Why do we love stories? From pop culture to the Olympics, we love to tell and be a part of stories. The reason might not seem obvious initially, but it's because we are in a Story ourselves written by a divine Author. God has been writing a better Story since the foundation of the world. This is the Story that he is calling us to participate in. We must learn to live in God's better story rather than our own.

This is part one of a two-part series exploring how God's Story is divided into six parts. Part one explores Creation, Rebellion, and Promise.

In these final words from Paul to Titus, we hear again the refrain to devote ourselves to good works. This devotion is not just for the sake of doing good things, but it comes from a heart that has been radically transformed. Because of this, a transformed people devote themselves to gospel living and leave no room for divisiveness.

Motivation is a powerful force, whether it is a walk-up song during sports or someone giving a moving speech, we all desire to be motivated. For Christians, motivation helps us stay committed to doing good works. This happens through remembering our former selves and just how much God has saved us. As we engage our community with the gospel, we must remember our salvation and commit ourselves to good works.

Highway billboards can be a humorous way to highlight or point to a product or service. They act as a public witness to every traveler. Just like the billboards we pass daily on the highway, Christians are called to act as public witnesses to the transforming grace of the gospel. Will our lives testify to God's grace or will our sin act as a hindrance to others?

Everyone loves a good transformation story. Whether someone is flipping houses or losing lots of weight, transformation is a story that draws people in. In God's story, transformation only happens through grace. Grace is God's unmerited favor, compassion, and faithful love shown to undeserving sinners. While we are prone to deformation through sin, God calls us into deeper transformation through grace. This grace transforms us into the people of God who are zealous for good works.

When approaching Biblical passages on slavery, we must make distinctions between Roman and chattel slavery. As a massive part of Roman culture, slavery (bondservants/servants) is more akin to the employee/employer relationships we have in our modern culture. As the testimony of Scripture declares, work is good. But, sin makes us selfish workers, bringing disdain to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus came: to redeem and transform a community that is zealous for good works. Our faithful work, then, is a testimony to our faithful God.

Like a potter carefully making a clay vessel, God is not arbitrary in his design. He has fearfully and wonderfully made men and women to live out their intended design in this world. He has an important role for women to play in the church and Paul seeks to draw this out in Titus 2. Sin may have complicated women's desires and made them unable to embrace this calling, but those who the grace of Jesus has transformed have had their womanhood redeemed.

Our culture is facing a crisis of masculinity. It's a crisis brought upon by cultural confusion and forces seeking to make Biblical manhood a negative term. But Paul gives Titus specific instructions for older and younger men about living sound doctrine in their everyday lives and how to live as a transformed community. In Titus 2:1-2 and verses 6-8, we see true manhood is reattained through God's transforming grace.

False teachers were a pernicious issue on Crete. They were the main reason Paul sent Titus to the small island because they were dividing the church in half. After commending faithful elders to teach sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it, he sets the church up to faithfully confront false teachers through sound doctrine.

One of the main reasons Paul sent Titus back to Crete was to appoint elders in the church, establishing the blueprint for who should lead God's people. These elders are men whom God calls to lead in plurality, in their homes, in their lives above reproach, and through teaching and correction. In sum, faithful elders look and lead like Jesus.