If we'll have a look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 6, it says,
and ye, so this is Paul speaking to the Thessalonian church, the church in Thessalonica,
he says, and ye became followers of us, so he's speaking about himself and Silvanus and Timotheus,
people like this, he goes, became followers of us and of the Lord, so of course, you know,
as we seek direction, we gave him guidance by godly men, godly counsel, you know, we must remember
that we're also following the Lord, right, I mean, if you have a spiritual head, a religious leader,
who is not following the Lord, then don't follow that man, make sure that you follow a man who is
following the Lord, but then it says this, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, this is this, so that ye were ensembles to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia, the title for the sermon tonight is examples to all, hey, the Thessalonian church was
known as ensembles to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, so the title is examples to all,
you see, this church had matured, he had developed, he had grown to the point that, you know, the work
of the church, the faith of the church was being known in other places of the world, you know, I kind
of wonder why is it that the Lord opened the doors for me to preach in Harvey Bay, you know, you say,
how did that happen, pastor, I'll tell you very quickly, the pastor of that church was visiting
New Zealand, was visiting his sister in Auckland, went to his sister's church, okay, and, you know,
explained, hey, you know, I'm a pastor in Harvey Bay, you know, we're a church, we're two years
old, we don't have a lot of fellowship, I don't have any pastor friends, you know, and then there
was one of the church members there that knows me, you know, thank God for things like Facebook,
social media, he goes, hey, you know, do you know pastor Kevin Sepulveda, he goes, well, I've kind
of heard of him, he goes, you know, he's only a few hours away from you, why don't you get in touch,
you know, and you say, well, you know, is that, is that a big deal, well, when I look at this,
you know, that you were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia,
you know, it tells me that there are other places, you know, where the saints are,
that are hearing about our church, that are hearing about our work, this tells me that
we're growing, we're maturing, our example, our influence is being spread abroad, and I think
this is great, you know, the first five years as a church, I mean, I'm sure we've been influential
to others, praise God about that, but, you know, as the years have gone by, we've been more
influential to brethren in other places of this nation and even to New Zealand, praise God,
you know, other places that have heard about our church and the work that we've done, and I paused
about that, and I kind of thought, you know what, this is a good sign for our church, even though
numerically we haven't grown that much, well, we have, but not that much, you know, numerically,
but at least I can see that our influence is growing, you know, even things like just the
live streaming that we have, you know, when we started this church, I never desired to live
stream, I just didn't want to do it, you know, I kind of thought I'd be encouraging the brethren
to just stay home in pyjamas and tune into the service rather than be in the house of God, but
hey, look, it's a Wednesday night, midweek services, you know, we've got, you know,
what is that, three quarters of a full house tonight, praise God for that, there are a lot
of churches that can't get a midweek service happening, okay, because the people aren't there,
so I can definitely see, even though we're not many in numbers, our influence is growing,
okay, and again, you say, well, that's the work of the pastor, and yes, of course,
the pastor should be an example, but again, look at verse number seven, it says,
so that ye, the whole church, every member, every man, woman and child in that church,
so that ye were ensembles to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, and so the title for
like a sermon, I said examples to all, you know, as we continue to grow as a church, as a local
body, we, ye, together, we should desire to be examples to others, to be a godly influence to
other Christians that, hey, live in Harvey Bay, praise God that, hey, soon, next month in Melbourne,
some of us are going down to Melbourne from this church, from a blessing at Baptist Church,
to the soul-winning work there, hey, we can spread our influence, right, the online ministry,
the live stream, and praise God for those that can tune in that might not have a good church to go
to, you know, we need to be seeking how we can continue to spread our influence, and again,
you know, this isn't just, just, we just need to make this name, like, I'm not looking to build
a kingdom on this earth, I'm really not, I'm interested in the kingdom of God, right, this
is not about boasting of a man or of a church necessarily, but I can see by God's word,
a good, healthy church does start to have influence on brethren in other places,
like I said, this is a good sign for our church, it's probably something that I've overlooked in
the past, but I realised, no, this is a really good sign, it's a good sign that God is working
in our church, and so what I have for you today, brethren, are five points where we can be examples,
where I want our church to be an example to others, hey, an example to one another here in
this church, we continue to motivate, provoke each other, and to love and good works, but also
how we can influence other brethren that are in other places, so let's continue there in verse
number eight, it says, for from you, hey, that's from the Thessalonian church, sounded out the word
of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also, look at this, in every place, your faith to
God word is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything, Paul says, you know, when I go and
visit other churches, I don't even have to talk about the Thessalonian church, I don't even have
to mention you guys, they've all heard of you, they've all heard of the work of God, they've all
heard how you guys proclaim the gospel message, you know, we can look at verse number eight and say,
hey, for this church, for from you, sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in the Sunshine
Coast and in Sydney, but also in every place, hey, Harvey Bay, yes, Melbourne, yes, other places that
we can have an influence, you know, using the technology, the live streaming to reach other
people, yeah, this is a good thing, and I think, you know what, this is where I really want us to grow in,
I realise the Sunshine Coast is not necessarily the place that you can get people to move, to work
and live here, it seems to be, the Sunshine Coast seems to be this sort of rotating location, you
know, like people come for a period of time, or they might come on holidays, whatever it is, it's
very hard for people to sort of settle in on a place like the Sunshine Coast, which is why most
people live in the big cities, okay, that's why, but you know what, okay, we may never be the hundred
member, the 200 member church, and it's not necessarily my desire, if that's God's will, that's God's will,
but I want our influence to reach other places, other people, and so point number one Brevin is,
to be an example to believers in other places, we need to be an example to believers in other places,
you know, it's very tempting, it's very natural to be, you know, us for and no more, just us,
you know, we are like, we're just the, you know, we're the diehards, you know, you know, we're the ones
that are, you know, right on this or that doctrine, and you know, it's us for and no more, that can be
very tempting, and it's very easy actually to take that approach, but you know what, we see in Christian
maturity as you develop the influence to other believers, other brethren, now this is good,
you know, to be able to accept people in our church, they might, that might not be the same
of us on all doctrines, you know, if someone's not saved that comes to this church, we should be all
over that person to give them the gospel, you know, I mean, you know, we should be, hey, oh there's brother
Callum preaching, okay, cool, that's covered, right, whatever it is, whoever it is, you know, that's sister
so-and-so going out there and preaching the gospel to that lost one that came to church today, hey, but
if we have a brother that comes in, that is saved, but it's just not quite right on certain issues,
you know what, we should be a influence, a godly influence, an encouragement to that person,
not, hey, it's us for no more, you know, hey, we have a child, but because, you know, we're, we're in the
zone, like, you know, we're in the game here, you know, this is our game, you know, we're the starting
five, you're on the reserve team, no, no, no, you know what, we're bringing people, we're trying to
bring them in, we're trying to be an example, to be an influence to those that come into our church,
you know, please look after our visitors, look after the brethren that have been attending two
or three or four times, it's always weird to come into a place that you've, you're not familiar with,
you know, most of us have been here several years, there are people that have come for a few weeks, a
few months, they're still not comfortable, well then it's our job to make them comfortable, it's our job
to influence, to encourage them, to encourage them, right, to, to help instruct them, to be that example
to all, an example to all brethren, if we can't be an example to our visitors, man, we're not going to
be an example to others in other places, so please value our visitors, you know, God has sent them to
the house of God when they do visit, you know, and hey, you're a brother in the Lord, you're a sister
in the Lord, you know, people have hurts and you know this because you've got hurts, you've got
problems, you've got issues that, you know, you struggle with in life, well so do our visitors,
sometimes they're just seeking God, they're just seeking fellowship, they're seeking some love,
you know, it's just some companionship, someone to encourage them, someone to motivate them, so yeah,
let's look after our believers that come into this house but also we want to be an example
to believers in other places, that's why it's not just us for and no more, you know, this trip to
Melbourne for me is really important because it's not just, oh it's Melbourne and whatever, like
there are believers there that are excited to have us come there to take them soul winning,
right, they can just see with their own eyes someone knock a stranger's door and give them
the gospel, there are people like that excited to see something that we sometimes just take for
granted, you know, the work that we do but it's actually the most important work, preaching the
gospel to the lost, you know, if you can't, obviously not everyone can come either, I'm not
expecting everybody to just go to Melbourne but obviously if you're not going to be there,
please be praying for us, please be praying for the saints that are in these other places,
that we, the ones that are going out there from Blessed Hope and from New Life,
that we can be an example to believers in other places. Look at verse number nine, it says there
in First Thessalonians one verse nine, for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in
we had unto you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God of course,
to turn from idols to serve the true God is their salvation, they've got a great testimony
of their salvation and then it says in verse number 10 and to wait for his son from heaven,
another great testimony the First Thessalonians Church has is they're excited for the coming of
Christ, they're waiting for the son to return and to wait for his son from heaven whom he
raised from the dead even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come, so yeah, you know,
definitely Paul was a pre-wrath believer, after the coming of Christ, okay, to deliver us from
the wrath to come, amen, of course, okay, but you know, you can see the testimony,
what is the testimony of? That they were a mega church, a thousand member church,
was there testimony that they were just playing, you know, the contemporary Christian music,
the hill song and that, you know, they're selling this many albums, is that their testimony?
What is the testimony of? That they're saved, they preach the gospel and they're waiting for
the coming of Christ, that's a great testimony to have, you know what, that's what we need to be
aiming for brethren, to be excited about these things, to influence others about these great
truths that our Jesus Christ is coming back, you know, this world, this wicked world is not going
to continue forever, one day God's going to fix it all and we're going to play a very important
role with the Lord Jesus Christ in setting Australia back to the standards that God would
have on this earth when Christ rules for a thousand years, please turn with me to Philippians chapter
3, Philippians chapter 3, so I told you I've got five points, so point number one brethren was
be an example to believers in other places, other places, Philippians chapter 3 verse number 15.
Now I'll be honest as well, you know, on Sunday morning I got a message from brother Jason saying
something along the lines of, you know, I hope you have a, you know, enjoy your visit to Harvey Bay
and I responded by saying I'd much rather be at New Life Baptist Church, okay,
all right, like honestly, this is my church, you guys, you know, I feed off you guys too,
you know, I hope I can encourage you but you guys also encourage me, you know, we're working
together, we're one body, I don't like being separated sometimes but, you know, I guess
thinking about these things, we need to obviously not be just focused on the work we're doing here
but how we can influence others but I don't want you thinking our pastor's just going to Sydney,
he's going to Melbourne, maybe to the US again one day soon, you know, he just can't wait to get
away from us, it's, you know, if I could have my own selfish way, I'll just say right here
at all times with you guys but I want you to see the importance of being an example to other
people, influencing other people, we must have all of these areas in our church, okay, this is what
God wants us to work toward, you know, helping other people, influencing other people and not
just being focused on the work here alone, okay. Now, Philippians 3.15, Philippians 3.15, what's
another example that we need to be, what else do we need to be an example of? Philippians 3.15
says these words, let us therefore as many as be perfect. Now, of course, when the Bible says
perfect here, it's not saying sinless, you're never going to be sinless, when the Bible says perfect,
it means complete, mature, alright, complete or mature, be thus minded, you know, Paul is
encouraging the Philippian church, look, be mature, be complete, be well-rounded as Christians,
don't have something massive that is lacking in your life, that should be our mindset,
we should be thinking about working in those areas in our life and then it says these words,
and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, so if you have a mind toward anything else
than being perfect in Jesus Christ, being complete, it says God shall reveal even this unto you.
So, there are areas in our life that are not perfect, there are areas in our life that we're
not mature in, when it comes to our Christian walk, and the Bible is saying here that God will
reveal that within you, he will show you those things, so we come to church, we read the Bible,
we hear what God has to say, so he can identify areas in our life that we need to work toward,
okay, in our maturity, but it's not just within ourselves, because in the Philippian church,
there were people that weren't even saved, there were people setting themselves up as preachers,
as leaders, and they weren't even saved, no, these people were not perfect before Jesus Christ,
and so another truth as we keep going through this passage is that God will reveal the false prophets,
God will reveal the false brethren in the church, it says there in verse number 16,
it says, nevertheless, where to we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us
mind the same thing, again, what are we minding, what are we being focused upon, being perfect,
okay, being mature, being complete as a Christian, look at verse number 17,
brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so, look at this, as you have us
for an ensemble, an ensemble, so it says, look, if you have a Christian in your church,
if you have people, mature Christians that are well-rounded, perfect, you can see in their life,
in the various places in their life, they've got, they walk in that Christian walk, there's maturity,
he says, mark them, they're an example for us, and brethren, if we want to be examples,
if we want New Life Baptist Church to be an example to others, then we need to be an example
of Christian maturity, an example of Christian maturity or perfection, if you want, so I thought,
I did my preaching on The Perfect Man, that series that I did, because I want us to mature,
I want us to grow, you know, five years in this church, we should be a little bit more mature,
hopefully five years more mature, you know, than we first started as a church,
and you know, when we identify areas in our life that are not quite perfect,
we need to be seeking the Lord to work in, work that within us, change that about us,
you know, I want our church to be a mature perfect church, an example of perfection,
and so we need to be working toward this, and when you identify individuals that have reached
this level, you say, look, I'm going to mark them, I'm going to follow their example, you know,
hey, again, we're not a cult, okay, doesn't mean you do things exactly the same, what I like about
the word and sample, you know, the word and sample is not a word we use very common, like now we just
say example for everything, but again, within that word and sample, you can see the word sample,
sample, okay, you know, praise God if I or others can be a sample of Jesus Christ,
where people look at you and go, wow, I can see a little of Christ in that person,
because we're just a sample, we're not really, we're not sinless, you know, one day we will be,
one day we'll have those new resurrected bodies, but we just want to be samples of Jesus, don't we,
and again, when you look at the word and sample example, they're very similar words,
of course, when you think of the prefix enn, it's like the word enter, and example is like the word
exit, it's just a way you sort of look at things, like if I look at, if I desire to teach my
children, I don't know, just because I can't think of anything else, oh, if I teach my daughter some
book, how to do bookkeeping, you know, I'm being an example to her, you know, what I'm doing is,
I'm taking her one-on-one and I'm inserting that knowledge into her directly, but you know,
if you're just a strong worker, other people might see you as a strong worker and say, well,
that's an example, okay, for them, it's kind of like this exterior, it's not a work that's
directly being done within that person, but they can set that person and say, well, that person
is an example, I want to be like that person, I want to work hard like that person, you know,
that would be kind of the difference between the word and sample, an example, but really,
it means the same thing, it means that you're having an influence, people can look at you and
they've been encouraged by how you serve Jesus Christ, but the way we want to serve Jesus Christ
is in perfection, in Christian maturity, we need to be examples of Christian maturity,
why is that? Look, keep going there, verse number 18, he says, for many walk of whom I told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that they, sorry, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame,
who mind earthly things, you see, we've been encouraged to be thus minded to be perfect in
all areas of our Christian life, but there are others in the church that mind earthly things,
their focus, their love is on this earth, on the riches of this earth, on how they can
enjoy just this temporal life, God says, don't mark them as your example, mark those that are
perfect in Christ Jesus, those that are mature, those are your examples, follow after them,
and so brethren, if we're honest, we can all definitely say there are areas that we need to
be more perfect in, more mature, alright, like as your pastor, I hope I've reached a certain level
where you can say, you know what, our pastor Kevin is a good example of Christian maturity,
I hope you can say that, like it's not my desire to be the best preacher in the world,
it's not my desire to be the best soul winner in the world, it's not my desire to be the best
father in the world, or the best husband in the world, or the best worker in the world,
that's not what I'm seeking for, because there's always going to be someone better at certain
things, but in all areas of my life, whatever that is, I want to do it very well, I want to have
grown, I want to give it the best I've got, okay, I want to give the best I've got, because I'm
serving Jesus Christ in all those areas of my life, so I hope you can see, I hope you can see
within your pastor a certain level of perfectness, perfection, okay, not that I'm sinlessly perfect,
of course I'm not, I can say, I'll be the first one that tells you, that tells you I'm a sinner,
okay, but you see maturity, okay, not just in church, and you know, sometimes I, you know,
we joke around sometimes, right, so you know, let's send Pastor Stevenson down to Sydney to
take care of blessed about the church, things like that, like I joke around, but I hope you guys
realise when it comes to the house of God, I'm very serious, you know, it's like the house of
God for me is not a, not just a joke, okay, we're serving the Lord God, you know, we come to hear
God's word to be fed, you know, to encourage, to motivate, you know, I'm not on this just trigger
to disappoint anybody to be the pastor of a church, no, there's got to be maturity, you know,
but if we want to influence other places, if we want to start other churches one day,
and I don't know who that will be, if we want to ordain pastors one day, then all of us, like the
families, the people, we need to aim toward perfection, because there are other people in
the church, like it says here, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly,
and his glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things, you know, I don't want to be a church
where we're just focused on this world, and look, we have to talk about this world sometimes, we
live in this world, okay, the world gives us problems, and we sometimes we need to pray for
one another, and you know, we speak about these things, we're trying to get ahead in life,
generally speaking, to some extent, right, to further hopefully God's kingdom, that's the end
goal at the end of the day, okay, but we don't want to be a church that's focused on the earthly,
on the carnal, we want churches focused on the Lord Jesus, to be like him, to be mature in all
places of our life, and so brethren, the second point that I have for you is, be an example of
Christian maturity, look, I, maybe there's something in this church that knows more doctrine than me,
I don't know, maybe, okay, but again, as I said, I'm not just trying to be the best of everything,
I want to be well-rounded in all areas, I want to be good with doctrine, I want to be good at
preaching, I want to be good at soul winning, I want to be good at parenting, I want to be good
at being a husband, if I have to work a part-time job one day, you know, if the church can't cover
my expenses, I want to be a good employee on that job, I want a good reputation, okay, with my
neighbors, with whoever I encounter, you know, that's what we're seeking for, perfection,
completeness in all areas of our life. Please go with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3,
2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse number 6.
I guess what I was trying to say, I didn't finish my point there, maybe there is someone that knows
more doctrine than me, maybe there is someone that knows more Bible than me in this church tonight,
okay, but don't be boastful about just one area of your life, okay, there might be other areas
that are falling apart, okay, don't be well, I know the doctrines, I've got them all nailed down,
okay, you're a great listener but are you a doer, are you fixing those areas in your life that you
need to fix, you know, are you becoming a better student, are you becoming a better employee,
are you becoming a better soul winner, you know, are you becoming better, a better husband,
a better wife, you're becoming better children, are you becoming better church members,
okay, we're growing in perfection, we're growing in completeness,
okay, in all areas, alright, don't be satisfied in just one or two areas,
you've got other places falling apart, you've got to fix those, you've got to fix those areas
in your life. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 6, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 6,
it says now we command you brethren, and this is a very unpopular, I realise since we're coming
to pass to how unpopular this passage is, now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, we command you,
this is a command of God, command, okay, it's not like some optional thing,
okay, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother, okay, that walketh disorderly,
what does that mean, to walk disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye, sorry,
that he received of us, so Paul is saying look, we've given you a tradition, we've taught you
a certain way, but there are others that walk disorderly, okay, let's keep going there, verse
number 7, for yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves
disorderly among you, Paul says look, we've not been disorderly among you,
we've behaved ourselves, you say what, what are you talking about Paul, how have you behaved
yourself, how have you not been disorderly, verse number 8, neither did we eat any man's bread for
naught, but wrought, look at this, we've labour and travail night and day that we might not be
chargeable to any of you, you know Paul is saying that hey, even though I'm serving the Thessalonian
church, I don't want to be chargeable to this church, we've laboured even in nights, we've
worked double shifts, you know Paul was a tent maker, he goes man, I've laboured in the church,
I've laboured in soul winning, but I've also had to go and get myself another job,
okay, because I'm trying to teach you something, I'm trying to pass down a tradition,
and what is that, verse number 9, he goes not because we have not power, he goes I do have
power to live off the church, to be sustained by the church, you know that is correct, that is
right for Christian full time workers to live off the church, not because we have not power,
but it says this, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us, he goes the reason I work
so hard, the reason I've got a job to provide for my needs, the reason I work to eat my own bread
is to be an example, an example unto the church.
This is such an unpopular passage, there are people in the church that are lazy,
not working at all, these are the people that are disorderly, Paul says no, I've come to show you
different, we're passing out this tradition of course is being a hard worker, looking after your
own needs, not becoming dependent on other people, now look, things happen, people go through
a hard time, someone might lose a job or they might crash the car, something happens and sometimes
the church it's good for us to come together and say how can we help brother so and so, how can we
help sister so and so, that's good and proper, but of course we're talking about someone who just
refuses to labour, right, he wants the handouts, he doesn't want to labour and you know there's
a reason why I spend so much time preaching about being a hard worker, like because you know I'm not
just, I'm not hypocritical in this area, you know before becoming a pastor, I tell you that honestly
you ring any of my employers, they'll tell you I was a hard worker, I may not have been the best
worker, okay, there's always someone better than you, but I was definitely a hard worker, I gave
the best I've got in whatever, whatever capacity that was, whatever it was, okay and then I would
hire people and I'd see this generation come through and they can't, all they can do is text,
they can't even write a sentence, they can't spell, you know children leave in year 12,
they can't do mathematical equations on the spot, they can't communicate, all right, they come in,
you know we're self-entitled and instead of coming, how can I come and profit this business,
how can I add value to this business, okay, they think hey what can I take out of this business,
hey what are you going to provide me, you know I'm willing to work for you, but look I need to,
you know I can't actually, I can't start at eight o'clock, you know I wake up at 7 30, I can't make
it, I'm sorry, you know can we, can we make it a nine o'clock start, it's like no, get out of here
and I just found it so hard to employ just someone, a young, look I'm all about giving
young people an opportunity, but there's a reason why employees are so scared to give
young people opportunities these days, because so many are lazy, we live in a lazy generation
and look I was lazy, you know what made me not lazy is when I decided, you know what I want to
get married one day, I want to provide for my wife one day, I want to have kids one day, I want to
make sure they've got food, clothing, they've got a place to rest their head, so I'm just going to
work hard and God I'm just going to do what you say and Lord you have to bless me, you just have
to make it happen, it's so important, it's so important, we started this church, I was working
part-time, all right, I don't know if you guys will remember two months at least as a bookkeeper,
okay, I was doing it because I wasn't sure how things are going to go financially,
you know I had Centrelink call me, did you know that, after two months, I had them call me,
normally you call Centrelink for help right, they called me and said did you know you're eligible
for this and eligible for that, eligible for that, you know do you want to apply, I said no, I don't
want to, okay, not that I'm so, because it's not like I just fell on hard times, I made a conscious
decision, I'm saying Lord I'm going to go where you want me to go and Lord you're just going to
have to take care of my needs, you're just going to have to figure it out God, I'm just going to
walk after where you're guiding me Lord, you know what, and it's just going to have to, it's going
to have to, it's going to happen, you know, there's just too much of your leading, I believe, I just
do it your way Lord, it's going to have to work out for me, I didn't want to become dependent,
you're setting a bad example I think, okay, okay, and look we want to be examples of strong
workers, point number three, I want our church to be an example of strong workers, okay, and I'm
talking about the place where you go and earn your bread, that's what I'm talking about, your
employment, your place of work, okay, because if one day God willing, he has a man in this church,
to be ordained as a pastor, I want him, he has to, he must have a good report with those that
are without, I'm going to call his employer and say what kind of worker was he, if that employer
says oh he's lazy, he never came to work on time, he left early, he was always, you know, always
reasons why he couldn't get the job done, then he's definitely not going to get the house of
God done, he's definitely not going to prioritise this work, so it's so important that we set an
example of strong workers, look at verse number 10, for even when we were with you, this we
commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat, this is the word of God, if you're
lazy you shouldn't even eat, what should I be doing if I haven't got a job, get a job, that's
what you should be focused on, and for mothers and ladies, you know, you've got a job, your family,
you do the best you can with what God has given you, okay, if you've only got a husband,
serve your husband, serve the family, I know it's unpopular, okay, unpopular preaching,
but that's where you're going to find most joy in life, if you serve the family that God has
given you, and young people, you focus on your education, your skills, okay, when you're ready
to go get a job, you start applying, you do the best you can, okay, you put your best foot forward,
you say you know what, even if work gets hard, I'm not going to quit, I'm going to keep going,
I'm going to keep working hard, you know what, if I lose the job it's because they're going to fire
me, because you know, I just wasn't capable, but you know what, I'm just going to do the best I
can, the best I can, if I still can't do it, well then I've done the best I can, don't be this
generation that gives the least, that is lazy, and then they're surprised when they're fired,
they get offended when they're fired, well I'm going to call, what's the place,
work cover, not work cover, fair work, I'm going to call fair work on you,
you've not worked, why is fair work going to cover you, when you've not worked, it's fair work,
you haven't done your share, okay, how are they going to look after you, if you don't even do
your fair share, listen we need to be an example, and I really mean this, like I really mean this,
when I pray, this is why I keep preaching about this topic, because I don't want my children,
look brethren, please forgive me, but when I preach a sermon, I preach primarily to my children,
they're the ones that I want to absorb God's word the most, okay, and then I know if my children
can receive it, then the rest of the church can receive it, that's my goal, I want the children
to walk away from church going hey, you know what, I just, I learnt something, there's one point that
I picked up from church today, that's my target audience, the children, okay, so I preach these
kinds of sermons, let's keep going there, verse number 11, for we hear that there are some which
walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies, you know what's going to happen
when you stop working, when you get lazy, you're going to become a busybody involved in everyone's
business, okay, you know, verse number 12, now them that are such we command and exhort by our
Lord Jesus Christ, look at this, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread,
say what do I do if I'm lazy, if I'm unemployed, well God says it here, we command and exhort by
our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work, hey don't get a job, you're like hey guys,
I'm working, yeah I've done this many hours, look just quietly, it's normal, that's normal life,
being productive is normal life, just be quiet about it, alright, and eat your own bread,
verse number 13, but ye brethren, look at this, be not weary in well doing, I told you guys,
was it last week, a week and a half ago, that I was getting a little bit weary in well doing,
and I was talking about the work in the ministry, but you know what, God is saying here,
even in our workplace you can get weary, yeah, you know you work hard, you say man I'm stuck
in this dead end job, not going anywhere, kind of bored, I don't like my colleagues,
my boss is frustrating me, and you become weary in well doing, again the reminder here,
look brethren, don't be weary in well doing, you know working a job, being productive is well doing,
there are some people that think, oh just quit my job and get into full time ministry,
look if the Lord opens those doors, praise God for that, okay, but you'll notice that when
Jesus Christ sought his disciples, he went to workers, the fishermen that were fishing,
and Christ said follow me, I'll make you fishers of men, he was a tax collector, was it Matthew,
he was right there, right, he was right there conducting business, and God says hey Jesus
Christ says hey you come and follow me, Christ is looking for workers, right, if we want to be
a church that serves and works for Jesus, then we need to get busy in our employment, ladies you
need to get busy in your families, be productive, use the time, the skills, you know every day that
God has given you to further yourself, it's important, and look there's joy, I'll show you
this, let's keep going there, look at verse number 14, it says, and if any man obey not our word by
this epistle, look at this, if you refuse to work, note that man and have no company with him that
he may be ashamed, yet count him not as an enemy, okay, so don't treat him badly, but admonish him
as a brother, like he's my brother, admonish him, encourage him, hey brother you need to get out
there, be productive, do something in your life, okay, because as a pastor I want a clear conscience
before God in this church, I want a clear conscience, okay, and look I've had several
conversations with people about this topic, I want you to understand, okay, now this isn't listed
in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 with all the other issues why you kick someone out of church,
okay, but this is still an important issue, okay, this issue I treat a little bit more carefully
than the others, okay, just a little bit more carefully, but I make it very clear for men
that refuse to work that they need to get busy, they need to get busy working, I want to have a
clear conscience in this church, I want a church of hard workers, I want to set a good example in
our church, you know, the reason I try to preach and study deeply in God's word is because this is
now my only chance to show you an example of work, you know, studying the church and in Sydney should
be another example, our pastor is willing to travel almost every week, you know, to get down
there and just to serve other people, hope you can see that in me, I want to be an example of this,
and I want our church to be an example to others, see the problem with this, with unemployment,
laziness is that it's contagious, it's contagious, laziness is contagious because
our flesh wants to just play video games, like our flesh just wants to do fun
activities, right, our flesh would rather eat McDonald's than or maybe whatever your
favourite food is, right, but then, you know, going to the gym and working hard or
going for a run, you know, there's this natural tendency in our flesh to be lazy, self-willed
and if we allow this behaviour in our church, it's going to be contagious in our church,
I told you I'm preaching to our children, I want our children to have good examples of hard
workers, not lazy men in our church because it's contagious, they're going to follow the same
patterns they see happen within our church. Again, it's not popular, isn't it? It's not
popular at all, but it needs to be preached, it's God's Word. 1 Peter 5 please, 1 Peter 5.
As I said to you, the title for the sermon tonight was Examples to All,
Examples to All, number one was be an example to believers in other places, number two,
an example of Christian maturity, number three, an example of strong workers,
1 Peter 5, verse number one, I'll get from the next two a lot quicker, 1 Peter 5, verse number
one, it says the elders and the elders there are the pastors, the elders which are among you I
exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the
glory that shall be revealed. Look at the job of the pastor, feed the flock of God which is among
you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraints but willingly, not for filthy
lucre but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage but being ensembles
to the flock. Elders, pastors, the shepherd, the one that feeds the flock is to be an
ensemble to the flock and so again what kind of example do we want to set forth as a church?
Blessed Old Baptist Church still needs a pastor, is the pastor going to come from New Life Baptist
Church? Is the pastor going to come from Blessed Old Baptist Church? Is the pastor going to come
from another place? I don't know, I don't know, okay but what we see here is that whoever we
choose to be that elder must be an ensemble to the flock, they must be capable of feeding people
God's word. Look I want to be friendly, I try to be friendly, I try to be a blessing to you guys
but that is not my number one, now I should be all those things but even more important than that is
that I'm feeding you God's word, that's what you should be looking for a friend pastor, they feed
me God's word, they feed the new man, they feed the soul, I get nutrition, you know that daily
bread that comes from God's word, that's what we should be looking for in a pastor. You know the
next point that I have for you brethren, point number four is we want to be an example of careful
ordination, carefully ordaining the right men. I told you earlier I'm not in this rush,
I'm not like trigger happy, the first person that says I want to be the pastor, all right there you
go, no careful ordination, all right there are qualifications found in the Bible and this is why
I want everyone to be just working toward being perfect, being complete, you don't know like right
now maybe in your heart you're like why are you saying that pastor, I never want to be a pastor
and maybe that's right, maybe you're going to have that desire for the rest of your life
potentially but as you mature and you grow and you know you see the work of God in your life and
and you start to have a heaviness in your heart for believers that don't have a good church
or you know places in Australia or other places in the world that don't have a good church and
your heart starts to yearn and be sad for those people then you may one day discover that the
Lord is leading you to start to be a pastor but you've got to start working on being perfect,
being complete like if you're lazy right like we saw earlier it's not going to happen for you
you're like God called me to the ministry but you're lazy and you're doing nothing with your
life how can you expect Christ to even even if he's walking past he's still going to choose the
one that's fishing, the one that's busy, that's who he's going to choose to get into the ministry,
the one who's already laboring, getting himself prepared you say well you know what I definitely
never want to be a pastor but that doesn't give you an excuse to not be perfect, it doesn't give
you an excuse to not continue to grow and be an example of Jesus Christ, an example to others.
We're five years old as a church brethren aren't we, five years old I want to continue our church
not just myself I want our whole church to be a godly example. I love it when other men preach
I love it when Pastor Stevenson preaches you know and I hear good feedback saying that was a good
sermon you know I can see brothers so and so growing in the Lord you know when I first heard
them and when I hear them preach now I can see this growth I can see this maturity to me that's
wonderful news I love that feedback I love that feedback you know the thing that gives me the most
pleasure as a pastor is seeing my people grow in the Lord that gives me so much pleasure because
then I know something's happening like we're not just meeting and just going through the motions
there's growth there's a work of God in your heart that's what I love to hear.
So we need to be an example of careful ordination making sure we ordain the right people there are
too many disqualified or unqualified pastors in this world there are too many pastors that can't
even feed their church the word of God all they do is feed the milk milk milk milk and milk is good
we want some milk every now and again all right but eventually you're gonna be like man pastor I
need more than milk can you add some Weetbix you know can you put some honey in that Weetbix I need
a bit more of a cereal now pastor I'm trying to grow and some pastors just milk milk milk milk
and then they're wondering how come my church never grows how come we don't have an influence
like other churches because you've got to feed them okay you can't go straight to the meat
all right but okay you get the beef you know um get minced meat turn it into a beef patty
and give them a cheeseburger okay before they get into the steak slowly right getting deeper
and deeper into God's word we need it all we need the milk we need the Weetbix the cheeseburger
and the steak we need it all for a healthy diet okay we're not a cheeseburger healthy cheeseburger
healthy cheeseburger all right a homemade cheeseburger with lettuce
tomato okay not the Hungry Jacks or the Mcdonald's all right
but an example of care for a nation you know I want you to understand even though I can't wait
for God to just send us a man carefully examining that man has to prove themselves to be the right
candidate for the position one more passage please I'm sorry I'm going a bit over time
John 13 John 13 verse 12 John 13 verse number 12
John 13 verse number 12
I sort of can't even believe this story you know I can't even I must can't believe this took place
like if this wasn't recorded in the bible I would not believe it but John 13 verse 12
so after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again
he said unto them know ye what I have done to you like if this story was not in the bible
and someone told you know what you know there was a time when Jesus Christ actually got down
on his knees and washed his disciples dirty feet the God of the universe did this he'd be like come
on I mean that's what I think I just man if this wasn't recorded you know I even now I find out
I can't believe Jesus Christ would do such a thing I mean that's why Peter like I think maybe
I can relate to Peter he's like Jesus no you're not going to wash my feet like he just can't
handle that thought you know I guess you know it's a bit hard to to absorb but Jesus Christ is
teaching them something verse number 13 you call me master and lord and you say well for so I am
if I then your lord and master have washed your feet so also ought to to wash one another's feet
look at this for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you
verily verily I say unto you the servant is not greater than his lord neither he that is sent
greater than he that sent him if you know these things look at this happier ye if ye do them
point number five brethren is we need to be an example of brotherly service if our brother needs
his feet washed we should be willing to get down on our knees and wash their feet and of
course I'm not talking literally here okay but you know what I'm talking about a brotherly need
a brother that needs help in whatever's capacity whatever situation we should be willing to go and
say brother how can I help can I help am I the right person to help how can I help we need to
be an example of brotherly service and the best place to practice this is in God's house again
just find something to do in God's house I need another song leader okay I need another song
leader if you're the person say I can serve I can serve in this capacity I can song lead then tell
me all right you say hey pastor I can come once a week and clean the church building tell me that's
your brotherly service you know what pastor I can increase in my preaching how often I preach
you know then tell me I'm looking for you to serve we're all different we're all made differently
all right I love using sister Trish she does those cards they're free you need a Christmas
card a birthday card man you go to a shop and buy a card of that quality you're spending five six
seven dollars all right sister Trish does it for free and that's a service that's serving the
brethren you know we all have different ways that we can serve don't we okay and you say well
there's really nothing that I do in the house of God well be an example of brotherly service
find something to do I promise you there's something to do okay and I don't know necessarily
what it is you probably know better than me you know when you say in your heart I wish we did
this at church or I wish church was more like this that's probably where you can go pastor
I'm willing to do that which I is in my heart you tell me you know let me just make sure that
it's in line with our goals as a church okay and and if it is and you're willing and able
hey we got we got youth group coming up this Friday if some of the men go hey pastor you
take a break from youth group because you're preaching already three times four times a week
say I'm willing to do a lesson for the children hey hey you step in and do it praise God for that
okay just find a way that you can serve in the body of Christ all right brethren
those are the five points now I'll just quickly read to you the passage that we started with
first Thessalonians 1 6 and you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word
in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost so that ye were and samples to all that believe
in Macedonia and Achaia let's be a church as an example to all of Australia yes Harvey Bay yes
Melbourne yes wherever else the Lord would send us Sydney you know wherever it is let's be an example
to others example within us an example to others and those five points once again brethren number
one was being an example to believers in other places number two an example of Christian maturity
number three an example of strong workers number four an example of careful ordination and number
five an example of brotherly service let's pray