Fresh Fire, Part 3: Do Good

Type: Sunday Morning Service

Series: Fresh Fire

Sermon: Part 3: Do Good

🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Tom Van Kempen

Doing good works is evidence that God’s fire is alive in a believer, flowing outward rather than burning out inwardly. Grace, not effort, saves, but grace always produces a transformed life marked by service, unity, and compassion. When people live on mission together, their good works become a powerful witness that brings warmth to a cold world.

ℹ️ Tip: The video is set to start at the beginning of the sermon, but you can scrub the playhead to any part of the service. ℹ️

Additional Info

The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.

Why Good Works Matter

Doing good is not an optional activity for believers; it is the visible evidence of an inward transformation. A living faith naturally produces actions that meet real needs and reflect God’s heart to the world.

Grace Comes First

Salvation begins with God’s kindness, mercy, and love, not human effort. Good works do not earn acceptance; they flow from gratitude for what has already been given through Jesus Christ.

Good Works Leave an Imprint

Acts of kindness shape others in lasting ways. Just as a typewriter leaves an indentation on paper, consistent goodness leaves a mark on hearts and lives.

Prepared for Every Good Work

Doing good requires intention and readiness. Real needs often arise without warning, and meaningful service responds with urgency and compassion.

Unity Fuels the Fire

Division drains spiritual energy and distracts from the mission. A united community stays focused outward, working together to serve rather than arguing over what does not matter.

A Life on Mission

Good works become habits through learning, modeling, and practice. When service becomes part of everyday life, it strengthens faith and shows the world what God’s grace looks like in action.

• Discussion Guide

  Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.

  • Discuss why doing good works can sometimes feel difficult or inconvenient.

  • Talk about the difference between serving out of obligation and serving out of gratitude for grace.

  • Share one example of a good work that made a lasting impact on you.

  Action step: Each person commits to intentionally serve one individual this week.

• Historical Context

  The book of Titus was written by the Apostle Paul to a young leader overseeing churches on the island of Crete. This region was known for moral corruption, false teaching, and social disorder, which created pressure for believers to either withdraw from society or blend into it. Paul emphasized that transformed behavior, especially good works, was essential for credibility in such a culture.

  Matthew chapters 5 through 7, often called the Sermon on the Mount, present Jesus’ teaching on kingdom living. These chapters challenged religious hypocrisy by focusing on inner motives rather than outward appearance. Jesus assumed His followers would do good works but warned against doing them for recognition, emphasizing that obedience flows from a transformed heart.

• Kids Lesson

  Introduction

  Talk about fire and how it gives heat and light. Explain that God’s love in our hearts is like a fire meant to help others.

  Scripture

  Titus 3:8 (read together in a simple translation).

  Craft

  Create a paper flame with one good deed written on it.

  Game

  “Good Deed Relay” where kids act out helping scenarios.

  Discussion questions

  • Why do we help others?

  • How did Jesus help people?

  • Who can you help this week?

  Wrap-up prayer

  Thank God for His love and ask for help to show kindness to others.

• Full Transcript

  Good morning. it's good to see so many in the house of the lord today i have a dream that someday this will be full for this service who can say amen that's what i'm believing for and one of the ways we can make that a reality is by doing good works but i've got a confession i love the idea of doing good works I just prefer that the circumstances would be a little bit easier. And what I mean by that is, you know, the Scripture talks about being kind and gentle and all of that kind of stuff. And I think it's a great idea as long as it doesn't involve difficult people. It doesn't work that way, I know. But we as a group of people, we love helping others as long as it doesn't mess with our schedule or our budgets or our comfort. But yet there's a part of me that really wants to do good. And so when I started this Fresh Fire series a couple of weeks ago, and I mentioned that there are logs that we can throw on the fire that will keep the passion burning in our lives. And I discovered that doing good works is one of those logs. But it's not always simple. You know, I'm looking at Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, as my inspiration for how our behavior should be transformed, how our behavior should change. before you're a Christian you might act a certain way after you're a Christian you're supposed to act a much different way and this is what the scripture says watch out don't do your good deeds publicly in other words Jesus is assuming that we're all going to be doing good works because that's what Christians do don't do them publicly not because we can't do them in public but with the motive of being admired by others. For you will lose your reward from your Father in heaven. And so I'm reading this sixth chapter of Matthew and I'm trying to make sense of it. I'm trying to figure out how in the world can I really do what my flesh doesn't always want to do. And I felt like the Spirit said to go to the book of Titus. And Titus was written to a young man by the name of Titus, by Paul. And the believers in this particular church were surrounded by a morally broken culture. Does that sound familiar to anybody? Yeah. They were surrounded by corruption and selfishness and division. Sounds familiar again. They were tempted to either withdraw from the world or to become cynical. And I see the same temptation on the church today. But Paul didn't tell Timothy or he didn't tell Titus to yell louder. He didn't say turn around and run. This is what he said five different times. Do good works. Do good works. Not post better arguments. Not win more debates. Not complain more creatively. He said do good. At the very end, the second to the last verse, he says this, good works are not optional fruit. They are proof of your transformation in Jesus Christ. And that's why we're talking about good works today. It aligns with our Fresh Fire series because fire that never moves outward eventually dies. It has to go from our heart to those around, and that kind of fire can change everything. So let me give you a couple of ideas here today. Number one is this. Good works are literally the evidence that the fire inside of you is real and worth something. There are people who are passionate and zealous about a lot of things in life, but it's important to be zealous about the right thing. Who can say amen? Paul gives us some important information as to the purpose of good works in a Christian's life. Number one is this. Good works are a model for new believers. Good works are a model for young believers. Good works are a model for other believers. In Titus chapter 2 verse 7, this is what it says. In all things, say all. In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. We're supposed to be a pattern. Now that word is something you've all heard before. It's type. We're supposed to be a type or a typos. It literally is where we get our word type writer. Anybody know what a typewriter is? I know we don't use those things anymore, but there's something interesting about a typewriter, and you might have to go to the Smithsonian to see one of these things, okay? But I grew up on these things. I grew up learning to type when I was like a sophomore in high school, and I enjoyed the process. It helps me with word processing today. But the idea here is a figure is formed by a blow. okay and so in a in a typewriter there's something called the the type hammer and it would have the letter on the end of this metal hammer that when you hit the button it would strike the ribbon and strike the paper and it would leave an imprint it wasn't just the ink it left there would actually be an indentation in the piece of paper. Now listen, listen. When you do good works, it leaves an imprint, an indentation on other human beings who can say amen. See, we just think that they're, you know, extra or nice. No, they're impacting on other human beings. Healthy Christians imprint on others. Some of the things that we do right here. And, you know, I mention these so that if you're not doing some of these things, maybe you'd be willing to do them. For example, putting together meals for people who are going through the funeral process or the memorial service process. Visiting people in the hospitals is something we do. We have an online church service that Pastor Daniel handles. And a lot of the people who benefit from that are shut-ins. There are people who they physically cannot come to church, but they can watch us online. Pastor Amanda took the youth and put together Christmas presents for a lot of these people back in December. That is a beautiful, good work that should be done on a regular basis. We provide blankets and beanies through knitted sweaters and blankets and stuff like that that we give away to people that are sick. One of the shut-ins is a woman by the name of Johnny Mae Smith. Does anybody know Johnny Mae? Yeah, some of you know her. She's not been in church with us since I've been here, but she still lets me know of her presence because on a regular basis, she sends me cards. Handmade cards that she goes through the trouble of making and sends them to me. How do I say this? At just the right time. Because the card will say, Pastor, you're doing a great job. Pastor, I love that message. Pastor, happy anniversary. Now, she sent me this one most recently. And there's a little story she was telling in this one. And I'm just going to read a couple of lines to you so that you, maybe this card's prophetic. I'm not sure. Because listen to this. There he sat minus an eye. Johnny, if you're watching right now, I just want to make sure that you know I love you for sending this card. She's actually talking about a plastic rabbit here and that she turned it away. But when I read that this morning, because I've got like three or four of these, they're on my shelf because they mean something to me. These are good works right here. If someone who is shut in can do something like this, what can you do? More than that, what should we do? Not out of obligation, but because of what God has done for us. See, we need to understand that good works should be expressed towards one another because we're models for one another. but good works are also a witness to the world. Titus chapter one and two are primarily about how our behavior should change in the church. We should quit doing the bad things and we should start doing the good things. Now, we all know that stuff. But chapter three is about doing the good things so that the world can see it, so that the world can see we've been transformed. In Titus chapter three, verse one, this is what it says, be ready for every good work. the previous verse said all this one says every we need to be prepared we we need to be intentional doing good is never done accidentally it's got to be done with purpose and foresight good works are our actions that meet real needs they're not the things that just make us feel good now i'm not saying you won't feel good it's more blessed to give than it is to receive but there are false feelings that come when we take a bag of clothes that we don't want and drop it off at the church porch and think we've done something good. Listen to me. This is becoming a frustration for me. People dropping junk off and thinking that they've actually served the Lord. This reminds me of Malachi chapter 1. And God is very, very angry because we're supposed to give God the best, not the leftovers. And I'm not saying don't give away your old clothes. Hear me. Understand there's a difference between giving away old clothes for a tax benefit and doing something that really honors God. There's a big difference between the two. Good works are actions that meet real, immediate needs. We need a first responder mentality. We need to be like the fireman who's sitting there prepared and ready to go at a moment's notice. Because urgent needs seldom tell us in advance that they're going to be needed. They're not waiting around. A fresh fire church doesn't just wait for people to walk through our doors. We look for where the world is cold and we bring the heat who can say amen. And I think one of the ways we do that the best is in our children's and youth ministries. I think they're doing a fantastic job. I love our walk program. Some of you have, you know, volunteered in that. You are part of the dream team. You're some who make a difference in that ministry. My wife is currently working at one of the schools here in our county. and one of the young ladies has been arrested twice in the last week for assault. We're talking about sixth grade. Do you guys understand how hard it is to raise children nowadays? Do you understand that the world in which we live, we need to give everything we've got to make a difference in Jesus' name. walk meets, you know, six weeks in the spring, six weeks in the fall, and we do tutoring programs, we do sports programs, we feed these kids, we invite them to church on Wednesday nights. Last month, I asked on first Wednesday if we would give an offering to the Wildwood Food Kitchen, and now this month we find out that they're buying a brand new building. We were a part of that. Who took an offering, sent them some money, and it makes a difference. Every dollar makes a difference. We have chaplains who go out on a regular basis and minister to people in the hospital. But listen to me. Here's the danger. If you do good works long enough without focusing and remembering the cross, you'll start to think you're the hero. You'll start to think that your goodness is actually what this is all about. You might even think that you're better than other people who aren't doing those things. Paul puts the brakes on in the middle of chapter 3 and says, hold on. Don't forget grace. Say grace. Grace is the spark that ignited your fire. Grace is the spark that started this whole thing. But when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior toward man, appeared, referring to Jesus, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, good works do not save us. It is the love, the kindness, the mercy, and the grace of God. Now, you might be saying, Pastor, you know, I know this. Listen, Barna just did a poll within the last few years. Over 50% of Christians believe good works can get them into heaven. Listen, Christians do not understand Christian doctrine. They do not understand true Christian theology. There is nothing that we can do that can get us into heaven. God's not interested in our good works. He's interested in our obedience. who can say amen? It's about obedience. It's about believing and accepting that grace gift that has been given to us and accepting the appearing of Jesus Christ into our lives. The Greek word for love here in verse four is philanthropia. That's where we get our English word of philanthropy. And there's a lot of billionaires who think they're really cool because they donate a billion dollars to philanthropy. But you know when you have a hundred billion and you give one billion, nobody should really care about that at all. Giving one percent is not what the Bible asks for. What does the Bible ask for? Oh, ten percent. Yeah, I think. And that's the starting point, okay? Because as Christians, we believe God will take care of our needs. We know he can help us. So when we do good, it is in response to his already having done good. Who can say amen? God's the first, and he's the greatest philanthropist that the world has ever seen. He gave the very best gift, his son Jesus Christ, the best gift that was ever given. A perfect person. He never sinned. A perfect gift. Exactly what you and I needed. and a perfect sacrifice completely without blemish. And that's so that God's mercy could be applied to each and every one of us. Mercy simply means you don't get what you deserve. Titus 3.5, but according to his mercy, he saved us. I remember I was six years old, and we were living in Los Angeles at the time. my mom and dad, me and my sister, and we went to the beach. And my dad probably doesn't even remember this because it doesn't make a bit, you know, it didn't make much of an impression to him, but I still remember it. I remember going on out into the ocean and a wave hitting me and kind of sucking me underneath. And I was gasping, trying to get air, and I started sucking salt water into my lungs. And I knew as a six-year-old boy, I knew I was going to die. I knew my life was over and then before you know it, this giant hand grabbed me and drug me to the shore, started patting me on the back and the water came up and I lived. Listen, there was nothing I could do. I could not save myself, but someone bigger than me grabbed me out of that ocean and saved me. Jesus did the same thing for each and every one of us. We were lost in an ocean of sin, and we couldn't help ourselves. And Jesus came down, jumped in as a lifeguard, and rescued us from sin. Who can say amen? Then the scripture starts spelling out some details about what salvation looks like. And I just recommend, because I don't have the time to go into all of this right now, but someday you need to look up these words, regeneration and being washed and being renewed. I mean, when I think of being washed again, I think of being a little child. Because I remember taking a bath, because my parents sent me to go take a bath, And I'd come on down the stairs and they'd go, did you take a bath? And I'd say yes. And my mom would come on over and just put a little spit on her finger. And she'd rub behind my ears. And you know what she found? She found a whole mound of dirt back there. Because I couldn't wash myself. I wasn't smart enough. I wasn't coordinated enough. I wasn't wise enough. I needed someone smarter than me to really make it stick. Jesus washed us, the scripture says, through the Holy Spirit. Who can say amen? And then I love this. He regenerated us, the scripture says. It's palingenesia. Palin means new. Genesis means birth. It's a new birth where we are made into brand new creations all by the grace of God himself. That having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So mercy is not getting what we don't deserve or what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we don't deserve. Listen, grace is the match that lights the fire in our lives. Grace is receiving salvation, justification, adoption, eternal life. So listen, this is what Paul is saying. Good works are important. Good works are important. Good works are important, but good works do not save you. Saved people do good works. Saved people do good works. We don't do them to earn God's love. We do them because we've already experienced God's love. Now watch verse 8. This is really cool. This is a faithful saying. That's what he says. This is a faithful saying. In other words, verse 4, 5, 6, and 7, this is a faithful saying. Many theologians believe that this had already been a formulated creed in the Christian church, that children are being taught this, new converts were being taught this. That's And these things I want you to affirm constantly. In other words, if you want your fire really burning, you have to remember God's grace every single day, over and over and over again. I'm not doing this good work because I owe him something. I'm doing this good work because I could never repay what it is he did for me. He's the awesome God of the universe, whose grace motivates my good works. That's why, listen to this, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. Now, here's my favorite line. These things are good and profitable to men. No doubt. You, when you do a good work, did you know it's not just profitable to the person you're doing it for? It's profitable to you. It grows your faith. It makes you more like Jesus Christ. It's more blessed to give than it is to receive. And as we practice these things, God's grace deepens my passion. And I begin to love these works more and more and more and more. That's why verse 14 says we should be zealous or passionate for good works. I look at that word, zealous. And this is what I wrote. The community needs to feel your heat. Otherwise, we're nothing more than a decorative fireplace that produces none. Have you noticed those things at furniture stores now? Because they don't put fireplaces in houses like they used to. So now you can have your TV on a wall and you get this little open area and you put an electric fireplace in there. It's fake. It gives you the illusion that there's a fire, but it gives you no heat whatsoever. God wants us to be a heat-producing church. In Jesus' name, who can say amen? Number three, unity protects the fire. Fire doesn't go out because it runs out of wood. Sometimes. But sometimes it goes out because it's blown out by a draft. Paul gives us a warning in Titus chapter 3 verse 9. Avoid foolish disputes, arguments, fights. He says these are unprofitable and useless. They become distractions oftentimes, and they begin to steal heat. You know what I'm talking about? Arguments that go nowhere, debates that change nothing, issues that pull us apart instead of pushing us together. Have you ever noticed that the more we argue on Facebook about things that don't matter, the less energy we have to serve people who do matter? I recommend that we don't get involved in those kinds of things. Paul says it even stronger in verse 10. He says, warn a divisive person, then have nothing to do with them. Isn't that interesting? Most translations say you warn them twice, and then you reject them. You don't even talk to them any longer because Paul recognizes division kills momentum. Now hear me. Unity doesn't mean we all think the same way. It just means we're committed to the same mission going into all the world and making disciples who can say amen. We have the same mission. We're going to fight on the same team. A divided church oftentimes is divided about something inwardly. A unified church stays unified by looking at stuff that is outward. A drafty church is a cold place to go. If we're busy fighting each other, we aren't firing the community up, and that's what God wants us to do. He recognizes that revival doesn't die from persecution. It dies from division. Fourth and finally, and pastor, you can come on up. A church on fire is a church on mission. A church on fire is a church on mission. That's what I'm talking about right here. The Great Commission, go into all the world. I mean, go should be one of our key words. I'm going every single day. I'm going to the mission field at work. I'm going to the mission field at school. I'm going to the mission field at Walmart. I'm going to the mission he spent three chapters talking about here's bad behavior, here's good behavior. Oh, I forgot something. It's not natural. Good works are not natural. You don't come out of the womb wanting to be nice to other people. You come out of the womb wanting your own needs taken care of. And that nature literally chases us for the rest of our lives. and so it takes practice. It literally takes learning. People learn to do good. You listen to sermons. Yeah, that's a part of it. Then you watch people show you the way. Then you get involved. You start practicing what teachers and preachers and moms and dads and friends have done in front of you, and you start trying it out yourself. You practice. The goal is to make doing good works a habit, not something that I have to do, but something that's actually somewhat enjoyable. We do it because we believe, yes, it's the right thing to do, but we believe it's going to make a difference in the people's lives, in our family's lives, in our church's lives, in the world's life. and then we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the performance, and I don't mean that performing, the performance of good works. So if you are a football fan, you've probably seen a lot of college and pro football over the last couple of weeks. One of the things that strikes me as ironic is if you're going up to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, any of those cold weather markets, Green Bay, Chicago, a devoted fan appears crazy to me. Right? I mean, they are, yeah. You will see these big men in zero degree weather, snowing like crazy, and they have no shirts on. And they'll be painted in their team colors. They probably spend 30, 40% of their paycheck on season tickets. They buy all of the gear, all of the memorabilia. They have flags. They have fingers that say they're number one. They do it all. And I start wondering, if we're really passionate, if we're really devoted, what would a devoted Christian look like? Because fan is short for fanatic. That means you are all in. Completely. No hesitation. Not only that, you are eternally optimistic. Your team can lose every single game, but there's always next season. There's always hope. I think we're going to get them next year. And we as a church should be always optimistic, not seasonal when it comes to good works, not convenient, not occasional. We need to stay sold out constantly, ready to do the menial and the urgent, the little and the really big. I've mentioned this before. Maybe you haven't heard it. I really want to make a difference when a hurricane comes into our community. and what I mean by that is I've contacted Convoy of Hope and I'm trying to work out details where when the next hurricane hits Florida, we're going to be a central distribution center that literally they're going to send six or eight or ten trucks that are going to park in our parking lot and we'll be able to send teams that will help Convoy of Hope distribute water and food and blankets and all of those things to whichever coast gets hit by these hurricanes. That's making a difference with an urgent need in your community. But listen to me. Sometimes it's easier to do that than pick up something that someone has dropped and follow them out the door and say, hey, you just dropped this. That seems insignificant, but it too is important. and it's something that we can be a part of on a regular basis. Listen, our community doesn't need a church that just talks about fire. It needs a church that burns with fire. When we do good, we aren't just being nice. We're being witnesses and we're showing the world that the Jesus who saved us is the Jesus who serves them. If you are willing to serve just one person this week, would you stand with me in prayer right now? And I want to pray with you. If you're unable to stand and you're feeling your knees hurting or whatever it is, you can just raise your hand towards God in this moment. Heavenly Father, I come to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. And what I see, Father God, is a house of servants. I see a group of men and women who have changed allegiances. We no longer serve the world. We no longer serve the devil. And we no longer serve ourselves. But we are willing to serve this world, one another, because we serve you, the master. Jesus, you rescued us from the ocean of sin. And because of that, Father God, we are eternally grateful. And so over the next week, Father God, I pray that you would open up our eyes to the possibilities of service. I pray, Father God, that whether we're in a grocery store line, whether we're at a restaurant, whether we're at a stoplight, whether we're at a gas station, whether we're at work or at school, Father God, or even in our neighborhood or here at church, that you'd help us to see those in need, Father God. Give us literally the eyes of the Father. Give us hearts filled with compassion. Give us hands ready to work, Father God. And I pray that as we take risks and as we share the love and the grace of our God, Father God, that we would be so abundantly blessed that we would just want to do more and more and more. So, Father, we bless you today. We thank you today for that original act of philanthropy. And may we carry on your name and carry on your example, Father God, and be models for the world to see. I pray this in Jesus' holy and precious name. And together, everybody says, Amen, Amen, Amen. We've got a bunch of prayer partners who would love to pray with you. If you have a need that one of these prayer partners could take before the throne room of God, I just want to invite you to take advantage of these men and women. They've been spending time in prayer before they even got here, hoping that you would bring your needs specifically to them because they know prayer can make a difference. Amen? Amen. And so would you just sing along with the worship team, and we'll let the Lord lead. God bless.