I would like you to begin by turning in your Bible to a passage that we are going to study
! together this morning in Numbers chapter 27. Before we actually go to the passage, there are
! a couple practical things that I want to draw to your attention. First of all, I want you to know
that if you are inclined to text Caleb and Charity, Caleb and Charity are preaching this morning,
not here, but they are in the process of raising money for missions and for the work that they're
going to be doing in Jamaica. And so, if you want to text them right now, you'll find out whether
Caleb's phone is on because he's in church, and you go ahead and his phone will go off and it'll
be a lesson, won't it? And I was like, but you go ahead and let him know you're praying for him
because you're praying for me and I know you're doing that, and I'm heavily dependent on that,
and I know Caleb is as well. He is preaching at the church where his father is a pastor, and don't…
I trust at least that he gets about 15, 20 texts that say, hey, Caleb, Charity, we're praying for
you. We trust that God helps you in your ministry there and that you're encouraged by the opportunity
you have of being there at that church. Second thing I want you to know is that we are going to
have a business meeting on May 18th, May 18th, to look at the job description that is in your bulletin.
And we want you to pay careful attention to all that follows in relationship to that,
so you keep this matter in prayer. Now, I ask you to turn, if you would, to that passage in numbers,
and before we actually look at the passage, I want us to take some time in prayer and then let me give
you a little bit of background because I think it is very important. So let's pray together.
Father, this morning as I listened to the special music in particular,
I thought about the reminder that we cannot do anything without your help,
God, that our strength is in you, and that we, frail, insufficient in ourselves, can rely upon
your Spirit to lift up the name of Jesus, strengthen us for the tasks that we have,
cause us to grow in our affection for Christ and for one another, and have a genuine passion
for a world that needs Christ. So help us this morning that we would listen carefully,
that the sufficiency and the authority of the Scriptures would mark our path,
and that we would be pleasing to you. And I pray this in your precious name. Amen.
Generally, when I come to the pulpit, I mean, you pretty well know what I'm going to say.
I mean, I'm going to be in Ephesians. I'll say, let's turn to Ephesians such and such,
and you have a fairly good idea of where we're going to go from there.
I will be taking a different track this morning, and for you who are here for the baptismal service,
I'm thankful that you are here, and we will get to that part. But this is a little different than
a normal Sunday for us, not in the singing, because we love to blow the roof off. We think that when
people gather together that know Jesus, they ought not sit there looking like they're grumpy.
Do you follow what I'm saying? I mean, we ought to have fun saying,
Jesus, we love you, and we're pretty excited to sing about it. And we are going to be a people
that in our fellowship together are going to be governed by this book. And probably one of the
things you'll notice is that there are a lot of people running around here that are there with a
Bible. They have a Bible in their hand, and there's a reason for that. One of the things that
has characterized this fellowship over the years is our commitment to the Scriptures.
We believe that the Scriptures are really God's Word to us, and that they provide all that we need
for life and godliness. That's what Peter said when he wrote to the church. He said, hey, listen,
the Bible is what we have that gives us all that we need for life and godliness.
And our commitment here in this fellowship to the Scriptures is seen in so many little different ways.
For one, I already reflected on the fact that most of you here are carrying a copy of your Bible,
either in hard copy or electronically. And when I say, turn in your Bible,
you can go there, and you can, you know, and I am still looking for someone to write that app,
that when you hit that electronic little note, it goes, you know, so that I, a little older than some
of you others, take small comfort in the fact that I heard you turn, okay? But you have your Bibles
with you. Our songs are rooted in Scripture, and one of the things that I was doing as I was sitting
down there and just having a great time singing, I was multitasking. I was thinking about the words
of the song, and a couple of them, I don't know those words, but anyway, following along and still
trying to connect, what does the Bible say about that? Our dealings with one another are governed
by the Word. In the end, really, the things that we decide can be really tracked back to what the
Scriptures have to say. And it's no accident that our fellowship has been blessed by a history of open
and honest communication. An illustration of this would be that if you were to walk out in the lobby
after the morning service, you can see a record of our monthly giving and really every single expense
that we've had in this month. There it is tracked out for you. The only thing that is not there for
your public consideration is how the money that you have given to the deacons fund is dispersed.
And there's a reason for that. We don't think it's appropriate to know where some of the particular
needs are that we have responded to as a deacon, but as deacons and pastors. But apart from that,
everything is up there. Furthermore, after every monthly deacons meeting where the pastor and deacons
meet together on Saturday, what follows that is that you will have your watch care deacon on Wednesday
sit down with you and go over the outcome of that meeting. And there's a paper that you receive.
How many of you know the name of that paper? What is it called? It's called a 2020. How many of you
know where the term 2020 came from? Raise your hand and wave at me if you know. It came from Acts
chapter 20, verse 20. Strange thing about that, isn't that? You know, we're a Bible people, and so
even when it comes down to naming some of our documents, they're rooted in the Scriptures. Acts
2020, here's what it says. And at the top of the header on the 2020 that you will receive this
this coming Wednesday will be the little statement, I kept back nothing from you that was profitable.
And as a result of our commitment to follow the counsel of Scripture, we have made it part of our
fellowship that we are open and forthright, and we let you know where we are and what's going on and
why we're doing it. In addition to that, every time we have made a move, whether it has involved
changing our music style a little bit, or whether it's being a decision with church discipline,
or the matter of moving towards small groups, prior to our involving the congregation in that
has been that I have come to the pulpit as a pastor, and I have opened up the Word of God and said,
here is what the Scriptures have to say, and here is how we're going to apply it.
And this morning is no exception. Today, as in every other day, we want to be a people that depend
upon the Word. And so, before we actually go to our passage, let me ask that you turn to the paper
that was put in your bulletin. Now, I'm curious, just out of curiosity, how many of you actually have
read your bulletin now and know what is in it on this piece of paper? Raise your hand and wave at me.
It's great. What that tells me is I don't have to give announcements in the future because you're
a very well-informed congregation. But allow me, if I may, to read the first part.
It is the recommendation of your leadership that our fellowship approve the search for a man to serve
as Pastor Saul Green's replacement and as the potential successor to Pastor Knoyer on his future retirement.
Second, our thinking reflects, first, the heart of leadership that looks to make a profitable transition
to our future by adequate preparation and prayer. Second, three years that we have spent in prayerful
deliberation and research in transition or succession planning. Third, a desire to follow the model of
Scripture of discipling a man who would eventually, Lord willing, lead in our fellowship. Fourth,
a respect for the time that proper discipleship for leadership requires. Now, how's that for a way to
start a sermon? Because now you know pretty much what I'm going to say, don't you? But in keeping with
the character of this pulpit and our desire that the Word of God is preeminent and clear, I start out by
telling you what we're going to do, and I want to explain its premise on the structure of the Scripture
and allow you as a people to pray and consider carefully, and then ultimately when we come together
on May 18th, you have an opportunity to respond according to your prayerful consideration.
So, I want you to recognize that as with every other week, when I come to the pulpit,
my intention is this, is to explain what the Word of God has to say and ultimately put you on the spot
of saying yes or no to God. And I trust that in the days to follow, when you reflect back on our study
of the text this morning and our application of that text to our fellowship, that what you will say
is, I understand what God is looking for us to do, and I desire to follow Him. The first and most
important part of preaching is to make the issue clear of what God has said. What does God have to say?
And so, when a man stands in this pulpit, regardless of who it is, at the end of the day,
what you should walk away knowing is, I heard God's Word, and I understand what He wants from us.
Secondly, the second part of preaching is helping people see the connection between what God has
said already and what He wants from us as His people. So, we could say that preaching aims
to be clear about what God wants as well. With that in mind, I want you to now turn in your Bible
to Numbers chapter 27, and we are looking at a passage where we are looking into the life of
Moses at the very end of his life. Let me give you a little background so you understand where we're
coming from on this. You remember Moses had been born as a little baby and hidden and eventually
taken into the wife of the Pharaoh or the daughter of the Pharaoh, and he was cared for there, grew up in
Egypt, enjoyed all the blessings of that wonderful education and preeminence, and yet God intended
for him to have a different path than to be one of significance, an individual of significance in
the court of Pharaoh. He was taken out into the wilderness, and he spent another 40 years preparing.
He came back, and God gave him the responsibility of being the leader of His people. One of the things
that stands out in my thinking about Moses is that Moses, it would seem in his early life, was a man who
was rather full of himself and pretty persuaded that he could pull off whatever he thought and do it on
his own. After following sheep for 40 years and tapping them out the backside and moving them
around, he came back with a completely different attitude. In fact, when God says, hey, I'm sending
you to be the mouthpiece and to be the one who takes care of my people, his attitude was, not me, Lord,
find somebody else. But God made it clear, Moses, you're the one I'm going to leave, I'm going to use.
And for 40 years, his ministry to the nation of Israel was one that was marked by profound humility
and by tenderness and care. And all you have to do is read your way through the book of Exodus in
particular, and you'll find out over and over again, here was a man who had a heart for God's people.
He cared for them. Did he get angry at them? Yes, he did. And I will tell you frankly,
one of the things that marks our history together, one of the most significant moments in my life as
an adult was when we closed the Christian school here. It was a very hard decision. It was one that
was traumatic to me and traumatic to many people that I had loved very closely and had a close
relationship with. And in the midst of that, as the barbs and stones began to follow, how many of you
understand that sometimes not everybody is happy with all that you do, right? Do you understand that?
I found myself in my flesh beginning to want to be a little bit like James and John,
the sons of thunder. Do you remember the sons of thunder? They wanted to call down fire from heaven,
and I actually, if I'd had that privilege, you know, there may have been some toasty posties out
there, and I was… And then you know what? The Spirit of God reminded me, Tim,
Moses paid a very serious price for losing his temper with God's people. I never forgot that.
Moses lost his temper, and God said, you're not going into the promised land.
And where we are in our passage here in Numbers 27 is God says to Moses, they're right up against
the promised land, and God says to Moses, all right, you get a peak, and then you're done.
You get a peak, and then you're done. And so, I want you to think with me about what Moses teaches
us about the future. And as you look at this passage, one of the things that I want you to
notice is that as soon as God says to Moses, you're going to die, Moses doesn't go into apoplexy
about it, and, oh, Lord, you know, whining and carrying on, it's all right. And the next thing
out of his mouth is indicative of the heart that he had. Jim Berg, in his book about progressive
sanctification, he says this, you really can't blame hot water for the taste of the tea. I think
it's a nice little statement because what it's saying is this, is that pressure brings out what's
inside. Wouldn't you agree with that? I've had people say, I didn't mean to say that, or I just
let my anger get the best of me. And the truth of the matter is, is, yeah, all those things
may be true, but the fact of the matter is it had to be inside in order to come outside.
And here is Moses under that duress where he has received the notification of his execution
at the hand of God, I'm taking you home. And look at verse 15.
Moses spoke to the Lord saying, let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man
over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them
out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.
That was Moses' heart. Do you follow that? Here he was receiving the announcement of the fact that he
was going to die at the hand of God because of the sin that he had committed. And what does Moses say?
He said, listen, I want you to be careful. Father, creator of all, I want you to provide for your people.
And I want you to understand that those who serve as shepherds of God's people
care about people and their future. Do you follow that?
Those who serve as shepherds of God's people care about people and their future.
Moses recognized that God's people would benefit from a godly, humble leader that was willing to do
what was necessary for the children of Israel. And by the way, just in case you don't remember,
how had the children of Israel followed Moses? Does anybody have an idea? Huh? I mean, they were
always giving him high fives and attaboys in the hallway. It's like, go for it, Moses. We love you.
You're the best, you know. Moses was catching it all the time. Do you understand that?
But his love for God translated into his love for people. And so when the time came for Moses to
leave, he says, hey, what I want is for you to provide for your people an adequate leader.
I want you to recognize that this characteristic in Moses is not unique to Moses.
And that if you were to track your way through the Scriptures, you are going to find that
one of the characteristics of those who have been appointed by God and are submissive to the
leadership of God in their life to be servants of the bride of Christ or of the people of God,
a characteristic of them is that they're interested in the well-being of others.
I think for a moment about a passage that has always stood in my mind as very significant to
pastoral ministry where Paul writes about Timothy in Philippians, and he says this,
I have no man who is like-minded who will naturally care for your estate. He says,
I can't think of anybody else that just kind of loves you flat out.
Everybody else is interested in their own agenda, their own outcome, their own advantage.
I got to tell you, as a sidebar every now and then, I've been at ministry now for going over
30 years, and one of the things that periodically I bump into is a younger man who will say to me,
oh, I have an opportunity to go to thus-and-so church, and standard question to me is, why are you
going? I got to tell you, it always really makes my hair go on end when I hear a person say, well,
it's a promotion for me. I think I have some advantages there. Now listen, I'm here because
God assigned me here, and when I came here, I came because God appointed me to be a shepherd in this
flock, and you have very graciously and tenderly allowed me to continue doing that, and I serve at
your pleasure, but also God's appointment. And one of the things that God called me to do was to come
here and love you and care for you and hold up the Scriptures and teach. I want you to see this model
of other leaders in particular interested in the well-being of God's people, and so I want you to turn
your Bible, if you would, now to Acts chapter 20. I referred to Paul's remark regarding Timothy,
but we are going to look now at Acts chapter 20 where we find the apostle. He had spent a number
of years actually teaching in the church at Ephesus, and you'll remember that eventually it ended up that
he was going to go to Rome, and he was going to appeal the judgment that had been brought against him
by false accusers, particularly by the Judaizers, and in making that appeal to go to Rome and to go to
Caesar, he had to leave the church there at Ephesus, and so he stops by and talks with them, and he meets
with them there to break bread and to talk with them before he leaves, and we see the scene in Acts
chapter 20, picking up there in verse 28 through 36. Let me just kind of touch on a couple highlights.
What Paul does, first of all, earlier in the passage is he explains the characteristic of the
ministry that he had had among God's people. He refers to the care and to the pattern that he had set,
but then he speaks very particularly to those who would someday in his absence care for the flock that God
had raised up, and so look with me, if you will, in verse 28. It says,
pay careful attention to yourself and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
to care for the church of God, which he's obtained with his own blood.
You know what Paul was saying? Hey, guys, you need to pay attention to your own walk with Christ.
First, you need to pay attention to your own walk with Christ. At the end of the day,
spiritual leadership is never any better than their private personal walk with Christ. Does that make
sense? You can't be anything other than what you are. You can play the game on the surface for a short
period of time, but I think it was Abraham Lincoln that said you can fool most of the people most
of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. So who you are, you eventually display.
And Paul said this, you who are going to be leaders in the bride of Christ, shepherds to the flock of
God, you have to pay attention to your own walk. Interestingly, later in 2 Timothy,
1 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 16, when Paul writes to Timothy, he writes two different books to help
Timothy at his pastoral ministry. Timothy didn't get it first time. He has 2 Timothy as well.
1 Timothy chapter 4, it says this,
Take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine. Bear with me on King James here. That's the way I learned
it, but you know, take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine, for in doing so thou shalt save both
thyself and them that hear thee. Pay attention to your walk. And here is the apostle saying to those
he has gathered that are going to serve as shepherds of the bride of Christ. He says, listen,
you need to pay attention to your walk before God. And then in verse 32, listen to what it says,
And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give
you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. As Paul thinks about his conclusion
and his eventual departure, he says to the church, hey, listen, I want those who are leaders and I want
to remind them of their responsibility because they are the ones that are going to care for the flock of
God. And their responsibility is going to be to handle the word of God and live it in such a fashion that
God's people can follow. It's interesting, and I referred to this earlier, that actually
1 and 2 Timothy were written to Timothy to counsel him in his future ministry.
And there is a sense in which 1 Timothy is an overview of congregational relations and issues,
okay? Do you know what 2 Timothy is all about? It is very personal counsel to a guy who had been
given the responsibility but wasn't getting all the pieces connected.
Here it goes. I'm going to give you a free rendition just off the top of my head.
Paul starts out and he says, don't be a wuss. It's really amazing how God uses all different
kinds of personalities to call men into ministry. There's no one template.
And so here is the Spirit of God writing to Timothy and he says,
God has not given to us a spirit of fear. Now, why would Paul write that to Timothy?
Because Timothy probably had a little bit of anxiety about not making everybody happy all the time.
And can I tell you something? You can't do that.
And so Paul says, Tim, don't be a wuss.
And then he says this, 2 Timothy chapter 2, he says,
Thou therefore as a good soldier of Christ endure hardness.
Endure hardness.
Don't ever kid yourself.
Being a shepherd for God's people is not easy.
And that's not said with rancor or ill spirit. It's just a fact.
And if you're going to be a shepherd for God's people, you better suck it up and
handle the objections and the ill spirit and the frailty of other men and women
and do so with loving gentleness.
We find then that Paul says to Timothy, you stay focused on the Word.
And then thunder, chapter 4.
Paul says this, he says,
I charge you before the living and the dead that you are to preach the Word in season and out of season.
Do you follow that?
I got to tell you, we live in a day when in the days to come, it will be harder and harder to preach the Word.
I think about young men who are going into ministry today.
And I think about the battles that they are dealing with now.
That when I was a young man in seminary, I didn't think would ever hit the fan.
I never imagined
that a fair percentage of the individuals that we contacted
as we sought out a man to serve as a shepherd in this fellowship
would actually be disqualified because of their moral purity.
And they were actively involved in ministry in places.
I never imagined.
I never imagined that I would minister with a congregation, truthfully,
that really viewed the Lord's Day as something that was kind of an add-on.
I mean, maybe I'll go, maybe I won't.
It all depends on whether my kids have a game.
I was talking with a pastor over in Dayton,
and we were talking about ministry,
and I just asked him a question about corporate prayer,
and, you know, we gave that up ten years ago.
Why?
Two things.
Work and sports.
I never imagined that.
I want you to understand when Paul says to Timothy,
you are to preach the word in season and out of season
because the day is coming when people will no longer endure sound doctrine.
He was saying to Tim, you do your job.
Well, Moses, Paul, but the best example is guess who?
Jesus.
I mean, that makes sense, doesn't it?
And so I want you to understand that when you think about planning for the future
and loving on God's people,
the clearest and undeniable illustration
is that Jesus poured His life into twelve men
that would be the future leaders of His church.
The majority of His time was really not spent preaching to the crowds
or healing the vast group of people that gathered around Him
or feeding the 5,000.
The majority of His time was spent caring for those twelve
that He would leave the rest to.
And so, in practical summary,
from our study of what Moses was concerned about
and what we see in the life of Paul
and what we see in the life of Christ,
we understand that those who love God's people
are interested in helping them in transitions.
And so I trust that you understand the Bible logic
of me
and every one of the pastors and deacons
coming to you with humility
and thoughtfulness and prayer
to say,
we want you to think about
the next man we call
being considered as the potential senior pastor
for this congregation.
So let's apply
what the Scriptures have dealt with
and let's kind of think it through a little bit more.
Okay?
And so, you probably have recognized already
that today is a little bit different.
Any of you that have been
long-standing members here know
that this is really the first time
that we have put a job description
in your bulletin.
Am I right?
The standard thing is,
hey, we're going to have a meeting
and our Constitution stipulates
that before…
By the way,
did you know that we are congregationally governed
and you're the ones who are deciders?
We're recommenders.
Now, by the way,
you put us in the situation
of being recommenders.
And so we walk to you
and we say,
hey, listen,
we've been praying
and studying about this
and thinking about this
for quite a while
and now we want you to think about it.
And this is the first time
we put it in your bulletin.
Normally, it's out there on the table.
Please go out there and grab one.
And, you know,
what happens is
we have a business meeting
and we talk about it.
In this case,
we put it in your bulletin
because we want you to be
well aware
of the significance
to you as a congregation
of what we are recommending.
I want you to notice
that there are parts
of the job description
that are pretty standard fare for us.
Let me see if I can find my copy of it here.
Where did it go?
I've got one.
Believe me, I have one.
Here it is.
If you look at the job description,
there's a part of it
that if you've been here
for any amount of time,
you know that it's just standard qualifications.
You could go back to
when this congregation called me.
Now, that was in the old days
when we used mimeographs, I think.
I know some of you are thinking
about spirit stuff on your fingers
or something.
Now, we actually had copiers
back in those days
and light bulbs too,
but this is, you know,
the same, same.
It was all there.
You know, we said,
hey, we're looking for someone
who meets the qualifications
of 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus.
We're looking for a man
who meets,
let me say it again,
man who meets
the Bible qualifications
for leadership.
Second thing is that
he shall be in complete agreement
with the confession of faith.
Complete agreement.
I can't tell you
how many times
we talk to credible individuals
who in every other area,
their life,
their walk,
credible individuals
to serve as a family youth pastor,
but there are a number of them
that said,
you know,
I just don't believe in this
or I just don't believe in that.
And, well, God bless you.
You know what?
We're going to be neighbors in heaven,
but it's,
and I believe that.
There are going to be
Presbyterians there.
My sister is a Presbyterian, okay?
There are going to be Nazarenes there.
There are going to be Wesleyans there.
My brother-in-law is a Wesleyan.
There are going to be Charismatics there.
There are going to be Church of God.
There are a lot of people
and we ought to love on all of them.
Now, do we eat differently
at the table sometimes?
Yes.
But when a person becomes a shepherd
in our fellowship,
we want them to be in our perspective.
Does that make sense?
So you recognize here
that there's an aspect
to this whole thing
that makes complete sense
according to the way
we've done things.
And I want you to know
that behind this recommendation
has been a lot of careful consideration
and prayer.
Pastor Saul announced
his eventual retirement
to us well in advance
of the date he had set
for May 5th,
or is it May?
May 3rd.
Raise your fingers over there
so I can...
May 3rd.
He knows the day.
Okay?
He told us 18 months out.
Do you know why
he told us that?
That's a loving thing to do.
Do you follow that?
It says ahead of time,
I care about you
and I'm not going to walk in,
walk up here to the platform
and say,
I quit.
Tomorrow.
I've had many friends
in the ministry
who have done that
to their church.
I think it's unconscionable.
Pastor Saul let us know
well in advance.
And if you'll remember
from that meeting,
you'll remember that
after he announced
his retirement,
guess what followed that?
I came up and I said,
Lord willing,
if you put up with me,
my intention is to
continue preaching
and to serve as
your under shepherd here
until I'm about 70,
give or take.
I said,
and we'll bring you
a job description
in the spring.
How many of you
remember me saying that?
This is about as close
to the end of spring
as we could get.
And we can say
that God was in that detail.
We had decided
as pastors and deacons
that if for some reason
God had not providentially led
in our calling
Pastor Andrew
and his bride Deanna
to become part
of our ministry team here,
we were going to let you
know the plan
because we,
Pastor Saul is retiring.
Case closed.
And so we thought
we have to tell you anyway.
I mean,
we're not hiding
anything from you
but we wanted to be able
to focus on calling
Pastor Rowley
before we said,
hey, guess what?
You get another chance.
I want you to understand
that what lies ahead
for us is going
to be a challenge.
So why do we propose
a succession plan?
Our thought is
that the next pastor
to be hired
will come
in the hopes
that over a period
of time
our discipleship
of him
would lead us
to eventually
call him
to be our senior pastor.
And the reason
that we ask you
to consider that
is for one,
preparing for the future
is a wise thing to do.
I want you to understand
that successful businesses
do it all the time.
Successful businesses
always plan
for what their future is.
Sadly enough,
among churches
that is generally
not the case.
As a result of that,
there is a standard
little ditty
that is shared
among pastors.
And it's this.
You don't want
to be a pastor
following a long-tenured
pastor.
You want
to be the pastor
who follows
the pastor
who followed
a long-tenured
pastor.
I don't want
to do that to you.
I don't want
to do that to you.
I don't want
Discipling a man
that hopefully
would serve
as your shepherd
and future senior pastor
will take time.
Regardless of where
he comes from,
what his background
is,
what he's accomplished,
it will take time
for him to learn
to love you
and to be faithful
to his charge.
I thought it was
interesting
last Sunday
when
Ken Loro
was here.
Providentially,
he was here
for the wedding
and Ken Loro
came up here
on stage
and I asked him
to pray for
Andrew
who is now
Pastor Andrew.
How many of you
remember that?
One of the things
that Ken Loro
said that
I thought,
hmm,
that's interesting,
he said he really
appreciated the
mentoring process.
Whether you know
it or not,
in every single
case,
it's been about
a three-year
process to
prepare a man
to become
productive and
fully engaged
in this
fellowship.
And in that
three-year
process,
what has
happened
historically
is either
a man
grows or he
goes.
Do you
follow that?
Let me say it
again,
a man
grows or he
goes.
And we
had the joy
of watching
Ken grow
to be just
a minister
of the Lord
Jesus and a
blessing to us
as a fellowship
and what a joy
to watch him
now as he's
in Awana
and a missionary.
It's our
blessing.
And I've got to
tell you,
when we were
interviewing
Andrew,
who's now
Pastor Andrew,
how many of you
are picking up
on that?
We call him
Pastor now?
Just in case.
In fact,
I had to tell
Pastor Andrew
the other day,
he was answering
the phone,
he says,
hello,
this is Andrew.
I said,
no.
Remember,
discipleship three
years?
We'll get the
Pastor Andrew
part pretty quick
here,
but it's like,
hey,
you know,
your wife,
you can say,
this is Andrew,
but to the
bride of Christ,
your ministry
is as a
pastor.
And it's
a responsibility
that carries
weight.
So,
we're going
to be involved
in discipleship
if you allow
us.
I do want
you to
understand,
furthermore,
that a lot
of thought
and prayer
has gone
into this
recommendation.
I first
asked our
pastors and
deacons to
begin praying
about this,
I'm going
to guess,
what,
four years
ago?
Does that
sound funny
to you?
Four years
ago.
Now,
it became a
formal agenda
item about
three years
ago.
A formal
presentation
was made
to our
deacons
about our
planning,
and a
committee,
succession
planning
committee,
was formed
and continued
to work
throughout the
last several
years behind
the scenes.
That committee
has read a
variety of
resources,
done interviews,
talked with
pastors and
organizations that
have both
succeeded and
failed at
planning and
making successions
work.
And I've got
to tell you,
there are
probably more
churches that
fail at it
than succeed.
And we have
given careful
thought to why
those churches,
they can put
their finger on
this is what
happened and
here's why it
happened.
We don't want
that.
Do you know
why?
Because we
believe that
godly people
depending upon
the word of
God and
following His
counsel can
succeed at
succession.
there's going
to be a
day when
if you call
me pastor,
I am not
going to be
disrespectful to
you, but I
would say,
that's the
man.
Call him
pastor.
Now for some
of you, since
I've buried your
father and I've
married your
children or
whatever else,
it's going to
be a little
hard to suck
it up.
But if I
can't be Tim
among you,
do you follow
that?
and mow
the lawn
like everybody
else, we
got a problem
because I
want to be
able to
righteously
and honorably
hand off the
responsibility to
another man.
We talked
with leadership
at ABWE.
We talked
with leadership
at Cedarville.
We talked
with leadership
at Word of
Life.
We've talked
with literally
dozens of
pastors.
deacons.
We sought
out.
I've talked
with the
executive
pastor at
Bethlehem
Baptist Church
where John
Piper just
finished his
ministry and
they handed
off the
reins.
And I want
you to know
that your
pastors and
deacons recommend
unanimously that
we consider and
follow this
path as a
congregation.
So what's
next?
Well first
of all,
and this is
almost like I
could say this
with my eyes
closed.
Read over the
material, pray
about it, and
if you have any
questions, guess
what?
Guess what I'm
going to say?
Talk to your
pastors or your
deacon.
Every one of the
deacons that have
been appointed by
this congregation
are fully aware
of the planning and
thought that has
gone into that,
and there may
be a question or
two that they
don't know the
answer to.
That's all right.
It's not a bad
thing to say, I
don't know for
sure, let me get
back with you, but
I can tell you in
the next couple
weeks all our
deacons are going
to be putting their
arms around us and
giving us a hug and
saying, do you have
any questions?
Does this make
sense to you?
Do you understand
why we're thinking
this?
On May 18th, we're
going to meet after
the morning service
to have a formal
vote on the
recommendation that
we are bringing to
you this morning.
And we trust between
now and then, you
as a congregation
have the opportunity
to pray, to think
carefully, to ask
any and every
question that you
have, so that when
we come to deliberate
as a body of
believers, that we
have done our very
best of being clear
in our information
and allowed you to
consider the matter
before the Lord.
And all God's
people said,
Amen.
John, would you
come and lead us?
Let me pray as the
musicians are coming.
We are going to look
forward to baptism,
and I ask the
candidates to come
at this time as we
prepare for baptism.
Let's pray as the
musicians are coming,
and then we will
enjoy singing together.