SERMON RECAP
Drawing from Titus 2, Pastor David Taylor explored how grace not only transforms our lives, but transforms our family and ultimately our culture. He examined the process of transformation: looking back and seeing a grace that appeared, looking at a grace that trains and looking at the glory of a grace that is coming. The message culminated in a call to action, challenging the congregation to commit to change in 2026, embracing inward transformation by the Spirit of God.
Ice Breaker Option:
Share one change from your life using one of these prompts:
- A habit they’re glad they outgrew
- A trend they can’t believe they once loved
- Something they used to resist but now appreciate
HEAD: Read Titus 2:11-14
- Who was Titus and what do we know about where the church was located? (reference 1:12)
- What has grace already accomplished according to this text? What is the significance of the phrase grace of God has appeared?
- What does grace train us in? How are we transformed by grace according to this passage?
- What future reality does grace supply? What does this teach us about God’s heart for us?
HEART:
- What causes discouragement or fatigue in our striving to be like Christ? How does grace change this narrative?
- Considering the three changes that grace produces, how does this help us in the way we approach our sanctification?
- Self-controlled=inward (Mastery of Desires)
- Upright=Outward (Justice, Truth, Integrity with others.
- Godly = Purposeful (Reverent, Worshipful, Devoted)
- How does having a goal change behavior? Where in your life do you need to reorient your life toward future grace?
HANDS — Go Deeper Together
“There is a grace that has to be experienced from the inside that transforms the outside."
Choose one or two practices below.
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1. Look Back: Grace That Appeared
Reflect: Ask group members to silently answer:
- Where was I before grace became real to me?
- How did grace appear in my life?
- What has changed because of grace?
Write: Invite everyone to write 3 short bullet points
- Before Grace
- Grace Appeared
- After Grace
Share
- Ask group members to pair up. Each person will have 3 minutes to share their brief testimony with the other person.
Action Step: In the next week,
- Using your bullet points, finish writing out your testimony. Principles for Sharing Your Testimony
- Share your testimony with someone..
Prayer:
Thank God that grace has appeared and continues to transform lives.
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2. Look Present: Letting Grace Train Us
Reflection
• Provide time for each person silently reflect on this quote. “Grace actually affects our hearts so much that our mind wants different things and our heart desires different things and our hands do different things and our world change.”
• Discuss: How does speak to your life right now?
Practice:
• Invite each person silently name one specific area where grace needs to do its training work.
Action Step:
• Provide index cards and ask each member to write one sentence beginning with: “This week, I will cooperate with grace by ______.”
• Encourage everyone to put this card in their Bible as a reminder to cooperate with grace this week.
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3. Look Forward: Living Toward the Grace That Is Coming
Reflection:
- How does the promise of Christ’s return reshape your motivation today?
- In what ways does future glory help you endure present fatigue or discouragement?
Discussion:
- Invite the group to imagine life one year from now if they consistently lived oriented toward future grace rather than immediate comfort.
- Ask, what one thing would be different if you lived toward future grace?
Action Step:
- Identify one habit, decision, or desire that is shaped more by immediate concens than by future hope. Prayerfully choose one small change that reorients your life toward the grace that is coming.
Commitment:
- Invite group members to write down their chosen step and complete this sentence: “Because I am waiting for the blessed hope, this week I will ______.”
Response:
- Have members share their commitment with a partner and pray briefly for one another, asking God for strength to live today in light of tomorrow’s grace.
- Close by reading verse 14 together as a declaration of God’s purpose for His people.
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PRAYER
- Give thanks for the blessings and changes God has brought into your life this past year.
- Ask for a deeper understanding of God's grace and its transformative power in your life.
- Ask God for the grace to live a life that exemplifies self-control, uprightness, and godliness.