1. “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” - Ecclesiastes 12:1 Issue 1, December 2008

2. Welcome to the 1 st issue of Faith&Works, a PowerPoint presentation based for young people who wish to open the Word of God, and to understand more on what it says. Each month, two young brethren will be writing on different subjects, one 'faith' and one 'works'. ► Faith – this presentation will be study based and will follow a theme, for example a b book or character study. ► Works – these will be studies on specific practical subjects which we can apply in o our daily lives. The aim of these presentations is to encourage Bible Study and Godly living, and also to uplift one another, as we continue our walk. To receive these presentations, please write your name and Ecclesia to: - faithandworks@live.co.uk Each issue will be sent out on the 1st of each month God willing. A facebook message and email will be sent out two weeks before the next issue, to let you know who will be writing and what they’ll be writing about. These messages and emails, will also contain tasks that the speakers have given for us to do, in order of preparation for the studies.

3. The writers and subjects for this month are: ► Bro. Stephen Hole (TFY) Starting us in a 3 month Study on Titus 1, entitled “Titus 1: Holding Fast the Faithful Word” ► Works - Bro. Tom Gaston (LASER) ► Works - Bro. Tom Gaston (LASER) Will be leading us in a practical Study entitled “Taking The Samaritan Seriously”

4. Stephen Hole December 2008Titus 11: “Holding Fast the Faithful Word” Email: Stephenhole1987@hotmail. com Stephenhole1987@hotmail. com

5. ◦ 1. Look up references to ‘Titus’ throughout the New testament and pick out his key characteristics. This will explain why he was the perfect man for the tough job in Crete. ◦ 2. How is the best way to deal with false teachers? ◦ 3. Who were the trouble makers in Crete? And what were they manifestations of? (Clue – “vain talkers and deceivers” v10) ◦ 4. What was the important and essential work that Titus had to do in Crete? What does this tell us about the Ecclesia at the time? ◦ 5. Titus 1 discusses the role of Bishops (elders). Link together Titus 1:6-9 to 1 Tim 3 & 2 Tim 3:1-9. What do we learn about the role of elders, and what do we learn about “the last days”?

6. Some Background Facts  The letters to Timothy and Titus are often known as “Pastoral Epistles”. They are an Ecclesial guide concerning organisation and behaviour. They shows the roles of the Ecclesia’s members (eg elders, Titus 1:6-9 & 1 Tim 3:1-13)  Titus is all about correct doctrine & living the doctrine, a practical outworking of the Truth in our lives both individually &Ecclesially.  It shows us how to deal with certain problems and these lessons are just as applicable today.  Location: Crete. First heard the Word on Day of Pentecost Acts 2:11  Timing: Probably early AD66  Message: “holding fast the faithful word” 1:9 (& 2:1) at a time when wrong teaching prevailed – Judaisers v10,14  Exhortation: “In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works” 2:7

7.  Young man, like Timothy (cp Titus 1:4 to 1 Tim 1:2 & 2 Tim 1:2- also link Titus 2:7 to 1 Tim 4:12)  References to Titus 2 Cor 2:13, 7:6,13,14; 8:6,16,23; 12:18; 13:14; Gal 2:1,3; 2 Tim 4:10; Titus 1:4.  Gentile converted to the Faith Gal 2:3 ( by Paul? Titus 1:4)  Described as Paul’s “partner and fellow helper” -2 Cor 8:23. Walked in “the same steps” as Paul - 2 Cor 12:18.  Titus was not afraid to assert himself (even though a young brother) “with fear and trembling ye received him” 2 Cor 7:15. BUT also willing to listen “he accepted the exhortation” 2 Cor 8:17. He developed a balanced, Godly character.  This is a young man to take note of! Introducing the man Titus

8.  Problems in chapter 1 (more in chapters 2 & 3)  1:5 – Lack of organisation  1:10,14 – Strong Judaistic influence “they of the circumcision”  1:12-13 – Due to History of Crete the Ecclesia was degraded  1:7 & 2:3 - Addiction to Wine (mild climate & fertile vineyards in Crete)  1:9,14 – Not fully appreciate the need for sound doctrine  ALL are problems we need to be aware of.  Chapter breakdown  V1-4 – Salutation & message of hope  V5 – Titus’ work in Crete  V6-9 – Qualifications for Elders  V10-16 – Dealing with false teachers – Judaisers  Go through each section now, but first let’s…… The Epistle proper – chapter 1

9. These were the trouble makers (notice ‘Serpent language’) “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped [curse on serpent]…teaching things they ought not….Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the Truth [“ye shall not surely die”]” (1:10,11,14) They, like the Serpent, were seeking to turn the Truth of God into a lie. Here is a manifestation of the Serpent power. Compare this to Titus 1:2 “…which God, that cannot lie” what a contrast ! Judaisers who were defiled (v15 -word means ‘stained’ or ‘contaminated’ like a dye on a piece of cloth) with other doctrine, which is the commandments of men. The great problem was that the Judaisers mixed truth with error – this was subtle and deceived people. They mixed the Mosaic Law with their commandments which they taught as Doctrine. The serpent did the same: Gen 3:4 “ye shall not surely die” (lie). Gen 3:5 “your eyes shall be opened” (truth – v7 confirms this). A dangerous combination. In the end, the Serpent’s mouth was stopped as he was cursed. However, the Serpent has lived in every generation, even in ours: let’s beware of it. Paul is combating the Serpent. We have met these people before: again, notice Serpent terminology in the passages …meet the Serpent Judaisers “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment [ Titus 1:16] of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” “But in vain [Titus :10] they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men [Titus 1:14].” Matthew 15:1-4, 9 “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips [Titus 1:10,16], but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain [Titus 1:10] do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men [Titus 1:14]. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men [Titus 1:11], as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God [Titus 1:10,14], that ye may keep your own tradition.” Mark 7:6-9 “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness [Serpent], nor handling the word of God deceitfully [Titus 1:10]; but by manifestation of the truth [cp Titus 1:14] commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1, 2 “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words [Serpent – 2 Cor 11:3, James 1:14].” “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit [Titus 1:10], after the tradition of men [Titus 1:14], after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” “after the commandments and doctrines of men? [Titus 1:14]” Colossians 2:4, 8, 22 Slight Digression “Let no man [Col 2:4,8,16,18] deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [literally ‘the apostacy’] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God [Serpent, hence why God cast him down upon his belly], or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” “And with all deceivableness [Serpent Titus 1:10] of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth [Titus 1:14], that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [Serpent, Titus 1:10-12]” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 10, 11 We see from this passage that the Catholic system is a manifestation of the Serpent, the apostacy. They deceive people by ‘having a form of Godliness’ : mixing truth with error, mixing the law of God with their tradition and their own doctrines. In all these passages we see Serpent language used, which is what we have in Titus, the Serpent has never gone away, it was manifested in the Scribes & Pharisees, the Judiasers, and we must be aware of it. The exhortation is Titus 1:9 “ Hold[ing] fast the faithful word, as [we] have been taught that [we] may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and rebuke those who contradict” [ie the Serpent who contradicted God’s Word – “ye shall not surely die”]

10.  Starts off as he means to carry on – combating the Serpent. He says that God cannot lie and talks about “the truth”. He is about to talk about those who do lie (v12) and who deny the truth (v14), as the Serpent did.  V3 – ‘hath in due times’ [or, ‘in his own good time’ - NEB]  V3 – ‘manifested’. Grk ‘Phaneroo’ = ‘to make visible / uncover’. From the root derivation ‘Phoo/Phos’ = light. So, manifestation and light are inseparable. I John 1:5, John 3:21. We have to manifest God who is the light. Christ was the light of the world.  V3 – ‘manifested his word [Grk: Logos]’. God ‘uncovered’ His Logos (His plan/purpose). John 1 talks about Christ as the logos that was revealed at his birth. He was the ‘Word made flesh’, the purpose of God ‘made visible’. He was the logos that was revealed. For what purpose? To manifest God’s light. Christ, therefore, was the manifestation of God’s Word/plan (logos), which was ‘uncovered’, but had been there from the beginning.  God revealed His Light, His Word, His Son in ‘His own good time’. Christ was always in God’s mind from the beginning of time, but God waited until the right time came for Him ‘to make visible’ His Word in His Son.  We can, then, better understand John 1 when we consider Titus 1:3. V1-4 – The Salutation

11.  I think that there is a very important principle we need to ponder here. The question is: why does Paul address Titus in this way? Before we answer that, consider this:  “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and the Jesus Christ our Lord” 1 Timothy 1:2  “To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” 2 Timothy 1:2  “To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour” Titus 1:4  Exactly the same was written to these men. They were both young brethren in positions of responsibility. What is the point that is being made? We all as young people need ‘Fathers in the faith’ to guide us and direct us. These young men were given great responsibility because they had learnt from an elder Brother, Paul. There is a fundamental point here that we all need to take heed to. We as young people all need direction and guidance from the more experienced (not necessarily ‘old’) members of our community: that is their role “to teach the young”. We need people to look up to. Let us all make sure we are receiving this direction from a ‘father(s)’ or ‘elder(s)’ in the Truth. This may be a literal Father or Grandfather, or maybe we would prefer to go outside of the sphere of our Family’s also so that we can get another opinion, another view point, another way of looking at things from another experienced elder in the Ecclesia. It is important that we as young people receive this guidance. This is the point that Paul is making in all 3 of these Epistles in his salutations.  DIGRESSION: Why in Titus do these words come later than in Timothy (v4 instead of v2 in Timothy) In Titus he makes an initial statement that God cannot lie, preparing Titus for his straight-to-the-point comments about the Judaisers: before he even salutes Titus! We see the focus of this letter. “Mine own Son after the common faith”

12.  “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I have appointed thee”  ‘Crete’ = fleshy  ‘the things that are wanting’ = lacking/failing  ‘appoint’ = command  This young man was given great responsibility. Paul left Titus in Crete with the purpose that he would organise the Ecclesia “let all things be done decently, and in order” 1 Cor 14:40. He had to appoint elders and get things put into order, which is why in v6-9 Paul goes on to talk about the qualifications for elders, to ensure that Titus chose the right people for the jobs.  This young man have to establish order in an unordered society, with much opposition from the Judaisers. It appears he did this singlehandedly – this is a lot of pressure on young shoulders! It shows the effect that we as young people can have. If we have the zeal and the enthusiasm and prove ourselves to be responsible, then we too can ‘make the difference’. “Let no man despise thy youth”. Daniel & Joseph (amongst others) were also bearing heavy burdens at young ages, not to mention our Lord himself. V5 – Titus’ Work in Crete

13.  This section is self explanatory and simple. The words appear to have been translated accurately. It is worthy to note that those who were to be in positions of responsibility had a lot of criteria to meet, these positions weren’t jobs for just anyone. They even had to have faithful children. This is very much an Ecclesial guide for our day also. Brethren who take on these positions need to meet these criteria.  It is interesting that the word “one” in v6 is sometimes translated as “first” (eg Luke 24:1, 1 Cor 16:2, Acts 20:7, John 20:1,19, “the first day of the week”) and it means ‘the only one’. I put forward that we are being told a Bishop must have only one wife: his wife being his first, only wife.  On the next slide is a comparison between Titus 1:6-9 & 1 Tim 3,and also a contrast to 2 Tim 3:1-4 (in the last days men will be exactly what they shouldn’t be). We find that the same words/ideas are used in all 3 passages. Paul is very consistent in these ‘Pastoral Epistles’ about who should be elders and what qualifications they must meet. The reason for these qualifications is to help prevent the Ecclesia from ‘falling away’, it needed strong Brethren to oppose the Judaisers, and leaders need to be ‘examples to the believers’. We too, should be careful when deciding appropriateness for duties, taking our guidance from the Scriptures, and not from our own views.  At the end of this section, Paul’s letter turns towards the focus of the Serpent Judaisers. He says that Bishops must hold fast the faithful word so that they can exhort and rebuke/convince those who contradict (Judaisers). V6-9 – Qualifications for Elders

14. Titus 11 Timothy 32 Timothy 3 V6 blamelessV2,7,10 “blameless” & “good report” V6 – Husband of one Wife V2,12 “Husband of one Wife” V6 – having faithful Children V4,12 “Children in subjection”, “ruling their Children” V7 – the Steward of GodV5 “take care of the Church of God” V7 – not self-willedV2,4 “Lovers of their own selves” V7 – not given to WineV3,8 “not given to Wine” V7 – no strikerV3 “no striker” V7 – not given to filthy lucre V3,8 “not greedy of filthy lucre” V2 “covetous” (see Grk in 1 Tim 3:8)

15. V6-9 – Qualifications for Elders Titus 11 Timothy 32 Timothy 3 V8 – a lover of hospitalityV2 “given to hospitality” V8 – a lover of good menV3 “despisers of those that are good” V8 – sober (self-controlled)V2 “sober” V8 – just, holyV3,4 “unholy” “blasphemers” “traitors” V8 - temperateV3 “incontinent” (similar Grk) V9 – holding fast the faithful word V9 “holding the mystery of the faith” V9 – able to exhort and convince V2 “apt to teach Paul’s instruction to his 2 young sons in the faith is exactly the same. Bishops and elders have to be of this calibre. The stark lesson and warning is that we are told from 2 Timothy 3 that in the “last days” (2 Tim 3:1) these characteristics will not pervade, in fact the very opposite will prevail. May this be a lesson for us as we ‘examine ourselves’.

16.  We’ve seen who these people were when we set the background. How do we deal with them? Firstly, we have to be faithful to God’s Word (v9)  V9 – exhort and rebuke those who deny or contradict God’s Laws. We must be ‘contending for the faith’ IN LOVE, with ONE purpose: “let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” James 5:20. The Bishops were not to condemn the Judaisers, they were to exhort them and to rebuke/convince them so that they may turn back to the Truth, “to rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” Titus 1:13. This is the spirit in which we must go about dealing with wrong teaching. This attitude would enable all things to be done in love, for the edification of the Body of Christ. “Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” 2 Thess 3:15.  We must take no pleasure (self-pride) in rebuking of others, but, if false teachers are not rebuked then they will continue to deceive others which will be destructive to many, and so they must be opposed. Their “mouths must be stopped” (v10), to prevent them “teaching things they ought not” (v14).  We see a wonderful balance: rebuke achieved in the spirit of love and edification. V10-16 – Dealing with false teachers

17.  This Epistle highlights for us the importance of faith and works – v16. Chapter 1 deals with faith (v1,4,13 – ‘the faith’ or ‘the common faith’) and Works (v16). Note also:  FAITH 2:2,10, 3:15  WORKS 2:7,14, 3:1,5,8,14  That is a lot of occurrences in a very short Epistle. We are reminded of James’ letter, and particularly these words “I will shew thee my faith by my works”. This is what Titus is all about. There were (and still are) those that “profess that they knew God; but in works they deny him” (Titus 1:16). Let that be a warning to us also.  What do we have faith in? and what do we work for? The Kingdom of God. There are 2 profound statements in Hebrews that sum this up beautifully. “we which have believed (FAITH) do enter into rest” (Hebrews 4:3) and “Let us labour (WORKS) therefore to enter into that rest“ (Hebrews 4:11) We will enter into that rest if we believe and labour. In other words, if we have faith and works. Our faith is a living and active faith! Let’s live it.  “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Pray God we be amongst that number. Let us labour & believe. Faith and Works

18. Titus 1 – Bits & Pieces of Notes V8 “just” = righteous V9“hath been taught”. Greek word occurs 30 times, all other 29 translated as “Doctrine”. Same root as doctrine in the same verse (v9), and “teaching” in v11. V9 “as”= according to. V9 better reads “Holding fast the faithful word according to the Doctrine”. This next bit is confusing (and probably unnecessary!) V12“One” = certain/some/any man. In other words, it is not necessarily singular. “Themselves” &“of their” in v12 are the same Greek words and are often translated as “his/him”. In other words, it is not necessarily plural. It is very difficult in v12 to know if it is talking about one person or a group. All of the words in the sentence (“one, themselves, their”) can be translated in the singular or plural: most translations go with the KJV and suggest that this was a singular person of the sect of the circumcision. The word “prophet” is in the singular, so maybe that gives away the answer. (Again, in v13 ‘him’ is the same word as “themselves” & “of their” in v12.) V12“slow” = idle (in other words, they weren’t doing ‘works’)

19. Titus 1 – a defiled mind Final Digression: Again, there is a link here to Catholic Europe, with regards to a defiled mind. The Serpent contaminated the mind of Eve, just like the Catholic system contaminates the minds of those who are deceived by her: “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” Rev 17:1,2 The Catholic system’s teaching contaminated the minds (their minds were defiled) of those kings of the earth and the people. This backs up our claim that the Catholic system is a manifestation of Eden’s Serpent. This woman/whore (Roman Catholicism) who sits upon a scarlet coloured beast (Europe) is also contaminated. “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints” Rev 17:6 They, like the Judaisers, are defiled and they are defiling others.  V15 “but to the defiled and unbelieving is no man pure”. This sentence is interesting because the word “defiled” has behind it the idea of being dyed with another colour. ‘To stain or contaminate’.  The Judasiers were defiled. They were stained/contaminated, and dyed their garments with another colour. They had stained their spiritual clothes with the traditions and commandments of men, which they taught as doctrine. These ‘added’ doctrines which were only the commandments and traditions of men were ‘another colour’. This colour stained the white garments they were once given.  Tragically the verse goes on to say “even their mind and conscience is defiled”. What a terrible thing to be said about someone. Their mind and conscience had been stained and contaminated with false teaching. This is the work of the Serpent who contaminated the mind of Eve. We see then the warnings of false doctrine. How tragic.  Let this be our final warning. May our garments be kept unspotted from the world, and may our minds and consciences be kept pure, whilst we wait our Lord’s return.  “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2)

20. 1. “Look up references to ‘Titus’ throughout the New testament and pick out his key characteristics. This will explain why he was the perfect man for the tough job in Crete.” Amongst other things, Titus was a fellowhelper to Paul and he helped with the collection for the Saints. This was a man of action, which is what was needed in Crete. He followed in the “same steps” as Paul. 2. “How is the best way to deal with false teachers?” To exhort them and to convince/rebuke them that they may turn from the error of their ways, done in the spirit of love. 3. “Who were the trouble makers in Crete? And what were they manifestations of? (clue – “vain talkers and deceivers” v10).” Judaisers: a manifestation of Eden’s Serpent. The Serpent still lives today (particularly in Catholic Europe) 4. “What was the important and essential work that Titus had to do in Crete? What does this tell us about the Ecclesia at the time?” Set in order the Ecclesia and set elders over the people. Tells us they were disorganised (!) 5. Titus 1 discusses the role of Bishops (elders). Link together Titus 1:6-9 to 1 Tim 3 & 2 Tim 3:1-9. What do we learn about the role of elders, and what do we learn about “the last days”? In the last days people, in general, will not be manifesting the characteristics that God requires. We also learn that elders had quite a challenging criteria to meet in order that the House of God would be looked after and organised well. 5 Key Questions from Titus 1

21. Tom Gaston December 2008Luke 10: “Taking The Samaritan Seriously Email: Stephenhole1987@hotmail. com Stephenhole1987@hotmail. com

22. ◦ 1. This parable has a spiritual application, isn't that enough? ◦ 2. Who is my neighbour anyway? ◦ 3. What can we do? ◦ 4. What can't we do? ◦ 5. But we're not humanists; don't we have better things to do?

23. Anyone who has been a Christadelphian for a reasonable length of time will probably be aware of some variation on what we might call the ‘spiritual’ interpretation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan:  man travelling towards Jericho = people headed in wrong direction; sinful mankind  thieves = curse, death, etc. OR troubles of life  priest & Levite = the Law (unable to help the sinner)‏  Samaritan = Jesus (heals and restores; pays the price)‏  oil = Spirit ? / spiritual gifts / Word  wine = bread and wine / his own blood  … and there are probably many other connections that could be made. Lesson: Jesus is our neighbour. We should love Jesus.

24.  This ‘spiritual’ interpretation may well be valid but it is dangerous to overemphasize this at the expense of the ‘natural’ meaning.  Remember: this parable is about the command to love your neighbour – a command that is at the center of both the Law of Moses and Commandments of Christ.  We should not try to (nor should we want to) detract from (or escape from) our duty to love our neighbour.

25.  The lawyer asked this question, not to discover the answer, but to ‘justify himself’ (v29)‏  It is probable, given Jesus’ response, that the lawyer wasn’t too keen about being a neighbour to everyone (such as, Samaritans)‏  The word ‘neighbour’ is not the same as the English ‘person who lives next-door’; it is probably better translated ‘fellow’.  Perhaps the lawyer thought it meant just Jews! The Language Bit The Hebrew reya’ refers to someone you associate with, and could be used of both close companions (i.e. ‘spouse’) and general acquaintances (i.e. ‘fellows’). The Greek plesion means to be close by (‘near’) and thus when used as a noun refers to someone who is close by (in terms of physical location, not necessarily someone close to your heart). Both words imply someone you are connected with – the nature of that connection is only specified by context. In certain contexts, these words might imply an intimate companion (i.e. ‘friend’, ‘lover’, or for Christians, ‘brother’). However, in both the Old and New Testaments no qualification is added and so these words should probably be given their broadest possible meaning, that is, ‘anyone you associate with’.

26.  One simple lesson that comes from Jesus’ parable is that being a neighbour has nothing to do with strictures of the Law  The priest and Levite might have had reasons of purity for not wishing to get involved but the wounded man was still their neighbour  Yet, more radically, the Samaritans (who were hated by the Jews) were also to be considered ‘neighbours’ when it comes to Christian love  Our ‘neighbours’ are not just our brothers and sisters; the love of Jesus extends beyond the congregation of believers I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-7 If God sends blessings upon the unjust, we can hardly keep our love to ourselves!

27.  There is a world of suffering out there. Millions face war, famine and disease. Millions more lack basic necessities like clean water, shelter and clothing.  We cannot help them all (only Christ can heal the world) but we can bring Christ’s love to as many as we can  Mark 14:7 “You have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good”

28.  Money – charities always need money (especially during economic recessions!) – remember the poor in your collections  Other donations – Jesus said if you have two cloaks give to him that has none – there are plenty of charity shops by which you can put this lesson to practice  Time – perhaps the most meaningful way you can give is through your time – the poor and vulnerable need support to help them out their difficulties (money only gets you so far)‏

29.  One initiative recently started in the Oxford ecclesia is our efforts to help the homeless of Oxford.  Working with local homeless charities we are finding ways that we as an ecclesia can offer support  We have already joined in a sponsored sleep-out to raise awareness (and money) for homeless charities  We are now discussing new ways of helping, including collecting blankets and clothing, donation food (and maybe even cookery lessons), helping out at local homeless shelters, and even just talking (apparently this is something the homeless REALLY appreciate)‏  Though this project is just starting we are already excited about the possibilities (and quite scared too)

30.  Most Christadelphians are not trained carers or support-workers, we are well meaning amateurs  This means that naïve actions could put us and the people we try and help in danger  you should be wary of independent actions  Far better to liaise with existing charities  many vulnerable have complex problems, including addiction, mental illness or criminal backgrounds – this should NOT dissuade us from helping but we should know our limits

31. Short answer: YES! (but remember Jesus, the greatest preacher of all, was moved with compassion for the poor and sick)‏ Long answer: Helping the poor and vulnerable is preaching!  we preach a gospel of love – no one is going to take us seriously unless we are loving  people find it difficult to concentrate on the message when their sick or starving  historically, caring for outsiders has been one of Christianity’s best forms of preaching The Historical Bit Julian the Apostate, a pagan Roman Emperor, once complained that the traditional pagan religion was losing converts to the Christians. He said “no Jew is a beggar and the impious Galileans [the name given by Julian to Christians] support our poor in addition to their own”. It is clear that, in contrast to the apparent self-centred pagan religions, the love and charity of Christians was extremely appealing to potential converts.

32. THIS IS A COMMANDMENT OF CHRIST! “Love your neighbour as yourself” No ifs, no buts. So let’s get on and do the Master’s bidding until he comes