Ordain & Send - June 1, 2025

Turn your Bible to John chapter number 15.

This morning's message I've titled Ordain and Send.

Ordain and Send.

In John chapter 15, verse number 16, Jesus says, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you.

John 15 · chapter mention

That ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

You see, God has chosen us, he's called us, he's ordained us to do his perfect will in the Great Commission.

In today's message, we're going to see how God calls, shapes, and sends his servants out to do the Great Commission.

Ordination is both a sacred affirmation of God's work and a corporate act of sending.

It starts with a call.

It's of God's work and a corporate.

It starts with a call.

And we're going to go through a series of verses where God is calling individuals to do his work.

And he's still doing that today, friends.

He's still up to that.

And so go over to your Bible at Genesis chapter number 12.

Genesis 12.

And look what he says here in Genesis 12, 1 to Abram.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee.

So God is calling Abram, and he says, I want you to leave.

Get away from this location.

I'm going to send you out.

I'm not going to give you all the details.

I want you to obey.

I want you to comply.

I'm calling you to do something.

Go over to Exodus chapter number three.

Exodus chapter number three.

Look how God calls Moses.

The Bible tells us that Moses kept the flock of Jethro in verse 1.

In verse 2 and Exodus 3, it says this.

And Moses turns aside and God sees it.

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.

You say, what did he call him?

What did he say to him?

Look at verse 10.

Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

You'll notice that God is calling Moses to speak for him.

So we see that God calls Abram, he calls Moses.

You say, what about the priests in the Old Testament?

Look over at Exodus 28.

God calls ministers to serve him in the church, if you would.

In the Old Testament, we see in Exodus 28, and in verse number one, the Bible says, and take thou unto thee Aaron, thy brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto, what's it say?

Unto me.

Remember that.

The messenger of God, the prophet of God, the king of God, the prophet of God, are ministers first and foremost to God.

I said this to the church the other night, I don't work for you, I work for him.

And sometimes we get this thing mixed up where we think, oh no, I get to control the pastor.

No, you don't.

Any minister of God is led by God, called by God, ordained, if you would, first and foremost by God, and the people of God get to experience that power of God flowing through him as he's ministering.

Ordained, if you would, first and foremost by God, and the people of God get to experience him.

Even Aaron and Nadab and Abuhu and Eliezer, and it gives the children, if you would, who would be serving there.

God called them.

Go on over to Jeremiah chapter number one.

Jeremiah was a prophet.

Jeremiah, look how he calls Jeremiah to do the will of God.

Jeremiah chapter number one, and it says this.

In verse number four, then the word of the Lord came unto me.

Who?

Jeremiah.

The word of God came to Jeremiah.

You say, how?

God is God.

Sometimes you hear people, well, what if I'm stuck on an island somewhere and can God get to me?

God can get to you anywhere, friend.

He created everything the galaxies, the stars, he knows every hair on your head.

He knows all this uh the sand and the seashore.

When God wants to get a hold of you, he will get a hold of you.

He can get a hold of you, friend.

And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, and it says this in verse 5 Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.

And before thou cameest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Then said Jeremiah, he says, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.

He's putting up excuses.

But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak.

Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

Then the Lord handed and touched my mouth.

And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

You see, the man of God doesn't preach what you want, he preaches what God wants.

Amen.

We must understand how this works.

This is not a man-made religion.

This is a God-sanctified sanction calling that God is working to build his church and God is working to set up whatever it is that God wants to do.

And when God wants to replace a pastor or God wants to send a pastor, he makes it known by the spiritual power that he puts inside that individual.

And it's evidenced by others.

By their fruit ye shall know them.

Look over at Numbers, if you would, Numbers 27, when Moses is going to transition power from him to Joshua.

Numbers 27.

Go on back over there.

This is why you need your Bible.

You need it so you know the precepts of the Word of God, line upon line, here a little, there a little, so you might understand how God works and how he operates.

Numbers 27.

Numbers 27.

Verse number 18.

The Bible says this, and the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him, and set him before Eliezer the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight.

And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient, and he shall stand before Eliezer the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord.

At his word shall they go out, and at his word shall they come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

And he took Joshua and set him before Eliezer the priest and before all the congregation.

And he laid his hands upon him.

And he gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

Question, who's in charge here?

God is in charge.

Who's in charge of this church?

God is in church.

God is in charge of this church.

See, God called Moses.

Moses goes in, he preaches, the children of Israel delivered, and they're following Moses, the pastor in the wilderness.

The congregation is following the pastor, if you would, at God's leadership.

And when it's time when Moses is going to pass off the scene, he says, Now I want Joshua to be the next pastor.

He's going to lead them into the promised land.

And so God tells Moses, put your hands on Joshua in the sight of all the people, and I want you to pray over him and charge him and cause your honor to go upon him so that the people will see where the wisdom and will and work of God is going.

See, God is calling the shots here.

When you get messed up in your life, it's because you think you're calling the shots.

You're not calling the shots, friend.

God is the one who holds the galaxies together.

He's holding Jupiter and Mars and the moon together.

It's God's will.

It's God's design.

You say, I don't like it that way.

Well, when you become God, which you're never going to be, you can call the shots.

Until then, He is the only God.

Amen.

There is no other, according to the Bible.

And so God is ordaining things, He's setting things up.

Let me say this to you: God doesn't make mistakes.

Look over in your Bible at Romans chapter number 11, a little Bible study.

You're good with the Bible study?

Romans chapter number 11.

The Bible says this about the Jews and the Gentiles, and I love chapters 9 through 11, but I'm only gonna look at one verse inside here.

Romans chapter 11.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

Stay with me.

Romans chapter number 11.

Look what it says here in verse number 29.

Romans 11, verse number 29.

Say amen if you're there.

For the gifts and calling of God are without, what's it say?

Repentance.

When God gifts you, he knows what he's doing.

Amen.

When God calls you to do a work, he knows what he's doing.

Now, how many of them like me, where you're putting up excuses?

I don't know enough, I don't speak well enough, I don't have all it figured out.

How many of you are throwing up all those excuses?

That's humanism.

That's us, that's all of us.

But we're not trusting in ourselves.

We're trusting in his spirit, we're trusting in his word.

And so if you're thinking about the ministry and you're thinking about how God ordains, how does he do it?

He does it by his spirit.

He does it by his word.

It's all led by God.

You say, Well, how do you know if you're called?

He'll let you know.

You won't be able to shake it.

I remember when God called me to preach, I couldn't sleep at night.

I was up all night long.

I could just sense the Holy Spirit of God.

And I said, God confirm it.

God show me, God give me understanding.

And sure enough, we were driving down the road.

He marked it and gave me assurance.

And from that point forward, I have been called by God to preach the word of God.

It's the call, it's the power of God.

I gotta tell you this, it's not me, it's him.

It's his work flowing in me and through me.

And the same is true for Brother Edman, who we're gonna be ordaining today.

It's not him, it's not me, it's him working in and through us to will and to do of his good pleasure.

You say, Well, what is this?

If you're taking notes, number one, the call and orination of God.

It's the call and ordination of God.

You say, how how does this how did it work in the Old Testament?

Well, priests were ordained, prophets were ordained, kings were ordained, you remember Aaron and his sons, you remember the Levites, you remember the prophets, you remember Saul and David and others, they were ordained to do the will of God.

How was it done?

It was a divine calling.

God initiated the calling.

Then there was a public ceremony, it was witnessed by the people.

Then there were laying on of hands, a transfer of authority, then there was anointing oil in the Old Testament where they would dump the oil on.

You say, what was the purpose?

The purpose was to represent God to the people and to do the will of God and the people to God.

It was to maintain law and worship, it was to serve in holiness.

You say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, preacher, that's all Old Testament.

What about the New Testament?

Well, God ordained and called the apostles, the elders, deacons, Timothy, Titus.

You say, how did he do that?

Well, look in your Bible, go over to Mark chapter number three.

Mark chapter number three.

Mark chapter number three.

As you're thinking through this, this call, this ordination is first and foremost a call to be with Jesus.

Mark chapter number three.

And look what it says in verse number 13.

And he, Jesus, goeth up into a mountain, and he calleth unto him whom he would.

God chooses who gets to go to the appointment.

God chooses who gets to go to the mountain.

And he calls whom he would.

And they came unto him.

In verse 14, and he ordained twelve that they should, what's it say?

Be with him.

Be with him.

Everybody say, be with him.

And that he might send them forth to preach.

See, this call is first a call to be with Jesus.

Then it's a call to preach.

If you don't get the with, then you're not going to get the for.

You've got to be with him if you're going to have power in your life.

You've got to have his presence before you get his power.

And so we see here, he calls them to himself.

My call to ministry, Donald's call to ministry, is first and foremost a call to be with God.

That's why if we're ever fellowshipping and you find me sneak away to a mountain or somewhere else, it's because I'm called to be with God.

I need time with my master, with the one who called me and sanctified me and sanctioned me.

And then you'll see here that Jesus calls them, and what do they do afterwards?

They're with him, and then he sends them forth, and then it's getting on like Donkey Kong, friend.

They are preaching, they're casting out devils.

Things are happening, and it's wonderful.

And remember, you guys remember the story?

They come back and they're pumped.

They're chest bumping, their fist bumping, they're, yeah, what's up?

Even the devils are subject unto us.

They're fired up.

And Jesus says, uh-uh, boys, don't rejoice over the fact that the devils are subject unto you.

Let me tell you what you're supposed to rejoice over.

Not the fact that you've got power over devils, but the fact that your name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

That you're saved by the grace of God, that you should be rejoicing in me and our relationship and the fact that I came for you and saved you.

It ought to be about our relationship, not about the work that you do, but the work that I did in your life in saving you.

Keep the focus where it's supposed to be.

And so you say, Well, what after they're called and ordained in the New Testament, what does Jesus do?

Well, in Matthew 28, he says, Hey, go ye and preach the gospel to every creature.

And that's what we're supposed to do.

And as you preach the gospel, guess what happens when you preach the gospel?

People get saved.

How many of y'all have been saved by the grace of God?

I've been saved by the grace of God.

What happens after you get saved by the grace of God?

You get baptized.

You don't get baptized before you get saved.

Why?

Because then you're just taking a bath.

You get baptized after you get saved.

Amen.

You don't get ordained from the church before you get the call of God.

You get the call of God, and then you're ordained, if you would, and laid hands on by the church.

God is a God of order.

And if you get the order messed up, you're gonna be in a world of confusion.

There's an order to everything.

There's an order to the galaxies, there's an order to the church, there's an order to your family, there's an order to your walk with God.

You say, how do I get the the blueprint, the plans?

The B-I-B-L-E.

You've got to get into the book, friend.

You gotta know what it says.

You gotta you gotta take it in and say, okay, God, what do you want me to do?

Well, you say, what do you do in a church when when somebody's called and you're like, I see him working, I see him serving, I see him soul winning, I see him discipling, I see him doing things.

Here's what you're doing, church.

You're taking notice of what the Holy Spirit's doing in that vessel.

See, it's not the pastor, the deacons that are like, I'm gonna put spiritual power on you.

That's not how that works.

They're saved by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit stirring around inside of them, and they're moving because they're his workmanship, and fruit is coming off of their life, and when it's time and God says, I want this vessel over there to serve me over there.

All the church is doing is, yeah, we see the track record of spiritual fruit, and we're gonna lay hands because we want you to do what God wants you to do.

Look over in Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

You're listening very well.

Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

We know that they're preaching the gospel, they're getting the work done, uh, people are getting saved, baptized, they're getting added to the church, it's going on real, real good.

And sometimes we can think like they did.

Well, you know what?

The church is going well.

Why don't we just stay here and just do this?

I like our church.

Why are you gonna move away?

We just started on this thing.

We don't call the shots.

You don't get to control me, and I don't get to control you.

Amen.

God is the one who's leading us, God who's the one who's putting us together.

Well, in Acts chapter 13, the Bible says this in verse 1.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, and as Barnabas and Simeon that were called Niger and Lucius and Cyrene and Maenaean, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul.

Look what it says in verse 2.

As they ministered to who?

Who were they ministering to?

I can't hear it.

Who are they ministering to?

Okay, question.

Who was Clara ministering to when she was just singing and playing the piano right now?

Who was Amos singing and ministering to just a minute ago?

The Lord.

Who was all the musicians and the drummers and everybody up here?

Who are they ministering to?

The Lord.

It's always to the Lord.

It's not about you.

Now you and I, we get a benefit from it.

Amen?

Because this is a relationship.

We're growing together.

But the heart is towards him.

That's why if somebody gets mad at my preacher and they get mad at the music and they start criticizing, getting upset, they think it's for them.

This is not a consumer-based church.

This little church didn't just go to the market and now we're doing whatever you want.

No, no.

This is about the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

And sometimes our American mindsets can get all mixed up and think, well, this church has it this way and this person has it this way.

Good for them.

I'm not following the consensus of the social norm and the cultural relatives of what everybody wants.

I'm following what the king wants.

It's a whole different mindset.

So what are they doing?

These faithful preachers, they're in the church.

Let me say that again.

These faithful preachers, they're in the church.

And if you want God to use you, you too must be faithful in the church.

You too must minister to the Lord in the church and bear fruit in the church.

And the Bible says, and as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, that means they're not eating.

They're praying.

They're wholly focused on what God wants.

The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost said, Whoa, time out.

Does that mean the Holy Ghost speaks?

Hello?

The Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them.

So God looks down inside the church and he says, I like Barnabas and I like Saul and I see them serving me.

I saw Barnabas sell his house.

I saw him go all in.

I saw him give.

I saw him be a consol, uh a son of consolation, I saw him be an encourager, I saw Saul transformed before my eyes, and now he's a chosen vessel.

I want these two to be separated from this church, and I'm gonna send them out as missiles for me.

Saul transformed before my eyes, and now he's a chosen vessel.

I want these two to be separated from this church, and I'm gonna send them out.

They weren't mama called and daddy sent, they were Holy Ghost called.

In this passage of scripture, it's the Holy Ghost that said, I want them out of that church now.

You say, I thought God wants everybody in church.

Yeah, until he wants them to move and start another church.

Well, I don't like it.

I like Barnabas and I like Saul and I like the Inmens.

Why does God gotta take them away from me?

It's not about you.

Didn't we already establish that?

Well, what about my grandbabies?

And what about my baked treats?

And what about my CrossFit partner?

It's not about you.

You know, when the babies are young, we dedicate them.

Here you go, God, they're yours.

Then they get 18, 19, 20, 30, 40 years.

They're mine! What are you doing?

You want to take them back?

Which is it?

Are they God's or yours?

See, we're stewards of whatever God wants to do.

So what does the church do after God calls Barnabas and Saul for the work?

Well, the verse says this in verse number four.

So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed unto Seleucia from thence.

Oh no, back up just a little bit.

Verse 3.

And when they had fasted and prayed, what does it say?

They laid their hands on them and sent them away.

Now notice it doesn't say they waited 50,000 years and raised 50 million dollars and they had to have it all figured out their blueprint, and every they had a big band of people and they had a launch team and all this other junk that everybody else wants to put together today.

It just said the Holy Spirit said, You and you are going there.

And the church said, if that's what the Holy Spirit wants, let's pray over them and send them out.

That's why the Bible says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Don't lean to your own understanding.

My understanding wants to have all the logistics figured out.

I want to remind you of something.

Moses didn't have the logistics figured out when he was gonna go in to talk to the superpower of the world to deliver all the prisoners that were there.

Jeremiah didn't have it figured out when he couldn't even talk the right way.

All of these people that are called in the Bible, Abram, when he was called, God didn't say, Well, you're gonna go here, here, here, and here.

He just said, You are going there.

And there are gonna be times and you don't have it figured out.

You don't know what to do, you don't know which way to walk, you're just following God.

And he hasn't given you clarity just yet.

You say, well, why doesn't he give us all the money, all the time, all the resources, and have it all figured out?

Because then you're walking by sight and not by faith.

See, God wants you to lean on him and not on your own understanding.

And so you say, well, so God ordained apostles, elders, deacons.

You say, yeah, they did that to deacons too.

Look at Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 6, you're listening so well.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

I haven't forgot about my outline, but the Bible's more important than my outline.

Acts chapter 6, the Bible says there was so much growth in the church in Acts chapter number six that uh the widows were being neglected.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

And uh the Bible goes on to say this uh right here in Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

Are you all there?

Say amen.

It says in verse 6, whom after they selected the right people, well, actually, look at verse number 3.

It says, Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among yourself among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

So they select the men, and look what it says in verse six, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

Notice the prayer and the laying on of hands.

Notice that some of the qualifications were they're full of the Holy Ghost.

They were honest, they had wisdom.

See, this is why a position, a title, means nothing to me.

Just because you put doctor on your name in front of your name, that doesn't mean you know what you're doing.

That doesn't listen, just because you put pastor on there, that doesn't mean that you're called by God.

Anybody can put a title on something, anybody can graduate from a university.

Listen, I want to know are you marked by God?

Are you called by God?

Do you have a walk with God?

Why is that important?

I'll tell you why that's important here in a little bit.

I'll tell you very much why that's important.

But before I do that, I want to give you this number one, this first point about ordaining and sending.

Number one, the call and ordination.

It's from God.

Amen.

It's from God.

God's pattern of ordaining leaders is consistent across scripture.

A divine call, then it's affirmed publicly with the purpose of serving, leading, and glorifying God.

Let me give you number two, write this down.

The making of a pastor.

The making of a pastor.

You understand?

Even when you're called to preach and you're called to serve, it doesn't mean you automatically are gonna be very good at it.

See, God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

Meaning this, once he calls you, then he develops you on the journey.

You're gonna fumble, you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna say the wrong words.

And I want to tell you this: the making of a pastor, it's very difficult and it's very dangerous.

Brother Enman, this is a very dangerous calling.

You will battle the flesh, the world, and the devil.

And if the devil can't get to you, he's gonna go after your wife, and if you can't get your wife, he's gonna go after your children.

It's gonna be like the book of Job, where that enemy is constantly trying to penetrate and divide and conquer, and he's gonna use lies.

Lies about God, lies about you, and lies about others.

It's a very dangerous and difficult calling.

There's trials that you're gonna come upon you that you did not even think or imagine could happen.

There are people they're gonna say they love you and they're for you, and then they're gonna backstab you.

Your children are gonna have relationships with somebody, and before you know it, after six months, a year, three years, they're gonna ghost you.

And your job, Inman family, is to love them anyways.

Bless them anyways, speak good anyways.

It is a very dangerous and difficult path.

It's a humbling and tenderizing, heart-tenderizing path.

You say, why is it so hard and humbling and heart-tenderizing?

Because you're gonna be rejected over and over and over again.

You hear people when they have a uh they're dating somebody and then they break up.

Listen, let me tell you this.

As a pastor, you will date thousands of people only to have your heart smashed to smithereens over and over and over and over again.

That's why many times if you're single out there and and you hear me counsel you, hey, just go on another date, it's because I've had my heart shattered more times than you could ever imagine.

And that's why sometimes it's it's it's it's challenging for me to emotionally grieve a thousand, ten thousand people like this.

But if you don't learn to process the grief and the loss, then you're not gonna be a very effective minister.

So your heart has to breathe, it has to feel, it has to be able to cope with all the pain.

And what is God doing?

He's sifting you of pride.

He's he's sifting you of pride.

And is it is God sifting anybody in here of your pride today?

Yeah.

And that's that's that's a good thing, right?

Because pride causes God to resist you.

And especially in the ministry, if you're pastoring and you're ministering and you get proud, and by the way, I do get proud, just because you preach every week doesn't mean you don't have the same issues that everybody else in the church has.

We're all got the we're all cut of the same cloth.

All of us have the same human skin, all of us have the same problems, if you would.

There's a difference though.

The calling makes the difference, and the calling gives the equipping of grace, but it does not alleviate the human trials or the failures that you're gonna go through.

That's why you have to get very, very good at saying, I'm sorry, will you forgive me?

I got that wrong.

And it's God making you a pastor.

I want to remind you of this in the making of a pastor.

You're gonna be so tempted to think that money's the answer, that more people are the answer, that the next latest fat is the answer, that the next song or instrument or this Bible version or this website or this technology is the answer.

Don't buy any of those lies.

None of those are the answers.

Jesus is the answer.

It's always been and it always will be him.

And I'm not against musical instruments and I'm not against technology, but do not think that those crutches are gonna be your savior.

Because they're not.

Jesus is the savior and he's jealous of his title and his position, and he'll share his glory with no one and no thing.

And so when you're walking through this and you're tempted to cut a corner and you're tempted to, I'm just gonna go as fast as I can, you have to remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.

And for those of you out there who you're in the middle of an intense trial and you're trying to sprint it out and you're trying to hold it together, I wanna remind you of something.

You're not going to rush your way out of a God-ordained trial.

It's just not gonna happen.

You can wear yourself out all you want, you can kick and fuss and cuss and do whatever you think is gonna work.

It's not.

You gotta learn to relax in the trial.

You gotta learn to say, okay, this is a long, a long journey.

And I'm not just trying to get out of this.

I'm gonna walk with God in this.

What that'll do is it'll slow you down a little bit.

You get a little banana spot, you get a little bit of sugar inside you, right?

You're like, hey, let's go at a pace we can, we can we can flow in.

And the temptation here is that you're gonna look at other Christians and other churches, and people are gonna throw all kinds of stuff at you.

Well, this church and this Christian, this family, you just have to remember you're not them.

You'll never be them.

Don't try to be them.

You you're not gonna be Victory Baptist Church, you're not gonna be Jason Brown, you're Donald Inman, you're Alyssa Inman, and God's gonna use you in a unique way.

And anytime somebody tries to put something on you, it's gonna be the akin to uh when they tried to put Saul's armor on David.

Here, if you're gonna go fight Goliath, put on the king's armor.

This is the king's armor, and this is what Christians and churches do.

Well, this church was successful, and this is where the power is.

It's on the technology, it's on the tools, it's on this position, it's on doing it this way.

It's none of those things.

And David had to throw all that away and say, nah, nah, that's not who I am.

I haven't proved any of that stuff.

I'm gonna use what God's given to me.

And perhaps you're out there right now and you're you're stuck in the comparison trap, you're stuck in trying to use all the little things that everybody thinks is gonna make your life better, and you're wearing yourself out.

Just drop all of it.

Drop all of it and say, God, what have you given to me?

What are the the gifts and the calling and the passion and the talents that you have given to me?

And here's what happens: when you accept who God has made you, your life will change.

Because you won't be trying to put up a facade to try to uh uh connect with somebody else to make them like you in a certain way.

No, no, you be who God's made you to be.

And now what happens is you go out with that slingshot and take out the Goliath that God's ordained for you to take out.

Oh, the making of a pastor.

It's a sacred calling, it's a it's a heavy weight, and let me tell you this there's there's a gonna be a great cost.

There's gonna be times where the little church plant is like a little baby.

And how many of any mamas out there with brand new little babies?

They poop all the time, they're peeing all the time, they're fussing all the time, even after you fed them and clothed them and changed them, they're still gonna squawk.

It's the same thing with a brand new church plant, it's the same thing with many of the Christians.

They just, they're flesh.

And you have to love them and encourage them and help them, and then they'll come through their phases of the toddler phase and so on and so forth.

And there's all kinds of phases that you're gonna go through.

And so here's my charge to you.

Number three, the charge.

The charge to the new pastor.

1 Timothy, turn your Bible, 1 Timothy chapter number 4.

And then we're gonna go to 2 Timothy chapter number four.

If you're a guessing here, you might be wondering, what did I walk in on?

Yeah, you walked in on the work of God.

This isn't, this isn't a show.

This isn't just, you know, a hype moment.

This is the work of God.

Following the Bible in an awesome way.

1 Timothy chapter number 4, look what it says here.

In verse number 12, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity, till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by the prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.

Those are the leaders that are gonna be praying over you.

Paul's telling this to Timothy.

He says, Meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them that thy propheting may appear to all.

You know what he's saying?

Hey, you need to stay into the Bible, you need to stay in reading, exhortation, and doctrine.

I said, I say it, stay in the red zone.

They say in football, if you can punch through the red zone, you can score.

You want to score in ministry, you stay in the red zone and you punch through reading, exhortation, and doctrine.

Right?

You stay encouraged, you stay reading your Bible, and you stay in the in the in the truth of the word of God.

And don't let anybody uh shame you.

Well, you're too young or you're too old, or you have tattoos, or you did this, and you have that.

They didn't call you.

So you don't answer to them, you answer to God.

And Paul is telling Timothy to stay pure and stay true, and he says, meditate on these things because here's what's going to happen.

Here's what I found in ministry for 15 years here at Victory Baptist Church and preaching many years before that.

God will make you to prosper.

It will be God working in you.

Listen, I get all kinds of haters.

Well, he does this and he does that, and he does, he dresses this way, and he has that instrument, and he does this over here, and he dresses this way and he has that instrument.

I'm mad and get all upset because they can't control me.

And then they think, oh, he's gonna fall apart, and then all of a sudden God just goes, BAM! And I love it because it's almost like, what's up now?

I told you he's with me.

I told you.

I told you that.

But the best thing is when God tells them that.

So you don't gotta go around and try to tell him all the time.

You just let your works flow.

You just let the fruit, the fruit grow.

And your propheting will appear before everybody.

All the haters, all the naysayers, all the scorners, all the skeptics, all the people that back out on you.

Listen, you didn't do it for them in the beginning, you did it for him.

And so your propheting will appear before all.

Now, check this out.

This is what you gotta watch out for.

Nobody takes down the man of God but the man of God.

Nobody.

Nobody does.

That's why he says this in this verse, in verse 16 take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine.

Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt save thyself and them that hear thee.

You've got to continually check yourself so you don't wreck yourself.

I said, chickadee, check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Right?

Because if you don't continually pull the beams out of your eye, man, you'll mess up yourself and you'll mess up everybody else.

So you've got to continually look in the laver that the priest would have to go in before they ministered in the temple.

How am I looking, Jesus?

I'm taking the mirror to myself.

God, do I have pride?

Do I have anger?

Do I have lust?

Do I have greed?

Do I have apathy?

God, remove it out of me.

Create in me a clean heart, oh God.

I'm unto you, oh God.

Sanctify me.

And every single day, as you pull those beams out of your eye and you get clean, you'll be able to take heed to yourself.

See, the trap is this: if you go and try to take care of all of them all the time, the phone's gonna buzz, the email's gonna buzz, why didn't you do this and why didn't you do that?

You're gonna run around as a crazy person.

Trying to be all of their savior.

But you're never intended to be their savior.

He's their savior.

You're just his minister.

So you've got to continually take heed to yourself to make sure you're walking with him.

And you're walking as he wants you to walk and flowing as he wants you to flow.

Now you say, What's my job as the charge to the new pastor?

Go over to 2 Timothy chapter number 4.

You're listening very well.

2 Timothy chapter 4, verse number 1.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Paul tells Timothy, he says, I charge thee.

Everybody say, I charge thee.

Before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.

It's God who's gonna judge us.

He says, Preach the word.

Be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

You know what your job is?

Preach this Bible.

Now there's gonna be all kinds of people.

They want you to sound a certain way, and they want you to put funny stories together, and they want you, they think you have to have an outline in a certain way, and you should have an antidote here and an illustration here.

None of those people called you.

None of those people called you.

That's why you must major on preaching the Bible.

Preach the word.

If they got a problem with the word, they got a problem with God.

So Paul tells Timothy, he says, preach that word, whether you feel like it or not.

You know how many times?

How many of y'all had to come to church even when you didn't feel like it?

Come on.

How many of you're here today, even though you didn't feel like coming today?

But how many of you glad you came today to hear the word of God?

There's times you're not gonna feel like preaching, there's times you two are gonna have issues, you and your wife.

There's times your daughter's gonna have a bad attitude, and your son's gonna have a bad attitude, and you're gonna have to console and pray and comfort, and you've still got to get up behind the sacred desk and deliver the goods to feed the flock.

And none of them are gonna ask or care about you because they're here for them.

And when it's convenient for them, they'll leave.

They don't mean to, they're just humans and they're sheep, and they and they want what they want.

They're not gonna ask about you and your family, they're not gonna wonder if you got your uh if you're financially taken care of, they're not gonna think about your vacations.

They're only thinking many times about themselves and how you can benefit them.

And that's okay.

You're called to love Jesus and to feed the flock.

Very few of them will actually have a heart.

How can I help you?

How can I serve you?

You're the man of God.

I want to minister to you.

I want to be like Aaron and her and lift your arms.

Very few.

And it's not the ones that say it, it's the ones who are there with a good attitude.

I'm here.

What do you need?

I got this.

How can I help?

And it'll take a few years before you find out who's who.

In church planting, you're gonna have you're gonna have different kinds of people that are gonna come your way.

Some are gonna be, they're there for a moment, some will be there for a year, and some will be there for decades.

Your job is to love them all, preach the word, and even when you don't feel like it, be in season, out of season.

You're gonna, you listen, there's gonna be moments you're gonna hit like a bomb of a home run.

Bam! I mean, you just drilled that sucker.

And you're gonna look, you're gonna need some encouragement.

How did I do?

And they're gonna be like, eh.

And this is why you can't let your ministry be based on their feedback.

Because there's other times you're gonna be like, man, that was a dud.

I laid an egg.

That was a terrible message.

And then somebody's gonna come up, that message changed my life.

How'd you know?

Yeah.

And here's the deal: we don't know what's happening in everybody's hearts.

We have no clue what everyone's going through.

They're all at different phases and places in their life.

And this is why your job is just preach the book.

The most painful thing you're gonna face is what it says next.

Verse 3 for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.

Listen, you're gonna pour in, you'll give more time to disciples and people in the church.

You'll have spent your gas, your time, your energy, all of your money.

All of your expertise, all of your schooling, everything that you are to love and to pour into somebody who doesn't even value their life and doesn't care about their future, but they're gonna get a good bump and they're gonna get a good encouragement for everything that you are to love and life encouragement for a little while, and then you're gonna say one wrong thing or something's gonna happen, and they're gonna be like, peace out, I'm gone, and they're gonna ghost you.

And in those moments, many times they'll turn to fables, they'll walk away, and that's when you're gonna have to back up and say, I did this for you, Jesus.

I love them, but I did this for you.

And the challenge here is you don't throw rocks at them when they ice you and diss you and ghost you.

Don't do it.

Because then you're falling into the same trap that they fell into by the devil.

What you do is you be like Jesus.

I'm gonna pray for them, I'm gonna love them.

Even if they betray me, if they do whatever, I'm still gonna be like Jesus.

And if you don't blow up those bridges and you just stay kind and stay sweet and you stay faithful, and you, whether people are there or they're not there, whether people are given or not given, doesn't matter.

If you just stick and stay with Jesus all the way, here's what'll happen: they'll learn their lessons.

Some of them it'll take a month, some of them will take six months, some take five, ten, twenty years, and some of them never learn it.

But if you keep that door open and that path open and don't blow up those bridges, they're gonna realize okay, so the inmens were high-quality, godly people, and they loved me even when I didn't love myself.

And then when they receive that forgiveness after they dished you and punked you, now they'll understand the love of God at a greater capacity.

But they couldn't get it without your faithful example.

So there's a lot that's gonna take place.

So my charge to you is be strong and of good courage.

And keep following Jesus and do exactly what he wants and watch what he does.

Now you say, preacher, what about us, the church?

Well, number four, the healthy church.

Here's what a healthy church does.

Are you all digging this?

Okay, here's what a healthy church does.

The healthy church sends.

We send.

That's what we do.

We don't control.

You say, what do you mean, send?

Remember, like in Acts chapter 13, they laid hands on them and they prayed over them and they sent them out?

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Well, our job as a church, I would liken it this way.

Our job as a church is, you know, when your kids grow up and they're getting into college and you send them out?

Right?

Well, you're shifting from a parental authority role where you have oversight into their in adulthood.

And now they're making their own choices, and now you're more of an advisor and you're more of a counselor.

But if you fail to realize the transition because of their age and because of where they're at, it'll mess up the dynamics of the relationship.

How many of y'all know what I'm talking about?

You've got to give them respect and treat them with honor and integrity and say, okay, you're an adult.

If you want to make that choice, you make that choice.

I love you no matter what.

And then there's that interesting transition where they're out of the nest, but yet they still want mama and daddy to pay for things.

Now, this is where it gets a little challenging.

Okay?

Because everybody wants to be an adult, everybody wants to be a church planter until it's their job to take care of the bills.

It's a whole nother game now, and here's the challenge.

You have to teach them, listen, I want you to be an adult, I want you to be that church planter, I want you to do that.

But listen, as you go, you're taking on what were my responsibilities on your own shoulders now.

I am not going to be your babysitter, I'm not going to be your funder, I'm not going to be the person who's always going to save the day for you.

You, this is now where you're learning to flap your own wings and take care of yourself.

That doesn't mean moms and dads and sending churches don't love and don't care, but we have to make sure that we don't confuse how this works.

There has to be healthy boundaries and healthy understanding.

When I look at the Apostle Paul, nowadays they have all kinds of church planting meetings and it ought to be done this way and send as a team, and all that is great and dandy until you read the Bible.

You don't see people going on deputation for 50,000 years.

You see the call of God, the ordination, and then going and figuring it out.

That's what I see.

I also see, yes, Paul would go back and raise some bounty money to help with churches, and they would help Paul on his missionary journeys.

That would be a blessing.

But there were times that Paul didn't have any money, right?

Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

He didn't have any.

And this is why ministry is not contingent upon money, it's contingent upon a call from God.

And so you say, well, what about what does a healthy church do?

Well, here's uh four marks of a of a of a sending church.

Realize, number one, it's a great honor to raise up God's ministers.

It's an honor to raise up the inmens.

Over the last five years to watch them serve Jesus and love Jesus and lead souls to Jesus.

How many of your parents that your kids are out of the house and your grandbabies are out there?

It was a great honor to raise your kids.

You loved having your kids with you.

It is a great honor, but I want to tell you this it's a season.

It goes like this, doesn't it?

Bam.

Bam.

Then you see the pictures of the babies when they're little and you're like, I just have it back again.

There's a connection there in church planting and sending out, sending forth.

Number two, it's a sign of maturity when you can send people out of your church.

See, if your church is all about, well, I gotta have as many seats and as much money, it's all about how big I am, then your value is based on size and you're really an insecure person.

But if you realize, no, I'm in this for God and I'm sending out whoever God wants to go out, it's a healthy thing.

So the same thing with my son and my daughter, and your sons and daughters too.

The goal is not to keep your kids with you forever.

The goal is to raise them up, right?

To see them live their life and move forward in a healthy way.

It's the sign of a healthy church when you can send them forth and you can shift from this authority-dominating oversight to, hey, I'm here if you need me.

I'm a counselor, I'm a friend, I'm not gonna try to call the shots in your life.

Um the doors open, whatever you need, I love you.

You say, what's another mark?

Number three, it's a shared responsibility when you're when you're planting churches.

For the church planter, we're responsible to them, but not for them.

Meaning this, our job is to pray for them, to love them, to support them, and yes, we'll go out, whoever wants to, uh, help pass out some tracks, but it is not our job as the sending church to pay his bills.

Did you hear that?

Just like mommy and daddy, when your kids get out of your house, it is not your job to pay their bills.

I'm not saying you don't help out if you don't want to, if you want to, you certainly can, but that's not a demand.

It is a privilege if the parent decides to do it.

Here's where church planters get mixed up, and I'm so thankful for my pastor.

My pastor said, go, and I went.

I didn't go to him and be like, here, give me all this money.

I just said, okay, I'm gonna go.

And I'm gonna trust God.

And I learned a lot doing that.

Church planters get mixed up and messed up when they always look back to the parent church and they think, well, why isn't my parents giving me any more money?

There's a good place to go if you want money to work.

Right?

Yes, sir.

You add value.

Now, here's what I found in ministry, brother.

Just to go if you want money to work.

Brother Donald and Sister Alyssa.

Those that preach the gospel live of the gospel.

It is right for the church and holy and good for them to give their tithes and offerings to their home church to take care of you.

And it is right for you, those that preach the gospel, to live of the gospel.

As soon as they put their offerings down, they're giving it to God.

Right?

They're not giving it to you, they're giving it to God.

Just like when you're preaching and ministering, you're doing it for God.

Now they get the benefit of it.

As soon as they put the money in the plate, it's all laid up for them in Jesus' eyes.

Now it's your responsibility to do whatever Jesus tells you to do with it.

Because he's entrusted it to you.

As long as the church does their job in following Jesus and you do your job in following Jesus, it's gonna work out great.

So it's the sign of a healthy church to share that responsibility, to be a blessing, to be a support, to be a help.

Now, as a missions-giving church, do we support missionaries?

Yeah, we sure do.

Do we support church planters?

Yeah, we sure do.

A rule of thumb is this if they're on the foreign field and they can't work because the government that they're out there will kick them out of their country, then we've got to figure out a way to make sure that they can stay there.

In the United States, we're citizens here where we can work and we can get gain, and it's not seen as a negative thing, then the church planter, many times, in my uh experience, becomes bivocational.

If you become bivocational, meaning you're serving full-time in ministry and you're doing business, you are not less of a pastor than the person who's a full-time pastor.

You're just doing what God's called you to do.

And here's what you'll find out.

Whether the church, especially in the beginning years or later years, give and it's financially supporting, it's always on you.

Always.

And you're gonna be tempted to get upset when they're not giving.

What you do is you must sacrifice.

That means if you get a paycheck, but the church needs it, you're gonna have to put the paycheck back in.

Why?

Because now instead of your family just being right here, all of this is your family now.

All of it.

And the family needs a house to live in.

The family needs a place to meet and to be ministered to.

So the buck stops with you.

And you're gonna be the one that says, okay, if there's not enough finances, I must cut this right here, I must cut this, I must cut this, um, and I guess I'm going to get a second job, or a third job, or a fourth job, or a fifth job, right?

Here's the idea.

I will do whatever it takes in God's will to make sure that I'm fulfilling the call of God on my life and taking care of the church.

Now, here's what happens: the church feels it, they sense it.

The conviction, the work ethic, the power, the motivation.

And every time you are laboring to love and to provide, you're being an example for them.

You're being an example because you're saying, follow me as I follow Christ.

And as you do a good job, God will bless it.

So, as a church, a healthy church, what it does, it's an honor to raise up, it's a sign of maturity to send out, it's it's shared responsibility in sending out ministers, but it's also this it's an act of recognition where we affirm, listen to this.

We're affirming what God has already done.

When we, because point number five is this.

Point number five, if you want to write this down, I'm done.

Ordination of Donald Inman.

All we're doing is we're affirming what God's already done in his heart.

Check this out.

It's the same thing as baptism.

When somebody comes over here, I know you're yawning right now, but you're gonna have to just stay with me.

Um I told you it wasn't gonna be a hype message, it's gonna be a teaching message.

The people that get baptized, they've already been saved.

Right?

Something spiritual happened in their heart where they got saved, and they're just, the church together is affirming, after asking questions, have you received Christ as Savior?

Have you placed your faith in him?

They're saying, yes, yes, yes.

The spiritual work has already been done in their heart.

Now the physical work, the physical work, the ceremonial work, the ordinance, if you would, of baptism is being conducted publicly by the church family to honor God in the baptism.

But the spiritual work's already been done.

The same is true when it comes to the ordination.

When we lay hands and we're ordaining, it's the physical component of it, and it's very special, but the Holy Spirit already gave him the call.

Can I go a step deeper with you?

There are some churches because of fear and pride and arrogance, they won't do their job.

And they'll say, no, I don't think so.

It's because they don't want to lose somebody.

And they won't recognize the call of God on somebody's life to be able to send them out because that church is insecure and wants to hold everybody together.

It's the same thing as a parent, a mom, or a dad who's like, it's my baby, I don't want them to go.

It'd be like, loosen the grip.

They can't grow up unless you let go.

Stop being that hovering parent.

Let them, you know, breathe and live and be who God wants them to be.

And so all we're doing today with Donald Inman is we're doing what the Bible says and recognizing the call of God on his life.

Did this message help clarify some things for you?

That was my intent.

My intent today was not to dazzle you with my oratory ability.

It wasn't to get to impress you at all.

I don't, I don't care about that.

There are far greater preachers than Jason Brown.

There's far more people out there that have doctor's degrees and they're theologians and they can wax eloquent.

That's not me.

My job today is to feed the flock and to help walk you through what the Bible says so that way you know what we're doing is biblical and accurate.

If I did my job, then God's gonna get the glory.