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