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Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. . . . . . . . . . . All right. Good morning, everybody. UFOs here today. I don't know. Anyways. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bullets in here today. Our verse of the week is 1 Corinthians 3, verse 13. The Bible reads, Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. That's a great verse there. We'll tie in with our second sermon. We are a family-integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother-baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies' restroom. The men's restroom is up here in front. Remember, no eating during the service. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service is at 11.15. Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. Soul winning time is listed. 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. On Saturdays, in case I'm on Memorial Circle, 10 to 12, lunch provided by church, and then 2 to 4 in the afternoon session. Of course, we do have soul winning around 1.45 here today. Our salvations and baptisms are listed there for the year, as well as the month to date for all of our churches and Bible study fellowships. Birthdays and anniversaries for March are listed down there below. On the next page, our Bible memorization challenge. So, for ages 11 and above, Option 1 is always the same. You can memorize any chapter, and if you do it word for word perfectly, quoting it to someone, you get a prize, but obviously you can't pick the same chapter every week. You can pick Esther 10 once. You can't do it every single week just because it's a short chapter. Option 2 is a one week option where next Sunday, March 12, is the last day to quote. That is 2 Peter 1 verses 12 through 21, so that is 10 verses to quote. Today is the last day to quote 1 Corinthians 3 verses 1 through 15, which is what the second sermon is going to be on. Ages 8 to 10 memorizing 7 verses perfectly. Below 8 is memorizing 1 verse perfectly. Upcoming activities. So, next week is going to be our annual table tennis tournament. And so right now, we have the sign up sheets back there. I think there were 14 men in the men's division, 12 ladies or something like that, and then there were like 4 kids or whatever. We're planning to set up a table, a court or whatever, here, there, and then one in the back, so basically 3 groups, and the kids will kind of just play for fun, whereas the men's and the women's are going to be kind of tournament style. Our goal is to get it done in one week. I'm just not sure if we're going to be able to do that. We might have to drag in like the semis in the championship to the week after, because what we're going to try to do is kind of like we did in the chess tournament, instead of single elimination, to make it into like groups, so you get to play several matches, because I just don't want to draw Marlin in the first round and lose like 21 to 5, and it's like, wow, that was a lot of fun, right? But anyways, our aim is a one-week tournament. It might end up being two weeks. We're going to order something like pizza or something next week for the fellowship. So if you don't play, you're still welcome to stick around and fellowship and eat and everything like that. It's going to be a good time. Our monthly prayer meeting is in three weeks on March 26th, and I don't have this listed in the bulletin, but Easter week is like, along with our anniversaries, like the busiest, probably busier than anniversary week, because basically, so-winning marathon, so-winning marathon, the so-winning mega marathon, coming up, but I'm excited. We've had contact from people from Japan, India, and South Korea, so we could have a lot of countries participate that didn't do that last year, so that's really exciting. Obviously, we're going to have a lot of locations in the Philippines, and regardless of who participates, we're obviously going to go very zealously for it with all of our churches and the surrounding areas, so that's going to be coming up during Easter week in April, and of course, we'll take the Lord's Supper during that time as well. Current and upcoming series, and the new series, Pastoral Training, information on our group chat down there below. On the back, there's a place for notes for both of the sermons here today, so the J is the judgment seat of Christ, so I've been tracking how people are doing at guessing, and right now, we have a four-way tie at first. Brother Wynard, Brother Mark, Brother JR, and Brother J have been correct three times, and we might end up having a prize when we're completely done, but someone in Pampanga, Brother Raji's wife, Sister Osel, she's been right most of the time, four times, so you're all behind her, but good job, everybody. You know, do your best. Sometimes it matches up with the memorization. Sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes I change my sermon last second, so it's kind of hard to figure out sometimes, but anyways, that'll be it for announcements, while Brother Marlon leads us in another song. Amen. For our next song, let's get the Marlon book, and it's turned to hymn number 104. Let's sing the song, Lean on His Arms. Lean on His Arms. All at first, all together, just lean upon the arms of Jesus. Ready, sing. Just lean upon the arms of Jesus. He'll have you, He'll have you along in view. He'll fill your heart with song. Lean upon His arms, who He trust to meet and serve. Lean on His arms, all His curses prove. Lean upon His arms, and looking on the rock, just lean on to see your Son. Just lean upon the arms of Jesus. The right hand away, the spot of God, He firmly seated, and He spoke the voice of man. Lean on His arms, who He trust to meet and serve. Lean upon His arms, and all His curses prove. Lean on His arms, and looking on the rock, just lean on to see your Son. Lean on to first, just lean upon the arms of Jesus. Hoping every year, and every day, the burden that has seemed so heavy, linked to the Lord in prayer. Lean on His arms, who He trust to meet and serve. Lean on His arms, and all His curses prove. Lean on His arms, and looking on the rock, just lean on to see your Son. Just lean upon the arms of Jesus, and live on to Him, live on to Him. His heart is full of mercy, His eyes are never near. Lean on His arms, who He trust to meet and serve. Lean on His arms, and all His curses prove. Lean on His arms, every looking on the rock, just lean on to see your Son. Let's take our offering. Let us open our Bibles to Titus, to the people of Titus. We are going to read Titus chapter 1 verses 1-9. Please say Amen when you are there. Titus 1 verses 1-9. Holy servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began, but hath in due time manifested this word through preaching, which is committed unto me, according to the commandment of God our Saviour. To Titus, mine own son, after the common faith, the grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. For this cause, left are we in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not selfish, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy luxury, but a love of hospitality, a love of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both that sword, and to convince the gainsayers. Let's pray. I thank you, our Father, for this day. Thank you for your Bibles. Thank you so much for your word and your faithfulness. We ask also today to give us understanding, to open our hearts for your word, and also that you change our hearts so that we are willing to obey everything what we hear, and that we can apply this in our personal lives and get over spiritually in faith. Then you also ask that you bless the future and anoint him in his name. Amen. All right. We're in our second sermon on the serious pastoral training. If you remember, the first sermon was a couple weeks ago, and it was about basically running your own home. As we saw last week, a couple weeks ago, or two weeks ago, it was kind of like a Father's Day sermon. So you say, Brother Stuckey, I don't have any interest in being a pastor, or it's not going to be for me, but at the same time, you can always learn from the word of God. And I would say that today's sermon certainly applies to everyone because this sermon is about character. Now, you look at the Roman Catholic Church, and in the Roman Catholic Church, one of the requirements for being the clergy is you can't be married. Right? Whereas members are obviously allowed to be married. Well, you know what? It doesn't actually work this way in the Bible because the standards for me are no different than you. And what I mean by that is if I should read the Bible, so should you. If I should not drink alcohol, you shouldn't drink alcohol either. There's no different rules or commandments for me or you. It's just a matter of if you're in a public and prominent position, you're held to a high standard. So realize, as I'm talking about the requirements for your character to be in the ministry, well, these are things that all of us should have. I can't be covetous. Well, you shouldn't be covetous either. Right? I mean, all these things are good for all of us regardless of whether you go in the ministry or not. Now, what we're going to do in this sermon is mainly be in two places here today. Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3. We're going to be going back and forth, so what I would recommend is you put a bookmark, a ribbon, put your finger or something there, put the bulletin, because we will be going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, comparing these two lists. Now, this is one of those sermons that honestly it would be helpful to have like a projector, and you could see the verses because we're going to be comparing back and forth. So to make it easy, make sure you're just able to quickly turn between the two. We'll go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth this entire sermon. So we're going to use 1 Timothy 3 as our guiding chapter, though, and then we'll also be turning to Titus 1. So go to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. And it says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, A bishop then must be blameless. A bishop then must be blameless. And then what 1 Timothy 3 is going to do is going to give you a list of requirements in order to be blameless. Being blameless is used synonymously with the word spotless. So just imagine you have a white couch, it looks perfect, and you're raising very young children and they get a hold of a black marker, which happens to every family, right? And then all of a sudden you've got this giant spot on the couch. It stands out. It's obvious. When people see that couch, the first thing they're going to do is look at that black spot, right? The idea is if you're in the ministry, you can't have anything major where they look at you and they think, covetous, drunkard, right? You need to be blameless. You need to be spotless. Not sinless because obviously nobody is without sin, but no major thing that is going to basically disqualify you from the ministry. So what it says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 2 is, a bishop must be blameless, and it's going to divide it into two categories. One of them is for family requirements. We talked about that two weeks ago. The other one is for character requirements, which we're going to talk about here today. Now go to Titus 1. Titus 1. Titus chapter 1. Titus 1 verse 6. If any, be blameless. And then in Titus 1 verse 6, the context is family requirements. Titus 1 verse 7, for a bishop must be blameless, and then you see character requirements. So in the list in Titus 1, it uses this word blameless twice. However, 1 Timothy chapter 3, when it talks about blameless, it links your family and character requirements together, whereas Titus 1 kind of separates them. But we talked about the family requirements already in Titus 1 verse 6, and today is about the Titus 1 verse 7, the character requirements. What you're going to primarily see is the list in Titus 1 verse 7 is about the nots. Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. You say, why? Because here's the thing. I need to read my Bible every day like all of us do. Quite honestly, nobody has any idea whether or not I've read my Bible today or yesterday or the day before. I need to pray every day. You have no idea whether or not I'm praying. Now, those are things you need to do, do, do, but the things that you should not do are the things that basically take away from you being blameless because they're transparent. They're obvious. They're visible. Right? I mean, just imagine we go out soul winning, and then I stop at 7-Eleven and get a red horse, and just I down it. It's like, well, that's very obvious. I've got a major sin. Everyone would be very easily able to see that. Now, look, somebody does not get kicked out of church because they drink from time to time even though we teach and believe it's a sin, but obviously I can't drink from time to time. That certainly would disqualify me from the ministry because of the fact I would have a blame. I would have something people would say, well, that's Brother Stuckey's besetting vice or besetting sin, right? So let's just go through this list and go back to 1st Timothy 3, and let's look at the list of requirements, and all of these things are good for all of us, but these are requirements to be in the ministry. 1st Timothy 3, verse 2. First thing you see after blameless is vigilant. Vigilant. What does vigilant mean? Keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties, for possible danger or possible difficulties. So think about being a parent, and your child is in the living room. They're just a very young child, six months or a newborn or whatever, but they started to crawl, and there's a sharp object like a knife on the ground. Well, you don't know whether your child is going to pick up that knife. You don't know whether they're going to crawl to it, but wait a minute. As a parent, what do you do? You've got to be vigilant and say, hey, I'm going to remove that before there's a problem, because before you know it, you get a phone call, you're not paying attention, and then you've got a disaster. As a parent, you must be vigilant to make sure of potential danger. With our son Ezra, he's a climber. We've got two floors in our house, and so with Ezra, it's like if we don't block the stairs, we're like, where's Ezra? Just look up. I mean, he's very quick. Well, here's the thing. As a parent, it's actually very dangerous for a child, this nine months, because it could easily fall down. So as a parent, you've got to say, well, wait a minute. Let's just block off the potential for danger, right? We don't want to even risk something possibly happening. Well, if you're going to be in the ministry, this is a requirement for you. You've got to watch for potential danger. Even if it never turns out to be something, if you see possible danger, you kind of put a stop to it, and a lot of people might think, man, I didn't even see anything wrong with this. Why is he going overboard? Because of the fact you've got to be vigilant. Because maybe you're looking at potential possible problems that may never come, but you say, wait a minute. We don't even want to risk it, okay? Go to Acts chapter 20. Acts 20. Acts 20. If you're a parent, you can certainly relate to this. I mean, you don't really think about it before you're a parent, but then as a parent, you become paranoid. You're really always afraid that something's going to happen to your child because the amazing thing is kids, they get hurt all the time, and they just bounce back up, right? But as a parent, you're scared to death every time. Maybe they fall off the couch, and then all of a sudden they're happy like a minute later, right? But at the same time as a parent, you're worried about potential danger because something could happen. They fall and hit at the exact wrong spot, maybe the back of the head, where it's very weak and dangerous, and then you could have a disaster. So as a parent, you're very careful. In the ministry, running a church is like having a family on a larger scale, right? Isn't that the example that we see? Learn to run your own home well, and then you have a church where there's lots of families. The Bible says in Acts 20, verse 28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Look, there's nothing nicer than just sitting outside in a chair and just looking at beautiful scenery, looking at the mountains. My parents' house is right by a beautiful set of mountains. Just being outside and relaxing is just great. But here's the thing. If you're a shepherd, you can't just sit there and watch the sheep run around. You have to be really worried about one of them getting away, some sort of animal coming, and you don't get to just relax. And here's the thing. In the ministry, you really don't get to relax because you've got to be vigilant. You've got to be paying attention. Paying attention to things that are not just obvious, things that are very subtle, things that are not obvious. Now this is a good trait for anybody to have. We should be people that are vigilant. I'm just saying if you go into the ministry, hey, it's a requirement. It just is a little bit different if you're in the ministry. Go in your Bible to 1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 3. And look, for those that are interested in going in the ministry, like I said, I'm not trying to convince you to go in the ministry. If anything, it would make you say, wait a minute. I don't know if I want to do this. Here's the reality. You know what? If you're not working for a church, you show up for activities. You just have fun. You have a great time. Like next week, the table tennis is going to be a lot of fun. And you know what? I plan to enjoy it and have fun. I enjoy table tennis. It's a fun game. But at the same time, if you're running things, you've got to make sure things go smoothly. And quite honestly, you don't have the same sense of enjoyment as if you're just kind of showing up. And you know what? I worked a secular job for a long time after college. And you know what? Here's the thing. When you work a secular job, you work 40, 50, 60 hours a week, and then there's great joy every time you enter church because I'm away from the things of the world. You do not get the same feeling if you're in the ministry. I don't want you to misunderstand. I'm happy to be in the ministry. I believe it's the calling God has for my life. I enjoy it. I enjoy preaching sermons. But I want you to realize I don't get that same feeling when I walk into church because I'm always involved in ministry-related things. So there's some advantages not being in the ministry. Now, as I said, I'm not trying to convince you not to go in it. I'm just trying to give you a realistic idea because a lot of people get this idea. Man, you know what? If I become a pastor, I'm going to be happy every single session. I'm going to be happy every single second and never be upset. Actually, no. That's not the way it works. I remember the first Red Hot Preaching Conference in Sacramento. It was right after the big protest in Sacramento, California. And here's the thing. You know what? To other people, they just kind of showed up. It's exciting. Protests, fun, games and everything. But for me, it's like, wait a minute. We got Pastor Burzen's family arriving. You call every day to Hertz or the Enterprise or whatever it was to make sure there are rental cars coming for a family that's big, a van. And then all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute. Even though you call many times, we don't have your reservation. We think there must have been a mistake. It's called, yeah, you canceled us, obviously. And it's like there were all kinds of problems like that. No, wait a minute. You guys never ordered pizza for this day. And all these companies were canceling us. Look, those couple days during the first Red Hot Preaching Conference were some of the worst days of my life. I'm just being honest with you. I mean, it was so muggle-o, so stressful. And I'm just thinking, oh, man, everybody else so. Smile on their face. It was the first Red Hot Preaching Conference. Soul winners from all over. They're so excited. And then everyone's excited, 200 soul winners. But wait a minute. Myself, Pastor Menes, those involved in it, how are we going to pair up hundreds of soul winners? People fly in. They don't necessarily have cars. And there are no Jimpneys in the U.S., right? It's like, what are we going to do? Right? It was actually a time of a lot of stress, right? Now, I'm not complaining about it. I'm just stating you get a different feeling if you're in the ministry. I'm glad to be in the ministry, but it's not all just, you know, sunshine and roses or whatever, right? Got to be vigilant. Another thing it says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2 is sober. It says sober. Sober, we naturally think of, you know, But that's not really all that the Bible's trying to say. I mean, obviously you'd expect someone to go into the ministry probably not to be la cinero, right? I mean, that's probably the last thing that you have to worry about. But sober is not just about alcohol. Here's the definition. Make or become more serious, sensible, and solemn. Because drunkards act like idiots, right? It makes you act like a fool. It makes you act like an idiot. It makes you not serious, right? I mean, you're like, oh, let me just drive. Let me just drive twice the speed limit and just take my hands off the wheel and see what happens. That's literally what people do when they're drunk, right? Well, being sober means to be serious. Take things very seriously, right? Now, here's the thing. I don't think it's a sin to wear shorts and a T-shirt, right? I mean, when I work out, I wear shorts and a T-shirt. When I play sports, I wear shorts and a T-shirt. Anyone who comes to our church wearing shorts and a T-shirt, I am happy to have them. But what if I showed up today in shorts and a T-shirt? What would your opinion be? You visit a church for the first time and the pastor's wearing shorts and a T-shirt, you'd be like, he doesn't take it very seriously. You say, Brother Stuckey, do you just naturally enjoy wearing a suit and tie? You've got to be kidding me. Do you think I enjoy wearing this? You've got to be kidding me, right? My ties are not the same length, so sometimes it takes me 10 minutes. It's like, ah, too long, too short. But why do I do this? Because I want to be taken seriously. And here's the thing. It's not just a joke if you're in the ministry. Now, is there a time to have fun and relax? Absolutely. If you've been at our church for years, you know that I like to tell jokes and have fun, but then there's other times, Brother Stuckey's just really serious. Why? Because it's serious. Preaching a sermon's not a joke. Going sobering's not a joke. Hey, there's time to have fun during the table tennis tournament, but during the service, it's serious business. Why? It's not a joke in the house of God. And if you want to be in the ministry, you've got to be sober. You've got to take things very seriously. It's serious business what we're doing. I mean, literally what we do will determine whether or not people around us go to heaven or hell. That's pretty serious. Now, of course, we have fun. We have games. We had the sweetheart banquet. I make jokes and things like that, but wait a minute. During serious things, you've got to take it very seriously, right? It also said in Titus 1, verse 8, sober. So in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, Titus 1, verse 8, you see this phrase coming up, sober. And so when the Bible's repeating it, it's very important, right? This is something that young people struggle with. In our modern day, people don't take life seriously at all. It's like, let's just joke around, and then once I graduate college, I'll take life seriously. Why not take it seriously when you're 15 years old? Why not take it seriously when you're 16 years old? Why not give your kids some responsibility so they realize life is not just games? I get it. All kids want to do is play games, and of course, let the kids have fun and run around. That's good for them. But at the same time, they need to realize it's not just a joke. It's not just fun. It's not just whatever you want. I mean, life is serious, and we need to take it very seriously, especially in the house of God and at proper times. Go back to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. As I preach this sermon, if you have a desire to go in the ministry, what you should do is really be thinking about these things and be honest with yourself, because you know yourself better than I know you, and if you can't be honest with yourself, ask your wife to be honest to you. She'll let you know what your problems are. I'm sure her being around you, she's going to see the various things that maybe you could work on, right? Because if you want to go in the ministry, it's not like, well, I'll just figure this stuff out once I'm a pastor. Well, prepare to just mess up and not enjoy the ministry, and just your life is a mess. It's better to figure this out ahead of time, right? It says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, after sober, of good behavior. Of good behavior. Now, of good behavior to me, it's like a generic catch-all phrase, which honestly, we're covering all this stuff. Basically, having a good attitude, not to be a bitter person, not to be rude, to be polite. I mean, these are things that are very important, right? I mean, if you're a rude, obnoxious person, don't go in the ministry, okay? You have to be of good behavior. Then it says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, given to hospitality. Given to hospitality. Go to Titus 1, verse 8. Titus 1, verse 8. Titus 1, verse 8. And in that verse it says, but a lover of hospitality. A lover of hospitality. Once again, this is something that's appearing two times. Hospitality. The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. So, being hospitable is making people feel welcome. Right? Now, here's the thing. These two things are not the same. A lover of hospitality and given to hospitality. They're not actually the same thing. Being given to hospitality is what you're doing. A lover of hospitality is what you feel on the inside. Do you see the difference? A lover of hospitality on the inside being given to hospitality on the outside. Here's the thing. If you're going to be given to hospitality, you need to learn to love it. I mean, if you don't enjoy it and you hate it, you're not going to do it. The things we do in life are things that we enjoy. This is why the Bible always talks about fix the inside and the outside cleanses itself. You don't have to work on it. I mean, if you love something, you're going to do it. Right? The things that we love in life, we do. Think about whatever you do for enjoyment or fun. I like to play soccer. I like to work out. It's not really a burden for me to do those things. It's like when I have free time, I want to do those things because I love it. It's enjoying to me. It's fun to me. There's a lot of things I do not love. Things that aren't exactly something that I would gravitate towards. And here's the thing. It's hard to be given to those things if you don't enjoy them. And so here's the thing. You say, Brother Sucky, I want to go in the ministry, but I'm not just naturally a friendly and welcoming and hospitable person. What do I do? Change. It's that simple. Change. Right? Because some things, you just got to change. I mean, the Bible said with Paul, I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. You know what Paul's saying? I had a nice life before I became a missionary. Everything was great. And then all of a sudden, I went to the mission field. It's like, man, it's like I had to learn to be content or happy. So here's the thing. It's not like if you fail at one of these things on the list, it's a lost cause. What it's called is change ahead of time. Change. Learn to be hospitable. That is probably one of the hardest things on the list for people that go into the ministry. One of the big reasons why people want to go into the ministry is they enjoy preaching. I mean, I enjoy preaching. It's fun to me. Writing sermons, preparing them, I enjoy it. For some of you, it's like that's the last thing I would ever want to do. I enjoy it. Right? But being hospitable, that's not something that I naturally gravitate towards. You got to just learn to change. You say, why? Imagine going to a restaurant for the first time. I mean, the reviews are great. Greatest food in the world. You show up to that restaurant, you're at the front, and you're like, are they going to seat us or do we seat ourselves? And you're kind of confused. It's a bit modulo. Then you just seat yourself after two minutes. Well, I guess they're not seating us even though they've got one of these in front. You seat yourself. Five minutes later, you're like, are they coming to us? I mean, and then you have to go. You know what? You might never go back to that restaurant because your service is horrible, right? Now, here's the thing. A lot of people would look at our church and they would say, you know what? I love the preaching. Now, a lot of people hate it. Okay, I get that. A lot of people really like the preaching of our church, but that doesn't mean people are going to start coming to our church. What do we have to do? Be hospitable. Be friendly. Be welcoming. Be a place where people say, you know what? I like the atmosphere. I like the people. I want to be a part of that. And you know what? If you're going to go there, you have to learn to be hospitable. It says in 1 Timothy 3, go back to there. 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, it mentions after giving a hospitality, apt to teach. Apt to teach. Apt is a short word for aptitude, and aptitude's kind of like a makalumang type of word for ability. You would say the ability to preach. The aptitude ability to teach. Obviously, one of the main things you do if you're a preacher is you preach. I mean, this is one of the big things. This is such a big thing, we're going to have a whole sermon on this. So honestly, I'm not going to talk about it here today because we'll have a whole sermon in this series because one of the most important things you're going to do if you're in the ministry is teach. Now, what I will say about teaching is if you preach a sermon and you ask people after the sermon, hey, what was that sermon about? And people are like, man, it was great. I mean, what was it about? What did he talk about? He told a lot of jokes. It was funny. What was that sermon about? You're not a very good preacher because if you're teaching, they understand. I mean, imagine you have a calculus teacher. That class was great. Do you know how to solve this problem? I have no idea. But I really like the teacher. Well, that doesn't mean that he's good at teaching, though, right? And so I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being friendly or engaging when you preach and teach, but I need to be teaching you something so you're learning, okay? We'll talk about that in this series. Go to Titus 1 because there's something on the list in Titus 1 that is not in 1 Timothy 3. Titus 1, verse 7. And in Titus 1, verse 7, it has this phrase not self-willed, right? Not self-willed in Titus 1, verse 7. And so here's the thing. If you go into the ministry, it should not be, well, you know what? I want to benefit myself. It's all about me. I want to become famous on YouTube. I want to become rich. I want to become this. I want people to look at me and just respect me and everything. That's the wrong reason to go in the ministry. And if that's why you want to go in the ministry, then just let me know ahead of time because you're going to destroy your life and you shouldn't go in the ministry. When you go in the ministry, it's not about yourself. The Bible says you desire a good work. It doesn't say you desire the praise of man that everyone's going to look at you. You're the greatest thing in the world, right? No, actually, it should be that you're not self-willed. It's not about you. Go to Romans 15. Romans 15. Remember, it starts with running your own home. Your child comes to you, Dad, can I please have water? No, I don't feel like getting up right now. I just want to sit down and relax. It's like, you're not a good father then. Now, here's the thing. The reality is sometimes my kids ask for water and it's like, man, we already sat down to sleep. But wait a minute, if you're going to be a good father, not self-willed. It's not about you. It's about your spouse and your kids. I mean, learn to care about other people more than yourself. If it's all about you, you will fail as a father, you'll fail as a mother, you'll fail as a husband, you'll fail as a wife, and you will fail as a pastor if it's all about you. What benefits you? What benefits you? Romans 15, verse 1. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. It's not about yourself. I mean, I say this all the time. The essential theme in the entire Bible is that our lives are not about us. Don't I say that all the time? Is that not in the Bible all the time? Our lives are not about ourselves. And if you go in the ministry thinking it's about you, what can this do for me? It's the wrong reason. You should have the mindset, what can I do for the people at church? How can I benefit them? Verse 2. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself. Excuse me. But as it is written, there were approaches of them that reproach thee, fell on me. When Jesus came, it wasn't about himself. It was about other people. I'm sure that there were times Jesus just wanted to relax. He didn't want to preach. I mean, there's a time where they go to have basically a mini vacation with the apostles and then people follow them. The apostles get a bad attitude. They're like, man, we're going to relax and now these people are showing up and Jesus is like, hey, we need them to have bread and fish. We don't want them to starve. We need to give them something. And look, I get it because I would probably be like those apostles sometimes. You just want to rest. But here's the thing. When you go in the ministry, you can't be self-willed. It's not about you. And here's the thing. You don't know when issues are going to come up from week to week. You have to be ready to help when those issues come up. Go back to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. Look, obviously you could preach a whole sermon series on all of these points, like one point per sermon. This is like rapid fire, just point, point, point, point, point. So obviously take time to think about these things, but as I said, even if you do not go in the ministry, think about what you're not good at and fix it. Find your weakest area and fix it. It says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, in this verse it has not given a wine, not given a wine. Now of course you think, well, he said to be sober, but there's more to it than that because wine in the Bible, along with oil, are sometimes used to represent things that are very rich and expensive and luxurious, something where you have a really nice lifestyle. This is why every word in our Bible is so specific. There's great meaning the way God actually wrote things. When he's saying not giving a wine, it's not simply that I'm not like, man, I gotta have that red horse. It's also not being given to fancy things, meaning that you can accept just a modest and nice life. It's not that you've gotta have everything that life has to offer. No, I mean we should be people that are thankful for the things that we do have. This exact thing is mentioned in Titus 1, verse 7, the same wording, those four words, not given a wine, not given a wine. Now of course this is something that all of us should have in our personality that we can live just the life we have, the fact that we're saved and that God loves us and He's blessed us in so many ways that even if you never get that nice house, even if you never get that nice car, that you're content with what God has given you. Now there's nothing sinful about having a nice house. There's nothing sinful about having a nice car, but if you can't have those things, be content. Be happy with the things that you do have, right? Turn to your Bible, 1 Timothy 3. When people have this attitude where they have to have everything so nice or exactly like they want, it's really rude and offensive. I remember that someone who's not at her church anymore, but it's like she would complain just kind of subtly about how, oh, my old church gave me a free lunch. It's like, you're bastos. You're rude to insult myself and my wife. And let me be clear, we will never give a free lunch at this church because it's going to create an atmosphere of people that want to use our church for all of these things. We're never going to have that. Here's the thing. You know why we had a sweetheart banquet where we paid for it as a church and we didn't ask for any money? Because we don't give you a free lunch, right? Things cost money. We're never going to have a free lunch here. But here's the thing. To even say that is like, what's wrong with your heart? You're rude. I've never been to a church and nor would I have never expected. I've never been to a church. And look, I'm not saying it's wrong for a church to do that. Churches run things differently. I'm just saying, aren't you happy with a church that has the right gospel and that goes soul winning and that's preaching the word of God? It's like, you guys don't give us a free lunch. What's wrong with you? We'll never give one. I'm not trying to be a people pleaser like, oh, Brother Stuckey, some people won't join your church if you say that. Okay, good. Because if people are going to use our church for money, just stay away. I mean, it's just like, be thankful for the things that you do have. When our church started, we didn't have a lot of nice things. Why? We didn't have any money. We're a new church. We didn't have a sweetheart banquet. We didn't have events. You say, why? Those things cost money. Any money we did have, we had for soul winning marathons, right? And look, our church is always going to be about soul winning. I mean, look, let me be clear. I love our all-day soul winning on Saturday, but you know what? We spend a lot of money on a monthly basis on food for the soul winners, and I'm happy to do it. And we make it enjoyable. I mean, look, Bacolone Chicken is a nice place to eat. It's not the cheapest though, and that's fine because God has blessed us with money. We're going to use it for soul winning. But here's the thing. It's like having this attitude, well, I want more. Look, we're never going to be a mega church. There are churches that are going to provide things that we're never going to provide. We would never have the capacity to provide, nor would we even choose to do it if we could. Why? Because I would think it is an inefficient way to spend that money. And you say, Brother Stuckey, who makes the decisions? Me. You got a problem with my decision? You can ask Pastor Menes. He's going to say, well, I support Brother Stuckey because I appointed him in charge. We will not give a free lunch. Don't be a person. I've got to be given to this and have this and have this. Just be content with what we do have. I think this is a great church. Of course, in the future, I'd like to have other things we don't have now, but I'm thankful for what we do have. Don't be given to fancy and luxurious things. It also says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, Not greedy of filthy lucre. Not greedy of filthy lucre. Now in Titus 1, verse 7, it says not given to filthy lucre. Not given to filthy lucre. Filthy lucre, it's like a dishonest way, a sinful way to get money. Right? Now, here's the thing. My opinion of being greedy or given to filthy lucre, although this would apply, I don't think this is the main context, of course, I can't be making money off gambling and prostitution. Something very sinful. That would obviously be wrong. However, a more practical way would what if there's a member of church that has a lot of money and they give a lot of donations to church because they make a lot of money, but the way they're getting money is via gambling. They own a casino. Look, if you own a casino, let me know because we're going to kick you out immediately because you are responsible for a lot of sin in this world. That would be greedy of filthy lucre if I say, wait a minute, I'm not going to kick them out. That would make me a respecter of persons, right? It's like, no, wait a minute, that is filthy lucre. Making money from a casino is wrong. Now, if there's a million jobs in this world, you can work hard, get an honest day's wage, and you know what, God provides for you, but if you're making your money off a casino or gambling or prostitution or something like that and I say, well, I'm not going to kick them out because their tithe is so high. Don't go into the ministry. You have to be willing to just be fair in judgment, right? Turn to 1 Samuel 8. 1 Samuel 8. Let me give you an example of this to show you what I'm talking about. 1 Samuel 8. 1 Samuel 8, verse 3. This is the story of the sons of Samuel here. 1 Samuel 8, verse 3. Now, look, lucre in and of itself is wrong. When it's saying filthy, it's like emphasizing how wicked it is, but lucre is dishonest money. Filthy is just making it clear. This is filthy. This is sinful. They turned aside after lucre, and notice this, and took bribes and perverted judgment. I mean, what if I was going to kick somebody out of church and then they're like, here's a thousand pesos. Put it in my pocket and I don't do it because they gave me money. Kind of like, and look, I'm not saying this is wrong, but you get stopped by a policeman. You're speeding and they're going to write you up and it's like, here's 500 pesos. It's like, all right, you can go, right? Now, I'm not giving an opinion. I'm not saying that is wrong. I would do the same thing if I was caught by a policeman, just hope that they'll let me out of it or whatever, but here's what I'm saying. It's like if you're in the ministry and you don't deal with stuff because somebody gives you money, you're turning aside after filthy lucre. You're a respecter of persons. That's a sin, and you shouldn't go in the ministry because if that is in your personality, you're going to allow anything to go on at church. You're going to just say, well, whatever, because it's all about what can people give me. Well, that's not why you go in the ministry. It's not about what benefits you. It's about caring about other people. You've got to be fair in judgment, not to take bribes, not to pervert judgment, but be fair. Turn in Bible to 1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 3. I mean, look, if you work at a company and somebody's done something really wrong and then they offer you money not to tell the boss and you take that money, yeah, don't go in the ministry because you're going to do the same thing in the ministry, right? You're going to be tempted in your flesh. You're going to sin, and you're going to be under the judgment of God for doing that because that's wrong. To take money and say, well, you know, because they gave me money, you know what? I'm not going to deal with the situation, okay? 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, and I know I'm going a little bit out of order. I'm going to in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. There's a point to it. There's a reason. It also says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, not covetous, not covetous. Now, this is pretty similar to not being given to filthy lucre, being covetous. Turn to Exodus 18, Exodus 18, and you know the story of Exodus 18 where basically Moses is judging the people, and it becomes a burden because he's judging too many people, and his father-in-law gives him some wisdom and says, hey, appoint other people to be in charge so you don't have to bear that all yourself, right? And in Exodus 18, verse 21, here's what he says. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, okay, having the ability. What determines if you have the ability? Natural talent. Is that what it says? No, it does not say natural talent. Such as fear God. You know the most important thing about being a leader or ruler is that you fear God? That's number one. Men of truth. Hating covetousness. I mean, these are all things about having strong and high character. It's not just, well, you know, natural ability, right? It's very easy for people with natural ability to kind of get lifted up and think very highly of themselves. And sometimes they think, well, you know, I'm too good. I can do whatever I want because of my talent. Look, we had someone at our church, you know, a few years ago, and hey, they were naturally gifted at a lot of things. It's like, well, I'm not gonna pervert judgment. I don't care how good you are at song leading. I don't care how smooth of a talker you are. I'm gonna do things properly, and when you're in major sin and you're guilty and unrepentant, it gets dealt with. I don't care about your natural ability. What I care about is do you fear God? And the proof of whether you fear God is the actions, right? Turn your Bible to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. I mean, this is brought up quite a bit, you know, not being, you know, covetous, not greedy of filthy liquor, not giving a wine or fancy things, a lot of things associated with money. The idea is if you struggle with money, it's like you should not go in the ministry because you'll pervert judgment. You'll make changes at church. It's like, well, wait a minute. Let's just change the music to bring more people in this church. That ain't happening at our church. We're not changing the music. We're not changing the preaching. I will still preach things that offend people and make people mad. I'll preach the whole Bible. You say, why? Because I don't care whether or not it makes the church big. What I care about is we have a good church. What I care about is God's blessing is upon this church. I'm not going to change to make people happy. We're going to do what God says. Why? We want the blessing of God upon this church. Whether that means our church will never grow past a certain point, fine. I don't need to have the biggest Baptist church here in the Philippines. I'm just happy that people love God at our church. That's what matters. It says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. It mentions two things that are very similar in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. It says, no striker in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. And it says, not a brawler in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. In Titus 1, 7, it also says, no striker. And it also says, not soon angry, which is relatively similar. It's kind of the pathway to being a striker or a brawler. And the idea is that you can control your attitude. You're not given to just get into this massive anger and screaming and mad and everything. I mean, this is very important. This is why if somebody wants to go in the ministry, you know what, I kind of like to give them a little test of the stress of the ministry before they go in. Because it's good for you to deal with it. Because it helps you develop patience. Let me give you an example. You know the thing that, honestly, was my least favorite thing to do in Sacramento at Verity Baptist. I don't know if Pastor Mendez knows this or not, but I guess he'll find out. Or maybe I'll email him and tell him. Was pairing people up for soul winning. Why? It was stressful. It was frustrating. You say, why? Because of the fact, in America, we don't just send everybody in a jiffy. Some people have cars, some don't. And so basically, you know what, you do the pairing for soul winning. You think it's all organized and figured out. Everything's fine. I get to relax. Somebody walks in last second. It's always like, no. Or if somebody comes to you and says, hey, so and so's not going to be here for soul winning today. You're like, okay. You cross them off the list, and then they show up. Hey, I decided to come. Great. I'm so happy. It would be stressful. It would be frustrating. And it's just like, it is what it is. And here's the thing. Pairing people up for soul winning, I promise you, the guys who do it, hey, it seems very easy, doesn't it? Just pair somebody up with a different person. It's not that easy. It can be frustrating. It can be actually very stressful. Honestly, before you go in the ministry, it's good to actually get practical experience of doing stuff, because once you get stressed out, what's the reaction? To scream at somebody? Or to just put a smile on your face and say, okay, no problem? Because look, there's times I do things at church and things make me mad. But what you have to learn is to control your anger, to control your attitude, because look, if I'm screaming all the time at church outside of a sermon, right? It's okay in a sermon, but if I'm screaming all the time at people and yelling at people, it's like that's an obvious spot or blame that's associated with me. Even if something made me mad at the same time, it's like I can't have that as an obvious thing. When you raise kids, you've got to learn to be patient, don't you? Your kids are going to do stuff. I mean, things are going well, and then one of them accidentally knocks the juice on the floor or accidentally knocks it on the computer, like water or something like that. Your first reaction is not praise the Lord, right? Your first reaction is frustration. But here's the thing. As a good parent, what you should strive to do, I'm not saying I'm perfect at this by any means. What you should strive to do is not to scream at your kid and make them feel horrible because they made a mistake. You know what? Kids make mistakes, and here's the thing. We also knock over drinks on the table sometimes, too. Sometimes I get mad at my kids, and then I just completely knock over like Eliminate or something, and it's like, oh, man, right? But anyways, let me just quickly go through these other things. We're already kind of low on time, but it says also in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, it says, but patient, but patient. Now, here's what's interesting in 1 Timothy 3, verse 3. I want you to pay close attention. In 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, there are six things mentioned, right? In the middle of this verse is what's called a semicolon, right? The dot looks like a period with a comma underneath. A colon is two periods, right? Two dots. Semicolon is a dot that's semi, half of it, and then a comma-looking thing underneath, the apostrophe-looking thing or whatever. And with semicolons, it kind of sets aside lists, but I want you to notice there's three things before the semicolon and three things after the semicolon, okay? Now, the last thing before the semicolon is not greedy of filthy lucre. The third thing mentioned is not greedy of filthy lucre, okay? The sixth thing mentioned is not covetous. Aren't those similar, right? The second thing mentioned is no striker. The second thing after the semicolon is not a brawler. Aren't those things similar? Wouldn't that kind of tell us probably the first and the first are going to be very similar? There's a reason why every word, that's why you can't just switch up the words. There's a reason they did it the way they did it, right? The first thing is not giving a wine. The first thing on the other side of the semicolon is patience. Now, you say, okay, Brother Sucky, I get striker and brawler, but how are giving a wine and patience the same thing? The Bible's actually trying to teach you a deep truth. As I said, being not giving a wine is about not being given to fancy or luxurious things. The Bible's saying, you know what? Be patient to get nice things in life. That's what God is trying to say to you in this verse. Be patient. You say, what are you saying, Brother Sucky? I'm saying that, you know what? When someone first graduates college, they're not going to have all the money in the world. They're not going to have the nicest house. They're not going to have the nicest car. And if they're wise, they're not going to spend all of their money on things that they really can't afford. They've got to be patient for those things. There is nothing wrong with having a nice house or a nice car or any of those things. That's perfectly fine. Nothing sinful about money. But there's something wrong about being given to wine, given to fancy things. And what the Bible's saying is, be patient for nice things. They might come one day, but be patient. Be thankful for what you do have and be patient for nicer things. Look, growing up, my family, by American standards, had a lower income than the average family by a good bit. I wouldn't call ourselves poor, especially in America. Being poor in America is not really poor worldwide, and I get that. What I'm saying is, all my friends at school, they're doing all these nice things. And of course, as a kid, what do I do? Hey, Dad, can we go to that amusement park? We can't afford it. Right? We couldn't do those things. When I was growing up, we went to a fast food restaurant one time per month. One time per month. And to us, it was a big treat that we got to go one time per month. We couldn't afford more than that. It was a big thing. Our family went. We're excited. We had fun. We could not afford more than that. Now, today, my parents, because my dad was successful in his company, and he moved up the ladder, and then they have a very nice house today. Several bedrooms, two floors, a beautiful area, very nice house. What I'm saying is, they couldn't afford that when they were 25 years old. Or 35 years old. Right? I mean, they couldn't afford those things at the beginning. Those are things they had to wait for in life. And look, you know what? Sometimes in life, you've got to be able to wait for nice things. In terms of the ministry, not only in a financial sense, but when you first start your church, don't expect it to be as nice as every other church out there. You're just starting. I mean, when we started our church, I don't know if you remember, to those that came to Bayview, our first semi-event was Christmas. I can't remember if it was Christmas Day or Christmas Eve or whatever, but of course at Bayview, we had a three-hour window, and no food was allowed. If you remember, Brother Jay talked to them, and they gave us kind of a time period to be able to eat, to fellowship for Christmas. People brought their own food we fellowshiped, and I think, Brother Chris, you were the one preaching the afternoon sermon, and I remember, they were in the back just trying to get rid of us, like, hey, five minutes have gone by, 10 minutes have gone by, but you know what? It was very nice because it was the first thing we did. We have a lot of nicer things than we did four and a half years ago, don't we? But you know what? Be patient for nicer things than that. I mean, things can come, but we've got to be patient for it. In your individual life, be patient for it. Look, when you first go in the ministry, your first few years are going to be stressful, they're going to be frustrating, you're not going to have as many people going soul-winning, not as many nice events, and in many ways, you can say, man, did I make a mistake? Be patient. That is what the Bible is saying. 1 Timothy 3, verse 6, I've got to hurry up. Yesterday, the sermon ran a bit long. It looks like it's going to run even longer, but you know, we'll do our best to get done at a normal time. I like ending 15 minutes earlier like we started, but sometimes it's hard depending on the content, right? 1 Timothy 3, verse 6, it says, not a novice. Not a novice. What's a novice? It means somebody who's new. It means somebody who's a beginner. It means a fact, you didn't just get saved three years ago and get your Bible college degree, and then we ordain you and send you out to be a pastor that's not married. It means that you have experience. It means you've been saved for a decade. It means you've read this book many times. It means you've memorized the Bible. It means you've been involved in ministry. It means you're not a beginner. Nothing wrong with that. Look, if you got saved recently, praise the Lord for that, but it doesn't mean you're ready to be a pastor. It doesn't mean you're ready to preach three sermons a week. It doesn't mean you're ready to run ministries. You need to get some experience. Everybody feels like they're more prepared than they actually are. Now, the Bible says, lay hands suddenly on no man. If somebody comes to our church for a week and says, hey, will you ordain me into the ministry? No. You've got to be here for a time period. I've got to know what you're like. I've got to know your character. You need to get some experience. Not just, well, you know what? Hey, sure, we can start a church here all the way to ordain you. No, no, no. Not a novice. Things have to be done properly, decently, and in order if they're going to be successful. Not a novice. 1 Timothy 3 verse 7. Moreover, he must have a good report of them that are without. Without would be not in the church. Meaning, if I talk to your coworkers and they say, well, he shows up late for work. He takes a lot of breaks during the day. He clocks out early. He gossips about his boss. You have a bad report. You have a bad reputation. Now, here's the thing. I don't necessarily know what your reputation is outside the church, but you better believe if you're going to be ordained, I'll ask people at the church, what do you think about Brother So-and-So? What do you think about Sister So-and-So? It reminded me, my wife and I listened to a sermon this past week where Pastor Mendez was talking about me five years ago, and he said, you better believe I've been asking people about Brother Stuckey and Ms. Tan. He's like, you know what people say? Man, Brother Stuckey, he's really zealous, such a good guy, always praying and caring for me. Ms. Tan, she always cares, great attitude. You better believe I'm going to follow that same standard, and if you're going to be ordained out of here and a bunch of people have a problem with you, it's like, well, something doesn't add up, because here's the thing, people act differently in front of me than they do in front of you. There are things they would never do in front of me, but they'll do them in front of you. I remember someone who used to come to our church, you know, that ended up leaving the church on very bad terms, and you know what, I always thought they were a really nice person, and someone said, actually, she used to gossip about you all the time. She criticized you and her husband was always trying to stop her and she's criticizing, you know, like, no free lunch and all these different things. I was thinking, it would have been nice to know that before we had a big public kick out. You know what I mean? That's called kind of letting the leadership know, because if someone's criticizing me or my wife all the time, it's like, that's a major problem. That's extremely disrespectful. See, the average person wouldn't think about doing that, and if you're always trashing the leadership, it's like, there's something wrong with your heart. I didn't self-ordain myself the leader of this church. Pastor Jimenez ordained me, and if you got a problem with it, then just go to a different church. I mean, if you got a problem with it, then just don't be here. And what I've noticed, when people really trash their old pastors, it's like they do that because they think it makes them look good. What I've realized is, they tend to be the same people that trash me and my wife also, and they do it because it makes them look a man. My old pastor did this, this, and this. What it really tells me, learning from experience, is they probably do the same thing about me, right? And I'm not saying your old pastor wasn't a false prophet, but what I'm saying is, what I've noticed, people that tend to trash their old pastor and their old church, they tend to trash the new one too. Not to my face. I just hear about it after the fact. That's just kind of the way it works, right? Says not a novice. Says good report. Titus 1, verse 8. A lover of good men. Titus 1, verse 8. A lover of good men. Titus 1, verse 8. A lover of good men. It means you love good people. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, you love the brethren. Another thing is, you love churches that are zealous and doing great things for God. You're not mad at them. You know what you've seen with churches in the U.S.? Sometimes you'll see pastors that they use the influence of Pastor Jimenez and Pastor Anderson to get a following, and then they publicly just come out against them once they have enough people that they want. You're not a lover of good men. You know what I saw recently? Faithful Word started a church in Germany. You know what I think about that? Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord there's a new church in Germany that's on fire for God. Why would I be upset and say, oh, man, he got one started that I didn't? What kind of attitude is that? I mean, if a soul winning marathon takes place, I say great. Doing a soul winning marathon, I think, in Belize right now, I hope they get a thousand people saved, or more. What if they get more souls saved than you do at your marathon? Great! We're not competing with them. Even if we were in the same country, we wouldn't be competing. I mean, maybe if they were across the street, but I don't really think we're in competition with that church over there or that church there. We're kind of going after a different group of people. So here's the thing. You got to be a lover of good men, but here's the thing. If you've got a problem in your heart where you've got to be number one and you're prideful, it's going to become pretty evident once you start running your church that you start attacking good people because they're doing more than you and you're envious and bitter because they're better than you or more successful. But I'm not in competition to be the greatest person in the world. There are pastors that are better at preaching than me. And look, I have a realistic view of myself. Pastor Jimenez is a better preacher than me. You listen to him preach the same sermon I would. It's better. It's more impactful. It's more motivating. But here's the thing. I'm not competing with him. It's not a competition. It doesn't matter to me. Now, I try to get better. I try to do a good job, but I realize, you know what, I'm not going to be the best. That's okay. But if you go in the ministry because you've got to be the Michael Jordan of preachers, just don't go into the ministry because you're going to get lifted up full of pride and you're actually showing you're a novice even though you think you're really experienced. It also says just in Titus 1, verse 8. For sake of time, I'm not going to talk about that, but basically being fair, fair in judgment you can think of. We talked about that. Being holy. I mean, if you're going to be running in the ministry, you have to have a high standard of living. I preach against rock music. I'm aware many people at our church I'm sure listen to the modern day Beatles, whoever that is, Justin Bieber, whoever's, I guess he's not even young anymore. I'm aware of that. I'm sure some of you listen to K-pop. Now, of course, if you're a guy, you'd be embarrassed to let us know that, but I'm sure some of you do. Right? But here's the thing. Look, I want you to come at church even if you're guilty of things like that. That's fine. I understand when you first get rid of music, it's hard. But if you're going to be the one preaching, it's not like, hey, we're going out soul winning, brother Sucky's driving, and you go into the car and it's like, whatever Jay-Z song or whatever rap or rock artist, you'd be like, what's going on? Oh, I must accidentally hit the button. Right? There'd be a problem. Because you have to have a high standard if you're going to be in the ministry. Why? Because there are going to be people that are going to try to take you apart. You can't have any blame. Okay? It says in Titus 1.8, also temperate, which means showing moderation or self-restraint. That applies to anger and things like that. One of the fruits of the spirit is temperance. But let me just say this in conclusion. The one ordaining someone, because obviously if we ordain someone from this church, I will be the one that ordains that person. I've got to look at this list honestly, and if someone's failing at an area, I'll say, hey, you've got to fix this. But the reality is, you know yourself better than I know you. If there is an area that you're struggling with, be honest with yourself and fix it. It doesn't mean you can't go in the ministry but it means you're not ready if there's a major thing. You've got to be honest with yourself. And all of us should fix the weakest thing in our lives. So I thought about this example because the reality is, we're in a fight. We're in a spiritual fight. The devil will attack you at your weakest point. Right? And the sport of mixed martial arts, you know, UFC or pride fighting, you know what, and I'm not telling you to follow this, but it's a good example because boxing's just, I don't know the technical things of boxing. It's just striking. But in MMA, they usually break down fighting into three categories. Striking, which includes kickboxing, boxing, punches, whatever. Striking, wrestling, and submissions. Or they'd say striking, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Let's say somebody is the greatest striker in the world but they're horrible at wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Know what's going to take place? A wrestler will take them down a couple seconds into the fight and just pound them out. That's what's going to take place 99% of the time. Why? Because the striker doesn't know how to stay on his feet when someone's trying to take him down. But let's say somebody's the greatest wrestler in the world. They can't strike. They have no submissions. They're going to take down the Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy and get choked out in five seconds because they can't defend against submissions. You say, well, okay, brother Psyche, it's all about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. If someone's the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter but they cannot wrestle or strike, the striker's just going to knock him out on the feet in a couple seconds. What am I saying? Fix your weakest area. The devil walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is not going to attack you where you're strong. He's going to attack you where you're weak. I mean, if you're playing basketball and your opponents are like all the size of Shaquille O'Neal or Kai Soto, right? You're not going to try to post up on the inside. You're going to shoot from outside and try to run around them unless, you know, your coach has no idea what they're doing, right? You attack them where you think you can beat them. You don't attack them at their strengths. You don't just say, let's just go against the best player in the other team that's the greatest defender ever. That would be foolish. The devil's not a fool. He's wicked. He's not an idiot. He will attack you at your weakest area. Look, all of us fix our weakest area, but if you're going to go in the ministry, you better make sure you get rid of your weak areas and fix it ahead of time. Let's go in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic and help us to all apply this to our lives. Whether we are planning to become pastors or whether or not we're the wives of someone becoming a pastor, help us to fix our weakest areas. Help all of us to develop strong character in our lives, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. And for our last song, let's get our hymns and turn to hymn number 116. Hymn number 116. Sing a song, He needeth me. On the first, all together, He needeth me. O blessed one, no words will have me conquered from. Whate'er I do, whate'er I live, still, Tis God's hand hath needeth me. He needeth me, He needeth me, by His own hand He needeth me. His people, the world I would be, for I His hand He needeth me. Sometimes, with scenes of He bless me, sometimes, for even hours through, by waters deep, or troubled sea, still, Tis His hand hath needeth me. He needeth me, He needeth me, by His own hand He needeth me. His people, the world I would be, for I His hand He needeth me. All heard, Lord, I would cast Thy hand in mine, forever heard, Lord, be mine, forever heard. God, I see, Tis God's hand hath needeth me. He needeth me, He needeth me, by His own hand He needeth me. His people, the world I would be, for I His hand He needeth me. One last, we're gonna sing it without the instruments. Everybody, and when my task on earth is done, everybody on the last sing. And when my task on earth is done, when by Thy grace the victory's won, in death's code way, I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful power I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me. Mother Ella, can you pray for us? Amen. Let's have a quick break.