Artwork

Nội dung được cung cấp bởi Bethel Mennonite Church. Tất cả nội dung podcast bao gồm các tập, đồ họa và mô tả podcast đều được Bethel Mennonite Church hoặc đối tác nền tảng podcast của họ tải lên và cung cấp trực tiếp. Nếu bạn cho rằng ai đó đang sử dụng tác phẩm có bản quyền của bạn mà không có sự cho phép của bạn, bạn có thể làm theo quy trình được nêu ở đây https://vi.player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Ứng dụng Podcast
Chuyển sang chế độ ngoại tuyến với ứng dụng Player FM !

The Church's Responsibility to Ministry - Steve Yoder

47:36
 
Chia sẻ
 

Manage episode 346329978 series 3030329
Nội dung được cung cấp bởi Bethel Mennonite Church. Tất cả nội dung podcast bao gồm các tập, đồ họa và mô tả podcast đều được Bethel Mennonite Church hoặc đối tác nền tảng podcast của họ tải lên và cung cấp trực tiếp. Nếu bạn cho rằng ai đó đang sử dụng tác phẩm có bản quyền của bạn mà không có sự cho phép của bạn, bạn có thể làm theo quy trình được nêu ở đây https://vi.player.fm/legal.

This is probably not a message your home pastor would preach.

Ministry is work, yes it is a joy and a blessing but ministry is work. Sometimes it can be a heavy load. God gives grace and strength but ministry is often heavy and hard work.

The church has a responsibility to know and appreciate its leaders. They are to be thankful for those leaders. Find ways to express appreciation for your leaders, you can make a real difference by showing appreciation.

A church has a responsibility to esteem its leaders very highly. The leader shouldn’t be the focus and what the church is all about… At the same time, a minister is to be respected.

The church is called to obey those who are leaders over them. The Bible is clear that we are to obey God rather than man, but it is also clear that we are to obey those who are in leadership over us.

The church has a responsibility to remember its leaders. When life is busy it is easy to forget those who labor among us. Remember them, pray for them, pray for your church.

The church has a responsibility to follow its leaders. We all need examples and role models. This doesn’t mean that the person we are following is perfect, but we all need role models, someone who is learning from daily life and from the Father.

The church has a responsibility to support those who are in leadership. You can’t put a dollar amount on what your preacher does. He probably works a full-time job too… Be generous.

The church has a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. The leader is watching out for his flock, but the members should also help and aid them in walking in the right direction.

The church has a responsibility to help ensure that the ministry is fed as well. Many leaders are greatly encouraged by attending leadership meetings or other things where they don’t have to be in charge and just be fed, encouraged, and lifted up.

The church has a responsibility to a minister’s wife and family. The wife shares in her husband’s calling. These dear women have to share their husbands with others in ways that many wives don’t have to. Preachers children have a unique road too, then need encouragement too.

Ephesians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Hebrews 13, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Timothy 5:17-18, Jeremiah 3:13


Transcript: Note, this is automatically generated from the recording… it may not be 100% accurate.

I greet you in Jesus’ name this morning. It’s a blessing to be here and to participate in this important event in the church here at Gladys, the church’s responsibility to the minister. What do you think that would be? I’d like to begin here in Ephesians chapter four, verse eight. And maybe this is a little bit of an odd place to begin, but let’s look at a verse there. Ephesians four, verse eight it says, therefore he sayeth when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. I’m just focusing on the last phrase of that verse.

God gives gifts unto to men. God has given us many gifts and we could spend all day making a list of what those gifts could be. And I hope we’re truly grateful this morning for the gifts, God showers upon us every day, even life itself and all the, the things that surround it and all, not only life itself and and what it takes to live, to be alive and to function, but there’s many extras I guess you could call it in life. There’s color, there’s sound, there’s music, there’s light, which I guess is necessary for life. But lots and lots of things God gives us.

And the gift that we’re especially thinking about here today, this morning is found in verse 11 and he gave some, he gave notice that this is a gift, verse 11, and he gave some apostles, some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. And what is this gift for verse 12, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So this local congregation has been thinking and praying about this ordination for some time. And I’m sure you’ve done some soul searching as you thought about how this should be and, and what your part should be in, in the work of this particular congregation.

And I suppose there’s been some, even some personal struggle as you think about whether you would be willing to serve in this capacity or have someone that you love or close to to serve in that capacity. And I’m sure you thought about the qualifications of a minister and we’re well aware that minister is to serve the church. That’s very much a part of his role. And I trust we realize that the minister is a gift from God. But I believe we need reminders that as a congregation, as a church, we have a tremendous responsibility to our leaders. And that’s the purpose for this message here this morning. The church’s responsibility to the me to the minister.

I’ll say this, the message I’m about to preach is probably one that you will not hear your local minister preach. And what I’m about to say is probably awkward for your minister to say to his own congregation. So this message rather gets preached. In fact, I have not preached this at home. So as a visiting minister, I feel a freedom to share on this subject. Oh boy, , no, I don’t feel that way. But it is a unique opportunity to be able to share some things that no one is thinking, Oh, he’s, he’s thinking about that situation or that person. It’s none of that we’re looking at at scripture and, and just my own experience and, and watching others notice in middle of verse 12, that middle phrase for the work of the ministry, ministry is work. I don’t know how else better to say it than that.

Yes, ministry is a blessing. It is a joy to be able to serve in what you are convinced God has called you to. But ministry is work and at times it’s a heavy load. And not to ask for sympathy because God gives us the strength we need as we need it. And when he calls us to work, there’s always the strength and grace needed for that work. But ministry is work and sometimes it’s a heavy load. So I’m not asking for sympathy for me or for your local ministers here and not intending to paint a discouraging picture, but many people have no idea of what’s involved or the time and the effort that’s involved in ministry, the sacrifice, the dedication, the average minister experiences. And so this is why your local minister probably won’t say these things, but I have the freedom to. So I’m just gonna mention a few things.

There’s lots of things I could say, but just that’s really not the point I’m trying to make here. Just for an example, it varies a lot between ministers, how much time it takes to prepare a message for the average typical Sunday morning service. Varies a lot. I’m sure there’s some gifted men out there that can, could almost preach a good sermon off the top of his head. Most of us can’t do that. There would be some that would probably struggle for weeks trying to put something together. So we’re all different. So it varies a lot as to how long they work in preparation for a Sunday’s morning message.

But did you know that for the many ministers, they will probably spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours on a message? And I’ll just ask this, where would you find that time in your schedule? Think about it. 10, 20 hours. Where would you fit that in? You gotta be realistic. It takes time. It takes work. Yes, I know teaching son to school take the lesson and son to school takes effort as well and all the other things that are involved in the work of the church. And praise God for those willing people who give of their time and their effort to share in those classes or, or in other ways of serving the church. Generally those responsibilities have a term of service, a length of time that they’re serving for the minister generally just calling us for life. So I don’t say that to ask for sympathy or to somehow pat ourselves on the back as as leaders, but as the congregation just give you a glimpse of what’s involved. Takes a lot of work, takes a lot of dedication.

Many of you would remember my dad and he served as a minister for 55 years and one day until you retired. And he died a few weeks after that in 2017. But in his life he preached 3036 sermons. That’s a lot of sermons, that’s a lot of time at the desk. And I’m not lifting up a man, I’m just saying that it takes a level of dedication that many of us haven’t poured ourselves out, at least to that extent for that at least that particular work. But preaching and preparing to preach is only part of what a minister is called to. A good minister is involved in the lives of the people he is called to serve. He’s mentoring, he’s caring for, he’s arranging, he’s challenging, he’s encouraging, he’s watching for their souls. Sometimes his efforts are not appreciated or they’re even criticized and sometimes his work is lonely and he’s often put on the spot and he’s supposed to have answers that he don’t, doesn’t know what to say.

Many times he’s on call 24 7 and he’s often scrutinized for his skill or the lack of skill or compared to other skilled ministers as he carries out his duties. And sometimes the ministers criticize for being a normal human being with weaknesses and struggles just like everyone else in perfects, just like anyone else he gets, we are in overwhelmed just like anyone else. He is called to minister to all age groups, all maturity levels. He’s called to minister to people with all different levels of commitment or to the Lord or their journey with the Lord different places in life.

And what I’m saying is he’s called to minister to the elderly person. He’s called to minister to the youth and everywhere in between. So there’s not a formula he can use to minister to people because we’re all at different places in life and many of us, if we’re normal human beings, which we all are, we have our own backgrounds, our own differences, our own assortment of baggage if you wanna call it that, things that we struggle with. And this brother is supposed to bring all of us very different people together to be able to work together. And we all know that the Lord is behind all of this and he is the one that’s supplying the grace and strength needed, but it’s the minister many times that is puffing it out, trying to make this work.

So he is supposed to be doing all that as well as caring for his own wife and family. And in the end, he will give an account to God. So that’s a really big job. So again, I’m not asking for sympathy or a pat on the back, I’m simply saying what your local minister may not say. And I’m just challenging us to be understanding of the man whom God has called to this work. You as a congregation can make a big difference in your ministry team. Yes you can. You have the responsibility to those in leadership and that’s what this message is about. And so what does the Bible say about the responsibility of the church to their leaders? Several points I’d like to make, if you turn to First Thessalonians, chapter five, couple of verses there.

First Thessalonians chapter five verses 12 and 13. And we besse your brethren to know them, which are labor among you and are over you in the Lord and to and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for the work’s sake and be at peace among yourselves. So the first point I have here is the church has the responsibility to know and to appreciate their leaders. What does no mean there? In verse 12, We are to know them, that labor among us. Well, the word hints at appreciating what you notice about your leader and seems like Paul is admonishing these thessalonian believers to appreciate those who are laboring among them. They are to be thankful for those leaders who were willing to sacrifice themselves to spend themselves physically and mentally and emotionally for the benefit of the flock.

They are responsible for the flock God has given that, given them that responsibility. Now we probably all can think of situations somewhere else of leaders who have used their authority or their position to kind of be bullies. And I don’t believe that this calling is a place for that to happen. It should never be a leader should never be hardheaded and too proud to listen to the people he’s responsible, responsible for. So we look to Jesus for a good example, the best example of what a servant leader should look like. Jesus served his disciples over and over again. He served them rather than cracked the whip above their backs. Leaders are the, to follow that example I believe. Now Jesus said some tough things. He, he confronted them at times with things, but he wasn’t a bully. He was a servant leader. Leaders have the responsibility to be uncompromising and to give warning to the waiver to encourage a struggling and the struggling one and rejoicing with those that rejoice. So a leader is called to be tough and tender at the same time. And that’s a hard balance to find.

It’s hard to have thick tender skin as you deal with situations in life. Personalities come into play here. Some of us are, tend to be more compassionate. Others see black life as black and white. And we, we tend to make decisions that’s how it needs to be. And we can run over people. And so we really need to be both in your home or other responsibilities. We need to be uncompromising and yet compassionate. And I look to Jesus for that perfect example of that. A good minister cares deeply for those that he serves. And his heart cry is for everyone to get home safely. And so the first point in this subject of the responsibility of the church to the minister is to appreciate their efforts.

There’s many ways to do that. There’s words that could and should be said thankful heart brings us to do and say and, and things that are encouraging to our leaders. Faithful church attendance. You’d be surprised how encouraging or discouraging that can be when there’s faithful church attendance or a habitual lack of church attendance. Faithful church attendance sends a message. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to hear from God. And even more than that, faithful church attendance sends a message that I want to, to grow. I want to understand better and to know how to apply life, apply truth to life in a, in a more complete way.

And so my point being, find ways to, to encourage your minister, express appreciation. Tell him so don’t flatter him, but express appreciation for his efforts. Know of some men who have rarely had that happen and I, I feel for them. So brother or sister, church member, you can make a real difference in the life of your minister by showing appreciation for what he is, who he is and what he does. Know your leader. Point number two, the church has the responsibility to esteem their leaders highly. Verse 13, In fact, it says they’re there to esteem them very highly in love.

I think it’s the nrv that says something like this, Hold them in highest regard and love because of their work. And I trust we understand there’s a balance needed here. You should never put a leader on a pedestal where the leader becomes the focus and what the church is all about. Yes, a leader and his gifts certainly flavor the church, but the church is not about the preacher, it’s about the Lord Jesus. At the same time, a minister is to be respected. And I think that’s what Paul is saying here. There’s a way to serve in a leadership role in humility without doing it for the praise of men. There’s a way to do that. It takes the grace of God, of course, and some deliberate choices.

Even the most skillful minister still has weaknesses, still has limitations. He’s human. God has called ’em to a special work and we need to esteem them very highly. I guess the, the human tendency with authority, whatever that kind of authority might be, the human tendency is either to view that authority either with almost adultry or the opposite extreme would be to disdain authority. And neither extreme is right. It’s just as wrong to worship our leaders as it is to disrespect them. We need God’s help in filing this bow so steaming our leaders very highly. As Paul writes and doing it in a proper way, our leaders have not campaigned for their work, their job. They have not fought for position as many people have in our world, in different positions, whether it be politics or in business or whatever. Now our church leaders have been called to service by God himself and that has that calling has changed their life forever. Think about that.

So esteem our leaders highly. Point number three, the last part of verse 13. And be at peace among yourselves. The church has the responsibility to strive for peace amongst a few things are more discouraging to a church leader than have the congregation butting heads. And my subject this morning is not focusing on peace and the brotherhood, but according to the wa a word of God peace between brothers and sisters. It’s part of the responsibility of all of us in a congregation. And our willingness and commitment to being at peace among ourselves has a tremendous impact on our leaders. And a godly church leader will, will labor long and hard trying to resolve issues, trying to get to the bottom of relationship problems.

And I think we ought to be, I ought to be ashamed of myself when I insist on holding onto some grudge, some disagreement, and I’m giving the silent treatment, you know, fill in the blank, whatever it may be. But I am not giving along with my brother and my sister. And this tension that is between this is probably more obvious than we think it is. The church leader grieves over it and your wax his brain to try to, how can I help this situation? And I know there’s a time to disagree and I’m not saying that there never is a time to disagree because there is some things matter, very, very much. Also know that we can disagree over some pretty silly things, some misunderstanding, some perceived insults, some disrespect that may not even be true, at least not completely true.

And my pastor res it’s not only the right thing to do in God’s sight to have peace between us, but it will greatly lighten the burden of leadership. That’s all my church leaders shoulders when I have peace between me and my brother, my sister, they got help us to have peace among ourselves. Point number four, we’re gonna turn to the book of Hebrews for this one. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. The church has the responsibility to submit and to obey its leaders. Hebrews 13 verse 17, Obey them that have rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls. They that must give an account that they may do it with joy, not with grief for that is unprofitable for you.

I believe this is not blind obedience like the followers of some weird cult that obey out of blind loyalty or fear. I believe the ob obedience that Hebrews talks about there refers to not only doing what the Bible says to do, but also doing it because of knowing their leader well enough to see his relationship with God and to be confident that he will go in the right direction. And I can follow him. Bible is clear that we are toey, obey God rather than men. It’s also clear that we are to obey God ordained authority and we can have a lot of excuses. But the Bible says to obey within everything that, that we, that’s possible because God has put that authority structure in my life. God of course is the ultimate authority, but he has put structure and authority figures in my life and I better be really careful and prayerful for challenging those authority figures. Of course, there’s a time to appeal to my authority figure, but let it never be done in a disrespectful way with an attitude of I wanna do my own thing.

And in the case of the church, no one has forced me to be a member is a voluntary decision of mine. No one tied me up, drug me to the church and said, Here, you’re going to be a member who knows a voluntary choice. And I vowed I made some vows vowed to uphold agreements of the church. Do those vows matter? Sometimes we forget those. I think. I believe they do matter. Again, I know there’s a time where we have to obey God rather than men. And that’s a very difficult situation to be in. Romans 13 verses one and two, Let every soul be subject into the higher powers for there’s no power but of God, The powers that be ordained of God who’s whoever, therefore resistance of power resist that the ordinance of God, the they that and they that resists shall receive to themselves. Examination, talking about civil leaders I know there, but just the whole attitude of of being respectful and cooperation and being in submission to the, the authority structure that God has put in place. How can it be okay for me to kind of go do my own thing and ignore what I vow? I don’t think that’s okay. I know that there’s leaders who have done poorly, they have been selfish, they’ve been prideful and unkind, but that doesn’t give me the right to treat them badly or to have bad attitudes about them.

Yes, the church has the responsibility to obey and why do we, Well, what it said there in, in Hebrews 13 verse 17, it’s because they’re watching for your souls. And God has put their that person in, in a, in a authority structure. And he has put me someplace in that, that structure. Point number five, the church has a responsibility to remember their leaders. Go back to Hebrews again, 13 verse seven. Remember them which have rule over you, who have spoken unto you. The word of God whose faith followed considering the end of their conversation now is, is that a suggestion or command? And I’ll let you answer that.

Remember them which have the rule over you and in the business of life, this is how it is for me. It’s probably this way for you and the business of life. It’s easy to forget those who labor among us and we take them for granted. The writer of Hebrews here tells us to remember them. I suppose one of the greatest ways we can remember our church leaders is to pray for them. Specifically. I I’ll just say this, I am very blessed to have some prayer warriors who often bring their church leader to God, a prayer, tremendous, tremendous encouragement.

They know who’s preaching which Sunday they will occasionally ask, How you doing? How can I pray for you? And they’re praying for right now. And I deeply appreciate that. Some ministers don’t have people that remember and just, so just an encouragement for us. Remember your leaders, pray for them. Tell them that you pray for them. Encourage them in that way. We can come boldly to the throne of grace on behalf of my church leader. Brother, please invest in his life because he needs you in this way. Point number six, the church has a responsibility to follow their leader’s. Example Hebrew 13 again, verse seven, Whose faith follow with the idea of coming along behind? All of us need examples to follow. We need role models. We need someone to show us how someone we can learn from. Doesn’t mean that the person we’re following that he knows everything. He makes mistakes too. And sometimes we can have some unrealistic expectations of of the person we’re following and, and maybe even unfairly so. But he makes mistakes too. He or she makes mistakes depending on who, who you’re talking about that you’re following and learning from. But we all need role models. We need someone who has experience and has lived life and, and is applying truth to daily life. We can learn a lot from those people.

So you’ve been thinking about qualifications of a leader. Actually, I believe God wants all believers to have these virtues. That’s especially important for leaders to have these qualities because people need a visible role to follow. I need one. Paul said, Be imitators of me just as I, I am also imitating Christ. When a leader is doing his utmost to follow Christ in the best way, He knows how that’s a person we’re following. Not because he’s perfect, but because he’s growing. He’s learning how to follow Christ even closer in everyday life. And there’s a lot I can learn from a faithful follower of Jesus. Point number seven, the church has the responsibility to support its leaders. We’ll go to one Timothy chapter five, couple of verses there, one Timothy chapter five verses 17 and 18. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word ind doctrine for the scripture sayeth al shett not muzzle the opposite truth. Out the ox troth out the corn, the labor is worthy of his reward.

Now, as an Baptists, we shy away from hiring the pastor and rightfully so because of the, the temptation of the hired preacher having itching years and saying what the congregation wants to hear because his job depends on pleasing the people there. There’s some issues with that. I think we understand that the danger of tying money to the work of the church, however, in some cases I wonder whether we’ve gone to the opposite extreme and been stingy with our church leaders. So you you, you can’t put a dollar figure amount on what your pastor does. But the church leader has bills and needs just like everyone else. He probably works a full-time job to make ends meet. And then he’s expected to have time and energy to do the work of the church as well as caring for his family. And that’s a big task. And so my encouragement to us this morning is to be generous with your leaders.

May we never allow money to be the motivating factor in a church’s leader’s life. But on the other hand, may we never neglect the needs of the minister and his family as he serves the church. And of course this goes way beyond just financial things. That’s just one example that actually includes all of life. Sometimes it’s easier to throw money at a situation than it is to give time, give energy to sacrifice some of those things. And my point being, what can I contribute to my church leader’s life? I have a responsibility to do that. I encourage you to think and pray about that. Support your leaders.

Point number eight, the church has the responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Did you just hear what I said? The church has a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Now maybe that sounds a bit backwards because according to scripture, the leaders are watching for the souls of of the church, the people in the church. And that’s true, but the minister is also on a spiritual journey. Maybe they are mature in a lot of ways, maybe they have some experience, maybe they are skilled in many ways.

But mature and experienced leaders can also make mistakes. They can get off track. And as a congregation we can be a help and an aid to them and keeping them in the right direction or helping them walking the right direction. I think we would need to seek some good counsel and spend time in prayer before we make a respectful appeal to a leader. And doing that in humility and love. It may be often it’s that when we see a leader that’s not quite sure where he is going and why, and that seems a little weird to me sometimes. Maybe many times it’s because we don’t know the whole story, we don’t see the other side of what he’s grappling with. All those kinds of things. We need to be mindful of that. These can be touchy and delicate situations. And I’m not here to say how it should be done, but an airing church leader is my brother. And if I love him and I love the church, I need to respectfully and humility make an appeal. All church leaders have blind spots and weaknesses. But when there’s a good relationship between my leader and I, then there’s something that there’s something built there already to where there can be dialogue, there can be conversation that can even be challenged and we can help each other in our weaknesses.

So the church does have a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Point number nine, the church has a responsibility to help its leaders be spiritually fed in their own lives. Now of course, all of us are responsible for our personal walk with God. And what I’m getting at here is that the minister gives and gives and gives and gifts. When does he drink in? It’s a challenge. I don’t really have a script reference to go along with this point. I’m speaking from experience here. Each minister’s different, but many leaders are greatly encouraged. For example, by attending minister’s meetings, those kinds of things where you can have the opportunity not to be responsible for this or that other thing that’s happening that particular day, but just to drink in. That’s important. I know I have been greatly impacted by others put in my life and to just be able to sit down with other leaders who have similar burdens and temptations and struggles and dilemmas. I cannot tell you how encouraged I have been, but other ministers who know exactly what I’m talking about or what what I’m experiencing. So encouraging.

We’re all busy. We have our own work. That is very true. But let me encourage us to encourage our church leaders if that would be a help to them to go somewhere occasionally and just be fed. What an encouragement that could be. Your church leader will likely have more to give when he has been welled himself. Point number 10, the church has a responsibility to the minister’s wife and family. Now, I’ll just say here before I embarrass anyone that this morning we have a little bit different situation of who’s being ordained. And I’m just going to let you mentally adjust in your mind what I’m about to say to fit the occasion. Okay?

The focus in this ordination is for finding the leader that God would have with this congregation or the leaders in this case. And that’s right. But let’s not forget there is a wife who shares in her husband’s calling. She plays a quiet and often unappreciated but vital role. So think with me about the wives of your church leaders and get the picture in your mind. Who are those ladies? You got that? These dear women have to share their husbands with many people in ways that most women don’t have to His time, his energy, his focus, his emotional strength, all these things are shared, which means there’s less for her.

And too often she gets the leftovers. And I’ll just confess that’s the way it’s been in our home sometimes. How thankful we ought to be for these courageous women who are just doing, They’re not sure how to do it. They’re just doing what they feel like God has called them to and faithful in that they are the cheerleaders, they’re encouragers of weary ministers. She lives in a glass house. People watch the lives of their leaders, including his wife and family, and their marriage is watched. Their children are watched the way they go about life many times is open for everyone to see and they’re criticized at times. And I suppose I’m not a wife, never will be praise the Lord. But I suppose many times she just wants to be a normal wife.

She needs women, other women, just like other women do. She needs friends. She needs love. She needs patience. She needs understanding. She needs encouragement. She works hard at enabling her husband to carry out his calling without pay. And most of the time without recognition, she’s also available 24 7. And she’s fulfilling a role that’s not very well defined. Many, many young ministers wives are confused and intimidated by this undefined role that lands in their lap. Why do I do this? You really can’t turn to a verse that says this is how it’s done. Sometimes people have used the minister’s wife as a conduit to get something done that they wanna see get done or a complaint through the minister’s wife and you know, that kind of thing that puts her in a very delicate situation. She’s supposed to be perfect, but she isn’t.

And like her husband, she’s supposed to have a lot of answers and she doesn’t. You know, what about this stress? What about this misbehaving child? What about this relationship, strained relationship, all these things, minister’s wife can be hurt in a hundred ways and she can’t fight back. Now I’m not advocating woman worship this morning, but I’m just saying these are women that have been called to a very unique role and I think we ought to be appreciative of them. I suppose there’s no person on earth who is more influential in a minister’s life than his wife.

And probably these ladies would all say that they feel inadequate for their calling. I know of no other work that a man could be involved in, was a plumber or carpenter or construction guy, whatever it may be. Know of another work that a man can be involved in, in which his wife is, is expected to sacrifices her sacrifice, her preferences in the way that a minister’s wife Is that play a vital role. Let’s be thankful for these dear ladies. The church has a responsibility to care for the wife of their minister is my point. Pray for her, be her friend. Encourage her, appreciate her. She’s playing a quiet but a vital role.

Moving on to children of the minister. Much could be said about their unique role. They also have to share daddy with many people like in ways that that other children possibly don’t have to. Their behavior is watched and may be held to an unfair, higher standard than other children. Sometimes they often have to keep things confidential that they hear because daddy gets phone calls and visits and they see their burden that their daddy carries. These young people also need our prayer and encouragement because they’re just people too. Let’s encourage these people. And God has also called to serve alongside of their husband or their daddy in the work of the church.

So I’ve mentioned 10 things here and I know this list is not complete, but let me encourage us to take seriously our role to our church leaders. The 10 points were let’s appreciate them, know them. Number two, let’s esteem them highly. Number three, strive, repeat them among ourselves. Number four, submit and obey our leaders. Number five, remember to pray for them and pray for them obviously. So in other words that they know that they’re being prayed for. Number six, follow the example. Number seven, support them fa financially and other ways as well. Number eight, watch their spiritual direction. Number nine, see that they have the opportunity to be spiritually fed themselves. Number 10, care for his wife and family. So the minister has a big job, but so does the church. God has called us to serve in a unique place. And wherever you fit into God’s the work in God’s church, may we be faithful in that.

Two brothers will be called to serve here in a, in a new way. In this congregation here today, let’s take our responsibility as a church toward our church leaders seriously. Jeremiah three verse 15. And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. God bless you as a congregation, as you could seriously consider your role in supporting and encouraging and appreciating your leadership team here. And I just want to call attention to the verse upon the board here, Roman ten verse 15. It’s actually a quote from the book of Isaiah. And to these brothers being ordained here today, you have beautiful feet. The Bible says so.

The post The Church’s Responsibility to Ministry appeared first on Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA.

  continue reading

794 tập

Artwork
iconChia sẻ
 
Manage episode 346329978 series 3030329
Nội dung được cung cấp bởi Bethel Mennonite Church. Tất cả nội dung podcast bao gồm các tập, đồ họa và mô tả podcast đều được Bethel Mennonite Church hoặc đối tác nền tảng podcast của họ tải lên và cung cấp trực tiếp. Nếu bạn cho rằng ai đó đang sử dụng tác phẩm có bản quyền của bạn mà không có sự cho phép của bạn, bạn có thể làm theo quy trình được nêu ở đây https://vi.player.fm/legal.

This is probably not a message your home pastor would preach.

Ministry is work, yes it is a joy and a blessing but ministry is work. Sometimes it can be a heavy load. God gives grace and strength but ministry is often heavy and hard work.

The church has a responsibility to know and appreciate its leaders. They are to be thankful for those leaders. Find ways to express appreciation for your leaders, you can make a real difference by showing appreciation.

A church has a responsibility to esteem its leaders very highly. The leader shouldn’t be the focus and what the church is all about… At the same time, a minister is to be respected.

The church is called to obey those who are leaders over them. The Bible is clear that we are to obey God rather than man, but it is also clear that we are to obey those who are in leadership over us.

The church has a responsibility to remember its leaders. When life is busy it is easy to forget those who labor among us. Remember them, pray for them, pray for your church.

The church has a responsibility to follow its leaders. We all need examples and role models. This doesn’t mean that the person we are following is perfect, but we all need role models, someone who is learning from daily life and from the Father.

The church has a responsibility to support those who are in leadership. You can’t put a dollar amount on what your preacher does. He probably works a full-time job too… Be generous.

The church has a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. The leader is watching out for his flock, but the members should also help and aid them in walking in the right direction.

The church has a responsibility to help ensure that the ministry is fed as well. Many leaders are greatly encouraged by attending leadership meetings or other things where they don’t have to be in charge and just be fed, encouraged, and lifted up.

The church has a responsibility to a minister’s wife and family. The wife shares in her husband’s calling. These dear women have to share their husbands with others in ways that many wives don’t have to. Preachers children have a unique road too, then need encouragement too.

Ephesians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Hebrews 13, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Timothy 5:17-18, Jeremiah 3:13


Transcript: Note, this is automatically generated from the recording… it may not be 100% accurate.

I greet you in Jesus’ name this morning. It’s a blessing to be here and to participate in this important event in the church here at Gladys, the church’s responsibility to the minister. What do you think that would be? I’d like to begin here in Ephesians chapter four, verse eight. And maybe this is a little bit of an odd place to begin, but let’s look at a verse there. Ephesians four, verse eight it says, therefore he sayeth when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. I’m just focusing on the last phrase of that verse.

God gives gifts unto to men. God has given us many gifts and we could spend all day making a list of what those gifts could be. And I hope we’re truly grateful this morning for the gifts, God showers upon us every day, even life itself and all the, the things that surround it and all, not only life itself and and what it takes to live, to be alive and to function, but there’s many extras I guess you could call it in life. There’s color, there’s sound, there’s music, there’s light, which I guess is necessary for life. But lots and lots of things God gives us.

And the gift that we’re especially thinking about here today, this morning is found in verse 11 and he gave some, he gave notice that this is a gift, verse 11, and he gave some apostles, some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. And what is this gift for verse 12, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So this local congregation has been thinking and praying about this ordination for some time. And I’m sure you’ve done some soul searching as you thought about how this should be and, and what your part should be in, in the work of this particular congregation.

And I suppose there’s been some, even some personal struggle as you think about whether you would be willing to serve in this capacity or have someone that you love or close to to serve in that capacity. And I’m sure you thought about the qualifications of a minister and we’re well aware that minister is to serve the church. That’s very much a part of his role. And I trust we realize that the minister is a gift from God. But I believe we need reminders that as a congregation, as a church, we have a tremendous responsibility to our leaders. And that’s the purpose for this message here this morning. The church’s responsibility to the me to the minister.

I’ll say this, the message I’m about to preach is probably one that you will not hear your local minister preach. And what I’m about to say is probably awkward for your minister to say to his own congregation. So this message rather gets preached. In fact, I have not preached this at home. So as a visiting minister, I feel a freedom to share on this subject. Oh boy, , no, I don’t feel that way. But it is a unique opportunity to be able to share some things that no one is thinking, Oh, he’s, he’s thinking about that situation or that person. It’s none of that we’re looking at at scripture and, and just my own experience and, and watching others notice in middle of verse 12, that middle phrase for the work of the ministry, ministry is work. I don’t know how else better to say it than that.

Yes, ministry is a blessing. It is a joy to be able to serve in what you are convinced God has called you to. But ministry is work and at times it’s a heavy load. And not to ask for sympathy because God gives us the strength we need as we need it. And when he calls us to work, there’s always the strength and grace needed for that work. But ministry is work and sometimes it’s a heavy load. So I’m not asking for sympathy for me or for your local ministers here and not intending to paint a discouraging picture, but many people have no idea of what’s involved or the time and the effort that’s involved in ministry, the sacrifice, the dedication, the average minister experiences. And so this is why your local minister probably won’t say these things, but I have the freedom to. So I’m just gonna mention a few things.

There’s lots of things I could say, but just that’s really not the point I’m trying to make here. Just for an example, it varies a lot between ministers, how much time it takes to prepare a message for the average typical Sunday morning service. Varies a lot. I’m sure there’s some gifted men out there that can, could almost preach a good sermon off the top of his head. Most of us can’t do that. There would be some that would probably struggle for weeks trying to put something together. So we’re all different. So it varies a lot as to how long they work in preparation for a Sunday’s morning message.

But did you know that for the many ministers, they will probably spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours on a message? And I’ll just ask this, where would you find that time in your schedule? Think about it. 10, 20 hours. Where would you fit that in? You gotta be realistic. It takes time. It takes work. Yes, I know teaching son to school take the lesson and son to school takes effort as well and all the other things that are involved in the work of the church. And praise God for those willing people who give of their time and their effort to share in those classes or, or in other ways of serving the church. Generally those responsibilities have a term of service, a length of time that they’re serving for the minister generally just calling us for life. So I don’t say that to ask for sympathy or to somehow pat ourselves on the back as as leaders, but as the congregation just give you a glimpse of what’s involved. Takes a lot of work, takes a lot of dedication.

Many of you would remember my dad and he served as a minister for 55 years and one day until you retired. And he died a few weeks after that in 2017. But in his life he preached 3036 sermons. That’s a lot of sermons, that’s a lot of time at the desk. And I’m not lifting up a man, I’m just saying that it takes a level of dedication that many of us haven’t poured ourselves out, at least to that extent for that at least that particular work. But preaching and preparing to preach is only part of what a minister is called to. A good minister is involved in the lives of the people he is called to serve. He’s mentoring, he’s caring for, he’s arranging, he’s challenging, he’s encouraging, he’s watching for their souls. Sometimes his efforts are not appreciated or they’re even criticized and sometimes his work is lonely and he’s often put on the spot and he’s supposed to have answers that he don’t, doesn’t know what to say.

Many times he’s on call 24 7 and he’s often scrutinized for his skill or the lack of skill or compared to other skilled ministers as he carries out his duties. And sometimes the ministers criticize for being a normal human being with weaknesses and struggles just like everyone else in perfects, just like anyone else he gets, we are in overwhelmed just like anyone else. He is called to minister to all age groups, all maturity levels. He’s called to minister to people with all different levels of commitment or to the Lord or their journey with the Lord different places in life.

And what I’m saying is he’s called to minister to the elderly person. He’s called to minister to the youth and everywhere in between. So there’s not a formula he can use to minister to people because we’re all at different places in life and many of us, if we’re normal human beings, which we all are, we have our own backgrounds, our own differences, our own assortment of baggage if you wanna call it that, things that we struggle with. And this brother is supposed to bring all of us very different people together to be able to work together. And we all know that the Lord is behind all of this and he is the one that’s supplying the grace and strength needed, but it’s the minister many times that is puffing it out, trying to make this work.

So he is supposed to be doing all that as well as caring for his own wife and family. And in the end, he will give an account to God. So that’s a really big job. So again, I’m not asking for sympathy or a pat on the back, I’m simply saying what your local minister may not say. And I’m just challenging us to be understanding of the man whom God has called to this work. You as a congregation can make a big difference in your ministry team. Yes you can. You have the responsibility to those in leadership and that’s what this message is about. And so what does the Bible say about the responsibility of the church to their leaders? Several points I’d like to make, if you turn to First Thessalonians, chapter five, couple of verses there.

First Thessalonians chapter five verses 12 and 13. And we besse your brethren to know them, which are labor among you and are over you in the Lord and to and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for the work’s sake and be at peace among yourselves. So the first point I have here is the church has the responsibility to know and to appreciate their leaders. What does no mean there? In verse 12, We are to know them, that labor among us. Well, the word hints at appreciating what you notice about your leader and seems like Paul is admonishing these thessalonian believers to appreciate those who are laboring among them. They are to be thankful for those leaders who were willing to sacrifice themselves to spend themselves physically and mentally and emotionally for the benefit of the flock.

They are responsible for the flock God has given that, given them that responsibility. Now we probably all can think of situations somewhere else of leaders who have used their authority or their position to kind of be bullies. And I don’t believe that this calling is a place for that to happen. It should never be a leader should never be hardheaded and too proud to listen to the people he’s responsible, responsible for. So we look to Jesus for a good example, the best example of what a servant leader should look like. Jesus served his disciples over and over again. He served them rather than cracked the whip above their backs. Leaders are the, to follow that example I believe. Now Jesus said some tough things. He, he confronted them at times with things, but he wasn’t a bully. He was a servant leader. Leaders have the responsibility to be uncompromising and to give warning to the waiver to encourage a struggling and the struggling one and rejoicing with those that rejoice. So a leader is called to be tough and tender at the same time. And that’s a hard balance to find.

It’s hard to have thick tender skin as you deal with situations in life. Personalities come into play here. Some of us are, tend to be more compassionate. Others see black life as black and white. And we, we tend to make decisions that’s how it needs to be. And we can run over people. And so we really need to be both in your home or other responsibilities. We need to be uncompromising and yet compassionate. And I look to Jesus for that perfect example of that. A good minister cares deeply for those that he serves. And his heart cry is for everyone to get home safely. And so the first point in this subject of the responsibility of the church to the minister is to appreciate their efforts.

There’s many ways to do that. There’s words that could and should be said thankful heart brings us to do and say and, and things that are encouraging to our leaders. Faithful church attendance. You’d be surprised how encouraging or discouraging that can be when there’s faithful church attendance or a habitual lack of church attendance. Faithful church attendance sends a message. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to hear from God. And even more than that, faithful church attendance sends a message that I want to, to grow. I want to understand better and to know how to apply life, apply truth to life in a, in a more complete way.

And so my point being, find ways to, to encourage your minister, express appreciation. Tell him so don’t flatter him, but express appreciation for his efforts. Know of some men who have rarely had that happen and I, I feel for them. So brother or sister, church member, you can make a real difference in the life of your minister by showing appreciation for what he is, who he is and what he does. Know your leader. Point number two, the church has the responsibility to esteem their leaders highly. Verse 13, In fact, it says they’re there to esteem them very highly in love.

I think it’s the nrv that says something like this, Hold them in highest regard and love because of their work. And I trust we understand there’s a balance needed here. You should never put a leader on a pedestal where the leader becomes the focus and what the church is all about. Yes, a leader and his gifts certainly flavor the church, but the church is not about the preacher, it’s about the Lord Jesus. At the same time, a minister is to be respected. And I think that’s what Paul is saying here. There’s a way to serve in a leadership role in humility without doing it for the praise of men. There’s a way to do that. It takes the grace of God, of course, and some deliberate choices.

Even the most skillful minister still has weaknesses, still has limitations. He’s human. God has called ’em to a special work and we need to esteem them very highly. I guess the, the human tendency with authority, whatever that kind of authority might be, the human tendency is either to view that authority either with almost adultry or the opposite extreme would be to disdain authority. And neither extreme is right. It’s just as wrong to worship our leaders as it is to disrespect them. We need God’s help in filing this bow so steaming our leaders very highly. As Paul writes and doing it in a proper way, our leaders have not campaigned for their work, their job. They have not fought for position as many people have in our world, in different positions, whether it be politics or in business or whatever. Now our church leaders have been called to service by God himself and that has that calling has changed their life forever. Think about that.

So esteem our leaders highly. Point number three, the last part of verse 13. And be at peace among yourselves. The church has the responsibility to strive for peace amongst a few things are more discouraging to a church leader than have the congregation butting heads. And my subject this morning is not focusing on peace and the brotherhood, but according to the wa a word of God peace between brothers and sisters. It’s part of the responsibility of all of us in a congregation. And our willingness and commitment to being at peace among ourselves has a tremendous impact on our leaders. And a godly church leader will, will labor long and hard trying to resolve issues, trying to get to the bottom of relationship problems.

And I think we ought to be, I ought to be ashamed of myself when I insist on holding onto some grudge, some disagreement, and I’m giving the silent treatment, you know, fill in the blank, whatever it may be. But I am not giving along with my brother and my sister. And this tension that is between this is probably more obvious than we think it is. The church leader grieves over it and your wax his brain to try to, how can I help this situation? And I know there’s a time to disagree and I’m not saying that there never is a time to disagree because there is some things matter, very, very much. Also know that we can disagree over some pretty silly things, some misunderstanding, some perceived insults, some disrespect that may not even be true, at least not completely true.

And my pastor res it’s not only the right thing to do in God’s sight to have peace between us, but it will greatly lighten the burden of leadership. That’s all my church leaders shoulders when I have peace between me and my brother, my sister, they got help us to have peace among ourselves. Point number four, we’re gonna turn to the book of Hebrews for this one. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. The church has the responsibility to submit and to obey its leaders. Hebrews 13 verse 17, Obey them that have rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls. They that must give an account that they may do it with joy, not with grief for that is unprofitable for you.

I believe this is not blind obedience like the followers of some weird cult that obey out of blind loyalty or fear. I believe the ob obedience that Hebrews talks about there refers to not only doing what the Bible says to do, but also doing it because of knowing their leader well enough to see his relationship with God and to be confident that he will go in the right direction. And I can follow him. Bible is clear that we are toey, obey God rather than men. It’s also clear that we are to obey God ordained authority and we can have a lot of excuses. But the Bible says to obey within everything that, that we, that’s possible because God has put that authority structure in my life. God of course is the ultimate authority, but he has put structure and authority figures in my life and I better be really careful and prayerful for challenging those authority figures. Of course, there’s a time to appeal to my authority figure, but let it never be done in a disrespectful way with an attitude of I wanna do my own thing.

And in the case of the church, no one has forced me to be a member is a voluntary decision of mine. No one tied me up, drug me to the church and said, Here, you’re going to be a member who knows a voluntary choice. And I vowed I made some vows vowed to uphold agreements of the church. Do those vows matter? Sometimes we forget those. I think. I believe they do matter. Again, I know there’s a time where we have to obey God rather than men. And that’s a very difficult situation to be in. Romans 13 verses one and two, Let every soul be subject into the higher powers for there’s no power but of God, The powers that be ordained of God who’s whoever, therefore resistance of power resist that the ordinance of God, the they that and they that resists shall receive to themselves. Examination, talking about civil leaders I know there, but just the whole attitude of of being respectful and cooperation and being in submission to the, the authority structure that God has put in place. How can it be okay for me to kind of go do my own thing and ignore what I vow? I don’t think that’s okay. I know that there’s leaders who have done poorly, they have been selfish, they’ve been prideful and unkind, but that doesn’t give me the right to treat them badly or to have bad attitudes about them.

Yes, the church has the responsibility to obey and why do we, Well, what it said there in, in Hebrews 13 verse 17, it’s because they’re watching for your souls. And God has put their that person in, in a, in a authority structure. And he has put me someplace in that, that structure. Point number five, the church has a responsibility to remember their leaders. Go back to Hebrews again, 13 verse seven. Remember them which have rule over you, who have spoken unto you. The word of God whose faith followed considering the end of their conversation now is, is that a suggestion or command? And I’ll let you answer that.

Remember them which have the rule over you and in the business of life, this is how it is for me. It’s probably this way for you and the business of life. It’s easy to forget those who labor among us and we take them for granted. The writer of Hebrews here tells us to remember them. I suppose one of the greatest ways we can remember our church leaders is to pray for them. Specifically. I I’ll just say this, I am very blessed to have some prayer warriors who often bring their church leader to God, a prayer, tremendous, tremendous encouragement.

They know who’s preaching which Sunday they will occasionally ask, How you doing? How can I pray for you? And they’re praying for right now. And I deeply appreciate that. Some ministers don’t have people that remember and just, so just an encouragement for us. Remember your leaders, pray for them. Tell them that you pray for them. Encourage them in that way. We can come boldly to the throne of grace on behalf of my church leader. Brother, please invest in his life because he needs you in this way. Point number six, the church has a responsibility to follow their leader’s. Example Hebrew 13 again, verse seven, Whose faith follow with the idea of coming along behind? All of us need examples to follow. We need role models. We need someone to show us how someone we can learn from. Doesn’t mean that the person we’re following that he knows everything. He makes mistakes too. And sometimes we can have some unrealistic expectations of of the person we’re following and, and maybe even unfairly so. But he makes mistakes too. He or she makes mistakes depending on who, who you’re talking about that you’re following and learning from. But we all need role models. We need someone who has experience and has lived life and, and is applying truth to daily life. We can learn a lot from those people.

So you’ve been thinking about qualifications of a leader. Actually, I believe God wants all believers to have these virtues. That’s especially important for leaders to have these qualities because people need a visible role to follow. I need one. Paul said, Be imitators of me just as I, I am also imitating Christ. When a leader is doing his utmost to follow Christ in the best way, He knows how that’s a person we’re following. Not because he’s perfect, but because he’s growing. He’s learning how to follow Christ even closer in everyday life. And there’s a lot I can learn from a faithful follower of Jesus. Point number seven, the church has the responsibility to support its leaders. We’ll go to one Timothy chapter five, couple of verses there, one Timothy chapter five verses 17 and 18. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word ind doctrine for the scripture sayeth al shett not muzzle the opposite truth. Out the ox troth out the corn, the labor is worthy of his reward.

Now, as an Baptists, we shy away from hiring the pastor and rightfully so because of the, the temptation of the hired preacher having itching years and saying what the congregation wants to hear because his job depends on pleasing the people there. There’s some issues with that. I think we understand that the danger of tying money to the work of the church, however, in some cases I wonder whether we’ve gone to the opposite extreme and been stingy with our church leaders. So you you, you can’t put a dollar figure amount on what your pastor does. But the church leader has bills and needs just like everyone else. He probably works a full-time job to make ends meet. And then he’s expected to have time and energy to do the work of the church as well as caring for his family. And that’s a big task. And so my encouragement to us this morning is to be generous with your leaders.

May we never allow money to be the motivating factor in a church’s leader’s life. But on the other hand, may we never neglect the needs of the minister and his family as he serves the church. And of course this goes way beyond just financial things. That’s just one example that actually includes all of life. Sometimes it’s easier to throw money at a situation than it is to give time, give energy to sacrifice some of those things. And my point being, what can I contribute to my church leader’s life? I have a responsibility to do that. I encourage you to think and pray about that. Support your leaders.

Point number eight, the church has the responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Did you just hear what I said? The church has a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Now maybe that sounds a bit backwards because according to scripture, the leaders are watching for the souls of of the church, the people in the church. And that’s true, but the minister is also on a spiritual journey. Maybe they are mature in a lot of ways, maybe they have some experience, maybe they are skilled in many ways.

But mature and experienced leaders can also make mistakes. They can get off track. And as a congregation we can be a help and an aid to them and keeping them in the right direction or helping them walking the right direction. I think we would need to seek some good counsel and spend time in prayer before we make a respectful appeal to a leader. And doing that in humility and love. It may be often it’s that when we see a leader that’s not quite sure where he is going and why, and that seems a little weird to me sometimes. Maybe many times it’s because we don’t know the whole story, we don’t see the other side of what he’s grappling with. All those kinds of things. We need to be mindful of that. These can be touchy and delicate situations. And I’m not here to say how it should be done, but an airing church leader is my brother. And if I love him and I love the church, I need to respectfully and humility make an appeal. All church leaders have blind spots and weaknesses. But when there’s a good relationship between my leader and I, then there’s something that there’s something built there already to where there can be dialogue, there can be conversation that can even be challenged and we can help each other in our weaknesses.

So the church does have a responsibility to watch out for the spiritual direction of its leaders. Point number nine, the church has a responsibility to help its leaders be spiritually fed in their own lives. Now of course, all of us are responsible for our personal walk with God. And what I’m getting at here is that the minister gives and gives and gives and gifts. When does he drink in? It’s a challenge. I don’t really have a script reference to go along with this point. I’m speaking from experience here. Each minister’s different, but many leaders are greatly encouraged. For example, by attending minister’s meetings, those kinds of things where you can have the opportunity not to be responsible for this or that other thing that’s happening that particular day, but just to drink in. That’s important. I know I have been greatly impacted by others put in my life and to just be able to sit down with other leaders who have similar burdens and temptations and struggles and dilemmas. I cannot tell you how encouraged I have been, but other ministers who know exactly what I’m talking about or what what I’m experiencing. So encouraging.

We’re all busy. We have our own work. That is very true. But let me encourage us to encourage our church leaders if that would be a help to them to go somewhere occasionally and just be fed. What an encouragement that could be. Your church leader will likely have more to give when he has been welled himself. Point number 10, the church has a responsibility to the minister’s wife and family. Now, I’ll just say here before I embarrass anyone that this morning we have a little bit different situation of who’s being ordained. And I’m just going to let you mentally adjust in your mind what I’m about to say to fit the occasion. Okay?

The focus in this ordination is for finding the leader that God would have with this congregation or the leaders in this case. And that’s right. But let’s not forget there is a wife who shares in her husband’s calling. She plays a quiet and often unappreciated but vital role. So think with me about the wives of your church leaders and get the picture in your mind. Who are those ladies? You got that? These dear women have to share their husbands with many people in ways that most women don’t have to His time, his energy, his focus, his emotional strength, all these things are shared, which means there’s less for her.

And too often she gets the leftovers. And I’ll just confess that’s the way it’s been in our home sometimes. How thankful we ought to be for these courageous women who are just doing, They’re not sure how to do it. They’re just doing what they feel like God has called them to and faithful in that they are the cheerleaders, they’re encouragers of weary ministers. She lives in a glass house. People watch the lives of their leaders, including his wife and family, and their marriage is watched. Their children are watched the way they go about life many times is open for everyone to see and they’re criticized at times. And I suppose I’m not a wife, never will be praise the Lord. But I suppose many times she just wants to be a normal wife.

She needs women, other women, just like other women do. She needs friends. She needs love. She needs patience. She needs understanding. She needs encouragement. She works hard at enabling her husband to carry out his calling without pay. And most of the time without recognition, she’s also available 24 7. And she’s fulfilling a role that’s not very well defined. Many, many young ministers wives are confused and intimidated by this undefined role that lands in their lap. Why do I do this? You really can’t turn to a verse that says this is how it’s done. Sometimes people have used the minister’s wife as a conduit to get something done that they wanna see get done or a complaint through the minister’s wife and you know, that kind of thing that puts her in a very delicate situation. She’s supposed to be perfect, but she isn’t.

And like her husband, she’s supposed to have a lot of answers and she doesn’t. You know, what about this stress? What about this misbehaving child? What about this relationship, strained relationship, all these things, minister’s wife can be hurt in a hundred ways and she can’t fight back. Now I’m not advocating woman worship this morning, but I’m just saying these are women that have been called to a very unique role and I think we ought to be appreciative of them. I suppose there’s no person on earth who is more influential in a minister’s life than his wife.

And probably these ladies would all say that they feel inadequate for their calling. I know of no other work that a man could be involved in, was a plumber or carpenter or construction guy, whatever it may be. Know of another work that a man can be involved in, in which his wife is, is expected to sacrifices her sacrifice, her preferences in the way that a minister’s wife Is that play a vital role. Let’s be thankful for these dear ladies. The church has a responsibility to care for the wife of their minister is my point. Pray for her, be her friend. Encourage her, appreciate her. She’s playing a quiet but a vital role.

Moving on to children of the minister. Much could be said about their unique role. They also have to share daddy with many people like in ways that that other children possibly don’t have to. Their behavior is watched and may be held to an unfair, higher standard than other children. Sometimes they often have to keep things confidential that they hear because daddy gets phone calls and visits and they see their burden that their daddy carries. These young people also need our prayer and encouragement because they’re just people too. Let’s encourage these people. And God has also called to serve alongside of their husband or their daddy in the work of the church.

So I’ve mentioned 10 things here and I know this list is not complete, but let me encourage us to take seriously our role to our church leaders. The 10 points were let’s appreciate them, know them. Number two, let’s esteem them highly. Number three, strive, repeat them among ourselves. Number four, submit and obey our leaders. Number five, remember to pray for them and pray for them obviously. So in other words that they know that they’re being prayed for. Number six, follow the example. Number seven, support them fa financially and other ways as well. Number eight, watch their spiritual direction. Number nine, see that they have the opportunity to be spiritually fed themselves. Number 10, care for his wife and family. So the minister has a big job, but so does the church. God has called us to serve in a unique place. And wherever you fit into God’s the work in God’s church, may we be faithful in that.

Two brothers will be called to serve here in a, in a new way. In this congregation here today, let’s take our responsibility as a church toward our church leaders seriously. Jeremiah three verse 15. And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. God bless you as a congregation, as you could seriously consider your role in supporting and encouraging and appreciating your leadership team here. And I just want to call attention to the verse upon the board here, Roman ten verse 15. It’s actually a quote from the book of Isaiah. And to these brothers being ordained here today, you have beautiful feet. The Bible says so.

The post The Church’s Responsibility to Ministry appeared first on Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA.

  continue reading

794 tập

Tất cả các tập

×
 
Loading …

Chào mừng bạn đến với Player FM!

Player FM đang quét trang web để tìm các podcast chất lượng cao cho bạn thưởng thức ngay bây giờ. Đây là ứng dụng podcast tốt nhất và hoạt động trên Android, iPhone và web. Đăng ký để đồng bộ các theo dõi trên tất cả thiết bị.

 

Hướng dẫn sử dụng nhanh