[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the service this morning. Welcome to the service this morning. To see this morning the many people involved in making this service happen.
[0:37] From the ushers greeting us with a smile and a handshake. The youth being involved in special number. Young people in our church coming up and leading us in song.
[0:55] And so just that wide variety. God bringing more and more people into his service and to bless others.
[1:07] And so that is so good to see. Have a question for us this morning.
[1:19] As we go through the message there's a lot. Paul has a lot of questions in this portion of text as well. But how do we view God? Do we view him as someone in authority who flexes his muscle against us and keeps us in fear?
[1:40] Or is he a God of love that cares for us and wants what's best for us? I think God has a sense of humor.
[1:58] He's not as serious as we may be led to believe or have been taught that he might be. And my reason for saying that is the whole timing of things.
[2:15] How he has timed things. You may already be gathering from the text read for us this morning. And where we are at as a church this morning.
[2:28] You know, considering bringing myself on full time. And then as we're teaching through the book of 1 Corinthians. That God decides to throw this passage on my plate.
[2:40] To have me up here this morning. So definitely a little nervous to share on this. It's a message regarding ministers and their workplace, I guess you would call it.
[2:58] And so, not bringing this out to advocate for myself to be on full time.
[3:08] But, you know, this is God's word. He teaches us from it. And he has things to say regarding church leadership as well.
[3:21] And so, that's where we're at this morning. So, thank you, Jacob, for reading the text for us this morning.
[3:38] As we look through this, through this portion. The first couple of verses, Paul is coming out with some questions.
[3:50] Some thoughts on his apostleship. On his proof of apostleship. And then from there, he dives into the case for pastoral maintenance.
[4:03] Or remuneration. Or sustaining. And so, it's kind of the two areas that I will look at this morning. I had already put it out that to be going to verse 18.
[4:17] And as I was preparing, I realized maybe I've bitten off a bit of a good chunk there. So, my plan is to give work through verse 14 this morning.
[4:30] So, but it's good to read that whole portion of it. 15 through 18 definitely do tie in with what we have before us this morning. And so, let's jump into it and see what the Lord has for us.
[4:50] Beginning in verses 1 and 2. So, Paul starts off with some questions.
[5:18] Questions or thoughts on his apostleship. And doubtless, he's probably been facing a little bit of adversity in that regard.
[5:33] You know, the division within the church that he addresses earlier on in the letter. The different groups following different leaders. There must have been those questioning his apostleship as well.
[5:48] It's something that he, his apostleship, something that he defends as well in the letter to the Galatian churches. So, there's other churches who have been going through the same thing.
[6:03] And obviously, it's happening in Corinth as well. And so, here Paul takes a moment to address that a little bit. And so, he has some questions for them.
[6:16] The first one, am I not an apostle? And so, putting the question out to them, you know, what are your reasons for disqualifying me as an apostle?
[6:29] You know, what argument do you have against it? He continues on. Am I not free? So, am I not free?
[6:43] And so, I was thinking that is to, it speaks to not being a slave or being in bondage. Is Paul not a free man?
[6:55] And I think with this question, it leads into what he is diving into in the rest of this passage this morning.
[7:07] Could he not make a living with his occupation, what he had been called to do? And so, I think this question kind of sets the tone a little bit for this passage.
[7:18] Another question. Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Well, did Paul see Jesus?
[7:35] Physically, we don't know. Scripture doesn't tell us that he has. He is, the scripture doesn't talk anywhere about any communication between the two or them having seen each other.
[7:52] We can't tell. And yet, you know, the question, have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Paul says that he has seen Christ. And he tells us that in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians.
[8:05] So, we'll take a moment and turn there. I'll just read verses 3 through 8. It touches on that. Jumping ahead a little bit.
[8:19] In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
[8:35] And that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
[8:49] After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. And then verse 8. Then last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
[9:01] And so, speaking of, you know, after Christ had been resurrected, come out of the grave, you know, how he was seen by many different people.
[9:16] That there was proof that Christ really did raise up from the grave, that he was alive. And Paul says, the last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
[9:32] And so, that might lead to, maybe Paul never did physically see Jesus. And so, what does he mean as he says, as by one born out of due time?
[9:43] So, maybe not physically seen him, seen Christ, but Christ did come to him, he did see Christ.
[9:56] And where, where or when was that? It was on the road to Damascus, in Acts chapter 9. And I think it would be good to, to turn there as well, and read that, in Acts chapter 9.
[10:10] Acts chapter 9, verses 3 to 5.
[10:28] So, speaking about Paul, or at the time as he was known, he was known by the name Saul. It says, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
[10:40] Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
[10:54] It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Paul, or Saul, he is on his way to Damascus, to persecute the church, to persecute Christians, to take them into captivity, to bring them back to Jerusalem, and to imprison them.
[11:16] And he meets the Lord. He meets Jesus. And the evidence is here. He had a conversation with Jesus.
[11:28] There was a great light shining from heaven, and it blinded Saul, and he fell to the ground, and he heard a voice, this voice calling him by name, why are you persecuting me?
[11:44] And Saul immediately knew who he was talking to, and saying, who are you, Lord? And the Lord's response, I am Jesus.
[11:56] So did Paul see Jesus? Maybe not in the physical, but here he was very near to the Lord. And we know from there, as he continues on to Damascus, and he is waiting there for a few days, and Ananias comes to him, and Saul receives the Holy Spirit.
[12:17] He gives his life to Christ in this time, and spends the rest of his days near to the Lord. So, Paul questioning in our text, have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?
[12:35] He did see him in that sense. And another question, are you not my work in the Lord? So a question directed to the Corinthian church, are you not my work in the Lord?
[12:52] And he gives the answer to that question in verse 2. If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you.
[13:05] For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. If there's those that are calling his apostleship into question, the Corinthians should know the validity of it, the validity of his apostleship.
[13:28] You know, his success among them was proof in itself. Their conversion that, you know, for Paul to have come and to share the gospel with them and bring the good news to them that they turned to the Lord.
[13:48] Their conversion to Christianity through Paul's ministry, it confirmed his calling from God. Paul was walking in God's will and the fruit of it was there.
[14:02] The evidence was there, right? And so, doubtless he was an apostle to the Corinthians.
[14:15] And so, Paul is asking these questions. He's putting these questions out there, but his expectation with these questions are that to each one there would have been a positive answer to that.
[14:31] They would have answered yes. So, there's many things that Paul would have given up.
[14:46] And as we saw that from a few Sundays ago in chapter 8 where he talks about, you know, food being offered to idols and how he taught there that he would be, he would gladly give up different foods or he talks specifically about meat that he would never eat meat again just so that another brother would not be caused to stumble.
[15:15] He was willing to give that up. So, so many things that he was willing to give up. But, he always defends his faith. That is one thing he will not give up and he stands on his apostleship as well.
[15:31] And so, he was standing up for who he is in the Lord. And so, I think just those opening thoughts there in chapter 9, they're a good reminder for us.
[15:44] What are we willing to give up and what are we willing to stand up for? So, we continue on from there into the rest of the portion of Scripture.
[16:04] As I said, many questions this morning. What are our thoughts on pastors earning wages, full-time ministry?
[16:16] What are our thoughts on it? is it biblical? I say the answer is yes. Scripture teaches on it, and Paul brings that out in this text for us here this morning.
[16:37] And he gives us several different angles to back it up. It's not on Paul's say-so. He gives evidence from it from many different angles.
[16:51] And so, we'll look at that this morning. And so, for a portion of it here, I'll just, I'll break it down verse by verse, and we'll just look at these verses.
[17:06] So, verse 3, he says, my defense to those who examine me is this. so those who examine me or who call my ministry, my apostleship into question.
[17:21] For those who are questioning my calling from the Lord. And from there, he just, he dives right into the next question.
[17:35] Do we have no right to eat or drink? What is this question about?
[17:47] Do we have no right to eat or drink? I think Paul has got this question geared toward the cost of living, putting groceries on the table, all of us have a right to earn wages so that we can go out and buy groceries and provide for our families.
[18:17] We're called to do so. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 11.
[18:33] Look at the second part of verse 10.
[18:50] But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more, that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands.
[19:02] as we commanded you. And there's other verses in Scripture as well where there is teaching on that we are to go and to work.
[19:16] If we look back to Genesis chapter 3, it is given the Lord tells Adam that by the sweat of his brow he will produce crops. Speaking of working, working for the food we put on our table.
[19:33] And so Paul has the question, have we no right to eat and drink? And he's asking this in the context, in the line of work that he was in, in being an evangelist.
[19:50] He's speaking regarding those in ministry. Paul is one example as an evangelist.
[20:02] He's sharing the gospel. He's planting churches. He planted a number of churches and he would spend a year, a year and a half, two years in one place sharing the gospel, getting a church started, helping to get leadership started within that church as well.
[20:21] And once the church has been established, it's starting to grow. Then he would move on, as the Lord called him, he would move on to another place and repeat the process, do the same thing over.
[20:38] It was the work that he was in. And so, full-time work for him. And yet, he didn't receive full-time pay for it.
[20:54] Paul does mention in Philippians as well as in 2 Corinthians about receiving money from some of these different churches that they would put together a collection and that they, out of their own pockets, they shared a gift with Paul, giving him some payment for his work that he was able to continue in doing it.
[21:24] And we'll share a bit more on that as we move on. So, Paul speaking of himself as an evangelist, a church, but even others in ministry, pastors, you know, pastors in a church, it is a full-time work as well.
[21:53] The larger the congregation, the more work there is, and the more leadership is needed. And we need only to look at the growth we have seen here locally in Mountview as an example of that.
[22:14] When we first moved to Grand Prairie, Mountview Church was gathering in the Claremont Senior Center. There was 60 to 70 people all told, including the children and so on.
[22:30] It was 13, I think maybe 14 years ago. It's been long enough. The memory is getting a little fuzzy on it. 13, 14 years ago. And I remember the one Sunday being in church, just kind of doing a bit of a head count.
[22:43] 60 to 70 people all told. So let's even say 30 to 35 couples or people in the church, you know, as adults, obviously some singles, some couples.
[22:57] one area of pastoral care is in visitations, in drinking someone's coffee, coming for a visit, and just getting to know them, building relationships.
[23:15] 30 to 35 different homes to visit in a year. Well, do the math, there's 52 weeks in a year. If you visit one per year, it takes almost three quarters of a year to visit each one, if we do one per week.
[23:34] And so look at us today, how it has grown. We just did a chair count here just recently, and we have 290 some chairs in this sanctuary.
[23:49] They're not 100% full, but pretty close. So I think we can easily say that we've grown to about, let's say, close to 100 couples within the church today.
[24:05] And so now to do visitations on a church this size, 100 couples, all of a sudden, if we have one pastor here, one person in leadership, to do those visitations, we're looking at a minimum of two visitations per week.
[24:26] The workload has doubled, has more than doubled really, if we go from 30 some to 100. But it is good to see this growth, to see the church growing.
[24:40] But as it grows, the needs increase as well, and so there is the need for more leadership to be brought on board. Continuing on in verse 5, do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
[25:08] we hear locally, we don't practice celibacy amongst leadership, there's some do, the Catholic to a large extent, for someone to be in church leadership, they have their boundaries with that as well, but for us, we don't see it wrong for someone in leadership to have a spouse, to have a family.
[25:43] And so, Paul is just bringing out with this question that it would be his right to marry, if he so wished, to have a wife go with him as he travels about and does his work.
[26:04] You know, in doing so, he would have a dependent, someone depending on him to provide for them, right? And so, he's saying it is my right to be married, if I so choose, and, you know, that brings extra need as well, that my family needs to be taken care of as well.
[26:28] and he's, you know, he gives the evidence of it, you know, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas.
[26:45] There's others among the apostles that had spouses, and so, you know, Paul, speaking for himself, like, you know, it would be my right as well, and yet we know that at this point it believes that Paul was not married, and the broader, the broader scope of this question be in regard to someone in church leadership providing for his family.
[27:20] Should the church be paying a wage to a pastor so that he can support his family? Paul is asking many questions.
[27:36] He's ultimately saying that it is his right to receive wages from ministry work, the work that he was involved in, and as well to support a family with it as well.
[27:54] And so we're getting loaded with questions. But questions are good. Questions cause us to stop and to think and to bring out answers for ourselves.
[28:15] answers that we've come up with our self. It's not that well, so-and-so said it was so-and-so, so that's what he or she says.
[28:31] It's no. The question has been directed at me. I've thought about it. I've done my research on it. I have come up with the answer, and I'll have a firmer stand on it because I know what I'm talking about, right?
[28:49] I know the answer to this question. I'm not basing it on someone else's opinion, but rather, you know, this is what I have found out to be truth for myself.
[29:09] And so, another question in verse 6. Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? So, is it only Barnabas and I?
[29:23] So, Paul has narrowed it down, you know, there's other pastors that work in the Corinthian church. As Paul is writing to them, there's leadership there.
[29:34] Obviously, some of these local pastors that are there are being remunerated, they're being sustained and being paid wages. And so, Paul's question regarding Barnabas and himself, should traveling pastors or evangelists or missionaries not be paid for their efforts?
[29:59] Is their work not as important? Barnabas and Paul didn't stay that long in one place and so, you know, should they have to fend for themselves, you know, along the way finding odd jobs to support themselves as they move around ministering from town to town.
[30:31] For Paul, this is what he did often and he shares on it a little bit in verse 12 when we get to that.
[30:44] And so, are evangelists or missionaries, is their work not that important? We can agree that they do have an important work as well.
[31:03] Now, just as I consider this, you know, I find it encouraging that when we bring in a speaker for mission nights or revival meetings or we bring in a singing group for musical program or such, you know, that we hear that we unite and we take in an offering or otherwise decide, come up with some money to pay them for coming to share with us, to bless us, to show them that, you know, their work is important and to encourage them, to motivate them to continue doing that as well.
[31:59] Verse 7, whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit, or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock.
[32:17] Do soldiers fight for free? They are paid wages. Why do we plant a garden?
[32:34] do we not have an expectation to eat what the garden produces? We don't just plant it, you know, just to say that we have a garden.
[32:44] We fully expect that come fall, come this time of the year, we're going to go out there and we're going to eat of the produce that has grown, right? Why do some of us keep a milk cow but to have us, to have it supply us with milk or maybe we're raising up a steer or two or some pigs that we can stock our freezers with meat to feed us.
[33:22] We have a purpose for that, right? there's reason for it. We all find work for wages so that we can go out and buy groceries, that we can plant gardens or put a beef in the freezer in order to provide for ourselves and for our families.
[33:48] How many hours a day do we work? I know within the congregation here it will vary the number of hours that we spend employed in our work.
[34:07] work. So another question, how effective would pastors be at shepherding the church if they spent that same amount of hours providing for their own family and the few remaining hours left in the day is then what they have to give to minister to the needs of the church?
[34:37] What does that do in that minister's life? What happens to the family time?
[34:50] The requirement that we read of in 1 Timothy chapter 3 regarding someone in ministry is that he rule his own house well having his children in submission.
[35:05] He has to lead his family well and if there is no time to put in to invest in his own family, how will he lead a church?
[35:22] So Paul is arguing that ministry is as valid a work as being a farmer or a logger or a carpenter or a mechanic or any other field of work and that those in ministry equally should be paid for the work that they do.
[35:46] Paid to put other work aside that they can focus on ministry and focus on those needs. verses 8 to 10 do I say these things as a mere man or does not the law say the same also for it is written in the law of Moses you shall not muzzle an ox while you tread out the grain is it oxen God is concerned about or does he say it all together for our sakes for our sakes no doubt this is written that he who plows should plow in hope and that he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
[36:40] Paul is saying am I speaking selfishly here? Isn't it reasonable for ministers to receive wages for their work?
[36:53] and then he says let me show you what I'm talking about let me show you from the law and he quotes Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 4 you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain was God's concern the oxen in this law is given oxen are God's creation so yes he cares for them but he had a deeper meaning for this law and oxen were used as an example as they used them to thresh their grain in their day they didn't have those shiny combines that they do these days and so just to look a little bit at this example what do cattle do we go driving down the road we see cattle what are they doing they're usually down there with their nose stuck down in the grass right they're grazing feeding and
[38:22] I looked it up and the average they're saying it's between 6 to 12 hours so an average of 8 to 9 hours per day that cattle graze that they feed that they're eating and so in Old Testament times if these oxen were used for threshing out the grain for a large portion of the day what happens to these oxen they become malnourished they're taken away from the time that they would spend feeding to remain good and healthy animals they're not getting the food that they should have been getting and so it does make sense for God to say that if you're going to use oxen in your farming operation you need to make sure that they are maintained that they get the food that they need but the deeper meaning when we put leadership in place in the church we should do our part in making sure that they continue to thrive that they remain healthy that their physical needs are met as they labor in the work of ministering to us just to bring out that there is a deeper meaning to it let's turn to 1st
[39:52] Timothy chapter 5 Paul again mentions this same law and he ties it in with elders receiving wages for their work so in 1st Timothy 5 verse 17 and 18 let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially those who labor in the word and doctrine for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages we all want to taste of the fruit or the reward that we labor for and that includes those who are in ministry as one commentary put it those that lay themselves out to do our souls good should not have their mouths muzzled but have food provided for them speaking to those in regard to those in ministry but it could be applied to any workplace we go out and we work for an employer to profit the company to profit the employer to build their business and we as employees should receive of the benefit too right we should be paid fairly for the effort that we put in in making the employer the business successful right and so we too should as employees as laborers be able to taste of the fruit or the reward that we are laboring for back to our text in verse 11 if we have sown spiritual things for you is it a great thing if we reap your material things so when it comes to the field of ministry there's a difference in value for the work done and the wages received what is more valuable spiritual seeds or material wages
[42:33] I'm sure that all of us here this morning would be able to say that our spiritual well being is worth far more than our bank account what do our church leaders do for us are they concerned about taking over our bank accounts or are they desiring to see us grow to flourish spiritually good shepherds invest much time into their flocks seek out the spiritual needs and supply them identify what might be harmful and educate against it as well as just being in and amongst the flock getting to know each and everyone personally and these personal connections they help elders to understand each individual and how best to guide them to sustained spiritual growth and so all in all our church leaders teach us the way to eternal life how to flourish in our walk with the
[44:17] Lord and so then to support their temporary mortal life their physical life then should be no great thing verse 12 if others are partakers of this right over you are we not even more nevertheless we have not used this right but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel so again bringing out others are receiving wages Paul and Barnabas have planted the church and specifically even here the church in Corinth was planted by Paul and so there would be the argument that he would have a greater right to receive wages for the time that he spent there Paul says nevertheless we have not used this right but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of
[45:23] Christ he didn't exercise this right but rather sought employment elsewhere to sustain himself that the gospel of Christ would not be hindered from going forward if asking for wages would offend or would hinder the gospel we should rather remain employed elsewhere to sustain ourselves in that manner and Paul mentions it you know specifically regarding his time in Corinth in planting the church there if we again look at Acts chapter 18 Acts chapter 18 verse 3 and 4 Paul departed from
[46:24] Athens and he went to Corinth and he meets Aquila and Priscilla a couple who was also involved in ministry or who do become involved in ministry and he says in verse 3 so because he was of the same trade as Paul he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks and so during the week Paul was employed in tent making it was something that he was familiar with a line of work he knew and he meets up with a couple involved in this work and he joined them in their work to earn a wage and then on the Sabbath on the weekends he would be in the synagogue and continuing his ministry and so tent making it is where we get the term from a tent making pastor a pastor who is out in the workforce working and still serving within the church the rest of the time
[47:47] Paul has one more argument on maintaining pastors or sustaining them and it is from the Old Testament Jewish worship system looking at verses 13 and 14 in our text do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel so in Deuteronomy when instructions were given regarding the different offerings and the sacrificial system a portion of the offerings was for the priests who were ministering to sustain them to feed them as well
[48:52] Israel was instructed to tithe to bring in a tenth of their crops of their different things and these tithes were then for the Levites who were separated for the work of the Lord the tribe of Levi they did not have an inheritance with the rest of Israel and so Israel was commanded to give tithes to the Levites as an inheritance to sustain them as they were at work for the Lord and just quickly go and read Numbers chapter 18 verse 21 Numbers 18 verse 21
[49:54] Behold I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform the work of the tabernacle meeting the tribe of Levi separated for the work of the Lord to minister in the tabernacle they were not given an inheritance they were not given land as the rest of the tribes they were at work in the temple working doing the work of the Lord and so the rest of the nation was commanded to give a tithe so that their brothers the Levites were taken care of as well and so this is how the Levites were sustained as well as the priests who were consecrated out of the tribe of Levi and so as I was looking into that a little bit you know the word consecrated so you know the priests we have
[51:03] Aaron the Aaron and his sons the first priests how they were consecrated for the work of the Lord and so what what does consecrated mean and so the word consecrated is to be set apart for the Lord the priests they were consecrated they were set apart for the Lord for his work and so God saying I don't want you to go be employed be consumed and work elsewhere I want you here in the Old Testament I want you in the tabernacle I want you to be at work leading my sheep leading Israel spiritually and so the priests continually ministering before the Lord they didn't have jobs to earn wages from and so
[52:07] God saw that they were looked after that the rest of Israel would give of you know the blessings that God was giving them that they would share that with their brothers the Levites so evangelical churches today don't title their ministers as priests rather we would use the term elders or pastors but their ministers were sharing God's word with the flock and as Paul very plainly puts it here in verse 14 even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel God made provision for the first ministers the priesthood of the Old Testament to be maintained by the hands of the flock those that were out working and inheriting and being blessed by
[53:19] God and so one more question who is mankind to say that it should be different today God has laid it out in his word how it ought to be so we will close off there this morning just a quick cap of what verse 15 to 18 talks about we will dig into that more next time but Paul caps it off there by saying that he had the right or the authority to wages for his work but he didn't exercise it he didn't want to abuse his authority or to hinder the gospel as he mentioned earlier in our text always his focus was on furthering God's kingdom on this earth and he focused on that even more so than his own physical needs and so this does need to be the focus of all who are in ministry and above all else seek the
[54:29] Lord and his will God's will is that none should perish but that all should come to repentance we find that in 2 Peter 3 verse 9 and so you know this focus the focus on furthering God's kingdom it extends beyond those in church leadership and mark down 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 quickly read that for us but you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light speaking of the Gentiles have been brought in speaking of the church in the church age today speaking of those in the church the body of Christ as part of the body the church all of us we're all priests we all need to be ready to minister to the needs of others above ourselves and yet
[55:47] God does call out select individuals to do this as full time work this morning I want to encourage us to keep serving the Lord to keep seeking to do his will and also to consider those that God has called into his service desiring for them to devote more time to the ministry to be full time in ministry consider how how can we free up these individuals to to follow God's calling to serve wholeheartedly let's pray Lord God we bow again before you this morning Lord we thank you for having brought us into your flock that you have made us saints that all of us who serve you as
[57:01] Lord and Savior have become priests we are a royal priesthood and we all have a calling to share the gospel to spread the good news and salvation with everyone around us and so Lord help us all of us to be employed in this work and Lord those that you call into full time ministry Lord that you just encourage them and give them the heart and the drive to be immersed in it full time and to devote their life and their effort to doing your will may you bless them in that so Lord as we part from here this morning just ask that your spirit continue in us and teach us and lead us and just help us to proclaim good news to others that we we meet throughout the week in Jesus name amen