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All right, well before I begin preaching I just wanted to say this is a special service, of course and this is gonna be the ordination service where Brother Ian is going to be ordained as the pastor of this church and it's no longer gonna be Shur foundation Baptist Church is going to be Strong Tower Baptist Church at the end And so that's the name that he's chosen and I think it's a great name. It really represents England very well and Just really Have been blessed by being able to start this church and Having a man that I can trust and a family that is faithful And of course, you know, the proof is in the pudding all the people here this morning Is a sign of brother Ian's great leadership and there's there's a lot of great people here And I'm very fond of a lot of you some people I don't know I just want to say thank you for coming and I thank you for being a part of this great day and This great church, so I know there's a lot of people have come from the continent Which is I guess I guess a continent called Europe, but you know, the continent is the u.s. No, I'm just kidding I'm only kidding. I just saw that Union Jack on the on the cover today It kind of you know inspired me to get a little angry about that. No, I'm just kidding I'm kidding, but I just want to say also thank you to pastor and miss Jimenez for being here and their family and Also, my lovely wife Sherry the love of my life and my companion in travel I just want to thank my wife for being here and I just wouldn't even want to come if she didn't come with me so but I appreciate y'all being here and my prayer is that you guys would just get behind brother Ian and continue to great mighty works and and just from the bulletin there's just so much going on and it's good to see all the different soul winning times and then the vision to To branch off into other areas of England and I think God's gonna do great things in the continent of Europe and obviously there's already things being started in Europe and there's like little sprouting sprouting out and Europe has been a dark nation for Christianity for a while but I see the light is starting to shine and the darkness and of course and in England here and so Anyway, the title of my sermon this morning is let none of his words fall to the ground let none of his words Fall to the ground. So of course, this is a famous chapter in the Bible where Samuel was called now I don't think that God audibly called brother Ian He did he never told me about this dream if he did then I just feel like the ordination service is over No, I'm just kidding. But but God did call brother Ian to the ministry I really believe that and in the story of Samuel, of course Samuel was a was basically promised by God to Hannah for her not being able to have children and so he was a very special child a very special prophet and Priests and also a judge in the land of Israel. So he kind of wore many hats as but and here we have the story of his calling and You have this part where Eli Kind of tells him Hey you can't you have to tell me everything that he said to you and that's and that's the way that Preachers need to be today because you know we have a lot of churches out there where pastors and preachers are afraid to get up and say what the Word of God says and I don't believe that that is the case with brother Ian. He's preached a lot of hairy sermons that you know people, you know They have they have a lot of trouble being able to withstand a sermon, you know, such as you know Sermons just against the Church of England and you know, just there's been a lot of sermons it's like he's been very bold even with the coordination of King Charles that what a what a show that was and It's just you know, England's really slid down as far as being spirit a spiritual nation but you know I believe that there's hope now because of this church and I think that there's gonna be other churches like this church that sprout up and So but anyway, we have I just have three points this morning, but those three points could be very long points So if you need to get up and use the restroom anytime, you're more than welcome to do so I will try to keep the sermon fairly brief. But whenever I say that it never does So anyway, you should know me by now and know my manner of preaching. I'm actually gonna get a timer out just so I That was all introduction. That's the first introduction Second introduction is coming Anyway, so let's have a word of prayer though Lord We thank you so much for this great wonderful day and just all the blessings that are going to be coming today We thank you so much for brother Ian and his family and for this great church here in England I pray that you just bless it for many years to come bless Strong Tower Baptist Church and bless the ministry of what's going to be pastor Ian Tavener and I just pray that you would help me in this sermon to Preach what you laid on my heart for this sermon Lord And I pray that this room would be filled with your spirit and be very obvious Your approval of all things that are done in your house today in Jesus name we pray Amen, so let none of his words Fall to the ground point. Number one is continue to grow as a Christian as a pastor so look at verse number 19 the Bible says there and Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and did let none of his words Fall to the ground so point number one is the brother and you need to continue to grow as a spiritual leader and As a pastor and you know people think well, he already should know everything Well, nobody knows everything and it's gonna take some time to to kind of learn the ropes You know everything changes when you become a pastor, but a lot of things stay the same So and a lot of times I'll be just preaching right at the end So but hopefully you guys can get something out of this sermon But anyway, it says that Samuel grew so in order for this church to get to the next level Which I think it is a next level church but to the next level and Beyond you must continue to grow as a Christian and get better as a pastor So and sometimes it just takes more study It takes more experience and and obviously he's already gone through some some hard things This church has gone through some battles and you know, the test has been Overcome, you know and and you're gonna be tested more this church is gonna be tested more and You know, the darts are gonna come I feel like yesterday was kind of a it was a great day yesterday a great soul wanting everything but there was a lot of crazy spiritual warfare going on at the same time and My wife when we laid down to go to bed last night She was she was this explained to me how she's just talking to this lady in in queuing is what you guys call it Queuing for the bathroom and she was having this conversation trying to talk to this lady about the Lord is right before a brother Ian Got up and announced everything yesterday before the soul winning And she said this guy just appeared out of nowhere and just started like yelling at her and saying Are you gonna give her a place to stay tonight? Are you gonna give her some money? Are you gonna give her some food and like we're just badgering her out of nowhere And then the lady's just like I don't even know you like what are you talking about? And just you know, and so this guy's just like trying to antagonize my wife and try to stop her from preaching the gospel to this lady and In and so that was kind of you know, I didn't even know that that happened But then later on we go so wanting and we come back and the Pentecostals have taken over our spot And so we had we you know, we had to go all the way down and then like my I didn't know this was happening Either I guess I was apparently oblivious oblivious of some of the things that were happening yesterday But she said yeah that people were fighting with our church members from that group Like they were coming over and yelling at him because I think some of our our people were we're preaching the gospel But you know, that's just you know, and then all sudden the rain comes and the Thunder and lightning It's just like this is just really interesting, you know But that's just like a day a normal day in the ministry where you're gonna have people just fighting with you And trying to stop the things that we're doing It's obviously it's obvious that the devil wanted to stop the great works that we were doing yesterday I'm not saying he brought the rain or anything like that I'm just saying that you know Where whatever we do if we're doing the right thing if we're preaching the right gospel for preaching the right types of sermons Then people are gonna come against us and you know, it says Samuel grew and and and basically I take that to mean obviously He grew up. He was a little child basically when this happened or maybe you know, maybe a Preteen or so. I don't know. I can't remember how old he was, but he was a young man, you know And so Samuel had to grow up physically, but he also had to grow up Spiritually, he didn't just know everything there was to know about being a great preacher and a great man of God and So I don't believe Samuel, you know, it's just talking about him growing up physically it's obviously a spiritual thing too and part of what made Samuel great was the fact that You know, he grew in the knowledge of the things of God in order to become the best man of God that he could be And brother Ian, you know those are things that you just need to keep doing keep growing in the faith and keep growing as a Christian and Keep growing as a pastor and so and if you remember in the beginning of the chapter It says that Samuel came at a time when the Word of God was precious and there was no open vision And so basically what it's saying there is that there's a lot of you know there wasn't a lot of the Word of God getting out but God used Samuel for that purpose and he was with him and He was he didn't let and Samuel did the right thing It didn't let his words fall to the ground, but I kind of think of this story of Samuel There was no open vision and the Word of God is precious It's kind of like how England is right now and you know, there's a lot of churches you can go to here But not a lot of them are good churches and I believe that this church has an open vision. I believe that this church is You know holds the Word of God as precious in their sight, you know Even in the place where the King James Bible came from most of the churches don't even use the King James Bible Which I think is just really strange But you know, you know people just act like King James didn't exist It seems like here because they don't want to know the truth of God's Word they you know they would just rather dismiss the King James Bible and that translation because they know that that is what is actually going to get this country going again spiritually so but I and I like I said, I believe I believe that a new Generation is rising and people are getting saved. People are getting baptized people are following Christ the spark has begun in England and in Europe and it's ripe to catch fire and To bring forth much fruit. Let's look at 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 18 So the first point is continue to grow as a Christian and as a pastor and you can apply that to yourselves also I mean, we should always be wanting to to learn we should be lifelong Christian learners And that's the most important thing that we can do is learn the Word of God learn what God wants from us And we're gonna be better off because we grow so Samuel grew And we should grow also and brother Ian you should grow as a pastor and as a preacher so it says in second second Peter 3 18 says but grow in grace and In the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever amen, so Peter saying hey don't just be content with where you're at in your in your spiritual station that we should Want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ So was the more the older we get in the faith the more we should know about Christ We should never be going backwards We should never be staying the same we should always just be pressing on and trying to grow in the Lord So and in order to grow in the Lord, you must also you're gonna have to continue your education in the Bible Let's look at 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 2 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 2 So you're gonna have to grow in your education in the Bible So you don't just read the Bible once and then put it down and you're like, oh, yeah I already know I've already read that You know, obviously every time you read the Bible you're gonna get more out of it God's gonna give you more knowledge and he's gonna help you build upon that faith that you already have and The you know, if you're a new Christian You know, you got to start with the good the the the milk of the word It says as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may what's it say there? Grow there by and so what does the Word of God do for you? It helps you grow So yes, this is the milk but you move on to the meat and that meat also continues to help you grow and obviously brother Ian should be past the the the milk stage but and I believe that he is obviously but as a leader you're supposed to continue to get knowledge in the scriptures and to To Grow with the reading of the scriptures and the knowledge of the scriptures look at Acts chapter 18 verse 24 Acts chapter 18 verse 24 I really love this story about Apollos it says in verse 24 it says in a certain Jew named Apollos born at Alexandria an eloquent man and What I think is most important here is mighty in the scriptures He was mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus So, you know being eloquent isn't always necessarily it's not a prerequisite for being a pastor or prerequisite for being a preacher but being mighty in the scriptures is and so it's very important that as the man of God here that you are mighty in the Scriptures and it says this man was instructed in the way of the Lord so another great statement about Apollos is that he was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit and Taught diligently the things of the Lord knowing only the baptism of John So this guy was already he was a great man of God and you know, I believe that Apollos was saved I just don't think that he under he didn't know the things about Jesus He must have just like took off and you know, he started just preaching obviously faith. He was saved under the old covenant, obviously But what's great about Apollos is he already had a great foundation? but he didn't just stop there and he didn't just act like he knew everything because in the next verse it says and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took him unto them and Expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly So he's already what mighty in the Scriptures he was already instructed in the ways of the Lord. He was an eloquent man He was fervent in spirit. He taught diligently the things of the Lord. He spoke boldly and Then he allowed some other Christians to come in and help perfect him and it's not like they had to get him saved They just said hey, there's this guy named Jesus that came you might not have heard of him yet But you know, he's our Lord and Savior and and so Apollos, of course becomes a great man of God in the New Testament Paul mentions them often And so what I'm saying here is though Even though you were already at a level where you're where you're gonna be the pastor of the church You can always get better. You can always grow more in the faith and get better as a Christian and You know, obviously the Bible is the the most important thing for you to study But I believe that studying some secular books and and sources can help you learn about subjects more To read and research for sermons and general knowledge So it's good to have knowledge the Bible says in Proverbs 4 7 wisdom is the principal thing Therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding So obviously you don't want to preach a sermon about something You don't know maybe do some research and those types of things will help you and and and help you grow Also as a preacher, but obviously if you just forsake all that and you just preach the Bible I think that's better than trying to just preach a bunch of man Scented books and you know A lot of people are preaching commentaries of what other men think about the Bible instead of just preaching the Bible like well Spurgeon said this it's like who cares what Spurgeon said he wasn't even saved number one. He was a Calvinist number two That's two strikes and you know, I just believe he was a false prophet honestly, but you know He's his his great tabernacle or whatever is here in England somewhere I think we saw it on the freeway one time or something like that, but The wisdom you need is the wisdom of God and that's gonna help you grow. So and And and like my other sub point here is that go ahead and turn to Romans chapter 5 That experience will teach you and experience will help you grow Romans chapter 5 verse 3 the Bible says and not only so but we glory in tribulations also That's that's always just been a hard concept for me because when you're going through tribulations, that means you're being afflicted you're having a lot of stress and anxiety and when Paul says stuff like glory and tribulations, it's that I mean he really means it but How do you know? That's something that you're gonna have to learn to do as a Pastor is you're gonna have to learn to glory in these tribulations knowing that tribulation work with patience So why does God allow these things to happen so that we can develop patience and patience? Isn't just not getting mad at something at the drop of a hat. It's actually the capacity to accept or tolerate delay So there is a little bit patience in that way trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset and the more You're afflicted the better you're gonna be next time and it will help you grow in the ministry and you might not understand this as I'm talking to you now, but I mean, I'm you've been through a little bit of Hard times a little bit of affliction, but it's gonna get worse and it's gonna get more But it seems to me the more I go through things like this like now, I'm just like yeah Who cares, you know, but the first time you go through some major tribulation or some major affliction or some major battle It is gonna get you all upset and and bothered but just know this that God is always gonna be with you He's always gonna be watching out for you and we just have to react the way that God asks us to what's he say? Glory and tribulations, you know, you're gonna get rewards from that But it says in verse 4 says and patience experience so those tribulations are going to turn into Patience and those patience experience and so when you have experience That means that the next time you go through it, it's not gonna be as bad, right? So it's important to Grow in this way also let experience teach you and then that experience will give you Hope that the next time you go through it. It's not going to be so bad So and a wise man once told me this also that What you know as a pastor and this pastor a medicine, of course, but he said You know, we only have a certain amount of credit with people and I think I might have told you this before But when they have a certain amount of credit with people and once your credit runs out, it's pretty much over for us So we need to make sure that we're not using up all of our credits, you know early on and You know and what that means basically is that you know your credibility so you don't want your credibility to run out So just be wise in the way that you handle things And just always kind of look to the Bible as your guide to and your experience your past experience To help you into those situations so that you're not, you know, losing credit with the people that you pastor and Use experience wisely and remember to learn from your mistakes because we don't learn from our mistakes What are the what is the saying we're destined to repeat them? So, you know learn we all make mistakes And just in case everybody doesn't know this pastors make mistakes, too. We're not perfect. We're just human beings just like everybody else and don't hold any ban on such a high pedestal that That you would just be like it would destroy your Christian life or something if something happened with them. So and As you grow to be a better Christian and gain more knowledge of the scriptures You can be a better guide to the flock that God is making you the overseer of Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 And make no mistake about this that the fact that brother Ian is becoming the pastor of the church today It is a gift to you it is something that God is bestowing a gift upon you and and you need to look at it like that because not all churches have great pastors and not all you know, there's there's just a lack of Trained men of God that can lead people in the way that they should go and it says in Ephesians 4 11 he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers Some not everybody has that not everybody has even those things But God gives some and he allows pastors to come into your life He allows evangelists to be ordained to do the work He allows pastors to be ordained and teachers to come along to help you and they also are not only just pastors, but their tour guides chauffeurs remodelers decorators carpenters plumbers electricians event planners counselors cooks wedding planners wedding marriage counselors funeral directors construction workers lease negotiators real estate agents CEOs and So on and is there anything else that I forgot pastor miss is there anything you guys think I mean There's just a lot of thing. It's not huh? What lawyers? Yeah. Yeah lawyers to unfortunately, but Yeah, I mean we just there's there's a lot of hats that the pastor has to wear It's not just you know He preaches one 15-minute sermon a week and then that's all he does and everybody else does everything else I mean anybody that has two eyeballs can see that brother Ian is a tireless hard worker and his family also and so the work of The pastor it is a gift that you get look what it says verse 12 for the perfecting of the Saints So what is his job to do as a pastor to perfect you not make you walk on water? But to help you to be the best well-rounded Christian that you could be and It says the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry and guess what? The ministry is work and anybody that tells you any different is an idiot They just don't know what they're talking about because if someone walks up, you know Oh, you're just a pastor and people do act like that You know people that don't go to church are generally the ones that would be like that But there's even people that would go to church that would feel all he has jobs. Not that hard Well, why don't you just try it for a week? They have like these television shows I guess that were the boss and somebody else would swap positions or whatever. I think I mean, I don't know it's a concept okay, it's a new show that you've never seen but I Mean if you just swap jobs with a pastor for a week, and I'm not saying you don't work hard I'm just saying that if you did there's a lot of pressure There's just a lot of things that are going on behind the scenes that you might not know about and not only that but just The daily work the daily cleaning the daily Managing of the ministry. It's a daily job and days off come very few and far in between It says for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ So, you know brother Ian your job is going to be also to help other people grow and that's building them Edifying the church the body of Christ It says till we all come in the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God Unto a perfect man unto the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and the Cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive the pastor's other job Along with a lot of different things is to help that the people are not deceived by people that like to lie and wait Well, what does it make you think about when you see that term lie and wait? Well to me we were at this like Eagle or this bird Raptor place the other day It was what was it called the bird? Oh the Eagle Heights, yeah, and basically this it's just like a demonstration of all these birds and how they hunt and And basically to be a raptor you are yeah, like a an amber hunter You have to be able to have your claws have to kill that animal so there's a lot of birds of prey that do that, but they kind of a lot of Predators are lying and wait to try to just ambush someone and if you're in the ministry There's a lot of people that are doing this type of thing to you There's a lot of people that are lying away just ready to try to deceive people and as the pastor of the church He has to stand in between the dead and the living he has to stand in between These ambush predators and the rest of the congregation and that's why you know pastor is a good word to call a leader of a church because that pastor, you know, if you think about what a pastor is a pastor is someone that's trying to Protect and lead the sheep and feed the sheep and take care of the sheep, but then also keep the predators away and so as you know as a pastor you're gonna deal with ambush predators on a regular basis and We just you know and as pastors other people just don't necessarily see or hear what we see or hear or have knowledge of and You know as a church member, you're just not gonna and I'm not saying you're dumb or anything like that I'm just saying that sometimes we see things that you might not be able to see that's all and So his job is to always constantly be looking over the flock and making sure That there's not a wolf trying to take a sheep out or trying to kill one of the sheep Says in verse 15 but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head Even Christ so what is the point is there is that the the pastor is given so that you know? You can grow up also in the faith so number two this morning the Lord must be your guide in the ministry and If we do things through our own strength It's not it's not gonna work out But God is the one that has to be guiding you and strengthening you look at first Samuel chapter 3 19 again back in step for Samuel chapter 3 verse 19 So The first point is that you must grow in the Lord and Then the second point is that the Lord must be your guide in the ministry it says and Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and Did let none of his words fall to the ground so the Lord was with Samuel And that's the the important thing as a man of God that God is with you so if you don't have God with you, then you're gonna have a lot of problems in the ministry and The Lord is going to lead you in the way that you should go and you have to be able to kind of understand where God's leading you and sometimes that can be difficult and Hard to see but as long as you're trusting and hoping the Lord he's gonna guide you he's gonna lead you Just like the Lord stood by Paul. You know Paul mentions a couple different times in the book of Acts How that you know God kind of came up on side of him give him a hug It's like I'm not gonna let anybody hurt you I'm not gonna let anybody set on thee to hurt thee and Paul was protected by God even though Paul went through a lot of heartache and a lot of pain and a lot of just Persecution God still just never let anybody hurt him to the point where it took him out He finished the course like I preached the other the other day God allowed Paul to finish the course and keep the faith look at 1st Samuel chapter 30 verse 6 1st Samuel chapter 30 Verse number 6 and sometimes the ministry can be a really lonely place and you and there's not a lot of people that you can talk to and sometimes there's not anybody that you should talk to about some of the things that are going on and sometimes your only comfort is going to come from God and You have to do and you have to do what David did here Look at it says in verse verse 6 and say it first Samuel 30 it says and David was greatly distressed For the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved every man in his sons and for his daughters, but David Encouraged himself in the Lord his God Sometimes that's all we have is the Lord to strengthen us and to encourage us and David did the smart thing You know instead of just you know, he was distressed. There's gonna be times where you're gonna be distressed. I mean yesterday I was just watching And I'm just like man He's he's handling a lot of things and and that can be stressful like I'm just sitting there enjoying myself and obviously oblivious to some of the other things that were going on, but Brother Ian was like, you know cool calm and collected but I I know what that feels like because I'm a pastor and I've been the person that has to organize all that stuff and Pastor man has kind of made the the statement that this is like hell week, you know in the military There's that last week of training that you go through and you just have to do all these tasks and they take you out And just put you through a torturous laborious Training session, you know in the Navy SEALs and in the United States they put them through like just a lot of you know, hypothermia making them just sit and and and be in the ocean waters and they're cold and they're freezing and the whole time the drill sergeants are just like You can get up and ring that bell anytime who's ever seen any of that word So anyway, the Navy SEALs training program They have like this bell and if you're done You can walk up and just ring that bell and then you're finished. You didn't make the you didn't make it So pastor Mays was like, yeah this is hell week for you and like he has to take us to London a certain amount of times or it's just everything's called off or you know, but he's rose to the occasion, but I will back on Ordinate him if he doesn't take us to London tomorrow. But anyway, I'm kidding But sometimes you got to just encourage yourself in the Lord brother Ian and and sometimes and some people just don't understand this but there are just really hard days in the ministry where you're just like You feel like you want to quit you feel like you want to give up But don't ever give up because God is always going to be with you and He's there to guide you and if the Lord is with you, you don't have anything to worry about it says Let's turn to Psalm chapter 23. And of course, this is a great Psalm of David It's one of the most famous Psalms in the Bible and it's usually read at funerals and things like that, but But I think it works for pastors really well Look at verse number one Psalm chapter 23 It says the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green past green pastures He leadeth me beside the still waters. So, you know, David is just emphasizing the fact that God is there for him He's the shepherd that's guiding him. He is leading him beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake and So God is the one that's going to lead you into these paths and in the ways that you should go But you have to follow his leading says yea though. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff They comfort me and sometimes God will smack you around a little bit, you know with the rod But but his staff is there to comfort you So he's gonna he's gonna punt, you know, he's gonna beat up on us when we need it But he's also gonna guide us like a like a shepherd because he is the good Shepherd you know the pastor is the pastor of the under Shepherd of the Lord Jesus Christ and Looking over the flock and helping them. It says Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies So this is also a big theme in the Psalms that David is always just surrounded by enemies. They're lying in wait They've encircled him. They were always around him I think in Psalm 119 verse 89 it says that you know that basically the the effect that Our enemies are always with us There's always going to be somebody that's an enemy surrounding you But the Bible says here that God's gonna prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies So it's like even though your enemies are always around God's going to take care of you. He's gonna give you that peace He's gonna help you says thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over And when God is leading you and God is guiding you in the ministry Then you know, he's gonna lead you in the ways that you should go in the ways of righteousness and beside the still waters Sometimes you're gonna get some still waters. All right It's gonna it might be few and far in between but he's gonna give them to you look at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 29 Isaiah chapter 40 verse 29 and and to me this is you know, this is a very famous verse also, but it's a very comforting verse to me and And When when you're just always just constantly doing things and and every day is just you know a grind We got to remember that God is the one that ultimately gives us the strength to go on Sometimes when we're just so tired like you are right now brother Ian from all the stuff you've been doing for the last week You know God has to be your strength and sometimes we feel like we can't go on any further But God will give us the power to go forward It says in verse 29 he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might He increases strength. So when we're about the faint when we're you know, our strength is running out He's the one that increases it for us. It says even the youth Shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint and the older you get the more you might cling to this verse because Sometimes you just feel like you don't have any more strength to move on. You're lacking sleep and You're lacking strength, but God is the one when we're waiting upon the Lord. He's gonna renew that strength He's gonna let us run and not walk and not be weary. He's gonna let us walk and not faint He's gonna be the strength that we need to move on Now number three this morning. Let none of his words fall to the ground and this is Really the most important I think part of this sermon Obviously, it's great to it's you need to continue to grow and you need to let God guide you But when God tells you what to preach That's what you preach. And and what do you preach everything in this book? You have to preach the whole Bible. You can't let his words fall to the ground it says back in Samuel first Samuel chapter 3 verse 19 it says and Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and he did let none of his words fall to the ground So another aspect of what made Samuel great was his respect for the Word of God in the United States. There's a respect for the US flag You know, you put your Union Jack on the cover I got to talk about the flag here but basically It's that that flag is not allowed to hit the ground If you let the flag hit the ground and you're in the military, it's like a bad thing. And so Where people will hold the the US flag in such a high regard that it's not supposed to hit the ground How much more the Word of God that God has entrusted us with to preach? But we'd let none of those words fall to the ground We don't ignore those things and Samuel even you know, it did take a little bit of prodding from Eli But he did tell Eli everything that he had to tell him and how hard would that be? I think about the the situations that Samuel was put through in his life And he really had to confront some people. He had to confront people He loved he had to confront a guy that was basically like his dad because his mom lent him to the Lord and Eli was like his dad. He said my son, you know, he's calling him his son, you know, his own sons turned out bad But his you know, but Samuel turned out good But you know would to God that people would have the same respect for the Bible As they would for a flag, you know, I you know, and I believe obviously there's no American flag flying in my church but Because I respect the Word of God way more than I respect a flag that that people hold in high regard But Samuel had to preach whatever God spoke to him and he obeyed the Lord There's multiple verses where it just says and he obeyed what the Lord told him to do He called a spade a spade. He rebuked King Saul in front of everybody. He's the king of Israel He's head and shoulders above everybody and he just you know, kind of Yeah, at one point Samuel was afraid that Saul was gonna kill him like if he anointed when he anointed David It was kind of done in secret But it's because he's not supposed to reach forth his hand and touch the Lord's anointed Of course God had to kind of let those things happen the way that they did But he had to he had to tell Eli what was what he had to tell Saul what was what more than once and You know, he had to do he had to chop up a guy named Agag who was a wicked person a wicked king and he the Bible says he hewed him in pieces and So when Samuel came to town people were afraid too It's like you see these little limp-wristed pastors that are around now that you know, they're just they're they're just you know Pink wearing pink shirts and and sipping lemonade and you know, just being you know, weak back-scratching, you know Gravy guzzling, you know shoe shiners basically and so that these pastors that you see today They're like, oh, that's so mean You shouldn't say that when Samuel came to town people were like is it peace and you know, it's just like Because Samuel did everything that God commanded him to do it. Like I said, he was a priest. He was a prophet he was a preacher and he was also the judge and at in the New Testament pastors kind of have Those hats also and people always saying oh, who are you to judge? It's like well Jesus said that we're supposed to judge righteous judgment. And so do we have to judge? Yes, we do. We have to judge every day But people just you know get this idea that we're not supposed to judge but Samuel people feared him Why did they fear him because he was a judge because he judged righteously and You know when when they saw him chop up a gag they probably, you know thought twice about messing with him, right? Obviously as pastors we don't enforce the death penalty in the laws of the land. We chop people up with our words we beat wolves to death with our words and I Would never you know, we're not supposed to be violent We're not supposed to you know, be obviously pastors aren't supposed to be strikers but we do have to judge and Again, we don't literally Chop people up, but it's the sword of the spirit that we use to do that And so as a man of God as the pastor of this church, you're gonna have to Sometimes chop up some false prophets. You're gonna have to chop up some evil people that come at you You're gonna have to beat some wolves to death with your staff and Again, that is not literal folks I'm talking about spiritually because our battle is a spiritual battle the pastor's battle and the church's battle is a battle against the the forces of darkness and the wicked people that would try to overthrow and overturn our churches and Infiltrate because there's always going to be someone that's trying to infiltrate this church and so you as church members the best thing you can do for him is when he Finds infiltrators that you back up the man of God and you side with him Now, let's turn to Acts chapter 20 verse 18. I Really respect Samuel as a man of God. I really respect the Apostle Paul. I think a lot of people do But he He tells it Paul tells it like it is too and I that's what I really love about the Apostle Paul that he even just like to Peter like Peter was like You know, this is like one of the Lord's right-hand guys and Paul's just like It doesn't make any matter doesn't make any difference who he is to me You know, it's like I'm just gonna tell him straight up. You're you're not doing what's right Peter And so Paul wasn't afraid to tell people what needed to be said either So look at Acts chapter 20 verse 18 the Bible says and when they were coming he said unto them You know the first day how I came into Asia after the manner I have been with with you at all seasons Serving the Lord with humility and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews So it isn't Paul dealing with people lying in wait It's just like a theme in the Bible that anybody that's a man of God is gonna have You know when they're serving the Lord, they're gonna have tears temptations and lying the weight of enemies It says and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you But have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. So Paul kept back nothing He didn't let God's words fall to the ground He taught everybody openly publicly and from house to house testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and now behold I go bound to the spirit to Jerusalem Not knowing the things that shall befall me there say that the Holy Ghost witness in every city saying That bonds and afflictions abide me But none of these things move me and that's the attitude that you're gonna have to have going forward Is that all even though all these dangers and pitfalls and snares and traps are lying and wait to try to get you you have? To still continue to let none of these things move you says neither count on my life Dear unto myself that I might finish the course So Paul like to use this term he used it in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 he uses it here in Acts chapter 24. What was his goal to finish the course? That should be your goal also and it says and the joy or with joy and the ministry Which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God So as you're ordained today brother Ian, you're not just ordained Willy-nilly just just for this for that it's you're receiving a ministry from the Lord Jesus Christ and and You should take it seriously And let none of his words fall to the ground Go ahead and turn to 2nd Timothy Timothy chapter 4 2nd Timothy chapter 4 I'm gonna read Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 4 it says for they are impudent children impudent children and stiff-hearted I do send thee unto them now shall say unto them thus saith the Lord God that's what a man of God needs to say the things that God said are the things that we need to preach and Thunder forth from the pulpit the things that God said and not just our opinions and that's where the state of affairs in Christianity is today a lot of commentaries a lot of opinions a lot of fluff and You know, there's room for poetry there's room for statements and stories But the main thing that we got to get across the pulpit is the Word of God. That's the most important thing and It says it is equal to five. You didn't go there But says and they whether they will hear or whether they will forbear for their rebellious house Yet shall know that there had been a prophet among them and whether people are gonna listen to your preaching or whether they're not going to whether they're gonna discard it or They're gonna accept it They're gonna know that a prophet has been among them if you're preaching the Word of God look at 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 It says I charged thee Therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead it is appearing and his kingdom What does a preach the word? Preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and Doctrine so you will have to reprove tell people they're wrong. You will have to rebuke people tell them they're wrong in a really strong way and Exhort with all longsuffering. We're supposed to build up and encourage other people in the faith But in season out of season, it's not popular to talk about certain things from the pulpit anymore It's not popular to rip on the homos because they're loved by everybody and protected by everybody But like basically what Paul is saying hey when that's out of season that's when you need to preach at the most But people are like you guys just always have to preach about that. Yeah, because it's a fight of our generation That's why that's why we have to preach about it. That's why we have to preach the hard things that we preach because People stop preaching it and now it's out of season and now it's just like well you guys are just so, you know You know, you guys are just always mad about everything I'm not mad about everything but I am mad about some things. I'm mad about the way people dress I'm mad about you know We have to walk down the street and you have to just shield your eyes all the time for the things that people are wearing It's just gross And then we have to look at these freaks that are calling themselves. You know, they don't know what a woman is They don't know what a man is anymore But brother Ian is gonna have to preach that and you're gonna have to preach against the false prophets that are in our lands today We Got a guy saved yesterday I felt like he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons because he answered the door in his pants This is how you guys would say it right? We say underwear From but he's like literally just like opens up the door. He's in his his pants or his underwear So it was just weird, right? But I think that he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. He's just like well, this will make him go away But Then like I we started, you know, we started I started preaching to him and You know the more I preached to him He's just like he goes just hold on a second He like kind of closed the door a little bit and he puts his trousers on and stands up and then he gets saved so People just you know, they're they're want they're hungry for the Word of God Not everybody's gonna receive it when we knock on the door, you know, let's give them everything we have Let's give them everything we have because that we might not ever knock one of those doors again Or it might be 20 years from now before you go back to that area So but people, you know, we can't let God's Word fall to the ground brother in when you're preaching don't Just preach your opinion preach the Word of God It says for the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears? And We're at that time. It's been that time for a while It says they shall turn their ears away from the truth and shall be turned into fables and there's a lot of people Listening to ear tickling preaching. There's a lot of people listening to fables and that's why we're I think we're attacked more by Christians than almost anything else You know, I preached a sermon where I talked about how you know These these phony religious people dress up in these, you know They're wearing wizard outfits and dresses and stuff like that and their collar stern backwards And they're doing that to show how holy they are. They want you to look at them and go. Oh that that's a priest. Oh That's that's a holy man and then like the first like somebody put a short up like one of the guys in our church put a short up on YouTube about it and Then they're just like that's kind of judgmental. Don't you think it's like literally Jesus said That you're not supposed to go around in long clothing and and and having the borders of your garments enlarged and praying in front of people these long elaborate prayers and Having you know wanting to be seen by men then you preach against that and then our own kind or just like that's kind of judgmental Don't you think? Yeah, it is judgmental. That's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to judge righteous judgment But It says But watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry so You know and Paul's giving this charge to Timothy before he's about to leave. I preach out of this on Wednesday night But he's just basically saying that this is your last charge preach the Word of God People are gonna get turned away from these these false teachers And people are gonna stop wanting to hear sound doctrine being preached, but we have to endure the afflictions We have to do the work of an evangelist and you already are an evangelist right now We're about to become a pastor, but don't quit the work of an evangelist Says make full proof of thy ministry and I believe the full proof of your ministry is sitting here right now It's not just me that brought these people here. It's not just pastor Jimenez, but brother Ian has held this together With the work that he's done in the ministry it says for now I'm ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought the good fight a good fight. Excuse me. I have finished my course. I've kept the faith So you must be able to own to not only preach everything in the Bible but also to help guide the sheep that God has entrusted you with as God's man, you must preach the Bible no matter how hard the message is or who it hair lips You guys know what hair lips is, right? so The the sermons are tough sometimes but here's what you don't need to do folks Don't get offended when brother Ian touches on your sin because he's gonna touch it if he's preaching the whole Bible There's something that you're doing in here That's gonna it's gonna hurt your wittle feelings when he preaches it and you're gonna get offended But it's the Word of God. It shouldn't offend you the Word of God. You're like, well, it's no it's the way he said it Doesn't say he's supposed to say it in a reproof in a rebuke sometimes and You can say it as nice as you want and some people will still get offended It's just like when you tell someone that they're going to hell at the door and you're just like, you know It's a nice way of saying it But the message is hard the message is you know Hey, if you don't believe you're gonna you're gonna die and go to hell and we try to say that as nice as possible But really is there really a nice way of saying you're going to hell There's not really I mean if the truth is the truth and it's gonna hurt And so when your little toe gets steps on stepped on Just what you need to do is just take that and say I need to fix this Not Ian needs to quit preaching against me. I need to fix this. That's what that's what your attitude should be so Let's turn back to First Samuel chapter 16, I kind of alluded to this. What's time do I got? Oh, I got time. It's not 55 minutes. Yeah pastor minutes 48 minutes. I Alluded to this earlier in this room, but I want to I want you to see the verses here It says in first Samuel 16 for it says and Samuel did that which the Lord spake It's a great thing about Samuel and it says then came to Bethlehem and the elders of the town Trembled at his coming and said comest out peaceably. They're trembling. What does that mean? They're shaking They're afraid And it says and he said peaceably I am come to sacrifice the Lord Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice that he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called him to sacrifice What was his purpose there? He was supposed to be anointing David as The next king because Saul was rejected Turn back to first Samuel chapter 15 verse 31 So why am I showing you that verse? Why did I show you that verse? Well, because People should fear when they hear the Word of God preached and sometimes they should fear the preacher If the preacher is not, you know, not scary to you ever Then you know the preaching needs to get ramped up a little bit Sometimes I've noticed that That people talk to pastors in certain ways, but like nobody ever talks to me like that for some reason They do it from a keyboard, but they never do it to my face Because they're afraid and I'm six foot eight. So I understand why you would be but I'm not trying to get in fights with people but people just generally don't do that to me because they just maybe because I'm big I guess but you should fear the man of God to a certain extent you should fear that You know, they're gonna bring a sermon against you. They might not be favorable for you and And that should you know, but God uses the man of God to relay that message even the great men of God like David he sends Nathan the prophet to tell him how wrong he is and You know, we either take it or we just fall out of church You know a lot of people just they get upset about one thing that the pastor said Well, like what about all the right things he said What about all the good things? He said what about all the great ways? He's helped you Don't just take one little thing that the pastor says and just be so hurt Well, you know we can start giving out hurt feeling awards for everybody We're just like where did the pastor hurt you show me on this paper. It's like Just suck it up be be a little more battle-hardened endure hardness Like a good soldier of Jesus Christ for same of 1531 says so Samuel turned again after Saul and Saul worshiped the Lord Then said Samuel bringing hither me a gag this the king of the Amalekites and a gag came unto him delicately So was he afraid of him? Yeah, he's like All delicate and a guy said surely the bitterness of death is past. He's just like Just hoping that he won't do anything It says and Samuel said as I sword hath made women childless So shall thy mother be childless among women and Samuel huge egg egg in pieces before the Lord and Gilgal That's like a really powerful text of Scripture I love that that you know, he just he thinks he's gonna get away with it and then Sam was just chops You know when you hue something in Pieces that means it's more it wasn't just one chop Because pieces would indicate I mean, I guess there's there could be two pieces But when I think of him chopping him up into pieces, it's like he's slicing and dicing the guy right and it says then Samuel went to Rama and Saul went up to the house of Gibeah of Saul and Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul and the Lord repented that he had made King or Saul king of over Israel and so I wanted to show you this because Sometimes we have to confront people that we really love and we and sometimes we lose people that we really love Because we're trying to correct them But but Samuel just said I can't really have anything to do with Saul anymore because of how he's behaving But there's lots of times When there's someone that I love that I had to actually kick out of our church or mark that person our church It's not like I just look at you know, we're not looking for people to just hey, who can we kick out this week? Well, our goal as pastors is to try to bring people in and help normalize them because really a lot of us We just have this, you know, when I when I was first came came to church I came in a tank top which you know tank top I smoked cigarettes and I was wearing basketball shorts I still wear those things today, but Not the church So I came to church and the first thing I did As I sat down and I just had my own ideas of things I've been saved for about six months before I went to church the first time And I went to a Baptist Church an independent Baptist Church and there was a prophecy conference going on And so in my mind, it's question and answer time So this guy is a desk preacher the first time I ever went to a Baptist Church He's preaching a sermon and I'm like raising my hand and asking questions and I'm sure that like to the people that are already trained in the Baptist ways. They're like, what is this bozo doing? You know, he's just at what was he think this is school or something teacher but I'm just like I'm interrupting his preaching and asking him questions with my Tank top and my shorts smelling like I just you know was around some Cowboys or something. It's not like a Marlboro, right? That's a cigarette by the way but Not everybody is put together when they first come to church is my point and even afterward I asked the pastor like do you believe that the believers can cast devils out of people? He's probably just thinking this guy is weird What is he doing? But my point is is that not everybody is like normal or church when they come to church for the first time and We have to we as pastors we have to discern whether this person really is a bozo or whether we just need to help make Them normal everybody knows the the story or maybe you haven't heard the story, but it's basically of these two pastor was it is to pass the pastor and a pastor's wife and a lot of times as a pastor and pastor's wife we We just kind of when we're going to bed. We'd start talking about things and I think this guy was wife just said Honey is there ever been anybody that comes to our church that's normal And he said honey. It's our job to make them normal, right? I think I told the story, right? but People aren't just aren't all normal when they come to church But as you come to church and you start learning doctrine you start learning how to behave yourself in the house of the Lord But then there's just people that are bozos. So we have to kind of discern Well, what category is this in but we're not just you know My my thought once people come in and they they have some weird mannerisms or they believe something that's kind of a little You know out there That you know the more they come to church the better they're gonna be and my job is as the pastor is to help people become normal and And it's not me that does it it's God that does it but the more you're in a great church the more great doctrine You're gonna learn and the more you're gonna be a better servant of the Lord Jesus Christ but Saul had to be left To his own devices and Samuel didn't even want to have anything to do with them anymore, but Saul did love him There's a lot of people that I've loved in the ministry that have just done me wrong And that's just the way it goes But brother Ian that you're gonna have some heartaches in the ministry you're gonna have people that you thought were your best friend that just stab you in the back and That's just the way it goes, but I would say this to you people You know have brother Ian's back not don't stab him in the back, but have his back be with him and help him He's gonna need some help folks. He's gonna need people to step up into different challenges and You know, obviously I know a lot of people put in a lot of work here it's very obvious and I just think that it's important that you get behind him as the pastor I'm no longer gonna be the pastor here in a few minutes and he's gonna be your new pastor. Please get behind him and Even if you don't agree with every single thing He says or you don't maybe you don't agree with the color of the carpet Or you don't like the trim that he put around the building that stuff is means nothing folks Get behind him. He's he's basically set his life his own personal life aside To book to be in the ministry and he needs all the help he can get and his family needs all your support It's looking for Samuel 3 10 Back where we began It Says the Lord came and stood and called as at other times Samuel Samuel then Samuel answered speak for thy servant heareth and You know The Lord has called brother Ian to the ministry and he's in spirit said basically the same thing Because when God calls you to the ministry, it's not some necessarily a voice You're gonna hear like this, but it's just gonna be people like hey Somebody needs to step in and fill fill in the gap And Samuel was that man and brother Ian's gonna be that man for this church. Look at verse 19 Says in Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and did let none of his words fall to the ground And I like this verse 2 it says and all Israel from Dan even to beer Shiva knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord And I feel like just the group that we have here today It just shows that brother Ian's been established to be the next pastor of this church It's been a great turnout Now the battles are gonna come The ugly situations are gonna happen. Not every week end is gonna be like this weekend You know, we got a big group here today, but that might be half this size next week but You know There's gonna be hard times. There's gonna be times when there's only you know, ten people on a Wednesday night or something I mean, I've I've gone through all these things. I understand how it works. There was times along Wednesday night or Thursday night We're just like where is everybody at? but The more you keep putting the work in the more you're developing people Your church is gonna grow and so I would just say this also to everybody if you can be here be here be here And get behind the man of God so brother Ian's gonna be ordained and He's gonna need some help but I just want to say a few things about his family really quickly before I I do this so It's been an honor to work with them it's been an honor to work with his family and Getting to know him and his lovely wife Lisa and his children Jack Ella grace Charlie and of course little Jimmy I Can truly say that I've actually got to know more than most pastors can say that they know somebody because I've actually lived with him for over a month and You know through hard time there's been some hard times even other times. We've stayed with them sometimes they've always just been above and beyond in Their hospitality. They're very hospitable They're the real deal they're Their family obviously loves the Lord and They're like actually one of the most hospitable families I've ever met they dote on us hand and foot You're like, well, he doesn't do that for us Well, I'm sorry. I think he does though. I think it was very obvious yesterday that he does You know that you know, well, that's pizza what I really like pizza Then you're not right with God. No, I'm just kidding I There's only so much you can do for a big crowd like that And what he went through just to get the pizza, you don't even know the half of the story. It was just it was crazy But we've done many activities with with brother Ian his family. We broke bread with them. We've laughed a lot. We've worked with them and You know, I I feel like their family is together brother Ian has the family down pat I knew that from the first visit that I ever came here and Their family's the real deal. He's proved his leadership abilities to me. He's Proved his family has proved that they're tireless workers They I said they're the real deal. I believe that it's easy to see for anybody that has two eyeballs but haters are gonna hate and Don't worry about that kind of stuff because that's always gonna be in place if nobody was hating brother Ian Then I would say well what's wrong with you? Someone's always gonna be hating you. Someone's always gonna be hating him. Don't just fall for all this garbage and That people try to to sling at people don't fall for it But I believe Ian's qualified based upon the qualifications set forth in Scripture. So I'm gonna charge you brother Ian to feed the church To care for the sheep to keep the Lord first To love your wife and your family and not neglect them to do the work of an evangelist continue to plant new churches and and and Soul win in different areas and continue the soul winning program here to keep yourself separated from the world and To finish the course love your people keep the faith You know, and this is a big responsibility, but I think England is depending on you No pressure but Go ahead and come on up here brother Ian. I I Don't know Yeah, if you step on that stuff on me in trouble All right, so I'm gonna go ahead and just pray for brother Ian and ordain him as the pastor of the church brother Ian Here just face me would you? Dear Heavenly Father Lord, I just present before you brother Ian to have an or Lord, you know him I pray that you just bless everything that he's going to do for this church I pray that you'd help him and guide him You'd help him to grow that you'd be with him Lord that you'd give him a special anointing of the Holy Spirit That he can lead the people in and out whenever they wherever they may go I pray Lord you'd help them to continue to do the work of an evangelist and to reach this world for Christ I pray that you'd help Him and his family help him to love his wife To love his children to love his people and to feed the sheep here Lord I pray Lord now that you would separate him and And and help him be separated from the world. I pray that you just bless him now as The new pastor of this church in Jesus name of pray. Amen So Pastor Ian tavern or everybody and the new church name is strong tower Baptist Church is no longer sure foundation Baptist Church Are you gonna have to make some bulletins after this? No, I'm just kidding but Anyway, if anybody wants to take some pictures real quick, that'd be great. And then we're gonna have another song and then we'll Anyway, you guys want Oh Awkward silence All right, let's go ahead and sing another song brother Ian is the new pastor of the church he's pastor tavern her now All right. God bless