🎵Piano music plays🎵
Alright, good evening everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats.
As you find your seat, go ahead and grab a hymnal. Turn to song number 66.
Song number 66 at Calvary. Let's all stand together for this first song if you're able.
Song number 66 there in your hymnals. All together nice and strong in that first verse.
🎵Years I spent in vanity and pride🎵
🎵Caring not my Lord was crucified🎵
🎵Knowing not it was for me He died🎵
🎵On Calvary🎵
🎵Mercy there was great and grace was free🎵
🎵Pardon there was multiply to me🎵
🎵There my burdened soul found liberty🎵
🎵At Calvary🎵
🎵By God's word at last my sin I learned🎵
🎵Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned🎵
🎵Till my guilty soul in glory turned to Calvary🎵
🎵Mercy there was great and grace was free🎵
🎵Pardon there was multiply to me🎵
🎵There my burdened soul found liberty🎵
🎵At Calvary🎵
🎵Oh the love that drew salvation's plan🎵
🎵Oh the grace that brought it down to man🎵
🎵Oh the mighty gulf that God did span🎵
🎵At Calvary🎵
🎵Mercy there was great and grace was free🎵
🎵Pardon there was multiply to me🎵
🎵There my burdened soul found liberty🎵
🎵At Calvary🎵
🎵Now I've given to Jesus everything🎵
🎵Now I gladly owe him as my king🎵
🎵Now my raptured soul can only sing🎵
🎵Of Calvary🎵
🎵Mercy there was great and grace was free🎵
🎵Pardon there was multiply to me🎵
🎵There my burdened soul found liberty🎵
🎵At Calvary🎵
Great singing everyone. Thank you so much for being here this evening. Let's go in and pray. We'll get started.
Father, we thank you so much for our salvation. We're thankful for Calvary and all that it means to us, Lord.
I pray that you be with us throughout the service, that you bless the preaching, the singing, the fellowship, and all there is that all things may be done for your honor and for your glory.
We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.
Please turn your songbooks to song number 198.
Song number 198, Joy Unspeakable. Song number 198, all together on that first verse.
🎵I have found His grace is all completely supplied every need🎵
🎵While I sit and learn at Jesus' feet🎵
🎵I am free, yes, free indeed🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵Full of glory, full of glory🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵All I have has never yet been told🎵
🎵I have found the pleasure I once quit🎵
🎵It is joy and peace within🎵
🎵What a wondrous blessing I am safe from the awful gulf of sin🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵Full of glory, full of glory🎵
🎵Joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵All I have has never yet been told🎵
🎵I have found that hope so bright and clear🎵
🎵Living in the realm of praise🎵
🎵Oh, the Savior's presence is so near🎵
🎵I can see His smiling face🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵Full of glory, full of glory🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵All I have has never yet been told🎵
🎵I have found the joy no tongue can tell🎵
🎵How its waves of glory roll🎵
🎵It is like a great o'erflowing ground🎵
🎵Bringing up within my soul🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵Full of glory, full of glory🎵
🎵It is joy unspeakable and full of glory🎵
🎵All I have has never yet been told🎵
Sunday evening 5 p.m. and then our Thursday night Bible study is at 7 o'clock
we are currently going through the book of 1st Samuel you see the so many times
and teams the list of expecting mothers and some of the upcoming church events
we have the men's prayer meeting as I mentioned this morning on Friday January
28th and for the hikes house that'll be at 6 30 p.m. and we will have dinner
provided bring your sons men so they can pray with you and looking forward to
seeing you there I do want to mention that something that's not on the bulletin
is that tonight after service there will be tacos
amen brother Jose is making some tacos
he's also making something else that I'm not necessarily allowed to say because
it's kind of like first come first serve right so
but it's gonna be good okay so thank God for that
and really it's it's in light of the bomb aversary so you know just want to
celebrate that so tacos after the after church service and
I believe if I'm not mistaken they just go right outside here
okay so you can go to the back of the building right here
go outside here you can get your meat there and then come inside
and then get all the fixings in there and so we're gonna make you work for it
all right so looking forward to tonight Miss DJ's bridal shower
is on Sunday January 30th you can see my wife more details about that and then
the pastoral Institute make sure you sign up for that if you're interested in that
the last day to register will be the 23rd of January and we begin on Friday
February 4th at 8 p.m. and if you have any questions
about that you can come see me about that what we're gonna be doing but I've already
gone over the schedule of what we're gonna be going over and so just keep that in mind
Saturday February 12th is the Valentine's couples activity sign up sheets in the back there
if you want to be a part of that we already have a great group signed up and so we will
be meeting here at the building and we're gonna have Lucille's
so we'll have Lucille's we'll have some games and a short sermonette on marriage
and so looking forward to seeing you there Sunday February 13th is Ariel's
baby shower and then the last thing I want to mention is that we got some prophecy
posters amen Daniel 70th week courtesy of Faithful Word Baptist Church
and Pastor Anderson and so we have those and brother Ulysses is gonna be putting
those out in the fellowship hall now we don't know exactly
how many we have and so we're gonna have we're gonna subject it
to one per family okay and so and of course that means single guys
you can grab one of course but just one per family and then whatever's
left over obviously you can grab something as long as everyone has already gotten one okay
but I want to thank Pastor Anderson for that and I'm sure we can
probably order some more and we'll get some more but those are great it's great you know I have one
and it just goes over the entire Daniel 70th week timeline it'll help you
get familiarized with it and just kind of memorize a lot of what's taking place
in the end times Book of Revelation and so those are pretty cool and then
please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the
service and that's pretty much it let's go ahead and take some soloing numbers from this past week
salvation's from Monday all the way to Thursday salvation's from Monday to Thursday
we got one over here anybody else how about Friday
and Saturday salvation's for Friday and Saturday three Riverside
one one okay and for
Sunday afternoon two for brother
Ulysses team one brother Glenn's team two for brother Marcus' team
two for brother Hikes team one for brother Morrie's team
alright anybody else did I miss anybody okay keep up the great work on soloing let's go ahead and
sing our next song three hundred and fifty five
song number three hundred and fifty five what a friend
we have in Jesus
all together on that first verse
Oh what peace we often forfeit
Oh what needless pain we bear
All because we
do not carry
everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations
Is there trouble
anywhere
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we
find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share
Jesus knows our
every weakness Take
it to the Lord in prayer
Are we weak and heavy laden
Cumbered with
a load of care
Precious Savior still our refuge
Take it to the Lord
in prayer
Do thy friends despise forsake thee
Take it to the Lord in prayer
In his arms
we'll take and shield thee
Thou will find us all is there
Amen wonderful singing at this time the ushers will come forth
to collect the offering you can turn your Bibles to first Peter chapter number five
Amen.
Good evening. Tonight we're in
first Peter chapter five and the Bible reads
the elders which are among you I exhort who
is also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed feed the flock of God which is among you
taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly
not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither
as being lords over God's heritage but being in samples to the flock
and when the chief shepherd shall appear he shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away likewise ye younger
commit yourselves unto the elder yea all of you be subject one to another
and be clothed with humility for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace
to the humble humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God
that he may exalt you in due time casting all your care
upon him for he careth for you be sober be vigilant
because your adversary the devil as a rowing lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour whom resist steadfast in the faith
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world
but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect
established strengthen settle you to him be glory
and dominion forever and ever amen by Sylvanus
a faithful brother unto you as I suppose I have written briefly
exhorting and testifying that this is true the grace true grace of God
wherein ye stand the church that is at Babylon elected together
with you saluteth you so doth Marcus my son greet ye one
another with a kiss of charity be peace be with you all
that are in Christ Jesus amen let's pray dear Lord God we thank
you for this house that we call a church Lord that you've given us Lord and we thank you for the people
here Lord and we pray that you bless pastors he preaches your word and give him boldness
and give him clarity of speech as he preaches Lord and just bless the service and every
aspect of it Lord we put this all in Jesus name amen
okay we're in first Peter chapter number five
this evening and what I'm going to preach on is Peter's
excitation to the elders the elders which are among you and I'm going to talk about
some of the instructions that he gives some of the pastors that are
found in Galatia Cappadocia and these regions and these are some
pretty serious instructions that he's given them here we shouldn't take these lightly
when we read these and there's a reason why when we read the New Testament
you have different sections of the New Testament where the Apostle Paul
or the Apostle Peter goes to an extent of explaining what it is
to be a pastor why it's important what are their responsibilities
what's expected of a pastor and the reason they reiterate this in the New Testament
is because of the fact that we don't want unqualified people to become pastors amen
and you say well is that really an issue yeah it is a huge
a huge issue you know the reason churches sometimes are going down the toilet
and why they're being going into heresy why they're getting so soft
or why they're just being destroyed is because they have bad leadership
okay bad pastors or it might not necessarily be that they're
bad or they're wicked but maybe just simply unqualified you see
you know doesn't a person who's a pastor if he's heading
up a church but he loves the Lord he loves the Bible he
loves sowing these are all great things but you know to be a pastor
you not only need those things you need to love the Lord love the Bible love souls
love your church but you got to come with a killer instinct as well
you know there's got to be a sense of leadership
and a willingness to say no when it needs to be said and bring down
the hammer when it needs to be brought down and so this type of
sermon is important for anyone in our church who is thinking about you know potentially
being a pastor but also for just people in general to know what they should expect
of a pastor you know you might leave this church and go to another church you know you might
want to take these things into consideration and there's a lot of great principles here that we can
learn from the elders now first and foremost I want to define
what it is to be an elder that's not a term that we would use to describe a pastor
you know we would often say basically pastor right but elder
is also used in the Bible it's actually used more frequently than pastor would be
and in fact most of the time the pastor is used in the Bible it's in the Old Testament
still means the same thing it means a shepherd and it's only used once in the New Testament
which is in Ephesians chapter 4 referring to the gifts that God gives them to men
he talks about the prophets the teachers the pastors the evangelists
but more often than not the elder is used that term is being used there
and the reason why is because I believe God wants to emphasize
that a person who is a pastor must be a person who is mature in the Lord
you think of someone who is elder is referring to someone who is older right
now this could obviously be referring to someone who is older
in age but more often than not it's referring to someone who is just older
spiritually speaking they're mature in the Lord they've been saved
for quite some time and that's definitely an important aspect
of being a pastor why because the Bible tells us not a novice
less being lifted up with pride he'd fall into condemnation of the devil
you see a person who is newly saved if they get right into
becoming a pastor they can the temptation can be there to be lifted up with pride
to become arrogant because they have a position of authority
no God wants a pastor to be an elder someone who is spiritually
mature who has matured not just in their Bible knowledge but just in the
Christian life in general you understand and so he says there in verse number
1 the elders which are among you I exhort
what was he talking about well if you look at chapter number 1 of 1 Peter
it tells us here it says Peter verse 1 an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the stranger scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia
Asia and Bithynia so he's writing to the different churches
that are found in this region and he's not only addressing
the church members but we see here that he's also addressing the leadership
the pastors and what's interesting about this go back to chapter 5 verse 1
he says the elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder
so we see here that the apostle Peter is saying I'm also a pastor
okay now that's pretty interesting because of the fact that we know the apostle Paul
as being an apostle not necessarily being a pastor
but we see here that he was also a pastor and he says there
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also partaker of the glory that
shall be revealed now in my personal opinion I believe
that the book of 1st Peter 1st and 2nd Peter are actually written later on
in Peter's life okay and the reason I believe that is because
when you study Peter's ministry so to speak during the book of Acts
where is he at most of the time? He's in Jerusalem right?
and we would say you know what if he's in Jerusalem you know obviously he's not doing
what he's supposed to be doing he's not going down to all nations and preaching the gospel
to every creature they're just kind of ministering to the Jews and just kind of building that
new church there and just reaching all these Jews there which obviously
you know a lot of them did get saved right but they're still living in
disobedience to God's commands because he commanded them to go on and preach the gospel to everyone
but what do we see here? Well look at chapter
well look at the end of chapter 5 he
says in verse 13 the church that is at Babylon
elected together with you saluteth you and so doth Marcus my son
so he's actually writing from Babylon which is actually referring to Rome
so we see him in his early ministry in Jerusalem
but now we see him in 1 Peter writing from Rome what does it show us?
that eventually he actually matured a little bit right he actually moved out
of his comfort zone and did what he was supposed to do he's reaching
Gentile believers he's in Rome he's pastoring a church in
Babylon okay and he's writing to these churches
that are in Asia and Cappadocia and Galatia showing that he's putting an emphasis
on teaching Gentiles and reaching them okay so what does that tell us?
well it tells us that he's grown up a little bit and here's one of the biggest
most important things for you to consider when you
are considering the pastorate are you grown up?
have you matured? not just in your Bible reading right we
obviously expect for you to understand the Bible and know the Bible read the Bible pray have a good spiritual
walk but you know what it's also important that you're mature that you've matured in life
that you have some experience under your belt that you know how to deal with people
okay that you've grown that you've become somewhat of an elder
okay and so we see the Apostle Peter here
he tells them I'm an elder and then he says there and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ I believe this is basically the implication
here is he's basically saying I'm not only a pastor but I'm also an apostle
why because he witnessed the sufferings of Christ he witnessed the resurrected Christ
as well so he's putting forth the fact that you know his authority as a pastor
but also his authority as an apostle he says a witness of the sufferings of Christ
and I want you to notice this and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed that's pretty interesting right
he says I'm not only an elder I'm also an apostle
but I'm not only an apostle I'm also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed now what is he talking
about what's that well yeah he's a partaker
of that resurrection but I believe more specifically he's referring to the fact
that he's a partaker of the sufferings of Christ okay because the glory that
shall be revealed is often determined obviously you have to be
saved in order to be even partake of that but it's determined based upon your
sufferings in Christ how much you suffered and when you observe
the apostle Peter's ministry you know he suffered persecution as well
I mean he was beaten for the cause of Christ he was persecuted
he was put in jail and so he went through persecution so
I think what he's telling the elders here is this you should listen to me because I got some experience
I've gone through persecution I've gone through you know going to jail
I've been beaten for the faith I'm not just an apostle I'm not just an elder
I've been around the block so to speak okay and so you know
it's important that pastors gain some experience or they come from
experience you know and that's not something you can teach necessarily behind the pulpit
I can't teach you experience experience is something you have to learn
first hand on your own but it comes when you put
yourself in a position to learn and to gain experience you know
that's why it's important young men that you desire to grow up
right when I was a child I spake as a child and I was a man
when I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child
but when I became a man I put away childish things and it's important that we put ourselves
in a position where God can teach us how to operate as a man
how to operate as a leader how to operate as a future husband
as a future father and if you're looking to pastor as a future pastor as well
he's saying look I'm a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed
he's gone through it he's basically earned his stripes
he has a reputation and that's what you should seek to be doing
today you know earning a reputation by hard work earning a reputation
by being mature earning a reputation by being counted
as a person of experience okay and so
he's addressing them here and then you know obviously he
basically motivates them by talking about the reward that they're going to receive
he says in verse number four and when the chief shepherd shall appear
ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away
so I will say this you know obviously we all get rewarded
with different things in the millennial reign at the judgment seat of Christ
but according to this there is a particular specific reward that comes to a
pastor okay and I think the reason why is because
the pastor this side of eternity does carry a specific load that not many
people have to carry you know they do carry a load and a responsibility
that people in the congregation don't have to worry about okay
and it's for that reason that if that pastor remains faithful and accomplishing
these things he will receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away okay and so that's a great motivation
to us all or to those who want to become pastors to think well if I'm going to get
into this I'm going to be in this for the long haul okay and you should never
approach being a pastor as you know I'll try that out
see how that goes you know see if it works out for me you know
I'll go to that class and you know see what becomes of me you know no we
need you know what America needs are people and men who are determined
who are committed right who are
determined they're committed they're steadfast
unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord and men who count the
cost who recognize what are
the repercussions if I become a pastor
and count all the repercussions from all the preaching and all the rest that you're going to
take and make peace with that and say you know what I'm willing to
I'm willing to do that you know if it cost me everything then so be it that's what I want to do
because the last thing we need is men who become pastors but then they quit
we don't need quitters in God's army amen
we don't need quitters when things get hard and things get difficult
and persecution comes or you know you're stressed out maybe the family life
is not doing as well or the church is not doing as well for people just to
quit on the Lord and say well I'm not going to be a pastor you say why well because that
gives Christianity a bad name when the leaders of Christianity can't hold the fort
that's right okay or they say well this is just too hard for me well join the club
life is just hard if you chose to be a pastor you should stick it out to the very end
and you say well I'm failing then fail to the very end you know you don't
quit on God and say well you know it wasn't what I thought it was going to be well that's your
fault okay you should have counted the cost and stuck it out to
the very end because that's what's expected of us as pastors okay
by the way it's expected for us as Christians you know as a Christian
you should have the ethic of a
work ethic of a pastor to say well I'm in this for the long haul
I'm not going to quit on the Lord I'm going to keep coming to church I'm going to keep learning the Bible I'm going to keep winning souls
to Christ you know I'm going to keep maturing in the Lord and keep going
forward for God and so this is an important exhortation and as I mentioned
it's so important that you see it in different portions you have it in Titus chapter 1 you have it in
1 Timothy chapter 3 you even have it in Acts chapter 20 where
the apostles are just constantly reiterating what the responsibility of a pastor is and how
important it is for that position to be filled correctly look at verse number 2
let's start off here so he talks about we're talking about the exhortation to the elders
and the very first thing that we see here Peter's exhortation
he says what feed the flock of God which is among you
so what does that tell us in regards to a pastor
one of the most important things if not the most important thing for a pastor to do
is to feed the flock of God we're not talking about the
tacos that are like waiting for us after service it's not my job to feed you
tacos I'll leave that up to Jose
I'll leave that up to Moses and his Armenian
shish kebabs or whatever I'll leave that up to brother Alex
you know I'll leave that up to the other guys that's not my job to feed you
where's the cake it's not my job to cut the cake for you
my job is to feed you spiritually and
this is an important aspect of the pastor and in fact
that's the first thing he mentions and think about this you know it's interesting
that this is the first thing he mentions and it's one of like the last things
that Jesus Christ told Peter in John chapter 21
love is down me more than these yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee
feed my flock and he repeats it over and over again
he says feed my sheep feed my
flock it looks like it's important to God that we feed the flock of God
not with physical food but rather with spiritual food referring to the word of God
you know it's my job as a pastor to fatten you up
spiritually speaking to give you meals and teach you doctrine
and give you milk and give you meat now here's the thing
is that you know me as a spiritual chef
I can put out a plate of food for you but it's your job to eat it though
you know you can't say well I don't feel like I'm being fed here you can't accuse me
of that it's just that you're not eating
okay you know I found out with my kids you know
if we give them meat only meat
they'll eat that meat but if you put too many sides you know what I mean you put some fries
there or you put some carbs there you put some rice there they'll go for that instead
you know they're not gonna eat they won't eat their chicken they won't eat their protein
and so you know it's not it's then later on they're like I'm hungry as a way you should've ate your meat
you should've ate your meat it's not that I didn't give you anything to eat it's right there
well you know the spiritual application to that is this you can't say well you know
I feel like I'm not growing spiritually well that's your fault
it's not my fault I just feel we're not growing at First Works Baptist Church
it's because you're not eating what I'm giving you
you're not being a doer of the word that you're hearing well that's because
how you give it to me I just don't like the way you serve it well you know who cares what
plate it comes on who cares what kind of utensils I give it to you with
the main point is the fact that I'm giving you the food okay
and so you know he says there feed the flock of God which is among you go with me if you would
to go to First Corinthians chapter number 3
First Corinthians chapter number 3 you know throughout the Old Testament
the pastors of the Old Testament specifically in the book of Jeremiah were always
accused of not feeding the flock of God and you know we see that with the shepherds
in the book of Ezekiel where it's like they're feeding themselves they're kind of just
taking care of themselves but they're not really feeding the flock of God that are among them
and God takes that very serious that's why you know I'm not for these mega churches
where you know you go there they read one verse from some false version
of the Bible and then they read you Charles Spurgeon's quote
and then they go through their daily devotions and they quote Gandhi and they do everything
but feed you right they do everything but feed you the word of God
they give you tofu is what they give you
fake food it's not even junk food it's not even junk food
it's not even fries because then they may be able to bear it
it's not even like you know I don't know hot cheetos
or something like that I prefer hot cheetos over tofu any day
it's tofu is what it is
I mean obviously hot cheetos not nutritional at all but you know maybe
you throw some cheese on there you'll get a little more
you know that's at least a little better than tofu or soy
right and so you know this is what a lot of
churches today are guilty of they're guilty of not taking feeding the flock of God serious
and you know they often say well we don't want to teach deep doctrine in the church because you know
not many people are going to receive it then teach your people how to receive deep doctrine
now obviously we understand that you know not everyone
in a local New Testament church is going to be on the same spirit level
as everyone else there's going to be people who are babes in Christ there's going to be people who are mature in the Lord
and so it's my job as a pastor to kind of hit every single level at one point
you understand it's to feed those who already know certain things feed those who don't
we need to keep it on the even playing field by as far as like the distribution of the information
but the point is is that you need to be growing okay look at 1st Corinthians chapter 3
and verse number 1 it says and I brethren could not speak unto you as into spiritual
but as into common and as into spiritual
but as into carnal even as into babes in Christ
I have fed you with milk and not with strong meat
for hitherto you were not able to bear it neither yet now
are ye able now look folks when you think of
milk and meat you know we often talk about the milk of the word that's that the milk
of the word is that which we would consider to be digestible right
it's easy for someone who's new to the Bible new to the Christian faith
to be able to digest the milk the meat on the other hand
requires some muscles in your face to be able to
chew on and to digest right well
here's the thing is that we need to get both the problem is churches
only want to give the milk of the word and you can only give milk
to a child for so long now initially they need milk right
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby
but eventually that baby that's growing is gonna start reaching for that steak that you're eating
in front of you they're gonna start reaching for the chicken
they start reaching for you know the meat they start reaching for the actual
solid foods that are there because that's what they need in order to grow
physically well in like manner there comes a point where you gotta
start moving from milk all the way to meat you know what that means every once in a while
I just need to preach a really boring sermon with a lot of doctrine
in it and you still eat it enjoy it
grow from it and learn from it well yeah but I like when you like scream
and talk about the homos and can we just stick to those sermons
yeah those are fun but you know what sometimes you need
some pecanha
you know sometimes you know eating a double double
is good and everything like that but sometimes we need some ribeye
we need some pork we need some fat we need some stuff
that maybe you're not really happy hey we need some liver
some cod liver
a lot of people hate liver people who don't like liver
you know from a physical perspective a lot of people don't like to eat liver
it's not their favorite thing to eat but it's good for you liver's so good for you
okay and you know what in like manner some people don't like to
eat the liver of the word because it doesn't you know it's kind of grainy
it's almost it can be sandy sometimes it's a little dry
there's not a party in your mouth spiritually speaking when you're eating the liver of the word
but it's what you need it's what you need
you know and so it's important that you know we need to start getting to a point in our church
and I believe we're there or we're working our way towards there where you know what
Pastor Mejia can just yeah I refer to myself in the third person okay
Pastor Mejia can preach a doctrinal boring
sermon and you take it as us and say well I need to eat this
this is important for me to know okay or it's important for me to be reminded
of you see these churches claim that they're feeding their people but they're feeding them cotton
candy they're feeding them tofu and that's why they
readily recognize you know Gandhi's quotes and they think
that it's Jesus' quote or something
love the sinner hate the sin is just like you don't even know who said that though
they quote it as if it's in the Bible and they stick to the
bare bare basics of the word of God nothing wrong with the bare basics but you know what
God did give us 66 books he did give us the book of
Leviticus he did give us the book of Zephaniah he gave us the
book of Zechariah he gave us the book of Haggai he gave us the book of Revelation
okay and you know so it's important that we
we esteem even the boring things of the Bible and let me just say this
is that really there isn't boring parts of the Bible
it's that your system's not capable of taking it in is what it is
that's really what it is if you ever come to a point where you're like oh this just doesn't seem
boring that's funny because the Bible says that we delight in the law of God after the inward man
so the inward man always loves the Bible no matter what subject
it is as long as it's from the Bible and so if you feel like
well this subject's not as interesting or I feel like I'm not getting much from this
well it's not your inner man that's the problem because the inner man loves this stuff
it's the fact that you need to learn how to digest the meat
of the word okay and I get it you know we need to hear sermons
on encouragement we need to hear sermons on exhortation
on depression on anxiety
on gluttony on you know how to be a better wife
how to be a better husband how to be a good parent
and good children we need those practical sermons but we need the other stuff
as well okay we need to feed the flock of God
which are among us proper nutrition get the milk of the word but also
get the meat of the word as well show people how to eat
the word okay and so this is important
and you know sometimes we'll go through end times Bible prophecy and sometimes we talk about the timeline
and I'm pretty sure there's some people in our church that just kind of glaze over at it
when you start going over the numbers and everything they're just like
okay sure you know we're post trip for sure
so yeah I get it you know but the other stuff is just kind of like meh
you know but we need to know it all and I'm not saying we have to be experts in everything
in the Bible but we should readily receive it and understand
the value in the other teachings as well okay
and so he tells them that he said feed the flock of God which is among you
give him the proper nutrition teach him about the Bible talk about every book in the Bible
you know talk about different subjects in the Bible talk about the house of God talk about the animal sacrifices
talk about the pictures of Christ in the Old Testament talk about things that are not necessary
talk about the meats drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances talk about those things
we need to preach the entire counsel of God he says in verse 2
feed the flock of God which is among you he says taking the oversight thereof
so responsibility number one according to Peter is that they're preaching God's word
they're feeding the flock they're making sure that the shepherd is giving proper nutrition to the sheep
but the second thing is that he says they need to take the oversight thereof what does that mean
it's referring to the fact that the pastor should take responsibility for supervising the church
okay and this is not just in respect to you know that which is doctrinal just in general
this is the way I like to say it okay the pastor has a pulse on the church
he's keeping a pulse on the church not just from a doctrinal perspective
but just making sure the church has unity right
making sure that people are getting along making sure there's no heresy coming through the church
making sure that people in a church understand their biblical roles
making sure that things are running as a well-oiled machine
making sure that hurting people are being taken care of
making sure that prideful people are being humbled
making sure that if there's a problem in the church it's taken care of right away
you understand and so the oversight is exactly that it's basically overseeing
being an overseer of that which is in the church
now believe it or not you know sometimes that includes things that have nothing to do with spiritual matters
you say like what like a live stream the most annoying thing in this church is the live stream
I hate that room because there's always a problem
and it's just like taking the oversight of the media
you say yeah but media is not in the Bible
yeah but you know what the reason we have it is because we want the Word of God to go forth to other people
and we have thousands of listeners we have over 10,000 subscribers on YouTube
who are constantly listening to the channel
we've had over 28,000 views within the last 48 hours
I mean there's people online who are watching the content who are benefiting from it
and we want to not only get the Word of God abroad here nearby
we want to get it all over the world
so it's like we got to take the oversight of that
we got to take the oversight of baby showers and overseeing bridal showers
and overseeing making sure that things are being cleaned up
and church discipline I mean it's a supervising type of a job
it means that you can't turn a blind eye to problems in the church
now you know I don't believe this means that the pastor has to be like the police of the church
you know I like this policy I just mind my own business
unless your business is interfering with the church's business
so I mind my own business whatever you know I don't look for trouble
I don't look for problems but sometimes problems just look for me
you know and if there's some sort of strife in the church
disagreements in the church or things a little schism in the church
it's my responsibility to execute leadership and put a stop to it
or talk to certain people have meetings with people
counsel people and that's important so you got to understand that as a pastor
yeah you know it's important to preach God's Word most important one
but you're also signing up to be an overseer of the church as well
you're also signing up to be a supervisor of the church
any problem in the church now becomes my problem
alright that's basically what it is
so taking the oversight thereof go to Acts chapter 20
Acts chapter 20 if you would
taking the oversight thereof giving heed to the matters that are happening in the church
look at verse 28
so I can't come to church with just this flipping attitude
where it's just like whatever happens happens you know
no I got to come in here as a supervisor
making sure that things are running properly
look at verse what I have returned to Acts chapter 20
verse 28
take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood
for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves entering among you
not sparing the flock also of your own self shall men arise speaking perverse things
to draw away disciples after them
therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years
I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears
so you say look you need to take heed to the church because you know we don't live in a fantasy world
this is the real world where wicked people actually exist
evil people are actually around who want to infiltrate the church
and the pastor's responsibility is to have a pulse on that
if some dude walks in or some person walks in teaching some false doctrine
or trying to cross strife in the church we need to put it into that
this is what I mean by the pastor has to have a killer instinct
that's important because a lot of pastors today want to be politicians
they don't want to be pastors they want to be politicians
they want to be like the Ted Cruz's and they want to be like the whatever you know Trump's
or whatever of this world where they can make all these empty promises and not keep them
they want to be politicians because they want to be liked by everyone
now I don't know if actually that could be said of Trump because I know he didn't really care or whatever
but in general politicians don't they want to be liked by other people
and you know what pastors have become the same exact way
and it's for that reason that they can't say no to people
they can't crack skulls not literally but you know spiritually speaking
they can't crack heads and skulls and say no and correct people
because they're afraid that they might offend them or something like that
they're afraid that the church might not grow because of it
folks my job my responsibility is not to grow this church
I'm incapable of growing this church
I can do everything I can on my part to implement some systems and some methods to do so
but at the end of the day God is the one who grows the church
my job is to supervise the church
you understand and make sure that people don't get out of hand
and start disrespecting leadership and try to overstep their boundaries
you know here in the church my job is to come in and say we're not going to do that
plain and simple okay
execute strong leadership in the church
we need strong leaders in America today
we need pastors with a backbone
we need a backbone to protrude out of our bodies spiritually speaking
where it's just like you know what
there's certain things that we're just not going to do and I'm going to be vocal about it
and you cannot overstep your boundaries here at the church
these are the policies that we have here
this is what we're going to do
that settles it
you know people are attracted to strong leadership
they need strong leaders
every organization needs a strong leader
and so taking the oversight there
I'll go back to 1 Peter
he's saying give heed to the church
give heed to the people in your church
take heed unto you know the unity of the church
make sure you're endeavoring to keep the spirit of unity in the church
making sure that everything's running like a well-oiled machine
the things are being taken care of
that you know the church is going forward spiritually speaking
make sure you are the overseer thereof
so he says feed the flock of God
take the oversight thereof
he says not by constraint
what does that mean not by constraint
don't have a bad attitude being a pastor
he's like well this is what I have to do
I gotta go to church today and just pastor the church
and what?
folks here's the thing
when you're a pastor
you know you signed up for this job
and it should be said that you enjoy what you do
and I'll say this
I love being a pastor
I don't love the threats and all that
that's not the funnest part of the job
but you know sometimes I like it
it's pretty cool
you know to see the extent that people are willing to go through
to threaten you and to stop you
I think that's kind of cool
yeah a little stressful but it's fun
but what I'm saying is like don't do it by constraint
like this is what I just have to do
I have to preach and I have to help people
and I have to oversee it
and I have to deal with problems
if you have that kind of have to kind of attitude
you probably shouldn't pastor a church
the attitude should be I get to do this
I get to help people with their problems
and counsel people
and preach to people
and oversee the church
this energizes me what it does
I love the fact that after Sunday night church
I'm just completely depleted emotionally physically and even spiritually
I love the fact that I just leave everything here
I go home and I'm just tired
and you know you say why because that means I gave it all
this is what I love to do
and you know what if you're going to be a pastor
that's the type of attitude that you should have as well
well you know I just need some me time though
get some me time after service
here's my me time when I go to bed
but be willing to leave it all
don't lead by constraint
don't be a person oh this is just what I have to do
well then you're not really called now are you?
because those who are called to be pastors
should be the individuals who love what they do no matter what happens
so he says there be a willing participant
that's what he's talking about
pastoring a church can be taxing folks
pastoring a church can be taxing
and look just one element of pastoring
I'll show you right now
is one of the most taxing parts
you know what that is?
it's preaching three times a week
that's extremely taxing
you know it's not like you know
it's just like oh yeah I just like
folks I have friends who've been pastoring for years
and they still struggle sometimes from week to week
coming up with sermons
it could be hard
and look this is not a church that preaches for like 25 minutes or something
we don't do like a 30 minute sermon here
right?
I mean sometimes
I mean the goal is to do like 50 minutes
but sometimes I go like an hour and 15 or something
so you have to
and it's not just like fluff
it's like Bible content
verses
instructions
you know a lot of these other churches
they do 30 minutes because that's all I got to give
and a lot of it is just silence
or you know
illustrations and stories
specials
and one of the reasons they minimize it to 30 minutes
is because you know the people just can't handle that much
they can't handle an hour long sermon
well here
whether you handle it or not
you don't determine the length of the sermon folks
and so you know it can be taxing
it can be very difficult
therefore you have to be a willing participant
to do these things
go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9
1 Corinthians chapter number 9
be a willing participant
not by constraint but willingly
the Bible says
look at 1 Corinthians 9
look at verse 16
now this is in context of just preaching the gospel
but we can apply this to pastors of just preaching God's word period
look what it says in verse 16
for though I preach the gospel
I have nothing to glory of
for necessity is laid upon me
yea woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel
so you say look
you know I'm ordained to preach the gospel
but you know if
you know I feel like I just
I can't will myself to do it
then I got to recognize
it's of necessity that I preach the gospel
right
well this is necessary
so this is what I need to do anyways
he says in verse number 17
for if I do this thing willingly
I have a reward
but if against my will
a dispensation of the gospel
is committed unto me
now the reality is this
let me just be real honest
I don't always feel like coming to preach
I know shocking
there's times when I get up and preach
and you may not even know it
but I don't feel like preaching
I'm like I don't want to preach tonight
oh wait I just gave it away
you know sometimes I'm just like
I don't want to preach this morning
I don't want to preach this weekend
but you know what
whenever I feel that way
then I recognize a dispensation of the gospel
has been given to me
this is my responsibility
and I'm supposed to do something
you know I'm supposed to execute my office
whether I feel like it or not
and you know that's important
it's because of the fact that
today we have a generation
that only does things
when they feel like doing them
they'll only read their Bibles
when they feel like doing it
they'll only come to church
when they feel like doing it
they'll only go soul in it
when they feel like doing it
they'll only fulfill the Christian responsibilities
when they feel like it
whereas the Bible says here
it's of necessity
so even when I don't desire to do these things
I'm going to do it anyways
because that's what I'm supposed to do
even if I don't feel like getting up
and preaching an hour long sermon
I'm going to do it anyways
because it's my job to do it
of necessity
a dispensation of the gospel
has been committed unto me
and notice you know
that's not a time period
just thought I'd throw that in there
be a willing participant
don't do the office of a pastor by constraint
do it willingly because you want to do it
you know I like when people work
and they're just like
they're working because they want to do it
you know what I mean
they're just like
this is what I want to do
you say why
well because when you have someone
who wants to do, fulfill a job
you don't really have to oversee them that much
because they're going to end up doing
more than you require of them
like they enjoy their job
and they're doing it willingly
so therefore they're going to put
more effort into the task
whereas a person who does it by constraint
they become an unprofitable servant
because they only do that
which is required of them
you know what God wants for his pastors
he wants them to not be
doing the office of a bishop by constraint
but willingly because
they're going to do more than
what's required of them
so go back to 1 Peter
so he says feed the flock
take the oversight
make sure you have a pulse on the church
you know don't be a nosy person
don't try to look for problems
but be aware when the problems come up
don't run away from problems
right
it's like if issues come up
it's like I don't know how to handle this
go talk to someone else
no you better figure it out
if you don't know how to deal
with the situation as a pastor
and I know I'm talking to the church in general
but this is an important sermon
because I believe in the next couple years
we're going to be sending out a lot of pastors
but you know if you don't know
how to handle a situation
as a pastor you better pray
you better ask God for wisdom
you better have a cabinet of counselors
that you can call
and say hey I'm in this situation
I'm dealing with these people
what should I do
what would you do
you better figure it out
and not have this attitude of like
sorry I can't help you
no you better help that person
and if you don't know the answer
go find the answer
and I'm not saying go Google it either
go to the reliable resources
reliable pastors
ask God for wisdom
and figure it out
okay
so he says feed the flock
which is among you taking the oversight
thereof not by constraint but willingly
this is a big one
not for filthy lucre
what is lucre
well lucrative
you think of that which is lucrative
is referring to money
so when you hear the term filthy lucre
it's basically referring to unjust gain
and believe it or not
some people would want to become a pastor
for money
now if you want to be a pastor for money
you're just getting in the wrong business
because you cannot become rich as a pastor
actually fulfilling the office of a pastor
because of the fact that
God forbids a pastor to become rich
now he's not forbidding them to live a normal life
and to pay their bills or whatever
and to have nice things
but you know to become rich and wealthy
he is forbidding that for a pastor
because the office of a pastor
is supposed to be a humble position
where they just live a normal life
they're serving the Lord and the church
they're helping people out
you know they're preaching God's word
but he says there
by the way this shows us that
a person who is saved who is a pastor
it can become a temptation for them
to get involved in filthy lucre
or else that commandment would not be there
you understand
he's saying not for filthy lucre
now this reminds me
I remember when I first got saved
you know I got saved at a youth conference
and you know I thought to myself
I want to be a pastor one day
but I don't even think I said it that way
I think I just said like I want to preach one day
because the guy who was preaching
he inspired me so much
I'm like I want to proclaim God's word like that
you know like that's what I want to do with my life
and so and I didn't really know how to go about it
and of course my old church used to have
basically the bible college
and they would say you know go to bible college
if you want to be a pastor
I got saved and I went to go talk to the pastor
he's like well if you want to be a pastor
you got to sign up for bible college
in the fall basically
well I don't know if it was the following week
or what the timeline was
but I ended up getting baptized
and I brought my family and I got baptized
and we went to a restaurant to go celebrate my baptism
the fact that I got baptized right
and I was just excited about the Christian life
I'm like man I got baptized
I'm just kind of turning over a new leaf in my life
like I found what I've been looking for
and that's the Lord kind of thing
and I actually used to work as a busser
okay and so some of the people who work there
you know they've known they knew me before I was saved
and I had a friend who was a busser
and he's like he came up to me
he's like hey what's up man you know how's it going
I'm like oh going great you know
he's like what's the special occasion
I'm like well I just got baptized
I got saved a couple weeks ago and I got baptized
he's like oh okay he's like you're a Christian now
I'm like yeah I'm a Christian
he's like well what's the plan you know
I'm like well I want to be a pastor
so I'm gonna be going to Bible college
in the fall to become a pastor
now obviously I don't agree with Bible college
but that was the system that they had
and I said you know I'm gonna go to Bible college
to become a pastor and this was his response
he's like oh man is there some good money in that
and I was kind of taken aback
and I told him I was like I have no idea
I don't think so
it doesn't look like it you know
my pastor didn't look like he was very rich
and he's like oh okay
yeah well maybe I can get into something like that
like he was seeing it like it was like a
like a job or something
where he can make money
and it struck me as weird
because that was like the furthest thing from my mind
in fact I figured if I ever become a pastor
you know I'm gonna be working full time
at a secular job and doing the pastor at the same time
that's just what I was convinced that I was gonna do
and so that was the furthest thing from my mind
but you know what it's not the furthest thing
from the minds of a lot of pastors
for a lot of pastors
making money is important
and that's why they own like five houses
and five cars
and all types of properties all over the place
you know why because they're greedy filthy lucre
and some of them are for sure wicked false prophets
evil people
some of them I'm sure are saved
who have just been brought up in this culture
of just making money in the ministry or something like that
folks the ministry is not a place to make money
there's not riches and wealth to be made in the ministry
there's enough wealth to feed you and your family
and make sure that you're taken care of
but you know what there's not money to buy yourself a yacht
or something like that
and it's kind of weird to think that pastors would think
that they can purchase a yacht
or they can purchase a helipad or something like that
and still be like above approach or something
or even buy like five houses
there's independent fundamental baptists pastors out there
who own multiple properties
who drive around in you know fancy cars luxury cars
I'm talking about these really fancy cars
I mean what's the name of a really luxurious fancy car
are you guys giving me items from Olive Garden
or what are you
just really nice cars alright we'll just leave it at that
you know just just really really nice cars
and they have all types of properties
and they're making all kinds of money
you know for example one of them that's actually a false prophet
is John MacArthur
who you could just look up how much he makes
I mean the guy is a millionaire
the guy is a millionaire not only from the money he makes from his church
but the books that he sells
and also from his master school
of divinity or whatever that stupid college is called
where they teach people how to be false prophets
they make them two fold more of the child of hell than themselves
making all kinds of millions
and there's an article that came out about him
and they said you know the guy
let's look at the prosperity of the pastor
who preaches against prosperity preachers
talk about tell me you're a hypocrite without telling me you're a hypocrite
without telling me you're a hypocrite
right so this guy over here calling out all these prosperity preachers
and all these people he's guilty of the same thing
now that teaches another teaches not thyself John MacArthur
he's all about that filthy lucre
so he says not for filthy lucre
okay then what should be the motivation
word says here but of a ready mind
what does it mean to have a ready mind
well the Bible talks about the forwardness of your mind
that's a person who's just motivated and just eager
to do the work of the Lord because he wants to do the work of the Lord
he just wants to serve God
he's just eager he's a self-starter
the motivation is Christ the motivation is lost souls
the motivation of a righteous pastor is the fact that a life will be fixed
for coming in contact with you
that a marriage will do better under your ministry
that children will be raised in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord under your ministry
that people will get saved under your ministry
you know what's my motivation?
the 1056 souls that were saved this year
I'm tickled pink over the fact that there's that many souls that were saved
I'm tickled pink over the 50 baptisms that we had
that makes me think like we need more so many times
1056 let's hit a thousand hundred a thousand two hundred a thousand three hundred
a thousand five hundred let's hit two thousand
that's my motivation
so the motivation should be that we have the forwardness to say
I'm eager to serve the Lord not for filthy lucre safe
because all that stuff is going to burn anyways
pastors who have the right perspective on finances
you know people who are pastors or elders need to have the right perspective on what money is
they need to understand that money is a tool to be used to further the kingdom of God
it's a tool to be used to further the gospel
it's a tool to be used to help people in the church
it's a tool to be used to proclaim the word of the Lord far greater
it's not something to be used to consume it upon your own lust
okay
so he says be a willing participant
don't be greedy
don't be covetous
try to go for unjust gain
okay
you know don't have the wrong motivation
you should do it of a ready mind
you say why are there so many rules to be in a pastor
man all this stuff
yeah because God wants to make sure that his man is fit for the job
because here's the thing
a pastor who violates these things can destroy the work
and that's very detrimental to the work of Christ
because if a pastor is pastoring a church of a group of people
he takes them with him
you understand
and you know what let me just say this pray for me
pray for me pray for my family but not just for me and my family
pray for the pastors in our movement
pray for them
pray for their families
pray that they're taken care of
be a blessing to them
send them a no
send them a little love offering
encourage them
be a blessing to those pastors
why because it's not an easy job
okay and you know what
I love these men because they're actually fulfilling everything that's on this sheet here
you understand
my pastor friends I can say they're fulfilling everything and it's not an easy job to do
okay
you know they're not doing it for filthy lucre
I don't know of any of my pastor friends who are rolling around in a Rolls Royce
is that the car you said
they're not rolling around in a Rolls Royce
they're not you know greedy of filthy lucre
these are men who their motivation
you know the love of Christ constrains them to do what they do
right
awesome men
so not for filthy lucre of a ready mind
be eager to do the work of the Lord
and that's another thing let me just say this is that
an elder or a pastor should be a self-starter
self-starter
what does that mean
you don't need someone to kick you to get you going
you know you're given a responsibility you just take grab the bull by the horns
and you run with it
and look I think that's a great quality for an elder to have
but I think it's a great quality for anybody of God's people to have
I think all of God's people should be self-starters
you know that you don't need to wait for someone to tell you to do something
you just you see the need and you take the lead
okay
you're a self-starter
you're available
you're dependable
you're a worker
that's important not just here at the church but folks just at your job
at your secular job
it's important to do that
okay
and then he says in verse 3
neither as being lords over God's heritage
so there is a temptation for sometimes for pastors and elders
because they have a position of authority
to kind of overstep their bounds as a pastor
and become too much of an authority over people
okay this is what I meant by policing people
okay
where they're just kind of like
oh you got a podcast you're not allowed to have a podcast in my church
I'm the only podcast here
you know Rod of Iron is the only thing that exists at this church
you can't have any social media
I mean it's out there
it's out there where people they just kind of micromanage your personal life
and it's just that's lording over God's heritage
by the way the reason I don't like to do that aside from the commandment that we shouldn't
is that that's stressful
that would stress me out
and you know what happens when pastors do that they begin to teach for doctrines the commandments of men
they begin to preach their preferences
rather than God's commandments
and they wonder why their churches are so doctrinally deficient
because they're so busy preaching their preferences
nothing wrong with preferences
we all should have preferences
I have my preferences even for the church there's preferences in policies
but I can't say that it's God's word
you understand or I can't preach like it's God's word
it's like there's pastors out there that all they do is preach their preference
that's all they do
it's not right folks they're lording over God's heritage
okay I'm not a police I'm not the Baptist police
you know I'm not trying to go around and micromanage your life
and making sure that you're just in lockstep with exactly how I do it
no just follow the rules in church and then do whatever you want after that
I mean put it this way the Lord wasn't even like that
even though he's the Lord in the Garden of Eden
he'd even lord over Adam and Eve over what trees
you know the other trees that he said that they could eat
whether they could eat is just like hey this day you have to eat this tree
tomorrow you have to eat this tree
he just said just don't eat this one
everything else free reign
I mean the Lord who if he decided to say that
he would have every right to do so
but even he gives liberty to his people to choose
okay and so you know and this makes me think of of diatrophes
who basically would excommunicate people from the church
or forbid people who he didn't agree with to come into the church
understand because they wanted to hear John preach
and he was just kind of like not for it
go to 2 John go to the book of 2 John
let's read that real quick
I'm sorry go to 3 John 3 John
which if you haven't noticed is after 2 John
okay it says in verse number 8
we therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth
I wrote it to the church
but diatrophes who loveth to have the preeminence among them
receiveth thus not
so is it because he's an overseer
is it because he's of a ready mind
is it because he loves the people
no it says here that he loves to have the preeminence among them
I'm the only one you should be listening to
I'm the only preacher on YouTube you should be hearing
look folks you listen to me three times a week
so I don't blame you if you don't listen to me online
you have to put up with me for three times a week
and if you listen to me above that
you know hey praise the Lord but I don't expect you to only listen to me
because you get me for three hours a week already
and even then in between services you hear my voice
but you know what there's a lot of diatrophes out there who want to lord over the flock of God
and they're like well you can't listen to Steven Anderson
you can't listen to Jonathan Shelley
you can't listen to Roger Jimenez
only me you should be listening to
that's such idiocy and it shows that they're insecure in their leadership
when they just want to have the preeminence among their flock
folks I've said this before and I'll say it again
listen to other preachers because I could only benefit from you listening to my friends preach
you know and these guys would do well to give heed to that advice
because of the fact that if they understood that principle
they would recognize that dude if they listen to other preachers
they will obey those preachers preaching and become better church members for your church
and it's just like no but they're listening to them though
you know I want them to only listen to me
why? we should just love preaching in general right?
and look folks you know and this is again geared towards future elders
never feel belittled or insecure if people listen to other people preach
other pastors preach
okay now I definitely believe that there should be a line a level of respect for your pastor
okay there shouldn't be disrespect towards your pastor
you should never compare your pastor to other pastors
and say you know I like this pastor better I would tell you then what are you doing here?
why are you here? you know I don't tolerate that type of behavior
I don't like that type of behavior where it's like it almost seems like they take jabs at you
and to an extent where it's just like they kind of belittle your leadership
because they have a favorite pastor or something like that I'm not for that
now I'm for you having a favorite pastor who's not me
I'm all for that I don't even I don't care if you have a favorite pastor
just as long as you understand that I'm the pastor of this church
okay are you saying that you're fine with me preferring another pastor's preaching over yours?
yes why wouldn't I be?
because here's the thing other people in other churches I'm their favorite pastor
believe it or not
I know that's crazy but you're like what?
pastor so cute pastor
I'm serious there's other people from other churches that you know why?
because I mean this doesn't necessarily apply a hundred percent but it's like a prophet is now without honor saving his own country and amongst his own people right
and you know sometimes I'll go to other places like man you're like my favorite preacher I love your YouTube channel I love your preaching
I'm like you know praise God so we you know all these pastors deal with that
you say does that create issues? no because we both understand I'm helping his church members become better church members for his church
and he's doing the same for me but the diatrophys doesn't understand that now does he?
he doesn't get that
he could have just said hey we're having John the Apostle John come preach the beloved one
everyone show up you know and they show up and they get preaching and it's the Apostle John right
and they're blessed because of it they become better church members he wants to have the preeminence among them
okay that's why I have no problem sharing my pulpit with my friends
they come preach here they're always welcome to come preach here
my sending pastor pastor Anderson is always welcome to come here my pastor friend pastor Roger Jimenez
we're gonna have pastor Jonathan Shelley come here soon amen
pastor Shelley free up your schedule my friend you're coming to first works
he's coming you know they're always welcome to come here
I just don't welcome the NIFB rejects they're never welcome to come here okay
why because they want to be lords over God's heritage that's why
because they want to they want to have the preeminence among their flock okay
well what should be what should they do it says verse three
neither as being lords over God's heritage but being in samples to the flock
our job is not to be the lord over God's heritage because God is the lord over the heritage
our job is to be an example unto the believers lead the way
follow me as I follow Christ follow me as an example of being a Christian of being a leader
I'm not saying I'm perfect I'm gonna make mistakes but what I'm saying is you can follow me
because I have a track record of spiritual success being an example
and so great truths here from Peter you know and it shows us how important this really is
okay that we should never take this lightly and say well just anybody could make the lowest of the people priests
just get the basis of the people to become spiritual leaders wrong wrong
that should never be the case you know we need to take the position the office of an elder
the position of a bishop very much serious because it is a serious position because it's dealing with people
and their souls people's marriages their child rearing you know this is important amen
let's pray Father we thank you so much for the Apostle Peter who obviously learned a lot throughout his ministry
and Lord I pray that you'd help us as a church to raise up pastors
men who are serious about serving the Lord we don't need quitters we don't need quitters
and we don't need men who are are lapping who are simply just not vigilant they just kind of want to test it out
when it comes to elders we need people who are all in
and so I pray God that you'd help us to give heed to these things and understand it
and understand also that we're not expecting perfection because you don't expect us to be perfect
I'm not perfect I've made mistakes even in the four years that I've pastored this church
but more often than not we should succeed and not make a whole lot of mistakes
and seek to do that which is right and be above reproach
and I pray that you'd help us to do so Lord and to raise up men who do so as well
in Jesus name we pray amen
please turn your song books to song number 248
song number 248 is our last song Now I Belong to Jesus
song number 248 all together on that first verse
Jesus my Lord will love me forever
from Him no power of evoking sever
He gave His life to ransom my soul
Now I belong to Him
Now I belong to Jesus
Jesus belongs to me
Not for the years of time alone
but for eternity
Once I was lost in sin's degradation
Jesus came down to bring me salvation
He lifted me up from sorrow and shame
Now I belong to Him
Now I belong to Jesus
Jesus belongs to me
Not for the years of time alone
but for eternity
Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me
He received and longed and enslaved me
His precious blood He gave to redeem
Now I belong to Him
Now I belong to Jesus
Jesus belongs to me
Not for the years of time alone
but for eternity
Amen wonderful singing you are dismissed
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