Just pray that you'd be with all of us,
that the service is everything is done decently
in an order that you open our ears to the message
and that you fill Pastor Oz with your spirit.
These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
All right, for our next hymn this morning,
turn, if you would, to number 14, Neil at the Cross.
Hymn number 14, Neil at the Cross.
We'll sing there starting on the first, Neil at the cross, Christ will meet you there,
come while he waits.
have a bulletin raise your hand and usher will bring you one we did get our internet fixed so
hopefully no more bill or no more cars into our building anytime soon. Galatians chapter one verse
four is our bible memory passage of the week keep working on this chapter on the inside you'll see
our service times listed Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m our evening service at 4 30 p.m and our midweek
Soul winning times are listed there.
All those meet here at the church building.
And just remember that Saturday is our special soul winning rally
where we have a short soul winning challenge,
a song, we go out and preach the gospel in the community here.
And this Saturday, I know we're going to have a lot of people from out of town, so it definitely would be a great Saturday to go to our soul-winning rally.
Nursing Home Ministry schedule is listed there. Brother Theodore is preaching today. Brother Eric next week.
Our year-to-date statistics are there. If you have any salvations, make sure to report those.
Please be in prayer for Miss Whitney Reed for her pregnancy.
Also, we have some upcoming events this Friday, January 31st, at 7 o'clock p.m.
Really excited to have Pastor Steven Anderson preaching for us from Faith Ward Baptist Church.
And there's a lot of people coming from Texas and just around the area, so it's going to be a great evening.
Definitely come, bring your family and friends. It's going to be hard preaching and a great time of fellowship.
February 2nd is going to be our men's preaching night for the PM service.
And today is the cutoff to sign up for that.
So if you want to preach in that service, sign up by today.
Last day, you could sign up and also after that.
We're going to be having a potluck in the evening.
So bring something to share for that.
February 14th, that's a Friday at 7 o'clock PM.
We're having a sweetheart banquet.
And the cutoff to sign up for that is the 7th.
So one week before, that's the cutoff to sign up for that.
So if any Texas friends are listening online,
make sure to get in contact with me by the 7th
so I could order all that food.
April 19th is our Easter soul-winning marathon here in Oklahoma City.
May 16th through the 18th is the King James Conference at Sher Foundation Baptist Church
in Vancouver, Washington. It's going to be a great conference.
May 31st is the Durant, Oklahoma soul-winning marathon teaming up with Steadfast Baptist Church.
June 28th, we're going and just having a fellowship day at the Tinker Air Show at the Air Force Base here in town.
On August 27th through the 31st is the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship.
It's going to be an awesome conference.
Hard preaching, they always have great events.
You know, in the past they've had like a softball tournament.
They've had jump houses for the kids and just all sorts of really fun stuff.
It's going to be a great conference.
October 6th through the 11th is our Bahamas mission trip.
I know many of you are planning on going.
If you have already bought your tickets,
make sure to email your itinerary
to Steadfast Baptist Church.
They're the ones running that mission's trip,
so make sure to get in contact with them.
Online giving, if you'd like to do that,
is that QR code there on the bulletin.
On the back is our prayer list.
There's a couple additions and updates this week,
so make sure to be praying for each other on that.
And as always, if you have any prayer requests,
please email the church,
and I'd be happy to add that for you.
It's gonna be it for announcements this morning.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song.
All right, for our third song this morning,
turn if you would to number 23.
There's Power in the Blood.
Hymn number 23 2 3 there is power in the blood
Hymn 23 there on the first
As the offering plates are being passed, turn if you would to 1 Timothy chapter number 3.
1 Timothy chapter 3.
First Timothy chapter 3 Bible reads this is a true saying if a man desired the office of a bishop
He desired the good work a bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife
Vigilant sober of good behavior given to hospitality app to teach not given to wine no striker
Not greedy a filthy looker, but patient not a brawler not covetous
One that ruleeth well his own house having his children and subjection with all gravity for if a man know not how to rule
His own house how shall he take care of the church of God not a novice less being lifted up with pride
He fall into the condemnation of the devil moreover
He must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil
Likewise must must the deacons be grave not double-tongued not given to much wine not greedy a filthy looker
holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
And let these also first be proved.
Then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless.
Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchased to themselves a good degree,
and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
These things ride I unto thee hoping to come unto thee shortly
But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God
Which is a church of the living God the pillar and the ground of the truth and without controversy
Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh
Justified in the spirit seen of angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory
Father we thank you for
for your for this day we thank you for allowing us to gather here today in your
name I pray that you be with the service today that you bless pastor that you
helping preach preach his message father and just give us the years and
the hearts to understand father and just pray with you that you be with the
service and it's in Jesus name we pray amen all right well we're here in 1st
Timothy chapter number three
And I want to read verse number one.
It says, this is a true saying,
if a man desire the office of a bishop,
he desire if a good work.
And the title of my sermon this morning is
Ministry Lessons, Ministry Lessons.
I want to preach a sermon this morning
about the topic of ministry.
And don't think that this sermon won't apply to you
because the truth is that every single person
in this room is in the ministry.
You know, the Bible says, seeing we have this ministry.
we faint not. So some people get the idea that, well, you're only in the ministry if you're in
some sort of ordained position or if you're some sort of full-time employee.
But the truth is, is that all of us are in the ministry.
We've all been given the great commission.
But also, you know, this sermon might be helpful
if you do desire someday to be in an ordained position
or work for a church or something like that.
I'm gonna preach about some ministry lessons this morning.
And you're like, well, you know,
you've only been ordained for a few months.
Why would you preach this?
That's true, but here's the thing.
All my points are coming from the Bible.
And I've worked in full-time ministry since 2020.
So I'm not just gonna be preaching my opinion this morning.
We're gonna look at scripture.
Lesson number one, ministry is work.
Ministry is work.
Some people get the idea,
and in some churches they have this culture,
where people who work in the ministry,
they're kind of escaping from hard work,
or working just a ton of hours or something like that.
But look at 1st Timothy, chapter three, verse one,
it says, this is a true saying,
if a man desired the office of a bishop,
he desired it a good work.
So how does the Bible describe being a pastor, being a bishop?
The Bible describes it as work and not just work.
It's not just menial work that we should look down on or think that it's not as important
as, you know, working out in the world.
The Bible says that this is a good work.
Now, recently I heard a pastor refer to working full time in the ministry as not being a real job.
And I'm just thinking, wow, that's a lot different than what the Bible says,
because here we are in the Bible and it says that if you desire the office of a bishop,
you desire a good work.
And, you know, it really just shows, and it really reveals, someone's heart.
When they look at the work of God, which in my estimation is the most valuable work that
there is.
It's the most important work in this world, but when someone looks at the work of God
and says, that's not real work, that's not a real job, it really shows how they themselves
view God, and how they themselves view the ministry.
And especially coming from a pastor, it's like, why would a pastor disparage the work
You know, it kind of reflects in someone's work and performance as a pastor when they themselves are disparaging the ministry.
That's a shame. That's an embarrassment.
Look at verse number two. Now here's the thing. You say, well, prove to me it's real work.
Okay, let's look at the qualifications of this job.
Let's look at the qualifications of being a bishop because you would think that if it's a real job,
it would have high qualifications, right?
Real work requires lots of skill and qualifications.
You know, if I was to hire someone, or let's just say some random company,
you know, if NASA was to hire an engineer,
you think that the qualifications for that would be high or low?
It'd be very high, right?
Well, let's look at the qualifications of a bishop in the Bible.
Verse 2, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to whine, no striker, not given to a filthy looker.
But, patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleeth well his own house, having
his children in subjection with all gravity, for if a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the church of God?
Not a novice, lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil.
Look at these qualifications.
Why would God give such high qualifications for an office that's, quote, not real work?
That's not important work.
No, the reason that the qualifications are very high is because the job is very important.
And the work of the ministry is something that we should esteem very highly.
And yes, there is a culture in some churches,
and in a lot of old IFB churches,
there's this culture where a lot of people
in the ministry don't work very hard.
And that is a shame that that stereotype can be true,
like the stereotype of a moochinary.
What am I talking about?
Someone that is a full-time ordained missionary,
they don't work a secular job,
they get their money and their livelihood
through the offerings of a church
or usually tons of churches.
And the deal in that contract is that
you're out preaching the gospel,
you're out starting churches,
you're out doing the work of God,
and so the church pays your bills.
That's supposed to be the contract.
But many of these missionaries are more like
Muchenere's where they send you a letter every month saying like, hey, you know, we preach the gospel to one person and we're really working on Susie.
We've been praying for her for years.
We finally invited her over to our house for the first time and, you know, we told her that God loves her.
Just keep sending checks.
You know, your work, your money is doing a lot of great work for God.
Like that's a bad reputation.
You know what's a good reputation? A guy like evangelist or bannock in the Philippines.
A guy like Pastor Matthew Stuckey that are getting tens of thousands of people saved every year.
You know, I saw evangelist or Bannock posted on Facebook this weekend that he was there preaching in the schools there and
What we do it what we did at steadfast when we went to the Bahamas is before we preached in a public school
We handed out sheets of paper to everyone and we had them answer some questions at the end of it to gauge
Kind of their understanding and if they changed their mind about the gospel. I think the questions were like
What do you have to do to be saved?
Can you lose your salvation?
And did you change your mind about anything today?
Something like that was the questions.
And Evangelist Herbanic received back a written piece
of paper from one of these students saying like,
hey, thank you for the work that you're doing.
I was planning on ending my life today.
And now I'm not.
You know, that's great work, that's great work that Evangelist Urbanik is doing, that he's saving souls from hell
and by preaching the gospel, you know, you don't know the impact that you're even making on someone's carnal life in this world.
And this person was going to commit suicide, but when they learned of the love of God, the grace of God, and salvation,
they said, you know what, I'm not going to do that.
You know, praise God for guys like Evangelist Urbanik that are out doing the work of the Lord.
Why would you look at that position?
Why would you look at the ministry and say,
oh, that's not a real job?
That's not real work.
You know, that's a shame.
That's a disgusting attitude to have.
And you know, I'll just speak as a fool for a minute
because I've been accused of saying like,
I've never had a real job.
Yeah, I just waltzed in here and somehow became a pastor
because I've never worked hard.
I've never had a real job.
I was falsely accused saying other people
have paid my bills for me,
even though my parents have never paid any of my bills
or anything like that.
You know, I have worked as leading a crew
in a rebar manufacturing plant for several years.
I built roads in the city of Portland.
I've operated heavy equipment.
I've done commercial driving and stuff like that.
And look, yeah, I don't have some sort of white collar
education.
I couldn't afford to go to college.
I don't have this crazy high paying job.
But it's a bad attitude.
And it's quite honestly just gross and disgusting
for a pastor to sit up like he's some sort of aristocrat,
like he's some sort of higher class person looking down
on working class men.
That is gross. That is a bad look. You know why? Because Jesus himself as a child was a carpenter.
The Apostle Paul made tents. Many of the men of God were fishermen, were cattlemen, taking care of sheep and things like that.
What a gross and disgusting attitude to look down on a working-class person.
You know, I never ever want to have that attitude in this church.
Look, I am all for anyone who knows me knows I love education and reading and getting smarts and I hope that you get the highest paying job you possibly can.
I hope you're not content where you are as far as your skills and knowledge. I hope you work hard.
But look, we're never going to look down on someone in this church because they work a job with their hands.
That's gross. That's a disgusting attitude. We are not going to tolerate that type of attitude.
But here's the thing, the ministry though, whether you say, okay, blue-collar, white-collar work, which one's real work, whatever your view on that, the Bible teaches that ministry is the highest calling of work.
That is the highest calling of work in life.
Go to Matthew chapter 4, Matthew chapter number 4.
Would someone please bring me a water if they could? Thank you.
Matthew chapter number 4.
When you get there look at verse number 18
It says and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee
Saw two brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were
Fishers so notice these were just normal guys
Andrew and Peter they're fishermen. Thank you. They're just doing their job
They're doing work, but notice what Jesus said verse 19 and he saith unto them
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
And straight way, they left their nets and followed him.
I guess Andrew and Peter here are just bums because they went from fishing to not real
work, right?
Because working for Jesus, working in the ministry, that's not real work.
So Jesus told Simon, Peter here, and Andrew, oh, just come work with me and just not do
real work.
This isn't important.
This isn't a real job.
Or is Jesus calling them to the highest possible good in their life?
to work in the ministry.
And it's like, yeah, even though in my past,
I was doing those other jobs,
ever since I got saved, I had the desire to be a pastor.
And so I dedicated myself wholly towards pursuing that.
And in 2020, thank the Lord,
I got to work for Pastor Shelley,
full time in ministry at 23 years old.
I don't know why you would ever disparage someone
or look down on someone for choosing that at a young age
rather than pursuing something else.
Like, why would, that makes no sense.
And sometimes people get this attitude where like, they look down on someone for not having
as much experience in the world as they do.
It's like, my wife has never worked a secular job.
My wife has no idea what that's like.
You know, it wouldn't make sense to be like, oh.
Oh, Jasmine, you don't even know what the world's like.
You've never worked a real job.
That's what she's supposed to be doing.
She's not supposed to be working a real job, if you will.
Her job is way harder than that, anyways.
But don't get this view like, oh, honey,
you don't really know what the world's like.
You've never worked a secular job.
You've never had to clock in at Starbucks.
Yeah, she did what was right.
Oh, it's like, oh, Pastor Oz, you know, you never had this super high-paying white-collar
job.
It's like, I went into the ministry at 23 years old.
Why is that something you would look down on?
Why wouldn't you say like, hey, that's good that you actually pursued the highest possible
good at a young age?
And it's funny how people will despise a young pastor or a young person in the ministry as
they're in their 30s, 40s, 50s, whatever.
Meanwhile, in their 20s, what were they doing?
You know, the Bible says let no man despise thy youth.
And I'm not going to tolerate someone looking down on me
because I went into the ministry at a young age.
The question is, are you working in the ministry?
The question is, are you qualified?
The question is not, well, how old is this person?
That does not matter.
What matters is the work of the ministry.
Go to Acts chapter number four.
Acts chapter number four.
But you know, I like how in Matthew four,
and put them to work in the ministry.
Why? Because they know how to work hard.
Acts chapter number four, verse 13,
it says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,
they marveled and they took knowledge of them
that they had been with Jesus.
So notice people looked at Peter and John.
perceive them as unlearned and ignorant. Now the question is, was that true? No, it
was not true. These men were very smart. These men had the word of God. These men
were inspired of the Holy Ghost, but oftentimes the world or just carnal,
you know, fleshly people will look down on the work of the ministry and say,
that person's ignorant, that person is unlearned. Yet, these people were not
because they had been with Jesus.
And look, like I said, anyone that knows me, I'm for education, I'm for reading, I love reading, I love learning all those things.
But you know what? What's important is not how you're perceived by the world with how many letters you have after your name, with all your degrees.
What matters is whether or not you've been with Jesus. What matters is if you're reading the Word of God and actually doing the work of the ministry.
Heard him gladly and is it any wonder how when we go soul winning? Who is it that gets saved?
Isn't it working class people?
Isn't it just average Joe Plummer, electrician, bus driver, whatever the job is.
It's usually not a bunch of doctors getting saved.
It's usually not a bunch of bankers getting saved, financial analysts, all these really
high paying people.
Now look, there's nothing wrong with those jobs in and of themselves, maybe banker, okay.
But there's nothing wrong with having a high paying job or a white collar type job.
That's great.
I work in IT now.
or something like that but you know what the common man heard Jesus gladly that's who we should be
reaching look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 5 these 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying
go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not but go rather
And as you go, notice he's going to give them all their job tasks here.
Preach, saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Hey, preaching is work.
Those of you that have written sermons, that have preached full-length sermons,
you know that that is a lot of work.
It takes having had read the Bible for years and studying the Bible,
and actually getting your thoughts together and making observations of the text,
explaining what it means, making application to people's life.
That is hard work.
Okay, then what does a pastor do?
He does that three times a week for his whole life.
Oh, that's not work though.
That's not real work, you know, you have to be swinging it, you know, you have to be typing on a computer for it to be real work.
Preaching isn't real work.
Why is Jesus sending men to do not real work?
Why is Jesus saying go and preach when that's not real work?
Look at verse 8.
Heal the sick.
So they're doing other tasks. Healing.
Cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely you have received, freely give.
Notice he's giving them a lot to do.
The disciples of Jesus Christ were not just sitting around wondering what to do with life.
There was times where they didn't have enough time to eat.
There was times where they went on vacation and their entire vacation was taken by ministering
to people.
And if anyone wants to someday work in the ministry as far as being an employee or ordained,
you better go into the mentality that it's hard work.
I will tell you this, of all the jobs I've ever had, the ministry is by far the hardest.
It's by far the one that takes the most hours, the most work.
So don't ever think like, oh, I want to be a pastor so I could escape my construction
job.
Look, your construction job will be a lot easier because you could clock out at the
end of the day.
You know, that doesn't happen in ministry.
Your vacations, you could be working.
Middle of the night, you could be working.
Weekends.
Family time.
Don't go into ministry if you really value having free time
and having a bunch of just extra stuff to do with your life.
Look at verse nine.
Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses,
nor script for your journey,
neither two coats,
neither shoes,
nor yet staves.
For the what?
Workman is worthy of his meat.
And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy and thereby
till you go thence.
Notice Jesus was saying, hey, don't bring money, don't bring silver, don't bring all
these things because you're going to get paid, you're going to get the rewards of the work
that you're doing.
And Jesus and his apostles did not go around working secular jobs, taking paychecks.
They went around and lived off of the hospitality and blessings of other people giving to the work of God.
You know, that is the same way it should be in the New Testament with God's ministers,
that if they have sown spiritual things, that they would reap carnal things.
Now, why would God tell us to do that if this wasn't real work?
You think that God just wants ministers just ripping people off?
Just being lazy, just taking from people that are out working hard, that makes absolutely no sense.
But you know, I would be scared to give money to a pastor who says,
oh yeah, the ministry is not real work.
That's not a real job. I'm thinking like, well, then why would I give you money then?
Because I actually want the money of God to go towards preaching the gospel.
Going on mission strips, putting on events to bless God's people, being hospitable to God's people,
running a church where you're actually going to get fed spiritually and hear good sermons
from someone who actually esteems the work of God as the highest possible good work that you could do.
That if you desire the office of a bishop, you're desiring a good work.
That is a red flag to hear that type of aristocratic nonsense from a pastor.
So just know if you want to go into the ministry go into it expecting to work
if you don't it's gonna be a rude awakening for you and look I'm not
complaining about the amount of work that is because it's what I wanted to do
it's what I signed up for and I love this job and I loved working at stead
past Baptist Church being just a church employee being just a servant of
Pastor Shelley and the church there I love that job that was meaningful work I
enjoyed it but let me tell you what it was hard work
There was a lot of battles, there was a lot of long days, long nights, endless battles, endless tasks.
There's no ending your task list at that job. It just never ends, but it's good work.
I enjoy and I love that work.
Look at Luke chapter 2 verse 43.
And when they had fulfilled the days and they returned,
the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem.
And Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
So Joseph and his mother Mary kind of lost Jesus here.
They're like, whoa, where's Jesus?
But they, supposing him to have been in the company,
went a day's journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk.
and acquaintance. So they went a whole day's journey away from Jesus, and then they start
looking for him. That would be a very terrible situation as a parent. Thankfully, I've never
been in that situation. I hope I never am. Verse 45, when they found him not, they turned back
And it came to pass that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.
And when they saw Him, they were amazed.
And His mother said unto Him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
So notice Mary's kind of angry at her son, Jesus, here, and she's saying, like,
what are you doing? We've been looking for you. You know, she's upset.
But notice Jesus' response in verse 49. And he said unto them,
How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my
father's business? He wasn't referring to his stepfather, Joseph's, you know,
And look, I'm not a communist.
I'm not afraid of this word business.
Let me tell you what, church is a business.
Now here's the thing, it's not a carnal business.
We're not in this to make a profit.
We're not in this to get rich,
but we are in here to get rich spiritually
and to enrich other people's lives spiritually
and to make a profit for the kingdom of God.
to take the talents that have been given to us
and not to just bury it in the earth,
like the wicked steward, like the slothful steward,
and say, oh, this isn't a real job,
let's just bury our talents in the earth,
but we're actually trying to make a profit
for our boss, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're actually trying to take the blessings
that God has given to us,
and we're gonna be about our father's business,
and we're gonna make a profit for God.
Go to Mark chapter number three, Mark chapter three.
So you know you're arguing with the Lord Jesus Christ if you're saying that the ministry is not real work because Jesus said
Hey, I've got to be about my father's business mark chapter number three verse 14
Mark chapter three verse 14
And He ordained twelve that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach.
So when Jesus ordained His twelve disciples, He was setting these men aside to not go fish anymore,
to not be publicans, to not be tax collectors, to not do whatever their secular work was.
It was to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, to serve Him, to learn from Him, and to do the works that He called them to do.
verse 15, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils and Simon he surnamed Peter and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James and he surnamed them Boanderese which is the sons of thunder and Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus and Thadius and Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot which also betrayed him and they went into an house.
And the multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread.
So notice how hard his disciples are working that when the multitudes come unto Jesus that
they can't even eat food.
I mean, that's an extreme level of work that they're doing, right?
Because Jesus is diligent, Jesus is working hard, Jesus is succeeding in the ministry,
he's got all these great crowds coming unto him, and his staff, if you will, are running
ragged, right?
They're not even able to eat because they're working so hard.
And notice what Jesus' friend said of it.
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him.
So his friends were like, going to grab him.
And they said, for they said, he is beside himself.
This guy's crazy.
What is this guy doing?
This isn't a healthy lifestyle.
And I'm telling you sometimes if you've known pastors in your life, if you've had any family
members that are pastors or in the ministry, if you've seen it on a close level, you know,
you've probably heard people say like, this is crazy.
Like, why do you do this?
This is a crazy lifestyle or this isn't healthy or hey, you need to get more balance in your
life.
Why?
Because it's real work.
Let me tell you something, before I was ever working full time for a church in the ministry,
I was attending Sher Foundation Baptist Church and it just so happened that my father-in-law was
the pastor. And so I got to see a very close look at the life of a pastor and I'm telling you
that man works his tail off.
When he was working for his company, because he was a bivocational pastor like I am at that time,
he was working full-time in the world doing a job, doing construction.
Oh, I guess that's not a real job, because he was working construction.
But he would work 3 AM to 3 PM on the construction site.
Any time he could sign up for overtime, he would do it.
He worked 3 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Then he'd come home from work and you know what he would do?
I'd see him constantly on the phone,
taking phone calls from church members,
dealing with church issues.
And on top of that, he's gotta preach three times a week.
He's gotta write sermons every single day
after he comes home from work.
He's gotta be studying every single day.
He's gotta run all the church administration.
He has no staff.
He's planning the events.
He's buying the church materials,
he's designing the invitations,
he's doing everything,
and I'm telling you,
pastors work hard.
Pastor Thompson works very hard.
And so I'm glad I got to see that
because when I had that desire
to go in the ministry,
I didn't go into it blind.
I was like,
okay, this is what it's like.
This is very hard.
And let me tell you,
that's exactly what it's like to this day.
But guess what? I'm okay with it because it's good work.
It's the most important work.
Then I go and work for Pastor Shelley.
And again, I'm very close to him.
I get to see the life of a pastor.
Pastor Shelley works like a madman,
where some people might look at him and say
he is beside himself, right?
Because he's just working regular jobs.
He's working side jobs.
And he's pastoring at one time.
He was preaching four times a week for years.
Had multiple church plants.
And I'm telling you, you ought to never look down on a pastor for the work that he does.
I mean, that is so disrespectful to God and you're like almost just disparaging Jesus
and his disciples, when they weren't working a regular job, they were dedicated full time to the ministry
and they were working their tail off. How much even men who are doing both?
I mean, didn't Jesus say that the works that I do, well, you do in greater, right?
There's literally men in this world that are pastors that are full-time pastors and working
a full-time job and dealing with their family and trying to be a good husband and a good
father.
That is work and I am not going to tolerate someone looking down on me for doing that
work.
I don't know why any Christian who actually loves God and the work of God would disparage
that.
It's a disgusting attitude.
Go to John chapter number nine John chapter number nine
And you know what there are lazy pastors out there
There are lazy staff. There are lazy evangelists, but you know what I have not seen that in the new IFB
I have seen pastors and churches work very hard doing great works for God putting on fun events for the church
I mean we are spoiled in the new IFB
that we get all these events that are totally free,
that you don't have to go pay for the church invites.
You know, oftentimes you're getting all this assistance
on foreign missions trips and stuff like that.
I mean, I'll be honest, I couldn't just go to the Bahamas
100% on my own when we did that back in 2022.
You know, the church paid for me to do that
because I was working for the church.
I was helping plan and run that missions trip
and we got almost 1,000 people saved.
That's real work.
John chapter 9 verse 4.
I must work the works of him that sent me.
While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work.
Look, now in this life is the only time we have to do the work of the ministry.
And so whether you're in the ministry full time, however you want to think about that or not,
you know, you should dedicate as much of your life as possible to the work of the ministry.
Because, you know, the night is coming where you're not going to be able to preach the gospel to the lost anymore.
Once you're in heaven, all the souls that you've gotten saved, that's the most you're ever going to get.
Your rewards are settled, your mansion is built, it is what it is, it's done.
Now is the time to do the work of the ministry.
But this type of mentality needs to be rebuked because when a pastor stands up and disparages the work of God,
you know what it's going to do to the congregation? It's going to make them lose zeal.
It's going to make them have a lower view of God, a lower view of the Bible, a lower
view of God's work, and it might cause them to say, well, then I don't need to give as
much time, effort, and energy into the ministry.
Whereas I'm telling you, this is the most important work.
Hey, I'm all for the construction worker.
I'm all for the white-collar, you know, whatever high-paying job it is.
I'm all for both of them, but you know what I want them both to do?
Is to spend as much of their life serving God as possible, because that is the real work
That's the most important work of this world.
Go to Acts chapter number six.
Acts chapter number six.
Act six verse one.
says, and in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the
Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily
ministration. So here in the early church, the work of God is being multiplied,
people are being multiplied, and when there's more people in the ministry, there's more work to be done.
There's more administration to be done, to the point where here the widows were being neglected.
If you read 1 Timothy chapter 5,
the Bible gives stipulations on how a church has the option to take care of widows if she meets
certain qualifications and these widows were being neglected, right? And so verse number two says,
then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, notice it is not
reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. So notice the apostles had a high
They were saying, look, they weren't disparaging working class men, right, because they themselves
came from that.
But they said, it's not reason that we stop reading and studying the Bible, preaching
the Word of God, starting churches, praying for people, counseling people, doing all these
important tasks so that we could take care, currently, of these widows.
So that we could do the daily administration of the church.
You said, that does not make any sense.
Notice the description of these men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom that
we may appoint whom we may appoint over this business.
So notice even the daily administrative work of the church in the Bible.
Here's the King James Bible in front of you, the word of God.
It says it's a business.
Why?
Because it's work.
Now here's the thing.
It's a different kind of work.
And we all have different roles that we could play in the body of Christ.
But by having men that are going to work and take care of daily administration,
take care of logistics, event planning, asset procurement,
taking care of different administrative tasks,
that frees up the apostles to do the work that they are specialized in.
Because the apostles need to be focusing on the work that only they can do.
That is how they're going to be the most effective ministers of Christ.
That's how the church is going to be the most effective.
You know, it wouldn't make sense if the pastor isn't doing the preaching
and isn't doing the counseling and isn't doing the praying for people
and all those things. No, that's not reasonable, the Bible says.
Verse 4 says,
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer
and to the ministry of the Word.
Verse 5.
In the saying, please the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith
and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parminus, and Nicholas,
a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they
laid their hands on them, and the Word of God increased.
And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company
of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Notice how by getting these men into the work of the ministry,
helping with the daily administration,
notice what happened as a result that the Word of God increased.
That more people are getting saved, more work is being done for God.
Now anyone who actually has a high view of the work of God says that's a good thing.
We want more guys like that.
And so don't ever look down on church staff.
You know, Lord willing, if we ever have church staff, I would love to have that someday.
Don't think like, oh, you know, where the pastor's important, but church staff isn't.
No, don't ever look down on those people.
Those people do real work.
That is a real job.
You know, I texted evangelist fur this week, and I was like, hey, just so you know, I guess
you're not working a real job anymore.
He's just like, oh man, you know, hate to see what a real job looks like.
No, evangelist fur works hard.
He has a real job.
And you know, steadfast Baptist church is able to do more for God by having an assistant
like evangelist fur.
And Lord willing, if our church grows and we have that need someday,
you know, we should expect to see the work of God increase
by having another man in the ministry helping out.
And notice how the Bible didn't say,
hey, find some bum who's never worked a real job,
who doesn't know how to work hard and put him in church ministry
because that's not real work.
No, it's like fine men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost.
Fine men who fit all these really big qualifications,
that is going to cause the Word of God to be multiplied.
Go if you would too.
Verse number, oh first Corinthians, first Corinthians chapter number 15, first
Corinthians 15. It's one of the most famous verses for this church here look
at verse 58 it says, therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord.
for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
I mean, how much is this in the Bible?
How could a pastor be so ignorant of Scripture
to sit and disparage the work of God
when God's telling you, hey, be steadfast,
always abound in the work of God?
Why? Because that work is not meaningless.
The work of God is not in vain.
This is the important stuff right here.
Look, I'm for the construction workers,
but all those buildings will be burnt someday.
Everything that you build, that you work in your secular job, every computer that I service,
every software program that I work on, it's all going to be destroyed and forgotten.
And that is actually what's being.
You know what matters?
Souls being saved, sermons being preached that change people's lives, helping people
love God, teaching them how to be better husbands, better wives, better soul winners, better workers
at their job.
These help people's life.
And this is the important work of God.
The chapter, the theme chapter of our verse, Hebrew, or of our church, Hebrews chapter number six.
Hebrews chapter six verse 10, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love,
which you have showed toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.
What does the Bible say? Ministering, ministering to the saints is work and it's labor.
And thank God that God is not unrighteous to forget our work.
Whether you're ordained or not, God sees the work that you do in the ministry.
He sees when you help in this church, when you pray for other people,
when you bless this church with the cleaning or the music or helping plan events or any of those things,
God sees your work and he's not unrighteous to forget it.
He will reward you for that work.
Go to 1st Timothy chapter 4, 1st Timothy 4.
I mean, there's too much Bible on this subject to even hit every verse talking about how
the ministry is work.
First Timothy chapter number four, look at verse 14, neglect not the gift that is in
thee, instructions to a pastor here, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying
on of the hands of the Presbytery, meditate on these things, notice, give thyself holy
that thy profiting may appear to all.
You know, if you are ordained,
if you are ever ordained some day,
if you are working in a church some day,
don't ever view the work of God and the ministry as your side gig.
It's not like, well, you know, I'm a insert your occupation here
and kind of on the side I'm a pastor
or on the side I work for the church, on the side I'm evangelist.
The Bible says,
give yourself wholly to them.
As a minister, you should be dedicating your life as much of your energy, time and heart
as possible into the work of the ministry.
Into the word of God.
Why?
It says that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and
Them that hear thee and of course this isn't talking about spiritual salvation
But it's talking about being saved from living a worthless life or being saved from being punished by God
Or being saved from not having anything to show for your life at the end of it
No, when you actually give yourself to the work of God
and the doctrine, and you preach, that profiting appears to all, and it benefits not just yourself,
it benefits people that hear you. And so we need pastors and ministers to wholly give themselves
to the work of God. Go to Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter 9.
Matthew 9, 37.
Notice the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 9 verse 37 then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
You know, Jesus is saying there's so much work to be done.
There's so much labor to be done for the kingdom of God.
But what is the problem?
Jesus is saying, hey, there's a labor shortage here.
There's not enough people willing to do the job.
That's why he says in verse 38,
pray therefore the Lord of the harvest
that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.
You know, my desire as a pastor
is not to sit here and disparage the work of God.
I mean, that should be obvious, right, that pastors are going to exalt, lift up and honor
the work of God.
Why?
Because we need more people to get involved in the ministry.
We need more church members to not just be passive takers of blessing of a church, but
actually think about ways that they could be a blessing to church.
Ways that they could contribute to the work of God and be a part of the team, not just
And beyond that, we need some men to actually not view being a pastor in the ministry as
not a real job, but men who are actually willing to sacrifice their desires, their career ambitions
and their goals to be willing to put that underneath Jesus' Christ's desires of having
men in the ministry.
You know, because we need more people like that today, there was a labor shortage then,
there's a labor shortage now.
We can't just plant a great church in every city in America, wouldn't that be nice if
Wouldn't that be nice if we just had all these people ready to be pastors and just start churches all over this world?
Look, you know what that's going to take?
Men who have the mentality of dedicating themselves to real work.
To real work and their wives to dedicate themselves to assisting them in that work.
Go to Galatians chapter 1.
So number one, lessons in ministry.
Ministry is work.
ministry is real work. Expect that going into it. Number two,
ministry is not about pleasing men.
Do not sign up for ministry
if you want to be liked, if you want to be everyone's friend,
if you want to never be criticized, if you never want to see
a bunch of lies and railing accusations about you all over the internet
all the time. You will not be liked if you go into the ministry. Look at
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel.
Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ
But though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you
Let him be a cursed as we said before so say I now again if any man
Preach any other gospel unto you then that you have received let him be a curse notice for do I now persuade men or God?
Or do I seek to please men?
For if I yet please, men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
And you know, ministers' goal is to serve people,
but their goal is not just to be liked by people at any cost.
Their goal is not just to go along, to get along, and be everyone's friend.
You know, if someone's preaching a false gospel, then a pastor or preacher needs to
rebuke that and say, look, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, let them be accursed.
Now, what people who please men do is they just accept all doctrines, right?
They water down the doctrine, they're not clear in their preaching, they're like Billy
Graham.
Who says like hey, you know as long as you're just following the light that God's given to you
I think you'll be saved. I think there'll be Muslims in heaven
I think they'll be Hindus in heaven right that's someone that doesn't please God who's not interested in being a servant of Christ
They're interested in pleasing men, but you know real ministers quite frankly. They're just gonna piss people off all the time
You know, it's kind of just a full-time job of just pissing people off.
And it's not because they're just, you know, purposely being abrasive or just being a jerk
to people on a personal one-on-one level, but it's because the doctrine of the Bible
pisses people off.
And do I have to remind you that Jesus Christ was murdered, was crucified for his preaching?
Never said anything wrong.
Never preached a single lie.
Never said anything out of context.
Never went a little too far in his examples or illustrations.
It was all perfect.
He was still murdered.
He was still hated of this world.
And don't get this attitude like,
oh, well, you know, the reason why you're hated
and why other new IEP pastors are hated
is because you guys are constantly going over the top.
You guys are so abrasive.
No, it's because we're preaching the Bible.
And I literally know a pastor who was this close to getting punched in the face just for preaching the gospel.
And I know two other soul winners who were punched in the face just for preaching the gospel.
So it's not just the preaching on the sodomites that make people mad.
It's the gospel that offends people oftentimes.
And I literally know soul winners who were assaulted for preaching the gospel.
And all throughout history, Christians have been killed and murdered by the Jews for preaching the gospel.
Today, the Jews continue to persecute Christianity because of the gospel.
But you know, even beyond the gospel, a minister should be willing to preach anything that
this book says, regardless of whether people like it or not.
And you know, I want to be friends with you guys.
It's my personality, naturally, just to want to be friends.
But I will be a pastor before I will be a friend.
I will tell you things that you need to hear that no one else in your life will tell you.
I will do that for you as a pastor because I love you
and because I'm not here to seek to please men, I'm here to please God.
And if you go into the ministry, that is the attitude that you must approach things with
is, hey, I am not here to be liked.
You know, people think, like, oh, you know, you go to a conference and you preach to the big crowd.
Yeah, that never happens, really, okay?
And if it does, it's like one night, but most of the time it's like getting criticized,
tons of people hating you, the news articles, all the lies, all the crappy, lying, you know, backstabbing,
disgusting pastors that want to sit here and disparage your work.
You know, it's dealing with stuff like that.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, 1 Thessalonians chapter number 2.
1 Thessalonians 2 verse 1 says for yourselves brethren know our entrance in unto you that
it was not in vain.
But even after that, we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as you know, at Philippi.
We were bold in our God to speak unto you, the gospel of God, with much contention.
He's saying, look, even though we were hated, despised, even though there was all this drama and contention,
we were still bold to preach the word of God, because the Apostle Paul was not in it to be liked.
He was not in it to please men.
He was there to preach the truth to God's people.
Look at verse number three.
For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile.
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak.
Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness,
nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ.
So, you know, the Apostle Paul is kind of giving us an insight as to some of the reasons why other people do go into the ministry.
You know, he's saying like, look, I came to you to preach the word of God, to preach the gospel.
even with all the haters and liars and all the drama
because I care about the truth because I care about you.
But look, some people, what do they do?
He says, nor have men sought we glory in verse six.
Some men go into it because they seek glory.
Some men go into it because they want to be seen.
They want to be exalted as a person with power.
Notice with flattering words in verse five
or a cloak of covetousness.
Some people, they want to preach, they want to start a church
so they can just flatter their congregation
and tell them lies, sweet lies that they want to hear
as a cloak of covetousness to get rich.
Right there are pastors out there that go into the ministry because they view it as some sort of money making scheme
And so they don't sit there and think like what does the Bible say?
What is true?
What is you know what God actually says they think what's going to bring the most amount of people into these doors?
You know what what programs do we need to start building that's going to get as many people in here?
And as many people start tithing their money to me because to them it's not about the truth
They have a cloak of covetousness. They want to make money
Go to 1st Corinthians chapter number four, 1st Corinthians chapter four, you know
you should be in the ministry for love of the truth,
for love of people and to want to sincerely help people.
But realize you'll be criticized, you'll be hated,
you'll be disparaged, you'll be lied about.
You know, I saw a funny comment a couple of months ago
and it really made me laugh.
This person's like, you know,
Pastor Oz, you sound like a deranged lunatic
when you're preaching and you need to go back
and listen to your sermon and ask yourself
if this was something that God would approve of
and I'm just like, check.
I'll sleep like a baby.
Yep, it's something God would approve of
because it came from the King James Bible.
And so no, I'm not ashamed of anything I've preached.
I'm not ashamed of how I preach
because it's all from the Bible.
And I sleep just like a baby
knowing that God did approve of that sermon.
Go to 1 Corinthians 4-9, it says,
for I think that God have set forth us the apostles last
as it were appointed to death,
for we are made a spectacle unto the world.
and to angels and to men.
You know, what's a spectacle?
It's just something that everyone just wants to gawk at and look at, right?
Like a circus, like, well, this is crazy.
What is this, you know, weird show going on here?
And that's kind of what the world views pastors, real pastors, as like sometimes.
It's just a spectacle.
It's something that's crazy to people.
Verse 10, we are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ.
We are weak, but ye are strong.
Even under this present hour, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place.
And labor, working with our own hands, being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat.
We are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day.
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you.
You know, that is the warning that every man needs to hear before deciding to go into the ministry that, hey, this is not a job you sign up for because you like to be liked because you like to be, you know,
adulated by other people and congratulated, you know, those times are few and far between.
Most of the time it's going to be being despised, being hated, being lied about, having all these issues and problems in life.
But here's the thing, if you're warned about that before and you expect it and you still choose the job.
you can know you're doing things for the right reason.
You can know that you actually want to help God's people
and do the work of God,
and then it doesn't bother you that much.
You know, obviously at times we're still human beings,
it could bother you sometimes,
but you know what, at the end of the day,
99% of the time, it really doesn't bother me.
I've seen it for a long time,
I've been through it for a long time,
it just is what it is, it's part of the ministry.
Verse 15, for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers?
For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel, wherefore I beseech you be ye
followers of me."
You know, and if a church has a pastor that goes through all these things, that's in it
for the right reason, that doesn't have some sort of cloak of covetousness, that's not
flattering you, that's actually preaching you the truth of God's Word, you should follow
that person.
You should do what he says here.
I beseech you be followers of me.
Go to Matthew chapter 10.
We'll skip some of this for sake of time here.
Matthew chapter 10.
Lesson number three in ministry lessons is that ministry is about other people.
Ministry is about other people.
Now here's the thing.
Like I said, you don't do this to please other people, right?
Ministry isn't there to please man, but ministry is there to serve other people, to bless other people.
Matthew 20 verse 25 says this,
But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.
So oftentimes in the world, the person who's in charge, they oftentimes have this mentality
that they don't need to serve anyone, they don't need to help anyone, they kind of view
leadership as everybody should be serving them.
But that's not the way it should be in church.
That's not how ministry works.
You know, someone doesn't become a pastor
so that they could just be served by other people.
The job of a pastor is to serve God's people.
The job of an evangelist is to serve other people.
The deacon, his job is to serve the church, right?
It's all about service.
And Jesus says, if you want to be great,
if you want to be great in the kingdom of God,
the way to do that is actually to humble yourself
and to serve other people.
Verse, says, verse 27.
And whosoever will be chief among you,
so you want to be in some sort of position,
what does it say?
Let him be your servant.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
You know, Jesus came to this earth to serve other people.
He came to this earth in humility, in meekness, in service for other people to where he humbled
himself so much, he actually sacrificed himself on the cross to die for us.
Him as our greatest leader, the highest in command, the Lord Jesus Christ, what did he
do?
He came here and he served.
He came here and he washed his disciples' feet.
He came here and he healed people, he loved people, he preached the word of God to people
I'll read for you, you can stay there, John 15.3 says,
greater love hath no man than this,
than a man laid down his life for his friends.
You know, Jesus physically laid down his life for us.
And you know what we should do is maybe physically, if that time came and you had to do that,
lay down your life for your friends, that's absolutely what you should do.
But you know what, at least metaphorically, lay down your life for other people, meaning
that you're not esteeming your needs, your desires, all the things you have going on
in your life as the most important, you're going to lay that down and esteem others better
than yourself and think, how can I help other people in their situation?
How can I be a blessing to other people?
So I just think it's funny when people would look down at church staff, which they don't
get any of the prestige, they're not a pastor, they don't have a title, you know, they don't
get all the glory or anything like that.
Why you would look down at someone like that when Jesus said that people that are servants
are the greatest in the kingdom of God, right?
Don't ever despise guys like evangelist Tanner Furr.
Don't ever just despise guys like Deacon Oliver Gonzalez.
Brother Chris Segura at Faith Word Baptist Church.
You know, I believe that these men will be some of the greatest reward people in the kingdom of God.
And Jesus said, you want to be great, you want to be chief, then just make yourself a servant to all.
That, those people are going to be greatly rewarded by God.
And be it far from us to look down on someone that Jesus thinks is great.
That Jesus thinks is chief and say, that's not a real job.
Oh, you're not doing real work.
You know what?
Your heart is so far from being aligned with God, it's sad.
You know, it's so sad to see a pastor so out of touch with the Word of God and with Jesus
as Christ's heart.
You know, we need to be in tune with what Jesus said.
Go to John chapter 3.
John chapter 3.
If Jesus views someone as great, I view them as great.
We need to look at things the way that God looks at them.
And let me just say this for their sake, because I'm not a church staff guy anymore.
But you know what, if we do have church staff someday, respect them.
Don't go bossing them around, right?
Treat them with respect, because they are doing an important work.
And they are worthy of respect.
John chapter 3 verse 25 says,
Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptiseth, and all men come to him.
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.
This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled.
He must increase, increase, but I must decrease.
You know, Jesus said of John the Baptist that he was the greatest man born among women.
And I wonder if it's because John the Baptist was humble and esteemed others better than
himself.
And when these Jews came to him trying to provoke him to envy, trying to say like, hey, look,
all those people that you were ministering to, look, they're all going to Jesus.
And he's saying, look, hey, if God's giving him that from heaven, praise the Lord.
He's saying like, I'm like the guy that goes to a wedding, I'm the friend of the groom.
You know, all the eyes should be on the bride and the groom, right?
They should be the stars of the show that day.
How would you like going to a wedding when the maid of honor or the best man or whatever
tries to steal the show?
That's weird, right?
We'll tell you, that's just as weird and uncomely when a minister of God becomes envious, when
a minister of God wants all the attention for themselves or doing things for their own
benefit.
He must increase.
That's how John was the greatest man born among women,
because he was actually in the ministry for other people
and for God, not for himself.
Go to 1 Thessalonians 2.
1 Thessalonians 2.
1 Thessalonians 2 verse 8 says,
So being affectionately desirous of you,
We were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only.
but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
So as the Apostle Paul had love for the people that he served,
and he's under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit here,
we know he's not using flattering words here.
This is true what he's saying.
He's saying, look, I love you guys,
and I was willing to impart my own soul to serve you guys.
You know, that is the real heart of a minister
that goes into it for love of other people.
And we know this is true because in Romans 10,
The Apostle Paul said that his heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be saved.
In Romans chapter 9, he said that he could wish himself a cursed from Christ for his brethren, the Israelites.
Right? So we know that the Apostle Paul is not lying here. He's not being over the top.
Like, he literally would have rather been cursed of God than seeing all these people go to hell.
He would have imparted his own soul to the people that he was serving.
That is a true leader right there. That is a good man. That is a good minister.
Verse 9, for you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day.
Because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God.
So notice the Apostle Paul, he's working very hard.
He was bivocational, like we talked about, Pastor Thompson was at one point.
He's working day and night, he's building tents, and he's building churches,
and he's, you know, administering the Gospel, preaching the Word of God.
He was willing to love other people. He was not in it for himself.
Go to I'm sorry. I don't know where I told you to go, but go to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12
We'll finish in Romans chapter number 12
Romans 12 verse 3 it says for I say through the grace given unto me that every man that is among you
Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think
But to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man, the measure of faith.
You know, if you are an ordained minister, or if you become an ordained minister someday,
if you work in the church of God, you know, on one hand, you shouldn't think more highly of yourself than you ought to.
Where you shouldn't be looking down and disparaging people that are blue-collar workers or white-collar workers, whatever.
That is a disgusting attitude from a minister of God to look down on people like that.
But on one hand, you don't want to lift yourself up on that way.
But on the other hand, you should at least magnify your office.
You should view the work that you do as being very important as being the most important work in this world.
You see the difference between those two things?
It's not that you're lifting up yourself because your name is Pastor So-and-So.
It's that your office is pastor.
That's important.
Your office is deacon.
Your office is evangelist.
That office is very important.
Your office is church worker.
That is an important job.
You should exalt that.
And look at verse number four.
It says,
For we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, right?
So all of us in this church, we have different tasks, we have different responsibilities.
You shouldn't look down at the pastor for being in his role.
I shouldn't look down at you for being in a different role.
Why?
Because we are a team here working together to serve God.
And we all have a different office.
Verse 5 says, So we being many are one body in Christ, and every one member is one of
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy, according to the proportion of faith.
Hey, if you've got the gift to preach the Word of God, preach the Word of God.
If you get an opportunity to preach, take that opportunity and continue to grow
and to learn because you never know what that could lead to someday.
You could preach, preach the Word of God, verse 7.
Or ministry, let us wait on our ministry.
Hey, you're good at serving other people.
You're good at helping during the events.
You're good at logistics and planning those type of things.
You're good at decorating.
Hey, give yourself to that because that's an important aspect of church.
That makes church more enjoyable.
I'll just be honest.
I am not the most creative person.
I am not a very artistic person.
If I was in charge of decorating everything, that would be a rough looking place.
It would be rough looking events, right?
Especially ladies, I need some of your help for that sort of thing.
It says 7 at the end of verse 7, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation,
he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence.
He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
So notice there's all these different things to do
in the ministry and things that we need.
We need teachers.
We need preachers.
We need people that are good at exhortation,
lifting their brothers up, right?
We need people that are good at ministering
and running things.
Rulers, people that are organized and good at
just keeping things in decent, excuse me,
decently and in order.
9. Let love be without dissimulation, saying don't have a fake love, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affections one towards another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervor and in spirit, serving the Lord.
Look, we all have different roles in the business of God's business.
And we all have different ways that we can contribute.
And so what I want you to walk away from this sermon thinking, whether you want to be in
a full-time position in ministry, whether you want to be a pastor or anything like that
or not, is that whatever you can give to the ministry of God, you need to give yourself
holy to it.
to Anchor Baptist Church and to the Kingdom of God as you possibly can.
And we ought never to look down on different people in this room for having different skills
and think like, oh, you know, the song leader is not important, the cleaners aren't important,
you know, the people that make the soul winning maps aren't important.
It's a team effort and it's all important and it's all the most important work in this world.
Don't sit here and think like, oh, church is a side thing.
Oh, what I really am is a plumber, you know.
But church is kind of a side gig.
Church isn't really that important.
No, church is the important institution.
We have to work now because the night is coming
when we can't work anymore
and you need to fix your mind
and esteem the work of God very highly.
Esteem the offices of God very highly
and not look down on others.
So just a recap, number one, ministries work.
Expect hard work if you go into the ministry.
Number two, ministry is about pleasing Jesus,
not other people.
Don't expect to be liked.
Don't expect to be adored.
Expect to be hated and lied about and just get used to it.
Number three, ministry is about serving others.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Lord, thank you for these admonitions in your word.
Thank you for your guidance and wisdom.
I just pray that you would...
Bless this church that you would bless the work of the ministry here that all of us would have a very high view of
The Great Commission and the work that you've given us to do
I pray that you would just rise up more men that would be willing to dedicate themselves
To the work of God above any secular career
And I just pray that we would always keep in mind not to despise other people
For where they're at in life that we would all strive together in the work of the ministry. We love you in Jesus name you pray amen
All right, for our last hymn this morning, turn if you would to number 33, Christ the Lord is risen today.
Hymn number 33, Christ the Lord is risen today. We'll sing their starting on the first.