years to be used for the glory of God in the local church.

Remember the context, it was all about the churches there in Crete and we should see older, the older ministering to the younger as to their needs, see, the younger have needs and the older should be pouring back into the younger and then we should see the younger looking to the older to be taught, to be led, to be mentored, you see. And listen folks, small groups is one place where we should see this happening and when we look into our small groups and we look into small groups to come, we must see that this is really the heart of it all. I'm not talking about structure, I'm talking about the marrow that's behind the bones.

Really there's a lot more that we could study that speak to good small groups. This has been rather broad but I've showed you that the different groups in the church, these different peoples have responsibilities. Now specifically, more personally, what about you? Let's don't talk about the broad groups anymore, let's get a little more personal, what about you? Now here I want us to turn to Ephesians rather quickly. Ephesians chapter four, I'm gonna zoom through some verses here and I'm gonna touch on just a couple of things to bring this on home to us.

Now we know Paul is writing to the church there at Ephesus, it's a local church situation too, context means everything. Verse one, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which you have called. And then on down verse three, being diligent, and what does he say? To persevere the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And here starting in verse four, we're gonna see some language that we see back in first Corinthians 12. There is one body, one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope and you're calling.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. What do we see? That great oneness, that great unity that we talked about so much. Verse seven, but to each one of us, now he moves away from the body. To each one of us, grace was giving according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now here we find ourselves back at what we looked at in the beginning of the series. As the church, we are one body. Didn't we see that in first Corinthians 12? We are one body with many members.

And here in verse seven, we see that each member of the body has been given grace and a measure of Christ's gift. You see that? Now what does all this have to do with? First of all, this grace is a reference to salvation. Ephesians 2, 8, 9 shows us that this word grace, this one word grace is really a great description and definition of God's salvation plan for man. When we look at salvation, it's all of grace, all of grace. So he's alluding to the great grace gift of salvation in Christ. But second, this measure of Christ's gift is a reference to spiritual gift. This is a reference to a spiritual gift.

See, each true believer has been given at least one spiritual gift, some multiple. That's what he's talking about. So this is the point here. Every true believer, one body, individual members, unity and diversity, remember? Every true believer is gifted spiritually as well as possessing physical gifts and talents and resources. And each believer is to use their spiritual gifts in all that they are, where? In the body, in the body. And listen, folks, we see this happening in the body as a whole, but we see this happening when we break down the church, when we break down the church in things like small group.

See, folks, if we're not careful, there can be something missing in our preaching and teaching. One word, the word you. I've heard some of the most famous preachers preach some of the best sermons and they fail to use that word you. It's one thing to explain it, but we take what God's word says and we say, you, we are all responsible here, see? Whether you're older or younger or no matter where you are. And you, if you are born again, have a spiritual gift. And you, if you are born again, you are to use that gift where? In the body, and you have resources and experiences, all that you are, and it is to be used in the body.

And, oh, folks, the best place to start doing that is in small groups. Now, I'm gonna be real quick here, I know, because we've gone over a little longer than I expected. I want you to see this. There are five observations that we need to take out of these verses. You need to get this. Number one, the reality of age-related ministry in the church. This is the reality in Titus 2 of age-related ministry. Age divisions, some say no, but this is definitely age-related ministry. And listen, folks, there are some who push back here.

It's an overcorrection because many times we've come from churches who divide too much and do too much, and this is not an overcorrection. What we need to see is the reality of age-related ministry in the church. And then the second observation, the relationships between the older and the younger. The older have a responsibility to the younger, and the younger have a responsibility to the older. Oh, they're a lot different, and they're different groups, but they're interconnected, you see? And then third, the context. You ought to know it by now. It's the church.

And a lot of times people will take these verses and this teaching, and they're willing to use it in a parachurch organization, but they'll reject it in the church under the leadership of the elders of the church. The context is the church. The context is the local church. And then the fourth observation. Out of these verses, there is a lack of a specific plan or program as it relates to the teaching. What am I showing you? Paul doesn't give a plan. He doesn't give a structure. You see? What does he say to Titus?

You figure out a way, son, for the older to pour into the younger, and the younger to be responsible to the older if that is being fleshed out in the structure that God leads you to use, praise God. And then fifth, there's the expectation, the call and the command to do this. And listen, if you're not doing this in the church, if we pull back the cover and we don't see this kind of ministry going on, we're out of balance. You know that there are churches that are out of balance here and all they get is pulpit ministry. Folks, if all you get is pulpit ministry from me, you're gonna be out of balance.

If all you get is pulpit ministry and ministry from the elders, you're gonna be out of balance. I'm just gonna be a little more personal here. I love the men's small group. You know why? Because I get to see other men teach in ways in which I can't teach. I told the men the other day, I said, I quit. I'm never teaching a small group again. Now, I'm being funny. What am I trying to say? God's equipped other men to teach in ways in which I can't. And I don't want to. God's using them. They're using their gifts. And there are so many churches that are out of balance here. This is an expectation and a call, and we need to see this.

Now, as I close, I'm gonna pull back some of the goals that I gave us way back when we started small group ministry. These are immediate goals. And you tell me if you're seeing this happen in your life. And then I'm gonna speak about future goals real quick. Small groups, the church is organizing the small groups. Number one, to teach the word and to meet spiritual needs. If we teach the word and you come in there hungry, you'll have spiritual needs met. Number two, to create fellowship over the word. Do we see fellowship over the word? People discussing what God's doing in their life according to what we're studying.

Number three, to develop life connected to life discipleship. Are we seeing brothers and sisters being connected and desiring to be discipled and disciple each other? Number four, to facilitate ministry within the body. You know what's wonderful to hear? Is when I hear that you're doing ministry without me. You hear me? When I hear you're doing ministry without me, I rejoice. And that is one of the greatest places, arenas, small groups. We see ministry being facilitated in those settings within the body and then fifth, to promote outreach and evangelism.

See, when we get mature enough in our faith, when we get mature enough in our small group ministry, then we'll begin to realize, wait a minute, this is a great evangelistic tool. Oh, I'm witnessing to my neighbor and I can invite him to Bible study and I can bring him the lunch and you can get to know him as well. See, evangelism is our personal responsibility. And you know, future goals to develop future leaders, purposeful planned outreach and evangelism, and then the multiplication. Sooner or later, we're gonna look up and say, that group's too big. You know what you do? You divide it and move on. See? So what am I looking at?

What am I sharing with you? Pull it back, look into the church, especially small groups, the heart of healthy small groups. That's what we should see. Let's pray. Let's commit this to the Lord and then we will dismiss.