“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14 [ESV] -> me: Uh whoa…Today, I had the gift of being able to spend time with my cousin talking about the wonderful journey the Lord has had us on. We feel so blessed to not only have each other, but to also have shared experiences of the outpouring of God’s blessing by showing us His glory (so much more on this topic that I don’t enough time to write about here). This passage is what it is all about to be ‘In Fellowship with Christ’. The wording in these verses is so important. Let me just call out a couple. 1) GRACE OF GOD has appeared -> Jesus, Jesus is the grace of God that brings Salvation. 2) TRAINING us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions -> this is our sanctification process. Paul again using athlete themes to communicate his message. 3) WAITING FOR OUR BLESSED HOPE -> this is an anticipatory action, not a sit-back-and-wait message. 4) PURIFY FOR HIMSELF…FOR HIS OWN POSSESSION -> Its all about Him, not us. We have been bought with a price and we are not our own. 5) ZEALOUS for good works -> fervent, ardent, devout, committed; these are some of the synonyms of zealous. Good works should be our focus and drive in this present age.