Watermark Bible Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

We all want good leaders in every aspect of life. Yet, all too often it seems as if good leaders are hard to find. Paul understood for Titus to effectively make disciples on Crete he would need to appoint good leaders. So, Paul gave Titus and now he gives us the qualities we should look for when choosing our leaders. The amazing thing is these probably aren’t the qualities we would have produced.

Increasingly, people seem threatened by the whole concept of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. We don’t like the idea of someone telling us what to think, how to feel, or how to act. Moral relativism seems to rule the day. During our next series, One Small Step, we’ll see how Paul confronts these same issues during his day as he encourages Titus to take one small step at a time toward right thinking and right living. Titus is a small book full of practical theology that reminds us grace does not give us the freedom to sin… it gives us the freedom not to.

We have reached the end of our study through the minor prophets. One of the things we’ve seen throughout this study is that while God is personal with His people, He is not private. He forms a people for Himself, but God’s people living together is the most powerful testimony to the character of our God. Malachi exposes why this reality is sometimes missed.

Throughout our journey through the Minor Prophets we have seen God’s love on display. We have seen his love in his blessings and we have seen his love in his judgment. Through our study, we have also been challenged as a people on the importance of genuine worship and faithful commitment to our Lord.  We have learned and been reminded that God takes His covenant relationship with us seriously. As we start our study in the book of Malachi this Sunday, the last book of the Minor Prophets, we will see that despite how lethargic we can be towards God at times, we are called to be a committed people to God and also honor our commitment to others.  

We all have burdens, don’t we? Those things that cause our heart to be heavy. Sometimes it’s knowledge that we want so desperately to convey. Other times it’s a pain that is so difficult to express. Zechariah concludes his prophesy with two oracles or burdens that he wanted so desperately for the people of Judah to understand and live. Come, hear what those burdens are and be challenged by the heart of this prophet.

This week we jump into the crazy and confusing minor prophet of Zechariah.

There are so many loud voices telling us how to think, how to feel, how to live. We might recognize that only God has the say, but sometimes we wonder will the other voices ever stop? Will they ever get quiet? This week, Zephaniah will help us deal with those voices now and we’ll see how God will quiet everything down for us in the end.

We live in a world where so many people have opinions about how we should think, what we should do, how we should fee. The prophet Zephaniah spoke during a similar time in Judah’s history. Amid so many voices vying for Judah’s attention, Zephaniah said be quiet because there is only one who has the say. This prophet speaks right to our culture today.

It's always nice when someone responds to what you're saying. Momentum can be gained, relationships deepened, and progress made. We see that in the book of Haggai. The people were teachable and progress was made. It makes us wrestle with the question, "Are we teachable?".

Do you ever feel like you're spinning your wheels? Moving in slow motion? Like the clock has stopped? The daily distractions of life and difficult events can make us feel like all our best efforts are futile and useless. It's easy to get stuck.

This Sunday we resume our study in the Minor Prophets with the book of Haggai, and we'll see a people who had gotten stuck in futility and had lost their way. And we'll see God swoop in to rescue them and get them back on the right track, just like He does so often.