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