[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Okay, so David will translate until we get the system set up back here in the back.
[0:17] We are very glad all of you are here tonight. And David speaks very poor Spanish because it's from Spain.
[0:29] Amen. All of you people that are of South America, you know that's not the best Spanish. Todos los que sois de Latinoamérica sabéis que no es el mejor español. Ayúdame, por favor.
[0:40] Ayúdame, por favor. All right. Well, we're going to start off tonight by having Miguel come and share a word of testimony. Vamos a empezar que el hermano Miguel va a pasar y va a traer una palabra de testimonio.
[0:52] And so he'll tell you how he got saved and how he feels that the Lord has led him into the ministry. Y nos va a contar cómo fue salvo y cómo el Señor le guió al ministerio. And whatever else he would like to say. Y cualquier otra cosa que quiera decir.
[1:04] Good evening to you all. It's a privilege for me to be standing here tonight. Buenas tardes a todos. Es un privilegio para mí estar aquí con vosotros. I'll tell you, since I came in 2001, I never thought I would be standing here tonight.
[1:23] I thought I would have a big house. Pensé que tendría una casa grande. A job that would pay a lot of money. Un trabajo que me daría mucho dinero. Just everything that the world usually wants.
[1:34] Todo lo que el mundo por lo general quiere. But this is a lot, a lot better. Pero esto es muchísimo mejor. You have no idea how much I appreciate this over anything else.
[1:45] No te imaginas cuánto aprecio esto sobre cualquier otra cosa. In 2001, when I came, I knew a little bit of Spanish. Cuando vine en el año 2001, sabía un poquito de español. I met the guys, the, well, not vision then, but the vision guys, future vision guys.
[2:02] Conocía a algunos de, en ese tiempo no era visión, pero conocía a algunos hombres de visión. And they came to a meet-up group to learn and practice Spanish. Entonces, meet and greet.
[2:14] Yeah, meet and greet. Fui a una reunión donde puedes conocer a personas para poder practicar el español. And they said, wow, your Spanish is really good. Y ellos me dijeron, tu español es muy bueno.
[2:25] They didn't know I was from Colombia. No sabían que yo era de Colombia. I thought, I thought they, I think they thought I was white, but. Creo que pensaban que era blanco, pero no era así. If they're watching, they're probably laughing right now.
[2:38] Si, están viendo, seguro están riendo. But from that moment on, I think, I really thank God because that's the moment when. Desde ese momento en adelante, yo le doy gracias a Dios porque ese es el momento en el que.
[2:50] God put godly men in my life. Que Dios puso a hombres de Dios en mi vida. Michael Shane led me to the Lord. Hermano Michael Shane me guió a los pies de Cristo.
[3:00] Tyler Masters did Bible studies with us. Hermano Omar Masters me enseñó la Biblia. I did stray away for a little time. Me aparté por un tiempo. God was working in my heart during that time.
[3:11] Dios estaba orando en mi corazón durante ese tiempo. A mom's prayer, a mother's prayer, really works. Let me tell you that. Y la oración de una madre realmente funciona. My mom prayed every day.
[3:22] She told me. Mi madre estaba orando todos los días. Ella me lo dijo. And I came back. Y volví. Through somebody that he works in different ways.
[3:32] But man, he really worked in my heart. Dios obra en diferentes maneras. Pero obró en mi corazón. Brother John Pearson guided me through foundations. Hermano John Pearson me guió a través de las clases de Fundamentos.
[3:44] He called me and told me. Hey, would you help me translate foundations in Spanish? Me llamó y me dijo. ¿Me podrías ayudar a traducir las clases de Fundamentos en español? And I had no idea he was tricking me.
[3:55] Y yo no sabía que me estaba tratando de engañar para enseñarme la Biblia. So I went through foundations with my mom of John Pearson. Así que fui a través de esas clases con el hermano John Pearson. And then I started working with Pastor Ronald.
[4:08] Luego empecé a trabajar con el hermano Ronald. Which I thank God for putting him in my life too. He's one of the people I have exhorted me. Es uno de los hombres que me ha exhortado.
[4:18] To be in the ministry. Para estar en el ministerio. Little by little, I started catching on to Brother Gardner. Poco a poco fui calentándome más al hermano Guillermo. I usually saw him as this guy that was not big and not in himself.
[4:35] I mean this person that I thought usually pastors you couldn't touch. De estos pastores yo pensaba que no puedes ni tocar. But he was completely different. Pero él era completamente different.
[4:47] The more I knew him. Cuanto más le fui conociendo. The more I fell in love with his love. Más me fui enamorando de su amor. For people. Para las personas. His love for God.
[4:58] Su amor para Dios. I started seeing how he was so much more different than anybody else. Empecé a ver lo diferente que era a otras personas que yo había conocido. His transparency. De la manera como es transparente en el ministerio.
[5:09] And I started really seeing God in every single one of them. Pastor Gardner. Pastor Ronald. Brother John Pearson. Everyone here at Vision. Y empecé a ver a Dios en la vida de cada uno de estos hermanos.
[5:20] Hermanos Ronald. El pastor. Hermanos John Pearson. Y todos los hermanos aquí de Vision. And all this is what drove me or exhorted me to be here tonight. Y todo esto fue lo que me llevó a estar aquí esta noche.
[5:30] To be preaching. Estar predicando. To be caring for people. Para estar cuidando de los demás. Loving people and teaching the only thing that matters in this earth.
[5:41] Empezar a enseñar y amar a las personas. Lo único que realmente importa en este mundo. Which is the word of God. Que es la palabra de Dios. So thank you all for being here tonight. It's a privilege for me to be standing here among you all.
[5:53] Muchas gracias por venir. Es un privilegio para mí estar aquí con vosotros. All right. I'm going to invite Brother John Pearson to come up here real quickly. You can. I'm going to invite Brother John Pearson. Que pase adelante.
[6:03] You can. Brother John has been in the ministry of foundations all this time. I didn't know that Miguel would ever amount to anything. Brother John took him every Sunday morning.
[6:15] He got him to come early. So he had to be here for church. Amen. So he was tricky all the way through it. And I. Brother John. You can just say a word about that. Where'd you go? Where'd David go?
[6:27] You're ready? Praise the Lord. Okay. So Brother John. You come and say a word to the people about what God's done. And how that worked. Amen.
[6:38] Well, it's a, it is very exciting to be here tonight. And especially because of Miguel and anybody that meets Miguel and gets a chance to spend any time with him, just falls in love with him. He's one of the most wonderful, compassionate men I've ever met.
[6:52] And Mary Angela is the perfect spouse for him because of that. And, you know, foundations is one of those things that you can, you can set it up to get somebody to end up where Miguel's at.
[7:06] But it only happens if the, if the Lord's working in his heart and in his life. And if he really is receptive to the word of God. So Miguel was a, was a pleasure to, to spend time with.
[7:18] I never had to call him after the first time. He was always there. And he was always ready. And he was always helpful. And he almost hated to correct my errors.
[7:28] And there were tons of them, but he almost hated to correct my errors. But it was a real joy working with him and, and Miguel and Mary Angela. It is absolutely a pleasure to see you guys up here and to see you guys being in the position that God has put you in.
[7:41] And so praise the Lord. I would just like to say this to you. This is kind of a commercial break, but maybe you're not taking the importance of doing foundations.
[7:52] You don't think it's that big a deal. There's a young man in the ministry tonight because somebody did foundations. And so maybe if you take a God that nobody seems to think is ever going to be in the ministry and you take a little time, maybe the Lord would do that and you could have that privilege.
[8:04] So if you're not doing foundations and you aren't teaching or helping anybody else, then I invite you to talk to Brother John tonight. And so that you can get involved in that and he can help you get set up in doing that.
[8:18] I just want you to know that we were not here in 2001, which is, I'm pretty sure what Miguel was saying a while ago. Did he not say 2001? I had no, yeah, you did.
[8:30] Everybody heard him say 2001 say amen. Amen. Hey. You're more nervous than I am. I've been there before, once.
[8:42] And we were, but 2001, we weren't even thinking about a church here. And so I know that it was 2005 when the guys met Miguel and started working there.
[8:53] What a privilege. This is the first young man saved in the ministry of Vision Baptist Church. What a great God. What a great God. To have God save him, the very first person, I got a call.
[9:07] I was still in Peru and got a call. And Miguel accepted Christ. And they told me, man, this guy's already gotten saved. I was excited to hear that. And then tonight, eight and a half years later, he is being ordained.
[9:18] Almost nine years later, he is being ordained. And that is a blessing from the Lord of heaven. He is the first of ours that were born here. A lot of others came here from other places, but he was born at Vision Baptist Church.
[9:33] All you're giving, all you're praying, all you're visiting, and all you've done. Tonight, God's honoring you. Tonight, God's honoring you. He's honoring all the sacrifice you've made to keep this church going.
[9:45] He's honoring all the sacrifice you've done to try to get people saved. God's honoring you tonight. And I thank you so much for all you've done. And I'm just blessed and excited at what God's doing. We're going to have Pastor Robert Canfield preach to us for a few minutes.
[9:58] Is the translation thing working good? ¿Está funcionando? Is it working? See? Okay. Thank you for saying it was.
[10:11] I'm batting O for zero today, or zero for one today. So thank you for saying that. If you would take your Bibles, turn with me to Acts chapter 20. Miguel, I just want to say congratulations on this spectacular day.
[10:24] God has really shown himself strong in your life. And today we get to praise God for the work he's done in your life. And say that you are God's man. So thank you, Miguel, for your testimony. And church, we should rejoice.
[10:35] I'd like to give you a lesson today. Just one little lesson from the life of Paul. Upon the many's I've talked before out of Acts. But I'd like to give you one more. If you would, take your Bibles. Turn with me to Acts chapter 20, verse 22.
[10:46] The Bible says this. And now, this is Paul speaking. Behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. Save the Holy Ghost witness in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
[11:01] Verse 24. I want to look at verse 24 in more depth. But none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in my ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ, or Lord Jesus, to testify of the grace of the gospel.
[11:23] Today, Miguel, I'd like to talk to you about finishing your course in your ministry, and not just finishing your course in your ministry, but finishing it with joy, as the Bible says. You know, ministry is just that.
[11:35] It's ministering. It's about serving God, and it's about serving others. It's not about you, and that will cause problems in your life. There will be people that don't agree with you.
[11:47] There will be people like, that like your way that you preach, or that don't like the way you preach, and there will be people that will suppose, that you suppose that you love them, or they love you, and they'll leave you.
[11:58] And can I tell you something? Paul faced all these things in previous chapters. He had a man that was going to serve him, and minister unto him, named John Mark. And he left.
[12:10] There will be obstacles, and persecution that's going to arise in your life. And Paul had dealt with an angry mob in Ephesus, in just the chapter before, in Acts chapter 19, verse 27.
[12:21] There will be times that you will be afraid, and you feel like you want to quit. Paul dealt with that same feeling, in Acts chapter 18, at Corinth. There will be times when you feel like, like you're not being affected, as you ought to be, or people aren't getting saved like you want, or you thought they should be.
[12:37] And so maybe you want to quit, or maybe you want to fabricate some numbers. And can I tell you, Paul dealt with all those things. And the reason why I tell you these things, is that so you know that these problems, can rob a preacher of his joy in ministry.
[12:54] Miguel, ever since I've known you, you've had a wonderful attitude. You're always smiling, you're always giggling, you're always joking. You have a great attitude. But if you're not careful, sometimes when you deal with problems, sometimes when you deal with struggles, you'll lose that attitude.
[13:10] And Miguel, you don't have to. You don't have to allow anything, to rob you of your joy. Paul says, that he wants to finish his course. He wants to finish his ministry.
[13:21] And he wants to do it with joy. So today, Miguel, I beg you, don't let anything rob you of your joy. Once you have that in your heart, you won't let anything rob you of your joy.
[13:35] Then the next question is, how do you finish with joy? How is it that you can finish with joy? And I believe the answer is in verse 24. In the first part of Acts chapter 20, in verse 24, the Bible says this, but none of these things move me.
[13:49] Neither count I my life dear unto myself. In the previous verses, back in verse 22 and verse 23, Paul had just told the elders at Ephesus that he was going to go to Jerusalem and he didn't know what he was going to face.
[14:02] He didn't know if he was going to be in jail. He didn't know if he was going to die. He actually later on tells them in this chapter that they will no longer see him face to face. He knows that the Holy Spirit did tell them that imprisonment and persecution will be waiting for him in every city he went to.
[14:19] But this time it's different. Paul tells them that they will never again see his face. But in that sadness, Paul sheds a light on how we are to finish this course, finish ministry with joy.
[14:31] And I'd like to give you two things. The first thing is, don't let anything move you. That means don't let what happens move you. That entails of keeping your emotions and your thought life in check.
[14:43] You want to finish your course? You want to finish your ministry that the Lord has set before you and do so with joy? Then don't be an emotional basket case. Don't let emotional people affect you.
[14:55] Be a man whose mind is fixed on the Lord. And when your mind is fixed on the Lord, he says in Isaiah verse 26 verse 3, he says you will have peace. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
[15:06] And then you will be able to run the race that's before you. And you'll be able to finish it with joy. Don't let your situations, don't let your problems move you. And the second way, he says in verse 24, he says, none of these things move me, but in verse 24, he says, neither count I my life dear unto myself.
[15:27] The second way is, don't be self-focused. Don't be self-focused. You can worry about people serving you, but rather what you, you can't worry about people serving you, but rather you must worry about serving others.
[15:43] You can't worry about what others might say about you, but you can't worry about how others might treat you. You were supposed to be a dead man who's reborn as a servant, and now nothing can bother you because the old man is now dead.
[15:56] You are now to serve and minister your father and others. You're now to serve and minister and finish your course with joy. You lose your joy when you begin to think about how other people have wronged you, when other people haven't taken notice of things that you've done or sacrifices you've made.
[16:12] You begin to worry. You begin to think and meditate on things about yourself. But if you're going to finish this ministry, if you're going to finish your course with joy, you can't be self-focused or care what will happen to you.
[16:27] You can't care what happens to you. You know how Jesus could, for the joy that was set before Him, endure the cross? He wasn't focused on Himself. He wasn't focused on Himself.
[16:39] Paul tells in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 15, he says that He will very gladly spend and be spent for that church in Corinth. And though the more abundantly He loves them, the less He's going to be loved.
[16:53] Paul would go through the ringer, like few have gone through and finished his course in ministry. And you too, Miguel, you too can go and the start of this journey, you can finish it.
[17:06] And not only finish it, but you can finish it with joy. But you can't do it looking at yourself. You're stepping into the ministry, and ministry means service. And God's given you this ministry.
[17:18] So Miguel, don't be self-focused. Think of others. Think of your Lord. Miguel, don't let things bother you. Be like a man whose face is like a flint and set on a job that God's given you.
[17:32] And do it to everything that you have in you. And then at the end, when your ministry's done, and your course is done, you can look back and say, man, hasn't God been good? Hasn't He been wonderful?
[17:44] And you won't let something that's so precious, something like a gift that God's given us, a ministry, rob you of your joy. Miguel, I'm excited to see what God's going to do with you.
[17:55] But don't ever lose that spirit that you got. Always rejoice. Always rejoice in all things. Because you serve a great God. A few years ago, I came into the service on Sunday morning, and Mary Angela's cousin was in the back of the auditorium singing a song.
[18:14] And Mary Angela was near the piano right here. And Miguel was down on his knee. And he was talking to Mary Angela. And I just walked into the church, and I thought, what is Miguel doing?
[18:24] He needs to stand up. You know? And he's not all that tall on his knee. You couldn't hardly see him up here. And so I thought, what is happening? And so I was about to yell and say, Miguel, what are you doing?
[18:36] And who is playing that music? And Zach Elrod said, Trent, I think they're about to get engaged. And they did. Right here in this spot, Miguel asked Mary Angela to marry him.
[18:47] And it was fitting, because their relationship had happened in this church. And they had grown to love the Lord. And in doing so, they learned to love each other. And I was glad that I showed up just in time to see that.
[18:58] A culmination of God doing something in their lives. He had met her. He fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him. And then get to go to the wedding. And then get to see him make his formal commitment to her for lifelong service with her.
[19:13] And it was a beautiful wedding. But I also got to see another story. And that's when I got to meet you as a teenager. And being in Peru with Pastor and talking about the church here, I saw a meetup online on the website.
[19:26] I believe I even saw your aunt's picture. And then you come to the Lord, and your aunt and your mom coming to the Lord. And then you having an interest in the Word. And then your Word, it grew in you.
[19:36] And then you love the Word, to study it, and to teach it. And tonight we come to a formal event where you say, I want to give my life for the ministry of the Word.
[19:47] And that's what we get to be part of here tonight, is that a man of God is being recognized by our church that he wants to give his life to the ministry of the Word. And we say that is what's best for the sake of the Gospel and for us, that we make it possible for him to do that.
[20:03] In Acts chapter number 6, we see some people given the opportunity to give their lives to the Word. We learn about the ordination process and pastoral epistles. We also see in the book of Acts that men lay their hands upon Paul and Barnabas there, Paul and Cyus there, and laid their hands upon them and set them apart for ministry.
[20:23] And a little bit, ordained men will lay their hands upon Miguel, and we will pray for him. But in Acts chapter number 6, we see that there's a church and a group of people that recognize that we must give this man, this group of people, time to study the Word because that's what's best for all of us.
[20:40] Acts 6, 1-4, In those days when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily menstruation. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables.
[20:57] Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
[21:11] Verse number 4, it says that they would give themselves to the Word. So quickly, I would like to tell you how you're going to do that. And I'd like to encourage our church, especially our brothers and sisters in here that speak Spanish, that are part of the Spanish congregation moving forward, how he's going to do that.
[21:29] Just in this story, we saw a group of people that were doing the work of the ministry, and they were also giving themselves to the work of the Word. They were already doing it, and they said, we want to continue in this. We see it, first of all, because of verses 3 and 4, it said that they were doing the work, they wanted to continue.
[21:44] And another evidence of the fact that there was these men teaching the Word is that these deacons that had these qualifications had to have a church to grow up in. And as I look at Miguel and his life right now, that there's brothers and sisters in this room that have grown to a point of service that want to help him move forward because you've already grown from his teaching.
[22:05] You've already benefited. You're already making decisions inside of your family and in your personal life based upon the Word of God that he has helped teach. And we see that it's not a temporary office, not just for the apostles.
[22:17] In Ephesians 4, he says that he's going to give them church-gifted pastor-teachers. He says that these people that give themselves to the Word ought to receive double honor. 1 Corinthians 9 says that he is worthy of his hire, that as he teaches the Word, he ought to be taken care of.
[22:32] So we can conclude that in the New Testament that God prescribes for a church that there would be some people set apart for the ministry of the Word and that these pastors, teachers, would devote their main life efforts to the ministry and be supported by the church.
[22:47] That it was God's idea that people would be set aside for this type of work and his work, Miguel, is that of the Word. So how do you give yourself to the ministry?
[22:58] How do you persist and continue to give yourself to it? And the first thing that I would tell you is to continue to feed the sheep. When it says, lovest thou me, in John chapter number 21, it's feed the sheep.
[23:09] You're giving your entire life the feeding the sheep. Those apostles there, they stopped feeding the widows and some people stepped up to help but they never took their apron off. They just kept feeding people.
[23:20] They said, if we don't help him do some of this work, we won't get fed. So he says, I'm going to feed the people that feed the widows. You're giving your whole life the feeding of the sheep. That man cannot live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God that our church can't live unless the Word of God is being taught to us.
[23:38] As Ezra would say that he said in his heart to study the law and to do it and to teach the statues. You give in your life to study it, to do it, and to teach it and we should be zealous of doing things like this.
[23:50] So first of all, you're going to feed the sheep. Secondly, I want to encourage you how you're going to give your life to a ministry of the Word is you have to pour your heart into it. We're told that we're supposed to give ourselves to prayer and also to the Word.
[24:03] If you study without praying, that's going to be a work of pride. If you pray without study, then that's just audacious to think that you don't need to hear from God and that you only need to talk to Him.
[24:15] When we study this Word properly, it's going to cause us to want to pray. And when we pray, it's going to make us want to know Him so much more. So they don't compete against each other, but you have a ministry and a responsibility to this church family to give your life to this book.
[24:31] And in so doing, you're going to give your life to be committed to pray. Proverbs 3 says, Thou criest after knowledge and liftest thou voice for understanding. Thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as her hid treasures.
[24:43] Then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. If you will cry out to Him and you will study this Word, you will know Him and you will present Him faithfully to our church.
[24:56] And then thirdly here, not only will you pour your heart out and will you feed the sheep, but you're going to endure hardness. Brother Roberts already spoke about this, but not a physical hardness. Sometimes it will be physically hard because you'll stay up late at night on Saturdays to be prepared for the Word.
[25:09] It's going to be emotionally hard when people that you love may walk away. It's going to be spiritually hard when you feel like the whole world is between you getting to a place where you can study for a message, but as a good soldier, you endure that hardness because you've been given the privilege to give yourself to the Word.
[25:26] And then I encourage you to serve with great joy. There is no better way to spend this vapor of life than we have been given to spend it in the ministry of the Word. And I know your heart.
[25:38] And He would tell you, this church, that He thanks you with all of His heart that you're allowing Him the privilege of giving His life unto the Word. He is giving Himself for this book for your sake.
[25:49] And it's an incredible honor and it's an incredible privilege that we have. And it was God's idea and tonight we recognize that He is worthy of this honor. And a result is that the Word of God will increase and the multitude will, the multitude of disciples will spread.
[26:07] And so I have no doubt that the result of you giving your life to Word and prayer will result in more disciples. That more people will be here on this day with this same thing happening.
[26:18] More strong men will be built in our church. More families will be restored because on this day you've given yourself to the Word. You are being blessed and honored by this church tonight. And I just want to recognize that our church and this community will be blessed because of the fact that you've given yourself to the Word.
[26:34] deep. In all honesty outside of his family I think probably the two people that have had the most influence in Miguel's life and have done, been used of God most would be Brother John Pearson and Ronald Tobias.
[26:48] And I thank God for them and their great investment in Miguel's life. Today I count Miguel as a great co-laborer and servant of the Lord and I think it's much to do with Brother John taking the time week after week to go through the discipleship lessons and to work together with him and then Ronald working in the ministry.
[27:08] Ronald Tobias is a pastor of the Iglesia Bautista Monta Unidad and they are doing a great job over there and he's going to come and preach for you and the translator is David Velazquez.
[27:20] If you don't know David's a member of our church also and David is a missionary in Spain and grew up on the mission field and so you listen now because Ronald will be preaching in Spanish and so you'll get in English just hang in there you'll get it if you visit us on the mission field somewhere you'd live with us for a solid week.
[27:42] Buenas noches Good night to everyone Es un gozo poder estar otra vez acá con ustedes y poder compartir esta noche con Miguel David y poder compartir esta noche con Miguel David es maravilloso ver como Dios lo ha hecho crecer en la gracia no puedo creer que ha estado casado y doy gracias a Dios por su vida y I'm so thankful por su vida Dios lo ha usado de una manera Dios lo está usando de una manera impresionante Dios lo está usando de una manera impresionante yo quiero darle gracias al Señor por la iglesia también maravilloso ver como Dios está obrando en la iglesia doy gracias a Dios también por mi pastor hermano Guillermo conozco a él hace más de 20 años y doy gracias a Dios por ese testimonio de vida que tiene él y también hoy día vi a mi viejo amigo Max Taylor allá atrás me preguntó si iba a predicar en inglés le dije no esta vez no lo voy a hacer y I said no no esta vez no lo voy a hacer quiero compartir con ustedes primero quiero hablar a la iglesia quiero decir a la iglesia hispana
[28:47] Miguel va a empezar otro ministerio y yo quisiera que todos los hermanos de la iglesia oraran por él apoyaran a él y trabajaran con él y trabajaran con él la mieza es mucha y hay muy pocos obreros hay que cuidar a los obreros que tenemos especialmente si son fieles si aman a Dios si sirven a Dios si sirven a Dios doy gracias a Dios por la vida de Miguel quiero compartir algo de la Biblia vamos a la palabra de Dios en el libro de hecho en mi iglesia predico casi 45 minutos entonces acá me van a quemar si paso eso si paso eso si hago eso aquí estaré muy bien muy bien la Biblia dice por favor en el libro de hechos capítulo 20 acá vemos la historia de como Pablo está predicando la palabra de Dios y vemos un hecho bastante curioso vemos que en el versículo número 7 el primer día de la semana los discípulos estaban reunidos y Pablo estaba predicando el primer día de la semana y vemos ahí que Pablo dice la Biblia disertando hasta muy tarde y dice la Biblia que había un hombre que estaba hasta la medianoche y cayó y murió entonces mi primera recomendación para Miguel es que no haga eso ok predica corto preach short ok luego dice la Biblia que este hombre está resucitado su nombre es Eutico y ese significa feliz y luego vemos en el libro de Hechos 20 17 dice la palabra enviando pues desde Mileto a Éfeso hizo llamar a los ancianos de la iglesia acá vemos algo especial vemos que Pablo llama a los ancianos y vemos para darles algunos consejos él se va a despedir de ellos esta despedida es emocionante es solemne y les da unos consejos a los líderes la Biblia habla de los ancianos ancianos son miembros de una iglesia a veces son personas mayores pero no solamente habla de una persona mayor pero una persona madura es una un anciano también es una persona que ayuda que observa que supervisa que enseña y en este caso aplica a Miguel porque Miguel está enseñando está está predicando y también está ayudando que es muy importante no solamente predicar pero servir not just to preach but to serve so Paul is speaking to these leaders here verse 18 dice cuando vinieron a él les dijo y cuando y cuando y cuando they were come to him he said unto them y know from the first day that I came into
[32:30] Asia after what manner I have been he says you know the manner that I have been with you and he says in all seasons in all seasons all times that tells us that Paul had to spend a good amount of time with them or that they knew Paul for a good amount of time so he's saying look at my conduct look at my actions and the first thing I want to say to you is that the brother are going to see how you live and you have to be a faithful man Proverbs the word of God says that you need to have a good name this morning I was listening to my friend Juan's testimony he said how can you give a synopsis or a summary of the ministry there are two things that can take you out of the ministry one of those is sin you can summarize the ministry in two things you have to be faithful and you have to be holy and here he is saying to them to these men look at my life verse 19 says serving the Lord the the next thing
[34:15] I want to tell you is to serve the Lord to serve the Lord don't forget to serve the Lord many times we're worried about serving the brethren and helping them but your responsibility is to serve the Lord is to have fellowship with him is to read your Bible is to pray is to have that intimate relationship that you have is for him remember that everything that you do is for him then it says serving with all humility humility humility means you need to learn to give value to other people one of our jobs is to give value to other people people are in slavery people are in sin there are people that have come to the church that have come to the church that wouldn't even look at me in the eyes because they felt dirty because they felt dirty because the night before they had been in a bar because they had been in sin you know what your job is is to serve with humility to serve with humility to give value to those people in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ those souls are valuable to God you need to serve with humility verse 20 says it says at the very end that I've showed you and I've taught you 20 like
[35:48] I've taught you publicly I kept back nothing that was profitable to you but I've showed you and I've taught you publicly and from house to house dice no tengo temor no tengo temor de enseñar la palabra no he huido de enseñar la palabra entonces otra cosa que tienes que tener es no tener temor de enseñar la palabra de Dios no tengas miedo de predicar lo que dice la palabra la palabra del Señor dice la Biblia anunciar el Evangelio dice anunciar es proclamar públicamente no solamente en la iglesia pero en las casas en las calles donde vayas proclama el Evangelio del Señor públicamente anuncia y proclama la palabra la palabra del Señor Dios te va a hacer de una manera increíble hermano y que Dios te bendiga y que el Señor siempre siempre siempre su Espíritu Santo te guíe en cada predicación y mi único sueño es que hermano cuando seas viejito todavía le sigas sirviendo al Señor cuando eres older that you'll still be serving God
[37:01] I'm going to ask David to translate because I won't talk to Spanish people I want to ask you if you quiero hablar con los que son de la iglesia hispana un ratito decirles lo que quiero pedirles que hagan I would like for you to do this si Dios les da un pastor o un hombre para ser guía de tu ministerio entonces ustedes deben número uno orar mucho por él porque es un ministerio de mucha carga mucha responsabilidad y la verdad es que Satanás hará lo que sea posible para que no siga fiel segunda cosa es hay que ayudarle con la responsabilidad de la iglesia si él va a estar haciendo obra en dos iglesias ustedes deben llegar temprano quedar tarde ayudar a preparar las cosas para el servicio y limpiar después el culto y protegerle a él porque está haciendo una obra más grande que la mayoría porque está haciendo a bigger work than most people estará predicando acá en la mañana he'll be preaching here in the morning escuelas micali culto sunday school and service driving more than an hour preaching in the afternoon driving an hour to come back and then to preach here in the afternoon service he needs to take care of his needs you need to see what is lacking what he needs you need to cuidar sus take care of his shoes if his shoes have holes go buy some shoes when his shoes look like they're worn out get him a suit and you need to assume responsibility for the work truth is many times we think it's the pastor that has to carry all the responsibility but a good church the pastor just guides and the brothers do the work and for those that speak Spanish
[39:43] I'd like to tell you the work that I have with all the white people I guess what do you call them no never mind all the Americans you can't say white people because they're not all white thank you no I can't say white people because they're not all white amen and I want more color yes it's true but I honestly I come to the service there are people that have cleaned everything there are people that have cleaned everything people that have done everything literally everything I come here and I preach and there are people doing all the ministry and no it shouldn't be any different you shouldn't say Miguel please work for us but not for us but not for us open your bibles if you would the primera de
[40:48] Timoteo capítulo 6 open your bibles what in the world I would just like to talk to you for a few brief moments and I want to read this passage to you I was just sitting here thinking how much I love you and how proud of you that I am and I think our whole church feels that tonight and I want you to know that what's happening tonight is we're recognizing what God has done in your life he's picked you he's chosen to allow you to have his book and the gospel and the ministry I do not know of a more awesome thing that could be laid on any man anywhere the bible says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verse 20 oh Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust in a very special and unique way
[41:49] God trusted us with the gospel Paul's talking to Timothy Timothy's a young preacher in the ministry 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse 11 he said according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust so God is trusting you and our church is trusting you and the Spanish church is trusting you the deacons of our church are trusting you the men have voted and tonight we're saying we can trust you to hold that book and to stand up in front of people and to love people and to care about people and to preach the gospel to them the staff is saying that the leadership of our church is saying that and the church is saying that the apostle Paul said keep what he's committed to you and there's no more awesome responsibility this is honestly beyond even being a husband or a dad you're being trusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ eternity and souls you'll know good and well you're going to take care of your wife and take care of children whenever God gives you them but to have the word of God put in your hands and for God to say
[43:04] I trust you that's a big step that's a massive step so I challenge you to be very careful to know from now on there is a pressure on your shoulders that nobody but other preachers will understand nobody will understand it it's just like a Sunday school teacher they'll think but it's not and they'll never understand that because they've never been where you're going to be you're going to stand in front of people between the living and the dead and preach and pray to God that you didn't get in the way and that he was able to use you and he was able to save people and you didn't mess it up you're going to lead a church wonderful people that will trust you that God will give to your leadership and you're going to have to be careful you've got the Bible God calls on you to be a very special man a gifted man a man of vision a man of passion a man that puts the Lord first and a man that's careful with the Bible you're going to have to be a studying man because this book is something you're not going to understand you're going to study it 50 years and you will not have scratched the surface nobody understands the Bible the God who claims he understands the Bible doesn't understand how deep it is because the deeper you dig the more there is the more you study the more you learn you'll never get all that's in the Bible the second thing it says in the passage of Scripture in 1 Timothy 6.20 it says keep that which is committed to thy trust and it says avoid profane and vain babblings and opposition of science falsely so called don't get off target most preachers find out about psychology they find out about philosophy they find out about a hundred other things they could use instead of the word of God and what we're asking you to do what I'm challenging you to do tonight is just preach the book just open the Bible and explain the Bible no psychologist has ever known what our God knows no scientist has ever been as caught up as an old Bible that's over 2,000 years old nobody has ever been that caught up that's the honest truth scientists are still struggling to catch up only 200 years ago did they catch up with some of the things in the Old Testament this is the word of God when you hold it you can trust it he did create the world he did work all the miracles he does save people he is a great God don't you ever doubt that preach his book don't get off target don't mess around with other junk don't you don't need what everybody else can teach you you got the Bible get with men of God say the Bible get a hold of God and do that and last thing finish what you start tonight's an easy night for you it's a sweet night it's a night to get recognized it's a night for us to say things to you and tell you how much we love you but I promise you the scars are coming the battles are coming the devil will fight you everything will stand against you nobody will understand that but you and alone at night when nobody else is in the battle you'll be in the battle because the devil is going to do everything in his power to take you out he doesn't want you to be faithful to your wife he doesn't want you to take care of your family he doesn't want you to stay faithful to God he will do what he can to destroy you by the way if you were somebody else he wouldn't be near as worried about it but God trusted you with his book and so the devil is going to do what he can to get you away from the book he's going to do what he can so stay put your hands to the plow and don't look back someday when you're old and dying you're laying down in a grave
[46:47] I hope somebody will say he wasn't perfect but man he stuck to the book and he loved Jesus and he loved people and so here it is he's trusting you tonight to me that's like the most awesome thing that ever happened in my life as much as I would have liked some other kind of thing to do as much as I'd have liked something else that would have given me money or fame or whatever I know this God trusted me with his book and then he trusted me with some people and there's nothing greater than that and I hope that you're further down the road than I was I hope some people in your life are helping you learn we don't hurt people we love people we're not here to pick on people kick people guilt people manipulate people we're sharing good news good news they come here they ought to walk into an environment that says man this is a wonderful place I'm hearing about a great God and great salvation and all the great work of our great God so hang on to that and stick with it I challenge you with that with everything in me it's committed to your trust
[47:50] Father in heaven I ask you to work in McGill's life tonight and I pray that you would help him and strengthen him and work in him and God bring honor and glory to your name through him and I'll give you praise for all you do I thank you for Miguel and I thank you for Mary Angela and I pray your richest blessings on them and God please work even in this time of prayer and I'll give you praise in Jesus name this message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings thanks thanks you ate and and you finally