So good to be with you today in the house of the Lord. I want to invite you to open your Bibles as we do every week. This week we're going to be opening to Titus chapter two. If you're new here, my name is Ricky. I'm one of the pastors here at the church. Would love to get the chance to meet you, shake your hand, hear your story. And we are in the middle of a something of a trilogy. As we study the book of Titus, we are in a section talking about the reordering of life by the gospel as sound doctrine affects all of life. Now, I say trilogy because last week we talked about manhood, this week we're talking about womanhood. And then next week we're going to take a brief excursus and talk about marriage in Ephesians 5. But let us see what the Lord has for us today. And let's remember as we read this is God's inspired, inerrant life giving word.
Titus, chapter two, verse one. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober, dignified, self controlled, sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. And in your teaching show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame. Having nothing evil to say about us. This is God's word.
Well, a few years ago I noticed a monologue from a movie going viral. It's not often a speech goes viral, a stunt maybe, or a funny line, but this was a monologue, and particularly a monologue about what it means to be a woman. And a number of women reposted it and basically said, yep, that is what I feel. That's what it feels like trying to be a woman in 21st century America. So I'm going to read a section of it to you, see if you can relate to any of it. Here's a monologue. It is literally impossible to be a woman. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say that you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. And you have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard, it's too contradictory. And nobody gives you a medal or says thank you.
Now, at the very least, whether or not you can relate to all of that monologue, the monologue illustrates, and the fact that it resonated, it illustrates the wildly contradictory pressures of being a woman in 21st century America. And even more frustratingly, it seems that the standards and goals for women change every few years. I mean, just take a slice and go back to ideal woman. 1950-1960-1970-1980, 1990, two, thousands, right? If you just keep. It's like, oh, it changes. And then you kind of, oh, and then it changes again. Then you got to keep chasing and keep chasing. And it's all contradictory. And here's the good news, friends from Titus, chapter 2. Today, the gospel rescues womanhood in a world of confusion, in a world of frustration. The Bible speaks with clarity and beauty into this world.
Now, one of the common themes I've found as I've talked to my sisters in Christ, my mothers in Christ, even my own wife and sisters and mom is that to be a woman means to feel pulled in a million directions at once, Right? You feel all the pressures and strains from every part of your life. And so here's one of the things I'm hoping this text does. I hope this text frees you, and I hope it frees you by giving you what I'm going to highlight as just four things. Just four. Let so much of the rest of life go and just hold on to these four things. In Titus chapter two, there are they're not the only four, but they are four key places to find clarity about what it means to be a woman and what to pursue.
So let's jump in. Number one, in Christ, women are called to walk with God. I get that from verse three in the phrase. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior. Now, it doesn't appear this Way in English. So let me dig into that word reverent. The word reverent there, the usage there has overtones of priestly service. Okay? So in the ancient world it would have been very common to see priestesses to be going, coming and going at temple service and, and very clothed in specific garments and, and making offerings and doing this and doing that and, and walking around the presence of the so called gods of the ancient world. Where Paul is in essence taking that word and repurposing it for a Christian context and saying, likewise, women, you're to be priestly, have a priestly reference, a holy reverence in the way you act. He's calling women first to a trajectory of a relationship with God. That word reverent, it, it finds its meaning in relationship to the God we serve.
6 · Establishes the gospel logic of the passage: reverence is not the means to approach God but the response of those already brought near by grace, correcting a works-based misreading
Now notice this Paul does not say in light of the context, okay, older women and women likewise, you need to be reverent in behavior. And then maybe someday, if you're holy enough, good enough, mom, enough, daughter, enough, then you'll get close to what you're supposed to be and God will finally go, ah, yes, thank you, you're finally there. That's not at all what what the context of the letter says. In fact, the context of the letter starts with the Gospel, ends with the Gospel. And, and here's the way I would summarize it. The the Bible is not saying be reverent and maybe someday you'll be close to God if you do the right things. Rather, it says, you've been brought near to God, daughter, you've been brought near to God. Therefore walk with the God who has brought you near. That's the context of Titus, chapter two. You see this, for example, in verse 11, jump down there. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. The grace of God has appeared like a lightning bolt in our lives. And it brings what not? More burdens that bring salvation.
7 · Identifies the deeper need beneath cultural salvation narratives—women need salvation not primarily from external circumstances but from their distance from God caused by sin
Now the key question though is that salvation, well, salvation from what? And if we thought, think about womanhood for a minute. If you were to poll a hundred women about what do you need to be saved from, right? They would give 100 answers out in the world, I need to be saved from a loveless marriage, or I need to be saved from the disrespect of my kids. I need to be saved from poverty. I need to be saved from age lines. I need to be saved from the judgments of my extended family. Those are the things I need to be saved from. But the Bible says, okay, maybe some of those are legitimate but there is a need underneath all those needs. The need for salvation is far deeper. It doesn't just go to our external beauty or even the circumstances of life. It gets in our very soul. Because the Bible says this, that in the beginning, men and women were made to walk with God, to, to have a relationship with God. That's the deepest fulfillment that we were ultimately made for. And yet every human being, every man and every woman turns into sin and failure and is distant then from God.
8 · Uses the mirror analogy to illustrate gender differences in self-perception, showing how women tend toward acute awareness of their flaws both physically and spiritually
Now I've noticed something about my sisters in Christ which is often compared to brothers in Christ. If I could use the mirror test as an example, the average brother in Christ will often look at the mirror and go, that's a pretty good looking guy, right? Like, you know one of those, right? Where my sisters in Christ are often looking at the mirror going, oh no, what about this? What about that? You know, and you look very differently, right? And often I found it applies spiritually as well. Often women can have much more readily available the list of failures and weaknesses and sins in their life. I'm messing up here as a mom. I'm messing up here as a, as a friend. What about, here's all my failures?
9 · Contrasts the futility of self-improvement with the gospel gift: God does not demand we clean ourselves but clothes us in a new garment—salvation as gift, not achievement
And you could walk around with those things and friends, I want you to see something important. I want you to see this text. In light of the gospel, God is not saying, well, be reverent, as if he's saying, okay, you know the stained clothing that you're wearing, you better scrub that up so you can be related to God again. No, I know it's the opposite picture. Rather, rather than trying to scrub up the stained garment that you may be in, the Lord hands you a new garment. The grace of God has appeared, gifting you salvation, saying, wear this, daughter, this deep need you have to know the Lord and to be freed from your sins and failures. It's not found out there. It's not found through your own efforts. It's found through the grace of God himself.
10 · Direct evangelistic appeal to non-Christian women: their deepest need is not self-improvement but receiving salvation as a gift through faith in Christ
Now look, if you're here and you're a woman and you don't know Christ, here's one thing I do know about you from this text. Your deepest need may not be what you think it is. Your deepest need is to know the God who made you and to find an answer for the sins and failures you feel when you look in the mirror and when you'll stand before him. And the solution is found here in the grace of God bringing salvation. You can receive this gift today, friend. You can receive. If you've been searching in life, where do I need to go. Maybe I'll do this. Maybe I'll achieve. Maybe I'll finally be good enough. No, your identity, the identity that you long for, is not one that's going to be achieved. It is one that is received with an open hand of faith, accepting the salvation of Christ. So turn to him today, sister friend.
11 · Applies the first priority to Christian women: walking with God is not an added burden but the simplifying center that frees them from the tyranny of competing demands
And then if you are in Christ, well, remember that among the million things you're called to do, sisters, that you may feel the first thing is actually freeingly simple. It is to walk with the Lord. And this doesn't land as okay, man, I got so many things to do. And now I'm supposed to also spend time with God. I'm supposed to also do this. No, it's actually saying all that stuff. You can be free from so much of that stuff. What you were made for is knowing the God who made you. You can rest in that. You can live in that. And so this phrase, be reverent in behavior means. Means to almost be. Be walking around the. The presence of God. Be reverent and let your behavior reflect that elevated status that you've been brought near to the courts of the temple. That's the effect of this second, second thing in Christ, women are called to noble and virtuous life.
12 · Signals the shift from first priority (walking with God) to second priority (noble and virtuous life), noting that the specific commands are illustrative rather than exhaustive
Noble and virtuous life. Now, there's some commands here for older women and some commands for younger women, but together the call. It's not as though these are the only things that a woman. Woman is called to do, but they're examples of a noble and virtuous life that reflects that reverence and behavior that reflects that relationship with God.
13 · Unpacks the prohibitions against slander and drunkenness as calls to self-control, noting that women's greater verbal output increases the risk of sinful speech without restraint
And so let's, let's dig in and then we'll kind of back up to see them all together. So first, Reverend, and behavior, not slanderers or slaves. Too much wine. Now, this relates to a particular restraint, a particular self control that, that, that is maybe particularly relevant for women. Now, one of those, unsurprisingly, is speech. One time I ran across a chart basically saying, okay, this is the number of words a man speaks per day. And it's like, here, you see where this is going? And this is the number of words a woman speaks a day. It's like climbing, climbing, climbing. And you're like, oh, wow, right, that's. That. That holds true across cultures and in many other contexts. Right. And, and one of the things that the word is pointing out is, okay, in all of your speech, there should be a restraint. Scripture says where words are many, sin is not absent meaning. You need to be careful. Your heart will get revealed. And so the call is to that speech, all of that good communication, make sure it's constrained in a godly direction. And the other is appetites of alcohol or food or other sort of unrestrained life patterns, that there should be a godly restraint.
14 · Unpacks the call to 'teach what is good,' reframing theology as universal activity—every woman is a theologian; the question is whether she is a good one
Now it's speaking specifically to ladies who probably will get to this in a second, whose husbands are probably dead. So they have some free time. And Paul is saying, constrain yourself to put that free time into godly directions. And then he says they are to teach what is good. Now notice this, they're to teach what is good. The question is not whether women are theologians and teach others about God. The reality is this, everyone is a theologian. Every woman is a theologian because every woman thinks thoughts about God and then every woman tells other people what she thinks about God. Right, That's a theologian. And so the question is not whether you're a theologian or not, it's whether you're a good or a bad theologian. And so the call here is, ladies, be sharp, godly theologians that actively teach, that actively speak what is good, what is true, what is right, what accords with the Scriptures.
15 · Identifies the intergenerational mentoring pattern as a unique calling for older women—investing their best energy into younger women, not casual discipleship but intentional equipping
And then, and that's a unique call. We wouldn't have time to get into this, but that's a unique call that older women are to be investing into younger women using some of their best time and effort to, to equip and train and help those who are younger in the face, or face face faith. That was a Freudian slip. They may be younger in the face as well, but younger in the faith certainly, and less mature in Christ.
16 · Exposes the radical nature of the command to love husbands in a culture of arranged marriage—love as chosen action, not emotional state, sustained through all circumstances
All right, so then verse four, turning our attention to the younger women, verse four. And so train the young women to love their husbands. Now I want to point out that this is a radically countercultural call in the context of the first century because this was a day when essentially all some notable exceptions, but essentially all marriages were arranged by family or a community match. Okay, so this, this wasn't a romcom. There wasn't like a meet cute and then a growing relationship and then a fight and then a thing and then a reunion in the rain and then a wedding. Like, this is not right. The rom com in the ancient world was pretty short. It was your parents and my parents have thrown us together. My name is Peter, right, Or whatever. Like that's that end of the movie. That's what they were in. That was the context of the time. Now notice then that the call to love your husband was a uniquely Christian call. And notice it's not referring to an emotional state. It doesn't say be in love with your husband. It says love your husband. Meaning what's in view here is not creating an emotional state. The love here is framed as an action to love this person that God has united you in marriage with in his providence. And it means to love your husbands in conflict and out of conflict, in hardship and out of hardship, in sickness and in health, in their slow balding and flabby muscles and sudden unemployment and physical hurts, even in their moral failures and repentance. Love your husband. This is the countercultural call.
17 · Unpacks the call to love children as equally countercultural—against both ancient instrumentalism (children as social capital) and modern extremes (impediment or idol), calling for sacrificial love
And not only that, not and notice that is the priority. But then second priority under that is and children and children. In this day, children. Well, the call to children was to raise them, to educate them, to set them up, to launch them into life. But this too would have been countercultural. This is a day in which children were your, well, your retirement fund. They were your social ladder. They were useful in many ways. They were your standing in the community. But notice how Christian women are to think differently. Christian mothers have to think differently about their children. Not as ends in themselves, not for what they can get them, not just for what's expected for them to do related to the children, but rather to love, not emotional state. Remember, love actively as a verb. The children God has placed in her charge a. A choice to be uniquely Christian in that way. And this is so relevant in. In a day where children are often seen either as an impediment or an inconvenience or a means of self fulfillment. I'm going to make my kid in exactly what I want them to be. And they're going to be expression of me. And the word says no, neither of those. Neither an impediment or your idol, but rather a call to love sacrificially.
18 · Contrasts modern sexual ethic of self-expression with biblical call to self-control—true fulfillment comes not from expressing self but from conforming to God's design
And then it goes on to be self controlled and pure. Now this is very radical. In our day there was rampant sexual immorality in the ancient world. But our flavor of sexual immorality has a particular wrinkle to it. And it is this, that, that. Often in our culture we prize self expression as the highest virtue, right? Whoever is truest to themselves is seen as best. And therefore sexuality becomes a means of expressing yourself, right? Whoever can express themselves most truly is the best person. And so it's also then reframed things so that when women are looking at porn, which is a growing issue, or having sex outside of marriage, or giving themselves to spicy explicit books, it's seen as empowering. But scripture says no, Scripture says self expression in your pattern of what you think you should be is actually not right, nor will it end in happiness. Instead, if you want true joy and happiness, you will control yourself to express the image of God as he has designed. In other words, he's the one that made you. He lays out the design of this is what it means to be a woman. Therefore, constraining yourself to God's pattern is what you should be aiming for. In many cases, self control is the call, not self expression. Self control to the expressing the design of God is the call.
19 · Synthesizes the specific commands into a larger biblical pattern—the ultimate call for women is not beauty or usefulness but character, virtue as true adornment
And, and notice this, okay, so you have these, this constellation of sort of commands to older women and to younger women. But I want to back up and say these aren't just random. This fits in a broader pattern of scripture that sees women and calls them to noble and virtuous life. And here is the great thing. In the Bible, women are praised for being beautiful, but that's not the ultimate. In the Bible, women are praised for being useful in doing things, but that's not the ultimate. In the Bible, the the highest call of a woman is, is not to beauty or to usefulness, but to character. To character. In First Peter 3, Peter uses this great phrase, this great word. Picture that virtue. That virtue is the adorning. It is the jewelry in his language for the woman's life.
20 · Uses personal story of sister's military ball appearance to illustrate the universal desire for that 'wow' moment—every woman is wired to want to be seen as beautiful
And so rather than chasing all the things that the world says should adorn you, Christian ladies are called to, to a virtue, to a, an adornment that will not fade as they age, that will not be snuffed out in seasons of sickness or loss, but rather a beauty that will increase over time until they meet the Lord. That's the call. Now think about it this way. There are only a few times in life that a woman in the 21st century America goes full on, gets fully dressed up. There's only a handful of times really, I mean, if you're Hispanic, maybe a quinceanera, maybe if you get married, it's that moment. Another common one for our church is military balls. Right? If you've ever as a wife had to like go all out for the military ball. So my sister married a marine and I remember growing up with her and I was like, oh yeah, she's pretty. I mean, she's my sister, you know. And then she gets fully dressed up to go to this military ball. And I was like, that's my sister. Look at that girl. Wow. Like, that's amazing.
21 · Applies the virtue theology to women's deepest longings—the 'wow' they were made for is not external beauty but virtuous character that glorifies God and never fades
And here's the point. Every girl is wired in a godly way for that. Wow, right? For that Like, I want to walk down. I want people to go, wow, Right? But the Bible says. Okay, sisters, hear me. The Bible says the wow you were made for is deeper than beauty. Externally, it's deeper than usefulness. It's deeper than a promotion or an income level. The wow you are made for is adorning yourself with noble and virtuous character that shines like diamonds into the world around you and that glorifies God. And so the wow for the Christian woman, the deepest wow, the biggest wow, is found in a virtuous and noble life. Which is why. Right. Which is why you can be freed from all the other stuff. You're thinking, oh, maybe if I do this, maybe if I get this, maybe if I say this, maybe if I earn this, then people will say, wow. No, friends, look at the call of Scripture. Adorn yourself in a way that will never fade and actually gets only more beautiful. For all eternity, be a noble and virtuous woman.
22 · Spontaneous pastoral aside to young men about spouse selection—prioritize character and virtue over external beauty or success, as only character endures
Third. Third. Then in Christ, women are called to build. Actually, no. I just wanna make one more aside, okay? On point number two, I wasn't gonna do this, but I'm just gonna do it. Young men looking for a wife. Look for this. Look for a virtuous wife. Look. You're gonna have all the world tell you all kind of stuff that you should be looking for in a girl. Most of it's external or most of it's success or most of it's all that stuff. And here's the reality. It's all gonna fade, right? It's all gonna fade. It's all gonna change. But one thing is not going to her character, her virtue. So I can't give you any better advice than finding the most virtuous single lady that you could reasonably marry and go after her and trust God, right? That's my two cents for the young men. You guys are like, I thought I was out of this message. No, you're back in. You probably need to text some people goodbye and text some other people hello while we're sitting here.
23 · Signals shift to third priority (building gospel homes) while acknowledging the theological depth and potential controversy of the topic ahead
All right, number three, moving on. In Christ, women are called to build glorious gospel homes. Now, this is absolutely one of those deep mysteries that's gonna be hard to talk about fully, okay? But I'm gonna do my best.
24 · Carefully qualifies 'working at home' to prevent misinterpretation—the text does not limit what women can do but identifies one priority they must not neglect
This phrase, working at home, you don't know how impactful this is given the scope of Scripture. Now, I wanna make some qualifications before we jump in here. First, I want you to notice that this phrase, this string of phrases, doesn't say, does not speak to what women cannot do, okay? Working at home does not mean things. It doesn't mean that a woman cannot earn an income. It does not mean that women cannot punch a robber. It does not mean that women cannot speak boldly. Rather, it gives a mother one thing she should do. It gives a mother one thing not to neglect. Among all the many things you may do, this is one thing you are called to in the Lord.
25 · Argues that home-building is not arbitrary cultural expectation but designed calling—women are uniquely equipped to create spaces where people flourish, not just decorated houses
And, and I'm going to argue from Scripture that this is not an arbitrary call, this is a designed call. Women are wired to create gospel homes is the way I'm going to say it. Homes and places that, that floor that help people around them and in their family flourish. And this is not about interior design, okay? It's not about you gotta have an HGTV Instagram worthy house. It's not that at all. It is a, that's a place to live. We're talking about a home. We're talking about a place for your family to rest and be restored. That's what you're talking about. And the Lord's call is give some of the best of your energy and your time and your creativity and your focus and your support to making this gospel home.
26 · Transitions into Genesis foundation for complementary gender roles, identifying the creation mandate as the origin of the home-building calling
And I think this call goes all the way back to Genesis 1 and 2 because Adam is and Eve are given complementary but distinct callings as it relates to God's mission. Remember, they're called to, to have dominion and to, to fill the earth with image bearers and subdue it. Right. So that's the overall call.
27 · Unpacks Genesis 2 to show complementary roles—Adam tasked with cultivating and defending (going out), Eve created to help in a distinct, complementary way
Well, Adam it seems is given the charge to specifically cultivate and defend the garden. To work and to keep it. So often he's going out to, to patrol, to work and to keep and look for side note threats like a weird talking devil snake. It's kind of his. He only had one main job and he failed. But we're not going to get into that. But he's meant to go out, right? And then Eve is created to help him in that mission. But the way she helps is not the same. She's not just another Adam, she's a woman. And there is a complimentary division of their work and even of their bodies.
28 · States the biological and theological reality bluntly: only women can create life and create homes, establishing an irreducible gender distinction in calling
Now I cleared this next part with my wife. She said it's okay to say this. So here we go. Adam can defend life, but only Eve can create it. Adam can defend the homeland, to say it that way. But only Eve can create a homeland. Right? This is, this is very, I'm going to be very blunt here. Men are off, tend to be and often are larger and physically stronger and are called to go out and defend and make new homes and tame new areas. But women are the only gender that carries births and nurses life and create a home.
29 · Uses Proverbs 31 as illustration of the complementary pattern—husband out defending, wife creating the homeland through domestic management
Which is why, for example, you find places. You find this reflected in different places in scripture, including Proverbs 31, where it seems the husband is out dealing with the business of the town or getting ready to go to war, and the woman is managing all of this property and setting prices to buy and sell and making sure everybody has what they need, creating a homeland and that the man is going out to defend.
30 · Personal testimony of wife's absence making house 'efficient and sterile'—illustrates the irreplaceable quality women bring to creating home versus mere place to live
And this is hard. This is such a deep thing. It's hard to put into words. But I'll try with this illustration. Every time my wife travels, I get real antsy and I all of a sudden start finding house projects and I start doing little things. And while Jen is gone, the house becomes efficient and sterile and tasks are completed, right? They are done. But when Jen comes home, I and the three boys go, oh, okay, right. And it was hard. I was trying to explain this to her because I was trying to explain. It's hard for me to rest when you're not here. And I want you to go. You're going for good reasons. But I finally was able to say it this way, that Jen, when you go, it's like you take our home with you and then it comes back and then we all rest, right? And there is some. Do you see that? It's hard to articulate, but there is something beautiful and unique and different about what a woman does related to her household that the guy just can't replicate.
31 · Humorous cultural reference to single guy apartments as evidence that men alone cannot create homes—only functional spaces
If you really want to. If you're not convinced yet, just look up some of those viral clips of single guy apartments, like first apartment. And it's like a lawn chair and a TV and an Xbox. And they're like, all set up. And you're like, oh, Lord, thank you for not filling earth just with men, right? This is unique and different.
32 · Direct application to wives and mothers: do not neglect the unique calling to create gospel homes—a gifting husbands cannot replicate
So, friends, if this is the season you're in, if you're a wife or you're a mom, don't neglect the beauty of making this home. And it looks different for different women. It's not one size fits all, but that's a calling you have and a gifting you have that your husband can't replicate.
33 · Extends the home-building calling beyond biological families to the household of faith—the church itself becomes a home women are called to build
Now, for all women, there's another household, I think, that is in view when we back up and look at the New Testament. One of the things that's unique about the New Testament is it often refers to the church, this place, right, As a household. And one of the things that gets revealed is while this pattern is directed to women at home, I think you can back up and see in Scripture a call that all women have to, to give some of this creative home like energy to the household of faith.
34 · Contextualizes older women as likely widows in the ancient world, then directly addresses single women in the congregation—they are included in the Titus 2 calling
Now, the older woman in view here, it's probably very likely that, that all their husbands were dead. And you're like, well, can we know that? Listen, this is the ancient world, first century. So here's the typical pattern. They get married, they have kids, husband goes to war, he dead, right? Husband goes to trade in Greece, shipwreck, he dead, right? There's like disease comes, women are a little bit more resistant, he dead again, right? And so there's a bunch of single ladies. So if you're single and you're thinking, where am I in this picture? You're right here. You're right here in Titus Chapter two.
35 · Identifies the call to older women as redirecting household-building energy toward the church—investing in younger women within the household of faith
But the call, notice this, the call to, to older women is to use some of their best household building energy on the household of faith to invest in the woman. This is that call, right? And you see it not just in training younger women, you see it all over the New testament.
36 · Cites Romans 16 example of Rufus's mother who mothered Paul—illustrating how women extend maternal care to the household of faith
In Romans 16, Paul is greeting all the people he knows in Rome and he says, greet Rufus, but especially greet Rufus's mom, who has been a mother to me as well, right? He's like that, that lady, oh my goodness, she's like a mom to me as well. She's been a mom to me.
37 · Cites multiple New Testament examples of women hosting churches in their homes—Mary, Nympha, Priscilla—as pattern of women creating household of faith
Or the. Take for just example, the. The many women in the New Testament hosting churches in their homes. This wasn't a day where you just went out and bought a piece of land and put up like a big metal building and you started meeting there. This was a day where it's like, whose house can we meet in? And multiple ladies. Mary in Acts 12, Nympha in Colossians 4, Priscilla in Romans 16, and Priscilla in Corinth, because apparently she was doing pretty well. She's got a couple homes. She's like got churches in multiple homes.
38 · Highlights Lydia in Acts 16 as exemplar of wealthy single woman who devoted resources to building the household of God, directly modeling the calling for single women
And then I love the example. I wish we could get, spend more time here. I love the example of Lydia in Acts 16. Lydia appears to be a wealthy single woman. We don't know how, if she had been married, what happened. But she, she's wealthy, she is single. And what she does in the New Testament is she devotes her time and her money and her life to building the household of God.
39 · Uses Alpha group story to illustrate the irreplaceable contribution women make to the church—an intuitive pastoral instinct to embrace that men lack
Now look there, there is something unique, sisters, that you bring to the church that they, the brothers can't replicate. Let me just give you one example a while back, I think I shared this before, but a while back, we were at Alpha and we were in a group discussion with men and women, and one of the ladies in the group that was a guest, she began sharing about her life and she broke down, she was crying. She was sharing deep, personal, difficult things, and she just kind of shared something. And I'm in the group, Mark's leading the group, and Mark and I are looking at each other and we're both kind of going like, okay, how do we. How do we handle this? You know, what's going to. What are we going to do? And while we're trying to think of what to do, Mary, Mark's wife, just gets up, walks over to the girl, sits next to her and just puts her arm around her and embraces her. And Mark and I were like, oh, that's what you do? Okay. Yeah, that. Okay, that, that. That makes a lot of sense. Right? And listen, if you gave Mark and I a whiteboard and 30 minutes to drop a play, that's not the one we're calling. We don't have a play called Hug. Right. That's just. And yet, do you see that it took that complimentary view of the situation to see this moment? This is a home. And this person, this daughter needs to be embraced. And that's beautiful.
40 · Direct application to all women in the church: their contribution transforms the building into a home, and they must not neglect that calling
Sisters, what you bring to this church is beautiful and makes it and helps it turn from a building with four walls into a home and a haven for people who need it. And so let me just say don't. Don't neglect that.
41 · Defers extended treatment of submission to next week's sermon on Ephesians 5, noting Paul's shorthand assumes background knowledge the sermon will unpack
Now, I know everyone's wondering about probably submissive to your own husband. I'm not going to have much time today to speak to that because Paul. Notice this. Paul is writing in shorthand. Paul is writing to another church leader, and he's assuming a whole bunch of things about marriage in writing this command. And so next week we're going to back up and we're going to see what Paul is assuming. What is submission? What does it look like in a Christian marriage? And so Paul basically is telling Titus and. And here's another thing. You know what I'm saying? You got it? All right, cool. And he just moves on. So we're going to back up and make sure that we understand it.
42 · Briefly addresses submission by diagnosing the first-century problem: women elevated by co-heir status in Christ were misusing freedom to disrespect husbands, which Paul corrects
But I do want to point this out that. That it appears, the context is that. That ladies, women, wives, so elevated by the knowledge that they are in Christ that they are co heirs with their husband, which is radical in the first century, or we're taking that and Then we're like, awesome. We're coairs in Christ. And, and, and by the way, you're an idiot. Right? That's. I finally have some things I'd like to say to you. And, and that appears to be what's happening, for example, in churches like Corinth, where women are openly disrespecting their husbands, misusing that freedom. And so Paul is basically saying this in being freed in Christ, valued in Christ, loved in Christ. It's not an excuse to disrespect, to undermine, to mistreat your husband, or to say, you, you don't have any spiritual authority in my life. You don't have any spiritual oversight of our family. None of that. Right. Paul is saying, please don't misuse the good station in Christ to hurt your husband.
43 · Transitions to fourth and final priority—mission—establishing that women are not spectators but critical participants in the church's mission
Now more we'll say about that next week. I just want to end with, with one final observation. In Christ. Here it is in Christ. Women are called to mission. It's not as though the men do the mission and the women watch. The women of the church are critical to the mission. You see that in that phrase, that the word of God may not be reviled.
44 · Applies the missional urgency to contemporary culture—the world desperately needs countercultural Christian women who display security in Christ through virtue, sacrificial love, and home-building
Paul is, is eager to see the people on Crete build a countercultural community that displays the gospel. Now this is going to look different. The counterculture nature of the church is going to be different in every culture. But, but in our culture, friends, the need for countercultural women and the countercultural household of faith has never been more important, I think, than this moment. That women in a culture who are grasping for standing, grasping at beauty, grasping at fans, that's what's going on out there. And what they need is in Christ, women who are secure, stable, and who say, I know who I am. I know who I am. I'm not out there grasping, straining. We, we need women in this moment who are not chasing vapid social currency, but who are chasing virtue, who are godly and noble. We need women who are not just out there with the rest of the culture, making their husband the butt of every joke, which by the way, is not hard because we make it easy. But we're not doing that. We're saying we're going to love the man that God's united me to. Not as an emotional state, but as an action, as a choice. Who. In a culture where children are seen as impediments or tools of self expression, we see them as valuable image bearers that moms lay down their lives for. In a world that is full of brokenness and spiritual refugees and family refugees we need women who will build the Church of Jesus Christ into a home and a haven and a refuge.
45 · Personalizes missional importance by citing the church's own history—40 years of godly women built this church into a home
Sisters, you matter to this work. I was talking to Chuck in between services just a bit, and he was saying, man, this is the untold story of Cross of Grace is that this building became a home because of godly, virtuous women over the last 40 years.
46 · Direct pastoral address countering the opening monologue's despair—God sees every unacknowledged moment, designed each woman, sent His Son for her, and knows where He's taking her
And so let me say this in closing, sisters, you live in a world according to that monologue that never acknowledges what you do and never gives you a medal. And no one ever says thank you. And maybe that's what you feel today. Maybe you feel disregarded or un scene. But. But, Sister, hear me when I say this. The Lord sees you. The Lord sees the small moments that nobody else in the world sees. The Lord sees you because he made you. He knit you together according to Psalm 139. He knit you together. He made you who you are. And not only that, he sent his Son to save you. And you were on his mind as he went to the cross. And in mind, he had your eternal good. And he sees you now, and he sees where he is taking you.
47 · Pastor speaks on behalf of the men of the church expressing gratitude and affirming women's irreplaceable contribution—a direct pastoral thank you countering cultural silence
And sisters, do not look to the world for your value or your worth. The Lord loves you. The Lord rejoices over you. Amen. Yeah, I should. And let me just say this. As your brother, on behalf of the brothers, as your son, on behalf of the other sons here, as your dad, now that I'm getting older, on behalf of the other dads, I just. I want to say thank you. We're not lying when we say. We're not lying when we say how precious you are to us as brothers, as sons, as dads. You guys are beautiful in a way that the world will never grasp or understand. You've built the families here. You have built the church here. This church would not be here without you. Some of you who've been here for 40 years and you know who you are. And so I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being countercultural women. Thank you for being noble and virtuous and in a world that doesn't value that. Thank you for. For walking with the Lord in a way that provokes and encourages us. We need you and we are so grateful for you.
48 · Climactic eschatological vision of heavenly rejoicing over faithful women, then pivots to final charge—rest in Christ's invitation, rejecting the world's wearying demands for His liberating voice
And when we get to heaven, we will be standing, rejoicing over you as the Lord himself rejoices over you. But we will at least be in the front row saying, there she goes. So, friend, sister, here's what I want you to do as you leave today. Rest. Rest. Look, as we're ending. I just felt this word from the Lord at the end of the first service. I think I want to repeat here. Jesus holds out his arms and says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And if you listen to what the world says about being a woman, you will always be weary and you will always be heavy laden. But if you listen to what the Lord says about you, you will rest.
49 · Closing prayer asking God to encourage the women and give them an experience of rest, bringing the sermon to prayerful resolution
Would you stand? And let's pray. Ah. Heavenly Father. Lord, I do pray that you would encourage our sisters as we end here. I pray that in the name of Jesus, you would encourage them, build them up, and give them an experience of rest today. Thank you, God. Thank you for who you are, and thank you for these dear sisters. Amen.