Faith and Knowledge of God

[Read Titus 1:1-4]

As the calendar rolls over from one year to the next, we naturally find ourselves being reflective—pondering the things that have happened over the past year and dreaming about what may happen in the year to come. It’s a natural thing. 

This past week, I’ve been doing some reflecting about what has happened in the life of Faith Community Church over the past year. As I skimmed through my old journals, I regularly found myself saying, “No way! That happened a year ago!” and I found myself realizing this past year was jam-packed. It was jam-packed with things that were wonderful and things that were difficult. 

One of the themes from this past year that stood out to me was surgery. There were lots of surgeries this past year. There were heart surgeries, back surgeries, knee surgeries, hip surgeries, wrist surgeries, finger surgeries, tooth surgeries, gland surgeries, eye and ear surgeries, and other surgeries that we don’t need to talk about in public. Pretty much, surgeries on every single part of the body. We also had concussions, broken arms, strokes, breathing issues, cancer scares, and lost loved ones. Health issues were rampant in our congregation. 

Yet, in the midst of these health issues, we also saw some powerful answers to prayer—things we had been praying about for months. I also noticed lots of visiting being done by members of this congregation. As I spoke with those who were sick or in the hospital, I would regularly be told about others from the church who had already visited them. I also heard about various people from church sharing meals together and getting to know one another better. We had the opportunity to baptize Presley and welcome nine new members into our congregation. Over this past year we worshiped IN Community.  

A lot of work was also done in and around our church. We replaced the old shed with a newer, bigger shed—through much work by members of this congregation. We spent a few days cleaning the church. We thanked our previous treasurers for their work and recruited a new treasurer who has been doing a great job. We participated in Serve Dodge County by painting Pat’s house and setting things up so that Linda Janz received a ramp for her house. We sent teenagers to Oklahoma and supported Don Slager in multiple trips to Liberia. We continued to work through the Financial Shalom program, discussing how to honor God with our finances. Then, there’s all the “behind-the-scenes” ministry that happens that no one knows about. Over this past year we worshiped AS a Community. 

Over this past year, we also began “Going Local.” We expanded our ministry to Dycora, building relationships and being present. We increased our caroling ministry to another facility. We expanded our backpack program to include an additional family. We also began attending local events in Beaver Dam—Music in the Park, Lake Days, County Fair—in order to build relationships with people in the community, looking for opportunities to share our faith. Over this past year we worshiped FOR the Community. 

At the core of all this, we worshiped the Triune God this past year. We worshiped God through our regular worship services, singing and preaching our way through Jonah, Philippians, Daniel, Galatians, a series on Worship, and a series on the Names of the Messiah. We worshiped through quarterly hymn sings on Sunday evenings. We worshiped by growing in our faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ, allowing that to work itself out in everything we do, so that we worship the Triune God in every aspect of our lives. Over this past year we worshiped the Triune God IN community, AS a community, for the community. I look forward to seeing the ways God will grow us in these areas in the coming year. 

One of the ways I want to encourage our congregation to grow in this coming year is in our Bible reading and worship attendance. Next year, at this point, I would love to be able to speak about the way our congregation has grown in our reading of scripture and worship attendance. Regularly reading God’s Word and attending worship services are a necessary part of the Christian life. Regularly reading God’s Word—daily reading God’s Word—and attending worship services strengthens our faith and changes our hearts and equips us for Godly living—living the life God has created us to live. If we grow in our reading of the Bible and our worship attendance, we grow in our worship, we grow in our ability to worship IN community, AS a community, and FOR the community. 

This morning’s passage is pointing us in that direction as well. It’s important to understand that Paul is writing this letter to Titus, who is a young pastor of a struggling congregation. Paul helped plant this congregation in Crete, but had to leave. So, he left Titus to keep things progressing in the right direction. Paul is writing this letter to help Titus and to remind the congregation of the direction they should be heading. 

As Paul introduces himself in the letter, he begins laying out some principles. He reminds everyone that he is an apostle. Yet, he also explains the purpose of his role as an apostle. He says, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness…” (Titus 1:1, NIV). The purpose of Paul’s apostleship is the faith of God’s elect—the people of God—and their knowledge of the truth—a truth that leads to godliness. That’s the goal of everything he does—faith and knowledge which lead to godliness.

Take a moment to make the connection with what Paul is saying. There is a connection between faith and knowledge. We cannot have faith in something if we know nothing about it. We cannot have faith in God if we know nothing about Him. Think about it. How can we have faith in a God we know nothing about? How can you trust Him? You can’t. Yet, once you begin to understand who God is and what He has done—you begin to see his faithful character and his steadfast love, you begin to see that he is a God “who does not lie” (Titus 1:2, NIV) and fulfills all his promises—you trust Him and put your faith in Him. You cannot have that faith apart from knowledge. You cannot have that knowledge apart from God’s Word. 

You see, God brings his promises to light through the preaching of His Word. Our passage says, “and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,” (Titus 1:3, NIV). Through the preaching of God’s Word, His promises are brought to light, His character is shown to His people, and His deeds are revealed to mankind. Through the preaching of God’s Word, God’s people KNOW God more fully and as a result TRUST Him more fully—grow in their FAITH of God. 

This is why it’s so important to read your bible and attend worship regularly. As you read your bible, and come to a fuller knowledge of who God is and what He has done, your faith will grow and strengthen and deepen. As you regularly attend worship, singing God’s Word and hearing God’s Word preached, you will come to a fuller knowledge of who God is and what He has done, and your faith will grow and strengthen and deepen. This is why I want us to commit to regular bible reading and worship attendance. I want us to grow in our faith and worship of God through Jesus Christ. 

You cannot have a strong faith if you do not know God’s Word. If you do not know God’s Word, you faith will be built upon shifting sand—unstable and weak. You cannot base your faith upon your experience because times, seasons, and cultures change. If your faith is based upon these things, it will be weak and tossed to and fro with every change of season or culture. You cannot base your faith upon your feelings because your feelings change all the time. If your faith is based upon your feelings, it waver with every slight change of mood you have. 

Like God’s character, God’s Word is unchanging. It is a solid rock, a firm foundation. It reveals to us who God is and what He has done. God’s Word shows us that God is faithful in all he does and promises. God’s Word shows us how he protects his people and rescues them from sin and death. There may be times when “experience” would tell us that there is no hope, yet God’s Word reminds us that He is in control and that we have hope in Him. There may be times when “feelings” will make us question whether God has forsaken us, but God’s Word reminds us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. When we KNOW God’s Word, and understand who God is and what He has done, our faith is strengthened and deepened.

As our faith is strengthened and deepened, we begin to live godly lives. True faith always changes the way we live and act. If your “faith” hasn’t changed the way you live, it is not a true faith—it’s a false faith. This why Paul says, “…for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1, NIV). True faith and true knowledge of God leads to godliness—godly living—it changes the way we live. 

Of course, there are ways of “knowing” God that do not lead to godly living. There is a “knowledge” of God that puffs up and leads away from godliness. You can see this when people begin to brag about how much of the bible they know, or when they study the Bible so that people think highly of them. We do not read, study, or preach the bible simply for the sake of “knowledge.” That will never lead to godliness, but away from godliness. 

True knowledge that builds up faith and results in godliness is a knowledge of God himself. We read the bible in order to KNOW God. We attend worship regularly in order to KNOW God. We listen to preaching regularly in order to KNOW God. 

When we know God more fully, we will see him as ultimately trustworthy and worthy of all our worship, so we will more fully put our faith in him and trust him to fulfill his promises, and that will change the way we live. We will live godly lives because we actually trust God and know how he has called us to live. When God calls us to love our enemies, we will trust him and live that way. When God says he will forgive us when we turn to him in faith, we will trust him and seek forgiveness for our sins. When God gives us direction in our sexual lives and our relationships, we will listen to Him because we actually trust Him and know what he has told us. When God promises that he has given us everything we need for life and godliness, we will trust him. Knowledge of God, through reading the bible and biblical preaching, builds up our faith and equips us for godly living.

Underneath all of this faith and knowledge and godliness is the hope of eternal life. Our passage says, “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,” (Titus 1:2–3, NIV). We come to know this hope of eternal life through the reading and preaching of scripture. Yet, this hope of eternal life provides strength and motivation when the going gets tough. This hope of eternal life is there to pull us through to the end. When our faith is weak, and our knowledge is small, and out godliness is immature, we still have the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Then, in hope of that eternal life, we find strength and courage to keep on growing in our faith. In hope of eternal life, we continue to seek God and know him more fully. In hope of eternal life we trust God through the good times and the bad. In hope of eternal life, we life godly lives in this present life. 

So, in order to grow in your hope of eternal life this year, in order to see your faith grow and strengthen and deepen this year, in order to see yourself grow in faith and knowledge of the Lord, commit to reading your bible daily and attending worship regularly. God will bless this. He has promised to bless this. We should trust Him in his promises. He never lies.