I would like a show...
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I would like a show of hands by those who feel that today's second lesson, Titus 2:11-14, is their favorite Christmas story? Well, that's not surprising is it? I was not sure whether to lift my arm either. Just think -- in this lesson there are no shepherds, wise men, stables, inns, animals, Mary, Joseph and all of the other characters we associate with Christmas, especially the account from the gospel of Luke. As a matter of fact, if Luke were not read you probably would leave here feeling incomplete which I would understand. But yet, we must not overlook the power in these few verses from Titus.
Listen again: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly ..." The grace of God appeared in Bethlehem, the mighty mercy finally arrived to bring salvation to all, to train us to pitch out impiety and worldly passions and in our now generation to live Christ-like, solid existences. That may not be the stable but it surely is stability. It is not the crib but it is the crunch.
It was reported in early May, 1992, that Terry Anderson, the Associated Press' chief Middle East correspondent, said the same faith that got him through nearly seven years as a hostage also has kept him from hating his captors. "I have no room for it, I have no time for it," Anderson said at the AP's annual meeting of member publishers and editors. "My hating them is not going to hurt them an ounce, it's only going to hurt me."
That is the grace-according-to-Anderson and if you would magnify that 1,000 times, that is the grace of Jesus Christ first revealed at Christmastide and shown in the first line of the second lesson. So maybe Titus 2:11-14 is very vital to all of us this Christmas.
Listen again: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly ..." The grace of God appeared in Bethlehem, the mighty mercy finally arrived to bring salvation to all, to train us to pitch out impiety and worldly passions and in our now generation to live Christ-like, solid existences. That may not be the stable but it surely is stability. It is not the crib but it is the crunch.
It was reported in early May, 1992, that Terry Anderson, the Associated Press' chief Middle East correspondent, said the same faith that got him through nearly seven years as a hostage also has kept him from hating his captors. "I have no room for it, I have no time for it," Anderson said at the AP's annual meeting of member publishers and editors. "My hating them is not going to hurt them an ounce, it's only going to hurt me."
That is the grace-according-to-Anderson and if you would magnify that 1,000 times, that is the grace of Jesus Christ first revealed at Christmastide and shown in the first line of the second lesson. So maybe Titus 2:11-14 is very vital to all of us this Christmas.
