Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180051A
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00:31 Hello, I'm Shelly Quinn and we welcome you
00:34 to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 We're so happy to be here and to get to open up 00:39 the word of God and we're so happy that you have joined us. 00:44 We do hope that you've got your Bible and pad, 00:47 and pen, AND your Study Guide. 00:50 We are studying "Oneness in Christ" this quarter. 00:53 We're talking about unity and there's nothing more important 00:57 than for the body of Christ to be united with Him. 01:02 So if you don't have a Study Guide, even though we're on 01:05 lesson 12, you can still go to: ABSG.Adventist.org 01:12 and download one of the digital lessons or you can go 01:17 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in your neighborhood, 01:19 and they'll be happy to give you a copy of this. 01:22 I'm sure they'd be happy if you joined them for worship. 01:26 I need to introduce to you, and it's my privilege, 01:31 this panel and I'm just going to say this up front... 01:33 Every person on this panel has committed and submitted 01:37 their life to the Lord; every person on this panel 01:41 is a dear friend and brother or sister in Christ and it is 01:46 true that people ask us all the time... 01:49 "Do you all really love each other?" 01:50 "Do you really get along this well?" 01:52 Yes, we are a family and so it is my pleasure to introduce 01:57 my pastor - John Lomacang, Pastor Ryan Day, 02:00 Jill Morikone and Pastor Kenny Shelton. 02:04 Before we start, Pastor Lomacang, would you like 02:07 to have our prayer please? Sure. 02:09 Loving Father in Heaven, We come to You as 02:11 we open our Bibles. 02:12 We do pray that You'll open our hearts also and that the 02:16 Holy Spirit will pour into us today that we can pour out 02:19 according to Your will. 02:21 We pray that you'll calibrate the minds and hearts of 02:24 those hearing this program and watching it and may Your 02:27 perfect will be accomplished as we speak 02:29 of Your glory and Your honor. 02:31 In Jesus name we pray... Amen... Amen! 02:36 Well today, we are studying "Oneness in Christ," 02:39 Lesson 12 and this is: "Church Organization and Unity" 02:43 So our focus is going to be... why church organization 02:49 is crucial to the mission of the church, 02:52 and how church organization can foster unity. 02:56 Now before I read the memory text, I'd like to read the verse 03:00 before it because I think that gives us 03:03 context for the memory text. 03:05 I will begin with Matthew 20:25. 03:11 And Jesus had called His disciples to Himself 03:16 and here's what He says... "You know that the rulers 03:19 of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are 03:23 great exercise authority over them. 03:27 Now here's the memory text, Matthew 20:26-27 that follows. 03:33 He says, "Yet, it shall not be so among you; but whoever 03:38 desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 03:43 And whoever desires to be first among you, 03:47 let him be your slave..." 03:49 He is talking about servant leadership. 03:52 And I just want to stop for a second and tell, you know, 03:55 you may be watching this... we may be new to you 03:59 this network - I just want to tell you a little bit about 04:01 Seventh-day Adventist Christians - we are Protestant 04:05 Christians; we believe in salvation by grace 04:08 through faith alone in what Christ Jesus accomplished 04:13 for us on the cross and our salvation and our 04:18 covenant blessings come directly, we believe, 04:22 from the Lord our Savior. 04:24 We don't believe that you have to have a man or a leader 04:31 to receive those blessings from Christ... 04:34 And so what we see and how we look at it is that the 04:41 church is God's creation and it is important, 04:46 and it's something that in order to receive the mission 04:52 God has given us the church as a vehicle that He can 04:57 express His purposes, manifest Himself to the world 05:01 and help bring salvation to the world. 05:04 So how we believe is that Jesus Christ is the head 05:10 of the church, but without church organization our message 05:14 wouldn't be very effective, would it? That's right. 05:16 So church leaders, can we all agree, are very important 05:21 but only as they submit and commit their lives to the Lord, 05:28 and only as they reflect the attitude of Jesus Christ 05:33 and they are walking in submission to Him. 05:36 So let' look at Sunday's lesson: "Christ the Head of the Church" 05:41 In an earlier lesson, we saw, in the New Testament, 05:44 a metaphor used for the church is the body and I want to 05:49 read two Scriptures there... Ephesians 1:22-23. 05:53 Ephesians 1:22 says, "He put all things under His feet 05:59 and gave Him (talking about Jesus) to be head over all 06:04 things to the church which is His body, 06:08 the fullness of Him who fills all in all." 06:12 So Christ is the head and then the church is His body. 06:17 And again in Colossians 1:16-18, we see the same principle 06:23 in Colossians 1:16-18... "For by Him (talking of Jesus) 06:29 all things were created that are in heaven and earth 06:32 visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or 06:35 principalities or powers. 06:36 All things were created through Him and for Him. 06:41 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 06:48 He is the head of the body, the church..." 06:53 So the church exists and functions as the spiritual 07:00 body of Christ and when you think about this, 07:03 He is our head - Christ would be incomplete 07:09 without the church - a head without a body is incomplete. 07:13 But the church, the vital relationship that we 07:18 have is that we are to be the living and full expression 07:23 of Jesus Christ on this earth, right? 07:26 So as the head, He is the source of life for the church, 07:31 and without Him, there would be no church. That's right. 07:34 So we get our identity and significance as a church 07:38 from Jesus Christ, He directs the activities of the church, 07:43 and we're not to be a dead organization but we're a 07:45 living organism. 07:47 So each church member, though... think about this for a minute, 07:51 if I can say it right... 07:53 If Christ is the head, the church is the body, 07:56 how important is it that we serve, worship and study 08:03 as part of the body? 08:06 See we can't just go out and do service 08:08 on our own or worship on our own... I mean I'm not 08:11 saying that we don't but we cannot forsake 08:14 the assembling of the saints because, otherwise, 08:18 it would be like - my little finger saying, 08:20 "Oh I don't want to be a part of this body, 08:21 I'll go do my own thing over here." 08:23 Does that make sense? No. 08:24 I hope I'm making sense. 08:26 Alright, I've got the distinct pleasure of taking 08:31 Ephesians 5:23-27 and expounding on that. 08:36 And I say distinct pleasure because I know some people 08:39 are going to probably go... "Oooh, not that scripture." 08:43 I'm going to read through it very quickly 08:44 and then we will unpack it. 08:47 Ephesians 5:23-27... "For the husband is head of the wife, 08:52 as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior 08:55 of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject 08:59 to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands 09:02 in everything. 09:03 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved 09:07 the church and gave Himself for her that He might 09:10 sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water 09:13 by the word, that He might present her to Himself a 09:18 glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle 09:23 or any such thing, but that she should be holy 09:27 and without blemish." 09:30 Let me start by saying this, and then we're going 09:32 to get into this and ladies and gentleman, 09:36 there have been some really pitifully disturbing 09:42 teachings on this passage of Scripture and I hope today 09:47 that what you see as God's perfect plan, 09:50 is going to bring you hope and promise because 09:54 anytime you have any creature with two heads, 09:59 what would you call that? A freak! 10:02 So when a husband and wife are joined as one, 10:07 there's only one that can be the head... 10:09 But, you know, this thought just occurred to me... 10:11 In a church, if Christ isn't the head - if you've got any other 10:15 head of the church that is putting themselves equal 10:19 to Christ or above Christ, 10:21 you can't have a two-headed church 10:23 without having a freak either. 10:25 Alright, so let's take this apart... 10:26 Verse 23, Ephesians 5:23... "The husband is head of the 10:30 wife as also Christ is head of the church and He is 10:34 Savior of the body." 10:36 Paul has a high view of marriage, that he is showing 10:42 here - he's picturing marriage being similar to 10:45 the relationship of Christ and the church, 10:48 and we know the church is represented as the 10:51 spouse of Christ, the Bride of Christ. 10:53 And the living union between Christ and His bride 10:58 is really quite remarkable, but just as husband 11:03 and wife become one, so Christ and His body are one. 11:07 And I would say that this is the biblical ideal for marriage, 11:13 the relationship that needs the tender and compassionate care, 11:19 and one that is self-sacrificing. 11:22 Now let's look at verse 24... "Therefore, just as the church 11:26 is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own 11:31 husbands in everything." 11:34 Submission is merely yielding to another person's leading, 11:40 and we're patterning ourselves 11:44 after Christ when you think about this in Philippians 2:5-8, 11:49 where it says, "Let this mind be in you that was 11:51 in Christ Jesus," and what was the mind of Christ? 11:55 Total humility! 11:56 He emptied Himself of His glory; He served the Lord; 12:00 He totally depended upon the Lord and that's what 12:03 He is saying here - is that we need to come humbly 12:07 before the Lord and recognize our total 12:09 dependence on Him. 12:10 That's submission and submission should distinguish 12:14 the lifestyle of all Christians, but it should be 12:19 voluntary - Christ doesn't ask ever or demand 12:25 our submission, it is a voluntary action 12:28 and He is serving as our provider and protector. 12:33 So the reason Christ exercises authority over the church 12:37 is because He serves the church, 12:39 and He saves it and protects it. 12:41 So now let me make the application to husbands... 12:44 Husbands exert authority over the family relationship 12:52 by protecting and caring and meeting 12:54 the needs of their family, and just like the church 12:58 exhibits a willingness and a faithfulness and a loyalty 13:02 to Jesus Christ, the wife should 13:05 voluntarily submit herself to her husband, 13:10 no external coercion and it doesn't mean that the wife 13:15 is of lesser value than the husband in the relationship, 13:20 it just simply means that there could only be one head. 13:25 But now... I know there is still somebody out there going 13:29 "Uhhh! I don't like that teaching!" 13:32 But let's look at this, Ephesians 5:25... "Husbands 13:35 love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, 13:38 and gave Himself for her." 13:39 Christ is held up as the ideal model for a husband. 13:44 He loves the church - He gave Himself up for her, so the 13:48 husband is to love the wife with a self-sacrificing love. 13:52 He is to love the wife in such a way that there's no 13:56 self-indulgent behavior and the same spirit of self-denial 14:03 regarding no sacrifice being too great for the 14:07 benefit of the family's spiritual development. 14:11 The tense in the Greek, "love," indicates a love 14:16 that continues and this is more than just a family 14:20 affection or a sexual passion... 14:23 This is a deliberate attitude that leads to actions concerning 14:29 the benefit of others - that you want to make certain 14:33 of their well-being. 14:35 So in this one chapter it says, "Husbands should love their 14:39 wife as Christ loved the church, as he loves his own body." 14:43 But then in verse 31-33... With a love that transcends 14:47 all other human relationships. 14:51 So then He says that he might sanctify her and cleanse 14:54 her with washing by the word. 14:56 I'm out of time - let me just say this... 14:58 I am blessed to have a very godly husband, he loves me 15:05 like Christ loves the church. 15:06 He wants to see me become all I can be in Christ Jesus. 15:12 He is a wonderful man and even though I am a type A 15:17 personality and a leader and "a race-horse" he calls me, 15:21 I voluntarily submit to him because it's not always 15:28 got to be his way. 15:29 What we do is - we discuss things... if we need a 15:32 tiebreaker, he is the tiebreaker 15:35 and I allow his decision to stand. 15:39 Wow. Amen! Thank you Shelley. Well said. 15:42 You know, that took a lot because you are a type A. Yes! 15:45 And J.D. is our teddy bear. Yes! 15:49 He's everybody's teddy bear, he says... "Well, yes," 15:53 and we love J.D. tremendously. 15:55 And with all the gifts and skills that God has given 15:58 to you, that's so wonderful to hear that you are 16:00 endorsing, (Oh, absolutely), the position that the Bible 16:03 has established, but I want to also say the combination of 16:08 you and J.D. together is combustible. 16:10 That means you shine for the Lord, 16:12 and praise God for that. Amen, thank you. 16:14 And I, too, since we're all confessing... 16:17 I don't know what you can confess about... 16:18 you know, you think about yours. I will. 16:22 I have, because of my public persona, have had to 16:26 pull my wife out of the shadows - because it's easy 16:30 to be in the shadows, you know, when you have a husband 16:33 that sings, and preaches and teaches and is known 16:36 as I have been known for the number of years. 16:39 But I've said, when I meet people, I've said, 16:41 ... You know, a lot of people say, "Was that John Lomacang's 16:43 wife? I say, "No, her name is "Angela, 16:46 and she works for 3ABN Radio, she has her own ministry." 16:49 And it was so wonderful, we were just recently 16:51 in Australia and it was so nice in Sydney, Australia, 16:54 a gentleman approached us and he said, "Hey, I want to 16:57 take a picture," and Angie said, "Hold on, let me get my 16:59 husband," and he said, "No, you!" 17:02 He said, "I watch, I listen to your radio program. 17:05 I love your radio program." 17:06 And I said, "Honey, go ahead, 17:09 enjoy the moment, it's beautiful." 17:11 And he sat next to her for the whole service 17:14 while I preached, and he sat there just proudly... 17:16 and then he sent her an email, 17:18 "Your Facebook friend, the one who took a picture with you 17:20 when you were in Australia." 17:22 And then we did the marriage seminar together in Michigan. 17:25 And so, I really believe that when the Lord took 17:30 the rib from the side of Adam, before sin entered the world, 17:34 his intention was that they'll be united together 17:37 to complete the image of God in the human race. Amen! 17:40 And so, therefore, we here at 3ABN, at least I know that 17:43 this is my commitment and I believe that's the same 17:45 about each one of those who are here on this panel, 17:47 we believe that we shine together... 17:50 we win together; we lose together; 17:51 we're victorious together; we shine together; 17:53 we enjoy together; we cry together; 17:55 we study together, and togetherness is what 17:57 servant leadership is really all about. Absolutely! Amen! 18:00 You know, there's a passage in this lesson on Monday, 18:02 December 17th, "Servant Leadership" is 18:06 vitally important and servant leadership is diverse because 18:11 it always depends on the leader. 18:13 One of the frightening things that Jesus had to confront 18:16 was the fact that when He leaves, He's leaving 18:18 His church in charge of these guys. Laughter 18:22 He says, Man, we gotta have a Pentecost before I 18:24 could send them out because, you know, you have two sons 18:28 whose mom said, "Could you sit one at the right 18:30 and one at the left," and He's thinking... "Ohh." 18:33 And then He has another one, 18:35 Peter, "Lord, I'll follow you even to death." 18:37 "Can you partake of the cup I'm going to partake of?" 18:40 "I can't." Well you will. 18:41 And Peter ends up... well you know the rest of the story. 18:45 Peter goes through his terrible breakdown of denying 18:50 the Lord and then he runs, John and Peter run 18:53 to the tomb on the day of resurrection... 18:56 Peter wasn't running to find out whether or not the Lord 18:58 was risen, he was running because he KNEW the Lord 19:01 was risen and He wanted forgiveness. 19:04 He wanted that reconciliation and what a leader he became. 19:06 A man whose mind was in first gear, 19:10 and whose mouth was in fifth gear became the 19:12 spokesperson on the day of Pentecost. 19:14 And his leadership was beyond estimation 19:17 for the New Testament Church. 19:19 Well let's look at some examples here... 19:22 In Mark 9:33, I want you to see this and it says... 19:28 During His ministry with His disciples, Jesus repeatedly 19:31 experienced moments when He probably felt exasperated 19:35 by the envy for power they seemed to have. 19:39 Dangerous! What's the saying? 19:41 "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." 19:45 Power is a dangerous thing. 19:47 I've often said, "It's dangerous to be at the top... 19:49 It takes a humble spirit to be at the top. 19:51 It takes a humble person to even know that they're at the top. 19:54 But if you know that you're at the top, you have to 19:57 ask yourself, "Lord, it's a long way down, I'll only 20:01 want to be up here for Your glory." 20:03 And so that's something that it's a dangerous position to 20:06 occupy, but when the Lord is with you, 20:09 He'll make that position a safe one. 20:11 The apostles appeared to be anxious to become powerful 20:14 leaders of Jesus' kingdom. 20:16 And so here we are in Mark 9:33-34... 20:19 "Then He came to Capernaum, and when He was in the house 20:25 He asked them, "What was it you disputed 20:29 among yourselves on the road?" 20:31 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed 20:36 among themselves who would be the greatest." 20:39 And He had to break that down before He got them 20:43 to be able to become leaders. 20:47 Also Matthew 20:25-28... It says, "But Jesus called them 20:54 to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the 20:57 Gentiles lord it over them, (that's lord their authority) 21:00 and those who are great exercise authority over them. 21:05 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever 21:08 desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 21:13 And whoever desires to be first among you, 21:17 let him be your slave... (that means indelibly connected 21:22 to the well-being of the people around him 21:25 or people around her) just as the Son of Man 21:28 did not come to be served, but to serve, 21:30 and to give His life a ransom for many." 21:32 So, a couple of points I want to bring out about leadership. 21:35 First, leadership comes through servanthood. Yes. 21:38 Leadership comes through servanthood. 21:41 Like the parent would say, "It's not do what I say, 21:43 but do what I do." 21:46 That's why the servant of the Lord, Ellen White, says... 21:48 "The church cannot rise any higher than its leadership. 21:52 And if there's a fog in the pews, there's a mist 21:58 in the pulpit." Amen! 22:02 Secondly, leadership comes not only through servanthood, 22:05 the person, but leadership comes through service, 22:08 not just the position I hold, but what do I do? 22:11 and serving others is what God has called us to do. 22:15 Servanthood must have service to follow it. 22:19 Worldly leadership speaks from the top down, 22:22 but Christian leadership speaks side-by-side. Amen! 22:26 Side-by-side, they walk together. 22:28 When Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, 22:30 He walked side-by-side with them. 22:32 He didn't hover over them, nor did He pull them 22:35 under the ground to speak in a dark place, 22:36 He walked side-by-side, that's Christian leadership. 22:39 Worldly leadership - lead by command. 22:43 Christian leadership - lead by example. Amen! That's good. 22:47 And that's why it's so vitally important - when a person 22:48 is in a position of leadership, it's important that they 22:51 live a life circumspect before people so that people 22:54 will say, "Look at how that person lives," not just 23:00 what a person says because what a leader says 23:03 could bring fear into somebody's heart, but what a leader 23:06 lives can bring confidence into somebody's heart. Amen! 23:09 You gotta live the example. 23:11 And 1 Peter 2:21 says... "For to this you were called, 23:18 because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us 23:22 an example, that you should follow His steps." 23:27 Steps not only to Christ but steps with Christ. 23:31 And also, 1 Thessalonians 1:6... "You became followers 23:37 of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much 23:42 affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit..." 23:45 "You became followers of us and of the Lord," 23:48 that's something that is very humbling to say. 23:50 You became followers of us and of the Lord... 23:52 Now Shelley, you made a point, I want to emphasize here... 23:55 You can't be... Do I follow them or the Lord? 23:58 Do you follow them or the Lord? Do I follow them or the Lord? 24:00 He said, as a person converted, you became followers 24:03 of us and of the Lord which meant, "I'm following Him too." 24:06 That's a very significant point to bring out. 24:09 And Ellen White says in "Desire of Ages," p.550... 24:13 "Christ was establishing a kingdom on different principles. 24:17 He called men not to authority but to service, 24:20 the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. 24:23 Power, position, talent, education place their 24:27 possessor under the greater obligation to serve 24:32 His fellows." 24:33 So when you have power, talent, position, education... 24:36 you have a greater obligation in service. 24:39 That's why we have to make sure that servanthood is not 24:42 something that we crave, but something that we 24:45 desire to reflect Christ through. 24:48 Servanthood is vitally important. 24:50 I didn't even get to John 13, but it simply says that... 24:54 "The servant is not greater than his master, neither 24:58 is he who is sent greater than the one that sends." 25:01 The Lord has sent me and I want to tell you... all of us as 25:05 servant-leaders, He sends us for His lambs among wolves, 25:10 and to be among wolves, we have to have the 25:13 Chief-servant, the One who came to serve, we have to have 25:16 Christ with us so that we can survive. 25:18 And John 13, says He left as an example and we should do 25:22 as He has done. 25:24 That's the kind of servant I want to be. Amen! 25:27 Oh and that was just wonderful John, thank you so much. 25:32 We are going to take just a quick break. 25:34 Stay tuned and we will be right back. 25:40 Ever wish you could watch the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 25:43 again or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:47 Well, you can! By visiting 3ABN Sabbath 25:50 School Panel.com. 25:52 A clean design makes it easy to find the 25:55 program you're looking for. 25:57 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guides 26:00 so you can follow along. 26:02 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose 26:05 your favorite social media. 26:06 Share a link, save a life for eternity! 26:12 Oh welcome back, we're ready to start on Day Two, 26:15 "Preserving Church Unity," Ryan. 26:17 Amen... alright. 26:18 Well, Pastor John is going right along with mine, 26:23 because once we understand servant leadership 26:27 as leaders in the church... you know, once we grasp 26:31 the concept of that, then we have to put it 26:33 to practice in not only our independent daily lives, 26:37 but also in the church among our brethren as church leaders. 26:40 And Tuesday's lesson... "Preserving Church Unity," 26:43 is really focusing on church leadership and it's more 26:48 highlighting church leaders such as pastors and elders. 26:51 And so, after studying through the lesson, I was able to 26:55 make a very short but very profound list of 26:59 responsibilities for church leaders. 27:02 And #1, I came up with this one and then we're going to 27:04 kind of go through these texts together because I believe 27:07 they are vitally important for today's time. 27:10 #1... Study the word diligently. 27:13 A church leader will be a student of the Bible, 27:18 will be someone constantly studying 27:20 Scripture and upholding its values. 27:22 We get this from 2 Timothy 2:15 and I'm just going to read 27:26 the very first portion of this verse. 27:28 It says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God." 27:33 We don't study to show ourselves approved necessarily 27:36 first and foremost to the people... first unto God, 27:39 and then, of course, after we have studied to show ourselves 27:42 approved unto God, then, of course, it bleeds over 27:45 into the laity and into the people but study the word 27:48 diligently - a church leader is someone who pours 27:51 themselves into the word of God constantly. 27:54 #2... Allow the Scripture to interpret Scripture. Amen! 27:59 Allow God to interpret God! 28:02 That's important and a lot of times, as leaders, 28:05 as preachers or ministers, we tend to sometimes 28:10 give our own perspective, our own opinion, 28:12 and while I believe that commentary is good, 28:16 and as we all give our commentary and understanding 28:18 of Scripture, it should be backed and established 28:21 upon Scripture. 28:23 Notice the second part of 2 Timothy 2:15, it says... 28:26 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, 28:29 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 28:31 (and then notice this next part) 28:33 rightly dividing the word of truth." 28:36 Well how do we rightly divide the word of truth? 28:39 What does the Bible say? 28:40 And so that famous verse in Isaiah 28:10, it tells us... 28:45 "For precept must be upon precept, 28:47 precept upon precept, line upon line, 28:51 line upon line, (and then I love this) 28:53 here a little, there a little." 28:55 When we read a text that seems to be hard to understand... 28:58 Growing up in church, I saw this a lot from individuals, 29:02 and I've even done it myself for many years... 29:04 we want to read a text and almost like we're reading 29:06 a novel or reading a story and just apply our own 29:08 interpretation of that, but the best thing to always 29:11 do is always say, "What does the Bible say about this? 29:14 What does God have to say about this? 29:16 If I don't understand it, surely there are other texts 29:19 in the Scripture that clearly explained this text so that I 29:22 don't have to add my own faulty mentality 29:26 or ideology to it. 29:27 #3... This is vitally important. Be faithful 29:31 according to the word of God. 29:34 A true genuine church leader will always be faithful 29:39 to and by the word of God. 29:41 Notice Titus 1:9 and again, I'm going to read the first 29:45 part of this as we kind of break it down. 29:47 It says, "Holding fast the 29:49 faithful word as he has been taught." 29:54 Pastor, I think you, above all people and Pastor Kenny, 29:57 you guys would know that as a church leader, you want to 30:00 hold fast to the truth that God has taught you through His word, 30:04 and you want that to bleed over from your sermons; 30:06 you want it to be projected to the people; 30:07 you want to hold fast to the faith of the word, 30:10 and I saw that to be very, very important. 30:13 Notice #4 says... this is my fourth principle or fourth 30:17 responsibility of a church leader... 30:19 A church leader should be able to bring conviction 30:22 and exhortation through Biblical Doctrine. That's good. 30:26 I want to emphasize that... "Biblical Doctrine" 30:29 Notice what the second part of Titus 1:9 says... 30:33 and I'm going to read it from the beginning here. 30:35 "Hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught 30:38 that he may be able by (there's that word) sound doctrine 30:43 both to exhort and convict those who contradict." 30:48 We have to just, you know, be honest here... 30:51 there's a little bit of a contradiction sometimes 30:53 among our brethren within the church community 30:56 and well it's going to happen from time-to-time. 30:58 And Jesus said there would be wheat and there would be tares, 31:00 but we are unified in our faith and in the biblical principles 31:04 of God's word and we cannot as leaders, as ministers 31:08 be ashamed to bring that conviction and exhortation 31:12 through biblical knowledge. Yes. 31:13 Now it's often told and we often have the mentality 31:16 or it's customarily said within the ranks of Christianity 31:20 that the Holy Spirit brings the conviction 31:22 not the person, right? 31:24 You'll hear people say, "Let the Holy Spirit 31:26 do the convicting, you just preach the word," 31:28 and that is true, but there is an application clearly 31:32 through Scripture that communicates to us that 31:35 a minister can bring conviction, not that it's 31:37 coming from himself or herself, but in this case, 31:41 we know that from the word, the word alone, 31:44 is the conviction brought, of course, by the Holy Spirit. 31:46 And, I found this right here, Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, 31:51 as we know He said, "It is written, man shall not live 31:54 by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 31:58 from the mouth of God." Amen! 32:02 Another famous passage that I think when we're thinking of 32:06 counsel to a church leader, a counsel to a minister, 32:10 a pastor, an elder - there's no better passage to 32:13 receive proper counsel for ministers than that 32:16 found in 2 Timothy 4:2-5, where we see Paul giving 32:21 counsel to Timothy and he says here and I love the very 32:24 first three words here... "Preach the word." 32:29 I remember hearing that, a famous C. D. Brook sermon... 32:32 He just rings it, you know, to these young ministers 32:35 who are graduating from seminary... 32:36 "Preach the WORD!" his says, "Preach the word!" 32:38 "... Be instant in season and out of season. 32:41 Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and 32:45 (there's that word again) doctrine." 32:48 So it's not that we, in and of ourselves - it's not our 32:52 responsibility to go point out everyone's little, individual 32:56 problems or faults, but, yes, we bring reproof, 33:01 the rebuke comes and the exhortation comes from the word, 33:04 sharing of the word of God. 33:06 The message is coming from God, not necessarily from 33:09 the individual person. 33:10 It goes on to say... "For the time will come (and this is 33:12 prophecy - this is a prophetic message and we need 33:16 to understand this and at no other time from the 33:21 beginning of history to now, is this more applicable 33:24 for our time than now. 33:25 It says, "For the time will come when they will not 33:27 endure (and there it is again) sound doctrine. 33:30 Notice the emphasis on doctrine. 33:32 We live in a time today, this great ecumenical 33:35 movement that's occurring around us where everyone 33:37 is just playing down doctrine. 33:39 No doctrine, no doctrine, just love and hope and, you know... 33:42 and all of that is great, but we should not forsake 33:46 the doctrines of Scripture. Amen! 33:48 The Bible makes it very clear... "They will not endure 33:50 sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they 33:52 heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 33:56 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, 33:58 and shall be turned unto fables. That's right. 34:01 (and I love this last line, this is coming from verse 5 34:04 of 2 Timothy 4) But watch thou in... how many things? 34:07 ALL things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, 34:11 make (and I love this) make full proof of thy ministry." 34:16 So this is vitally important for all of us as church 34:19 leaders to comprehend. 34:20 2 Timothy 3:16, (my time is getting away, I have so 34:24 much to say but I'm going to endure till the end, here we go) 34:27 It says here in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is given by 34:31 inspiration of... who? Of course, of God. 34:34 And it is profitable for (there's that word again) 34:37 doctrine for reproof, for correction, 34:39 for instruction in righteousness." 34:41 So, does the correction come from Ryan? 34:43 Does the correction come from Pastor John? 34:45 Does the correction come from Shelley? No. 34:47 You know, when we go and we are sharing with our 34:49 brethren, perhaps maybe it is a corrective or reproving 34:52 message, but if it's done in humbleness, if it's done 34:55 with the Spirit of Christ, obviously, that reproof comes 34:58 from God - it comes from the word and that's how we 35:00 should receive that. 35:03 You know I want to spend this last minute just talking about 35:06 some weaknesses in the church that has occurred 35:09 because of a lack of proper leadership... 35:12 And this isn't being critical, it's just simply stating 35:14 the fact that we need a revival, we need God in our 35:17 lives every single day. 35:19 #1... We have a false gospel. 35:21 Much of this contention and disunity that we have 35:24 is based on the fact that there's a false gospel 35:27 floating around in our churches. 35:28 This idea that we cannot have victory over sin... 35:31 it's important, God wants us to have victory over sin, 35:34 and Christ provides that if we look to Him and we allow His 35:38 word to speak to us. 35:39 Our sanctuary message... sometimes it's being attacked. 35:42 It seems like it's being snuffed out. 35:43 It is through the sanctuary... what does the Bible say? 35:46 Psalm 77:13, "Thy way, O God is in the sanctuary." 35:49 And of course, the last one I wrote here... 35:51 Christian standards and principles - There's a practical 35:54 living of Biblical Christianity. 35:56 My friends, this all comes by not adhering to the Bible 35:59 clearly and it's teachings and not having a 36:02 Christ-centered home. 36:03 I pray for all of us, that we will center ourselves 36:06 on the gospel of Jesus and we will stand as leaders 36:08 focused and pointing towards Christ at all times. 36:12 Amen! Amen! Amen! 36:14 Thank you so much Pastor Ryan. 36:16 What an incredible message; we're having church! Amen! 36:19 I just feel that and I hope you feel that at home too. 36:22 Building on that, my portion is Wednesday which is: 36:26 "Church Discipline" 36:29 Now that's kind of a heavy word and we don't even like 36:31 to address that, to be honest, and we don't like 36:33 to think about that or talk about that. 36:35 I divided this day into three portions. 36:38 We're going to talk about the problem 36:39 with church discipline; the purpose of church 36:44 discipline and then the procedure for church discipline. 36:49 So we'll look at the problem, the purpose, 36:51 and then the procedure. 36:53 And now you say, "What would be the problem 36:55 with church discipline? 36:56 Well the problem is that church discipline goes against 36:59 our culture today, do you know that? 37:02 Even in today's culture, Pastor Kenny, it's a problem 37:05 to discipline your own children, let alone 37:07 something going on in the church! 37:09 In today's culture, we don't like the word "discipline." 37:11 We like acceptance and tolerance of everyone. 37:15 "Allan Bloom," he is a secular philosopher, 37:18 he's not even a Christian, and he said this... 37:20 "Tolerance built on the assumption of moral relativism 37:24 not truth, has become the chief virtue in America. 37:28 So "tolerance not truth" has become what people 37:33 promote... that is our culture today. 37:35 It seems today to judge behavior or philosophy 37:39 as evil seems to be unthinkable. 37:42 It seems we're being prejudiced or we're being closed-minded. 37:47 Church discipline also goes against our desire to feel like 37:51 "I want to love you as my brother in Christ, 37:53 so therefore, I'd better not say anything, 37:56 or I better not do anything." 37:58 That comes from a false sense of what love really is. 38:03 If someone was headed toward a cliff, you wouldn't say, 38:06 "Oh, I don't want to offend you; I don't want to hurt you; 38:10 I don't want to say anything." 38:11 I'll let you go over the cliff. 38:13 We'd say... what? WATCH OUT! BE CAREFUL! 38:16 Grab them if you have to... to keep them 38:19 from going over the cliff. 38:21 You know, just like if a home was on fire... 38:23 you wouldn't drive by and say, "Okay, I'll just go by." 38:27 Here in Thompsonville, a little town, Greg was driving in 38:30 to work in his pickup truck, and there was a home 38:32 in Thompsonville on fire. 38:34 And now, he could have said, "Okay I'll drive by, 38:36 I'm sure the Thompsonville Fire Department, 38:38 Pastor Kenny, is handling this matter, 38:40 and I'm doing my own thing." 38:42 But instead, he stopped his pickup, he grabbed a little 38:45 sledgehammer and he jumped out and he ran up 38:47 to the house; went around the back - there was a glass 38:50 window in the back door and he broke it with a 38:52 sledgehammer and he went in and opened it and the 38:54 whole house was on fire. 38:55 And he's running and looking for people because what if 38:59 someone was in there? That's right. 39:01 And it turned out that the person was already out, 39:04 praise the Lord for that, but church discipline 39:07 goes against our desire to be loving toward others, 39:09 but that is a false sense of love. 39:12 So church discipline is important. 39:13 That is the problem today with church discipline, 39:16 that people want to avoid it. 39:18 Now let's look at the purpose... 39:19 What is the purpose of church discipline? 39:21 I think it's threefold, Ryan covered this so well... 39:25 #1... To preserve the purity of doctrine. 39:28 You did a great job talking about the importance 39:30 of the purity of doctrine. 39:32 This is especially important in the end of time when every 39:36 wind of doctrine is blowing. 39:39 It's important to preserve the church from apostasy, 39:43 and from false teachings, Jude verse 3, says... 39:47 "Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." 39:52 The word "contend" in the Greek means to "struggle for, 39:56 or earnestly contend," but literally it implies 39:58 "a struggle as in a battle." 40:01 So in other words, we don't roll over and play dead 40:04 when there is apostasy, when there are doctrines 40:09 that are not in line with the word of God. Amen! 40:12 It is important, as church leadership, to address that. 40:16 When there is something entering the church, 40:18 Pastor John, within the church here, that is not in line with 40:22 God's word, I know that is your goal to make sure we 40:24 preserve the purity of the doctrine within the church, 40:27 and that's not with leaders in the local church area, 40:30 but I'm talking the entire church as well. Amen! 40:33 #2... Purpose of church discipline. 40:35 Preserve the purity of church life and practice. 40:39 So not just doctrine, we also have to look at how we live. 40:44 The church is to be as it were, Pastor Kenny, "a light 40:47 set on a hill." Right? Yes. Matthew 5 tells us that. 40:51 The purpose of the church... 40:52 The church is, in 1 Peter 2:9, "A chosen generation, 40:56 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special 41:00 people." And why is that? 41:02 That we should show forth the praises of Him who called us 41:05 out of darkness into this marvelous light. Yes. 41:08 So God called the church to show His character, 41:14 to reveal His purity to the world and when there is 41:18 (I want to say this carefully) when there is immorality, 41:23 when there is a stain on the church body as a whole 41:29 in some area - it could be immorality, it could be 41:31 something else - practice in life that brings pain to 41:36 the heart of God but it brings discredit to the name of 41:41 Christ within the world. 41:43 So the second purpose of church discipline is to 41:45 preserve the purity of church life and practice. 41:48 The third purpose is to show love toward and restore 41:54 the person who has erred. Amen! 41:56 The purpose of it is reconciliation. 41:59 The purpose is redemption. 42:01 Love is not opposed to discipline 42:03 as we already talked about. 42:04 Hebrews 12:6 says... "For whom the Lord loves, 42:08 He chastens or scourges... And scourges every son 42:12 whom He receives." 42:14 Verse 11 says, "Now no chastening for the present 42:16 seems to be joyous... (I know I don't like that, 42:19 right) but it seems painful, nevertheless afterward 42:24 ... what happens? It yields the peaceable fruit 42:26 of righteousness and those who have been trained by it." 42:31 Sin destroys people; sin destroys relationships; 42:36 we are to show love toward and seek to restore those who are 42:41 in error. Amen! 42:42 To be indifferent toward a sinning brother or sister 42:46 is actually to hate that person, not to love that person. 42:50 And you know, that's pivotal, it's a pivotal shift in my own 42:54 experience because, naturally, I don't like confrontation, 42:57 so I would rather say... I won't say anything. 43:00 But actually, that's showing hate toward that person 43:04 instead of the love of God. 43:06 So now we're talking about "procedure" 43:07 in the last moments we have. 43:09 What is the procedure for church discipline? 43:12 Turn with me to Matthew 18, and we talked about this 43:16 a couple of weeks ago, Matthew 18, Pastor Kenny, 43:18 you did a great job on that. Matthew 18. 43:21 In the procedure for church discipline, we will go 43:26 through this but it's a private meeting; 43:27 then it's a private meeting with a couple of witnesses; 43:31 then it's a public meeting with the church; 43:34 then it's a public separation from the church; 43:37 then public restoration if there is repentance. Yes. 43:43 So first is a private meeting. 43:45 We see that in Matthew 18:15, "Moreover if your brother 43:49 sins against you, go and tell him 43:50 his fault between you and him alone. 43:52 If he hears you, you have gained your brother." 43:55 Now I find this interesting, Pastor Kenny, 43:57 if I'm the one who feels like I was wronged, 43:59 I'm the one who should take the initiative in reconciliation. 44:04 It's not the one who did the wrong, it's the other one. 44:07 Did you notice that? 44:08 And I am to reach out with love and humility when I do that. 44:13 1 Timothy 5:1-2 says... "Do not rebuke an older man, 44:18 but exhort him as the father, younger men as brothers, 44:22 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters 44:25 with all purity." 44:27 And we are not called to gossip to other people about it. 44:31 And often, Pastor Ryan, we even gossip when we think... 44:34 "Oh, there's someone we need to really praying for..." 44:38 THAT is gossip! Because it's just a way to 44:41 cloak gossip and share it with someone else. 44:43 You know, Matthew 7 says, "Judge not 44:46 that you be not judged. For what judgment you judge, 44:49 you will be judged; with what measure 44:51 you use, it will be measured back to you." 44:54 Sometimes people take that and say, "Okay then, I'm not 44:58 supposed to say anything," but if you go on in Matthew 7, 45:01 it says, "Don't give what is holy to dogs and don't cast 45:05 pearls before swine." 45:07 That means there's some sort of judgment going on if you're 45:09 identifying swine or if you're identifying who a dog is. 45:13 So what this is talking about, in Matthew 7, is don't 45:16 have hypocritical criticism that tears down 45:19 someone else while you seek to build yourself up. 45:22 So first we go individually. 45:24 Second, we take one or two witnesses; take the pastor, 45:28 take an elder, take someone else in the church. 45:30 The goal here is still reconciliation and repentance. 45:34 Third, a public meeting with the church. 45:37 It says, "If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church." 45:40 The goal at this point is still reconciliation and redemption. 45:45 If they still refuse, public separation from the church 45:49 and the Bible says to treat them as a heathen 45:51 or a tax collector, but, you know, when Jesus walked 45:53 this earth, He associated with heathens and tax collectors 45:57 for the purpose of reconciliation and redemption. 46:01 And finally, when there is repentance, 46:03 IF there is repentance, Lord, we pray there is 46:06 repentance, then there is public restoration. Amen! 46:09 Amen! Amen! Well put! Praise the Lord for that! 46:12 The lesson has been very good, I have surely enjoyed here 46:15 because church organization and unity is what I put 46:18 down here and then, of course, our lesson for today is: 46:20 "Organizing for Mission" 46:22 I thought that's my part here on Thursday. 46:25 And I always feel like, you know, God's man or woman, 46:28 we should be on a mission for Jesus. 46:30 Every day of my life, I get up, I'm on a mission. 46:33 I want to, like, get my bag packed and I want to put my 46:36 Bible, you know, in the truck because there's going to be 46:38 a warfare that's going to go on. 46:41 There are three words that just stick out with these 46:42 passages here - "Organizing for Mission," 46:45 I'm going to use a word that may not be in the 46:47 dictionary, I'm going to make it up so just... alright. 46:51 You're going to receive it right by the grace of God. 46:53 The three words noted here is "organized," right, 46:57 and then "unified," and then "missionide." Laughter. 47:03 That's great! Are you still with me? We are. 47:05 "Missionide," that means ready for a mission 47:07 and we need to be "missionide," ready to have that in our 47:09 heart and in our mind." That's what we're here for. 47:12 Mission to me is just simply an outreach. 47:14 We need to have an outreach. 47:15 Pastors get up and they say, "Preach till 47:16 you're blue in the face." 47:18 Trying to get people excited and to get out and 47:20 do some kind of mission, missionary work... 47:22 reach out for the people, give the gospel - the good news, 47:25 the truth that we have been talking about here, 47:27 it's so beautiful! 47:29 I mean, I'm elated each time I hear truth that's spoken. 47:31 Someone told me the other day... 47:33 You folks are not protesting enough! 47:34 I said, "Every time you preach the truth, every time you tell 47:39 the truth, you are protesting against error." Amen! 47:42 Are you still with me? That's every time. 47:44 So I think we're protesting against evil. 47:47 You know, a familiar passage of Scripture, we realize 47:48 in the Bible, it's a very good one in Matthew 28:18-20... 47:53 He simply said, "And Jesus spake unto them, "All power is 47:57 given unto me in heaven and in earth." 47:59 And then this is so familiar, "Go ye... what? 48:01 therefore and teach 48:03 all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, 48:05 (notice this) the Son and the Holy Ghost teaching them 48:09 to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, 48:11 and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." 48:15 This was Jesus' farewell as He was 48:18 getting about ready to leave. 48:19 He was telling that "we should go," 48:21 and I think we need to look at this... four words 48:23 very quickly - I just picked out, you would do the same 48:25 thing is simply "go." We know this. 48:28 This was the great command. 48:30 The great command, Kenny, is "go," not sit, 48:32 not recline back, but "go." 48:34 Put your running shoes on! 48:36 We don't need the clodhoppers on now, we need tennis shoes on. 48:40 We need to be running with this gospel message... 48:42 as soon as you hear it, I can sense it from each one 48:46 of you here and regardless if it's been 20 years since you 48:49 have or 30 or 5 years or whatever it might be, 48:51 you put running shoes on because you know time is short, 48:54 and we've got to make haste while there's still day. 48:56 The command "go" to the Christian world what give them 48:59 ... this end message - this is what it's all about. 49:02 Jesus talked about, we said twelve disciples, 49:04 well, eleven listened to Him. 49:06 You know, we look at - they learned in the school 49:08 of Christ... now the apostle, Mark 3:14, talks about that. 49:12 Mark 3:14 tells in the beginning "He ordained twelve, it says. 49:16 This is what it is and that they should be with Him 49:19 that He might send them forth to preach." 49:21 What did Jesus grab, as it were... "Come and follow Me, 49:24 come and follow Me." He wanted to train and 49:26 teach them so they might go out 49:28 and give this message to the world. Amen! 49:30 #2... The point here is, make disciples. 49:32 We know that we go and then we make disciples. 49:34 We teach - that's what it means, isn't it? 49:36 So we have a responsibility to share this good news, 49:41 and every time I hear it, I get excited about it 49:43 because it just concretes it for me. 49:46 It's just like - give it the acid test and then the truth 49:49 is really going to shine, it's really going to come out 49:51 bright and we need to be doing that right now. 49:54 That is part of what God has asked us to do. 49:57 Matthew 5:13-16, moving quickly... 50:00 Jesus tells us (notice this) I love this! 50:03 He said, "Ye are the salt of the earth!" 50:05 Why would He look, Pastor, at any of us and I hear 50:08 Him say, "You are the salt of the earth." 50:09 Look at me and say, "You are the scum 50:11 of the earth and He would be right! 50:12 Hmm - somebody is not with me. 50:14 Why? Because the Bible said, "There's none good, no, 50:16 not one; there's none righteous, no, not one." 50:18 We realize it's through Him, but this is how He looks at us 50:22 in the love that He has for me. 50:23 Shelley, He looks at you and He says, "Oh My girl, 50:25 you are the light of the world," think about it. 50:28 Light of the world and then He says, "Let your light 50:31 so shine before men." 50:33 But how beautiful that is, "Let your light shine before men." 50:37 He said we're the "Salt of the earth." 50:39 I say - how wonderful that is! 50:41 He's trusting you, He's trusting me to be 50:43 the salt of the earth. 50:45 Jesus said to His disciples, He says to us... 50:48 You are my preservative, salt was. 50:54 You are my preservative. 50:56 You're going to preserve what I've laid out here for us. 50:59 How beautiful that is! 51:00 You are My Oooo, you're My seasoning! 51:04 You're My flavoring - that we all like a little bit sometimes. 51:08 Do you get it? Yeah, we get that! 51:10 You're my purifying influence. 51:13 Now think how beautiful that is in this world. 51:15 And you are to remain in close contact with Me, 51:20 and with My fellowman. 51:22 This is where it's all going to work out, 51:23 close fellowships. 51:25 Salvation - Our fellowman is, to me, is my primary 51:30 responsibility. 51:32 I want all of us to feel that our primary responsibility 51:36 is to win souls for Jesus Christ. 51:37 We know He does it all, but I said a long time ago, 51:40 when we started ministry, I said, "Lord, I can't do 51:42 this, can't do that, don't have that, don't have..." 51:44 He said, "Exactly right, you can't even speak properly, 51:46 but that's alright." He said, "I'll do it for you." 51:49 You show up and you've done your study, you do what 51:52 can, you show up and then I'll take mess you're 51:54 getting ready to make and I'll make it where people 51:56 can hear it, understand it, and the conviction will come." 51:59 That was the deal we made many years ago, 52:00 and we still keep that deal. 52:02 No, He never dared to show up if you haven't studied... 52:04 and tried to do it. We know that. 52:07 The gospel that came to Matthew 24 is going to be 52:09 preached... how far? To all the world. 52:12 Yeah, for a witness and then the end. 52:14 Number 4 is to be baptized. 52:16 So you go forth, you go and then you teach and then you 52:20 baptize and you make disciples. 52:23 That's a pretty simple mission, the way it looks to me. 52:25 And that's what I think the pastors and the teachers 52:27 always try to instill upon every person who is out there, 52:30 go and let's get with the program here. 52:32 Anchored, rooted in Jesus Christ. 52:35 We need to have a missionary spirit. 52:38 You can read a lot of things, we won't have time for. 52:40 The "Spirit of Prophecy" says all the time, "The church 52:43 needs a missionary spirit." 52:45 We need the Holy Spirit of God. 52:47 We need to realize that it should be part of our 52:50 character as part of what we do is in the church. 52:52 I read something here, it's kind of interesting, 52:54 some of this comes from the "Spirit of Prophecy" here, 52:56 and you can throw it out if you don't like it. 52:58 It's okay because, you know, some people don't like 53:01 things - it's hard to digest certain things even if it 53:03 be true and it's 5-Testimonies, part of this... 53:06 It says, "There is no place... and I'm talking about this now, 53:09 "There's no place for the slothful in the great work." 53:13 In this world, there is no place for the slothful. 53:15 There's no place for the self-indulgent. 53:17 There's no place for those who are incapable of 53:21 (notice this) making life a success in any calling. 53:25 This really gets down to it, oh boy! 53:27 No place for the half-hearted. 53:31 Men who are not fervent in spirit willing to endure 53:35 hardness, opposition, reproach or death for Christ sake. 53:40 The "Spirit of Prophecy" said that there's no place 53:42 in the work of Christ for that. 53:44 I see as I look for that, I've flunked a few of those, 53:48 and the only thing I can do and I encourage you if you 53:50 happen to flunk some of these things here because sometimes 53:52 it might have been half-hearted. 53:54 I only go to God... and we've been talking 53:56 about prayer and the power of prayer... "Oh God 53:58 forgive me for being half-hearted... 54:00 set me on fire! Set me on fire so I 54:02 won't be able to sit down." 54:04 You know, everywhere I go, I'm going to scream 54:05 and blow the trumpet so loud that somebody is going 54:07 to hear and it's going to wake the dead. Amen! 54:09 And that's what we should be doing. 54:10 Notice the article goes on and it talks about... 54:12 In Christian ministry, (now check this one) 54:16 In Christian ministry, (now I better not even say it) 54:19 Well, in Christian ministry, listen Pastor, in Christian 54:23 ministry there is no place for drones. 54:26 Drones! You know drone, drone bee. 54:29 The male bee, you know why? 54:32 Because they don't work, they live off of everybody else. 54:35 Did you get that here? Thank you for clarifying. 54:38 You know what, (I'll say it a different way), 54:41 they don't sting! Ooo. 54:44 There's no place for drones in the ministry of Christ. 54:48 They don't sting, they don't work, 54:51 in other words, they are loafers. 54:56 Okay, I know it's a little too much for somebody. 55:00 And it goes on, it says... because too many of us are 55:02 doing slipshod work; we're careless, 55:05 we're irreverent - they would be better - I might have to 55:08 quit on this one... They would be better 55:10 tilling the soil than teaching the sacred word of God. 55:14 So if you're not serious about it... (preach it brother) 55:20 go get another job. 55:21 I mean, really, if we're not serious... 55:23 you think that's being smart, that's really not smart! 55:25 READ the servant of Christ, how she says how we're living 55:29 in this time and how we need to be SO tuned in 55:32 to the end and how close it is that if you're not 55:36 really serious about pastors and teachers and leaders, 55:38 you're always looking at... you don't want to 55:40 be unified; you don't want to work together; 55:41 you don't love this message; really, really it would be 55:45 better for you to go... just get another job because God 55:48 is calling for those who are going to be workers 55:50 and good worker bees for Him. 55:52 Remember, no drones in the service of God. 55:56 Oh boy, that's a wakeup call 55:57 to some church leaders, isn't it? 56:03 We see how important church organization is crucial to the 56:09 mission and also it is crucial to developing unity. 56:14 Quick closing thought from each of you... 56:17 Wow, I tell you... it's amazing, I'm just so blessed by 56:20 what we talked about here today. 56:21 I'm just going to say... "Be what you will want 56:25 others to emulate." Amen! Amen! 56:29 My closing thought would simply be... 56:32 This was on church organization and unity... 56:36 What better way to unify God's people than through 56:38 the principles of God's word. 56:40 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word, 56:43 so always point to the word and you're pointing to Jesus. 56:47 Jesus came to redeem us; He came to set us free; 56:50 He came to purify us; He came to sanctify us; 56:53 and to reconcile us to the Father. Amen! 56:56 Said simply, "Go, teach, baptize, make disciples, 57:00 and there's no room for drones. 57:03 You know, I think that it has occurred to me how important 57:07 it is that we pray for our church leaders, 57:12 and I just want to challenge you because time is short. 57:16 Pray for your church leaders, hold them before the Lord. 57:19 Our prayer for you is grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus 57:22 Christ, the love of the Father and the fellowship of the 57:25 Holy Spirit is with you always. |
Revised 2018-12-20