“Appearances Can Be Relieving!” Titus 2:11-15

My brother Dan had a ‘56 Pontiac Chieftain station-wagon for his first car… He lost one of the headlight rings…

People want Jesus as their Savior, but they really have a tough time making Him Lord…

Secularism is doing its best to make us think all that matters is the here and now. We are lying to ourselves to think such matters do not influence us…

Purpose: to learn how to battle worldliness in our lives, homes and local church

I The Appearance of GOD’S GRACE (vv 10-12) A. How the Grace of God Ap- peared

In the person of Jesus Christ… all man and all God at once… unique Son of God…

I The Appearance of GOD’S GRACE (vv 10-12) A. How the Grace of God Ap- peared B. Grace Has Appeared for Two Reasons

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Matthew 1:20-21 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream saying ‘… take Mary as your wife for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.’”

That woman who tasted of grace for the first time in her life now had motivation and power to change her life – to live more for God and less for self!

II The Appearance of GOD’S GLORY (vv 13-15) A. Jesus Did and Will Appear B. God Has an Eternal Plan

Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

I’m not to present the Gospel in a namby-pamby way that people think redemption and reforming are optional!...

Conclusion and Summary: 1. Preserve Your Special Identity 2. Pursue Ongoing Maturity in Christ 3. Persevere in View of Eternity You and I must choose whether or not to take the appearance and the coming appearance of Jesus seriously. He came once to help you and me decide, and He comes again to receive His Bride. I conclude reaffirming that these appearances are relieving!