Grace Under Fire - Shepherd The Flock Of God

All right, good morning.

My name is Tyler and I'm the lead pastor here at Trinity and I have the privilege of bringing the word of God to you this morning.

So if you wanna, turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 5 and we'll be reading from there in just a minute and this is our last sermon from the series that we've been doing from 1 Peter called Grace Under Fire, hasn't it been great.

It's been all about how to live our lives as true believers in Jesus Christ, even when we're going through difficult times or times of unjust suffering.

And we know that those times are here and they're going to continue to increase.

And we as an elder team really felt like strongly that it was important for us to look through this book and to learn from it, to glean from it what it means to stand strong for Jesus Christ even during times of adversity, especially during times of adversity.

And today we're going to look at the importance of godly leadership within the church and how that should function and how the church itself should relate to those who are in leadership.

So the message is entitled Shepherd, the Flock of God.

Let's read together 1 Peter 5, verses 1 through 11.

1 Peter 5:1–11

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that, at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Be sober-minded, be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

To him be the dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Father.

We pray that these words this morning will not be filled with just man's wisdom or my own thoughts or ideas.

I pray, lord, that you would take your word of God off the pages of this book, this wonderful book that you've given us, and that you would breathe life into them and that you would cause them to enter each person's mind and in their soul and, most of all, into their spirit.

Father, I pray that you would cause transformation to come as a result of the words that are going to be spoken.

And, lord, we give you all of the glory and the honor and the power and the praise in Jesus' name, amen, amen.

One of the distinctives of Trinity Community Church is that we have a plurality of eldership, and some of you may ask what does that mean to have a plurality of eldership?

In simple terms, it means we have multiple pastors, we have more than one pastor.

We have six pastors or elders who serve within this team, and that's what we believe.

And that's what we believe.

This passage in 1 Peter is one of the hallmark passages in Scripture that teach us or that promote this model for us right.

And what does the plurality of elders mean to the church?

Let me give you just a few examples.

The first thing is this multiple accountability, mutual accountability, the fact that all of us together serve together and we also are watching out for each other.

So if I become tempted in a particular area, the other guys within the team step up to the plate and begin to address that with me, begin to help me to see my need to change or begin to help me to walk through a process of restoration or healing, and that can happen with any one of us at any given point in time of restoration or healing, and that can happen with any one of us at any given point in time.

We are mutually accountable to our wives and to each other.

How many of you know that's important in the day and time we're living in.

Many churches have fallen simply because there was no accountability in place for those who were in leadership within the team.

We have an extra layer of accountability where we have two overseers who help watch over the church as well.

That's Neil Silverberg and Clem Ferris, who was just here for Jubilee.

And so not only are we accountable amongst ourselves and with our wives and also with you, but also we're accountable to the overseers that are watching over this church as well.

We also believe that the role of lead pastor or elder is essential within the context of plural eldership.

So it's not co-equal eldership in the sense that there's no leadership, there's no singular leadership within the team.

There is a lead elder or lead pastor, and I happen to be the one in that role currently and I am very thankful for that, and I am very thankful for that and I am tasked with bringing vision to the elders, overseeing and leading the team of elders and communicating vision and direction to the church on behalf of the elders.

But guess what?

The authority for our church does not end with me.

I am a voice of authority within our church, but our authority belongs collectively to the entire group of elders, and that's a healthy thing.

There is always more than one elder.

Authority never resides with just one person.

The lead elder is not to take all.

I like this one.

I don't take all the heat if somebody doesn't like the changes that come.

I don't take all the heat if somebody doesn't like the changes that come.

That's a blessing.

But I also don't get all the credit if things work well, right and that's the way that it should be, because we are a team, we're not looking to promote ourselves.

And also I, as the lead pastor, am subject myself to the authority of the elder team, so even though I am the leader of the elder team, I'm also subject to it.

Does that make sense?

It's a really healthy thing and it takes honestly.

I've never served with a group of men that are the leadership of this church in this current season.

I've been around church life for most of my life.

I was saved at five years old and I am 51, so you can do the math.

I've been in church a long time and I've never been a part of a team of people who are, like so motivated not for themselves or for you know some dream that they have to fulfill in their own personal lives, but they really are motivated by following Christ, first of all, and then being a good example and leading this church in the direction that God wants it to go, and for that, again, I am truly grateful.

No major decisions are made within this church without a unanimous vote of the eldership.

Anything major that happens around here, we decide it together.

We decide it together.

Major that happens around here.

We decide it together.

We decide it together and it's important for us to do that.

So let me just kind of wrap it up A plurality of elders is the best and safest model of church government and, more importantly, it's the only biblical pattern of church government that we see in the New Testament.

Almost every example of the word elder used in the New Testament is plural elders, every letter written to the elders, and that's what we believe is God's way of maintaining a healthy church leadership, so that the people that are a part of the church can be a part of something that God has put together and that he's watching over and that they can trust, can be a part of something that God has put together and that he's watching over and that they can trust Not that they're trusting exclusively in the people who are serving on the team, but trusting the God who is in charge of the team.

That make sense.

Yeah, very good.

Some of you have wondered why we do what we do and why we rotate the pulpit and all of that.

And it's because it's really because of this principle right here that first Peter espouses in many other places in the New Testament.

God has called us to be a New Testament church, and so that means we have a plurality of eldership, all right.

So our passage begins with this thought of shepherding the flock of God.

It says shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

And it's interesting to me that Peter starts out by saying that he's a fellow elder of theirs.

This is an apostle of Jesus Christ who walked and talked with Jesus, who saw all of the miracles and walked on water himself and performed miracles himself.

And yet, as he's writing to the churches that he's writing to, he lowers himself, he humbles himself, in a way to say I am one of you, I am a fellow elder with you, and that's amazing to me, the humility that is observed there.

He qualifies himself as one who has seen the suffering Jesus.

He's been there with him, he's observed it, he's experienced it.

But guess what?

That's not the end of the story of Jesus Christ.

How many of you know that he will return, and he will return gloriously, and he will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And Peter is saying that I am looking forward, with all of you, to experiencing the glory that still will be revealed in Jesus Christ.

That my friends should get us through a lot of hard days here on this earth, right that reality.

So let's talk about church leaders.

Church leaders must remember that the church and the members belong to who Belong to, god.

You are not our partners, you are not our sheep, you are God's sheep right, and that's important.

And also, we are a part of the church as well as leaders, and we are God's sheep.

It is his church, don't forget that, and we are his people.

He is the one, like Derek said so greatly just a few minutes ago, he is the one and the only one who paid the price for our redemption and he is the one that is worthy of all glory and honor and praise, and we have no right as human beings to infringe upon what is due to him.

If that makes sense, if you think back to the first message that Mark shared in the series, he gave us a bio on Peter and one of the things that he kind of ended with was a poignant story of Peter as he's out fishing after Jesus has died and he goes back to what he knows.

So he's out fishing, although it doesn't seem like he was a great fisherman, because every time Jesus shows up he tells him where to fish to catch the fish Jesus must have.

You want Jesus in your boat.

I've invited Jesus many times into my boat as I've been fishing, with various mixed results from that.

Anyway, sometimes he was dealing with my heart and I didn't need to be focused on the fishing when I was in the boat.

But anyway, peter's there and Jesus is on the shore and he's cooking breakfast.

Where did he get the food?

He's the son of God.

He could have gotten it anywhere, right, but he's cooking breakfast and Peter recognizes him from the boat.

And what does he do?

He jumps in the water and he runs to him and Jesus and he have this moment.

You'll remember, not that long ago, when Jesus was arrested in the garden and he was taken back and he was getting ready to be tried by the high priest and all of those who were a part of what would become the passion of Christ.

Here he is and he's asked by the servant girl aren't you one of his disciples?

Weren't you with him?

And he swore three times I never knew him, and we know that Jesus had warned him that this was going to happen.

And Peter, of course, said never, I will die for you.

And what he meant was I'll go to the death fighting for you, and we see that in evidence in the garden when he pulls the sword out.

When Jesus told him to put his sword away, something changed in Peter's heart and he denied Christ three times.

But how many of you know that's not the end of Peter's story and how many of you are thankful, just like Derek was saying earlier condemnation.

The accuser of the brethren, who is Satan, loves to throw condemnation our way, based on something we did in some time in our history.

Condemnation our way based on something we did in some time in our history.

Guess what?

He's a liar, and we need to put our faith and hope and confidence and trust in the living God, who did what he did so that we could be free from the bondage of sin and death right.

So here we have Jesus and Peter having this encounter and Jesus asks Peter three questions.

Kind of interesting that he asked him three, almost like one for each of the denials.

Right, and remember what he says.

He asks him do you love me?

Peter, in kind of a declining tone, answers him, trying to be as honest as he can be, but also basically saying only you know, I don't even know my own heart, but I don't want us to focus as much in on that aspect as I want us to focus in on Jesus's response.

Remember what Jesus told him.

The first thing he said was feed my lambs.

The word there in the Greek speaks of little sheep, those that need help and nourishment, those who have to be fed.

They're not able to feed themselves yet.

Does that make sense?

And so what does Jesus call to Peter?

If you love me, feed my M-Y.

Whose flock is it, m-y?

Whose flock is it?

It's his flock.

But he's commissioning Peter to fulfill, continue, his purpose to be a shepherd underneath the shepherd of Christ.

Right, and what is he supposed to do?

He's supposed to nourish those who can't yet take care of themselves.

And then the second thing he says do you love me?

And then he says tend my sheep.

What does it mean tend?

And, by the way, in September, early September, mark's going to do an entire workshop on shepherding.

He went to Poland and he traveled with sheep across miles and miles and he learned so much during that time, and so we look forward to.

Really, I'm not going to be able to do that justice this morning with a few minutes that I have, but I want you to begin to look forward to that even now, because it's going to be really insightful.

Right, there's a reason that God uses the different imagery that he uses in the scriptures, right?

So, anyway, the second one tend my sheep.

How many of you know that God wants his people taken care of?

Tend my sheep, peter, if you love me, take care of the needs of the people spirit, soul and body.

Right?

And then the last do you love me and remember what Jesus's last refrain was feed my sheep.

This is talking about the grown ones, the adult ones, and this isn't talking about him sitting there in hand feeding them.

And this is talking about him leading them into pastures where they can feed themselves, where they can eat themselves.

And how many of you know, as Christians, if you've been in the Lord a long time and you're still needing one of us to hold a bottle for you?

We need to talk.

We need to talk.

It's time.

We all need to grow and progress in our relationship with the Lord, and part of our job as under shepherds of the flock of God is to make sure that we're helping take care of those things that make sense.

Great, and I believe, again Peter's purposely using the shepherd motif because that's what Jesus used with him Peter the fisherman.

But Jesus is talking to him about being a shepherd.

He's changing his identity.

He's changing his role right, his perspective.

Another passage in Acts shares the same sentiment.

In Acts 20, verse 28,.

Acts 20:28

It says pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

It's his church and we are under shepherds within that church, and the Holy Spirit is the one who's doing the work right and we're working alongside him.

Next, church leaders must serve God's church for the right reasons.

Have you ever been a part of a church where it became obvious that the church leadership was not serving the church and serving God for the right reasons?

I'm sorry that you experienced that, but that's a very real reality that unfortunately, many, many people have heard, even in the news this week.

There are other high-profile pastors.

That news has come out that there have been improprieties and things that have occurred that have caused them to step down from their role as lead pastors, and part of it.

Again I have to and again I have no clue on the inner workings of all of that.

That goes on, but I have to remain thankful and grateful that God has given us the wisdom through his word to make sure that we have accountability among us, to keep us from falling into the same pitfalls, because all of us are human beings and but for the grace of God, we could all end up in trouble, right?

So pastors must shepherd the flock of God, which they are called to, with the right motivation, with the right heart.

The flock belongs to God, but elders have been given the responsibility to serve underneath him, to be a part of his team.

Elders are to be mature men of Christian character who are qualified by the Holy Spirit to provide spiritual leadership in the church.

The Holy Spirit, jesus himself, gives these gifts to his body.

Right, he gives these gifts.

Ephesians 4.

We know that.

That's there.

The listing is there.

And what is the purpose of elders?

Ultimately, like I said, they are to protect, they are to lead, they are to guide, they are to feed, they are to instruct, they are to encourage, to exhort, all of those things.

But the motivation of elders should be divine, not human.

Our motivation should come from God and not from our own soul, if that makes sense.

So a church leader must be a willing leader first of all.

If we're going to talk about how a church leader should serve, first of all they should be willing.

It says exercising oversight not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.

Can you imagine if our elder team was determined by the Eeyore strategy?

Mark loves when I use analogies like this, but I'm going to use it.

So, eeyore, he's sitting around and nobody's stepping up to the plate to be an elder in the church.

And so you hear him say well, if you can't get anybody else to do it, I guess I'll do it.

How many of you would want to be a part of a church where that's the leadership team, right?

No, no, no, no.

We should have the right motivation.

We should be excited about being a part of what God is doing, not under compulsion, not because we feel obligated to, not because we have to.

And when I was growing up, I don't know how your dad was at his father's day.

I don't know how your dad was, but my dad was big on obedience, right.

I don't know what's happened in future generations since that time, but back then it was like whatever dad said was what happened.

I remember one time that he found out that there was trouble in the neighborhood.

All of us kids were fighting with each other, and so he gathered us all up and lined us up and spanked us all.

Now let's try that in a neighborhood near you, right?

But that was the way things were in 1970-whatever right Things.

It was a different time, it was a different era, and whenever whichever parent in the neighborhood discovered the trouble, they dealt with it.

Right.

It was just.

That was the known thing.

But my dad was big on obedience.

But he's bigger on something else.

He was bigger on, like, the heart behind obedience, like he wanted you to want to be obedient.

Anybody remember the attitude check exercise?

For me it was a time clock.

It started out with a minute.

I'll give you a minute to change your attitude.

I always wondered inside when I was going through this minute how is he going to know?

But somehow he always knew, you know, and it went from a minute to 45 seconds to 30 seconds and before long it was 10 seconds and I was like breathe.

But what I discovered is I could choose to change my attitude.

I could do that and to make sure that my motivation was right and church leadership we're supposed to exemplify that sort of thing.

We need to choose to maintain a proper attitude as much as possible.

Right To be obedient, because God has called us to be obedient and because we want to be obedient.

Next, a church leader must not be in it just for the money, says, not for shameful gain, but eagerly right Must be eager or enthusiastic, but not motivated by the salary offered by the church that they're a part of.

Financial reward must not be the motive for being an elder.

An elder is to find satisfaction in the job itself, in the job itself.

Doing the work of ministry should be a reward in itself.

Greed is an abomination to God and those who serve in his church should never be motivated by it.

Amen, it Amen.

This is true.

Now let me give you a caveat.

That does not mean that church leaders should not receive any kind of financial compensation from the church that they serve in, because so many times people, they want to put the eggs in one basket.

We can't have it.

You know both, and have you noticed that a lot of scripture is not either, or it's both, and Both principles are true.

It is true that we should not serve because we're greedy or covetous or we want to drive a.

I said drive a Lincoln.

Does Lincoln even make a vehicle anymore?

I don't know.

But back in the day driving a Lincoln was a sign of success.

And somebody gave my parents a Lincoln Continental and it was amazing.

It wasn't to me but it was to them right.

But then we had to explain every time somebody saw it.

We didn't pay for this, somebody gave it to us because of that whole thing.

But 1 Corinthians 9, verse 13 and 14 give us further instruction on this.

1 Corinthians 9:13

How do we interpret scripture with other scripture?

Right, it says do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

So there is nothing that precludes those who are in ministry receiving compensation for the ministry that they give, but that shouldn't be their motivation.

I served the majority of my ministry time with two or three jobs, working two or three jobs, and you know what?

It never bothered me.

I enjoyed it so much and was I tempted to quit.

At times, of course you're tempted to quit.

Never say anything hard to a pastor on Monday because they're already on the edge.

I'm just telling you.

This is an insider, look right, it's like because all of this stuff's going on about Sunday and how things went or didn't go, or whatever happened.

I could have said that differently, or we're humans too right, we deal with that stuff.

But anyway, I have gratefully served the church, no matter what condition I found myself in or my family found ourselves in.

From a financial standpoint, we are blessed at this point.

We're so thankful to be really fully engaged in working here at the church.

But we are not, and you can look at the books if you want to look at them.

We are compensated graciously and we're thankful for that, but we are not getting rich off of this ministry.

I promise you that.

Not getting rich off of this ministry, I promise you that.

So what Neil says something about, you're saying about God God will keep you humble or we'll keep you poor.

Yeah, god will keep you humble and we'll keep you poor.

Right, that was the church that he was a part of one time in leadership.

You know they kind of that was their emphasis and they followed through, didn't they?

So what is the final thought on this?

Not money, but enthusiasm and zeal for God and his work must motivate elders.

That must be our motivation.

A church leader must be a Christ-like example.

Christ-like example.

Anybody want to sign up for church leadership Because it's just getting better?

Right, it says not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Elders should be examples, not dictators.

Come on, they should be walking out in front of the flock, not driving them from behind.

They should be walking out in front of the flock, not driving them from behind.

A driven leader who drives those who are under his care is not taking the shepherding motif very seriously.

They're driving cattle instead of herding sheep.

Vastly different.

You must avoid being domineering.

The goal is to be good examples to the flock and again, all of us can probably think of leaders who didn't get this right.

It was more like a form of military exercise than a follow me as I follow Christ kind of leadership.

Jesus encouraged his followers like this, he said in Mark, chapter 10, and Jesus called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles, lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

For even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

How in the world would we, as church leaders, think we'd have it any different than the way Jesus had it?

He is our example.

He is the chief shepherd, the good shepherd right, and he humbled himself, he lowered himself, he served when he deserved to be served, and that should be the motivation of those who are in leadership within church life.

So the reward for proper this is good.

It's all good news, but this is great news.

The reward for proper service to the church is out of this world, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

What great news that is.

Three times in this passage, peter alludes to the fact that Jesus is going to come back, and when he comes back we will all experience the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

Are you looking forward to that?

If not, repent.

We are called to be those who are looking forward to his returning.

An elder's work involves and I'm not, this is not like cry me a river, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but this is the honest truth An elder's work involves a tremendous expenditure of physical and emotional energy.

It takes a toll.

It's hard work.

He must be willing to sympathize, to counsel, to reprove, to rebuke, to teach, to discipline and warn, and all of that with a smile on his face, and at times it may seem a thankless task, because a lot of times, the only times that people notice you is if you what?

If you mess up, you say that word wrong, or if you misquote that verse, or if you whatever, if you're having a bad day, and then that's the way that people categorize or characterize you.

But a special reward and there's the good news is promised to the faithful elder when Jesus Christ returns, the chief shepherd, when he appears, do you know what he's going to do for all of those who have been faithful servants in his house?

He's going to give crowns to each one.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the crown that I'm given will never touch my head, because the only thing that I'm going to want to do with it.

And the reason, one of the reasons that I'm motivated to live the way that I do and to serve the way that I do, is because I want to have something that's worth, something to give back to him, to cast down at his feet as I cry.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, god Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.

Can you imagine showing up to that celebration and having nothing appropriate to give to the king?

So, moving from spiritual leaders to church members, church partners Say that's me All right, there's five of you here, that's good.

You're wondering what I'm going to say first before you agree to.

I understand, I understand.

I want to read the small print too.

Okay, here we go.

Church members should follow their elders and pastor's leadership.

Oh, that's tough.

He says likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders.

That's what Peter says here.

Having considered all the requirements of those who are in church leadership, there's just one thing asked of those under their care.

All of this explanation of how leaders are supposed to live and what their heart motivation is supposed to be, and why they should do what they do and how they should do what they do.

The only thing that's asked of those under their care is that they would honor and value and respect the things that are said and done by those that are in leadership when they're godly.

I always tell people when I first meet them and they first become a part of our church.

I try to say to them I am not perfect.

I am a human being.

I don't want to ever hurt you or offend you, but if you follow me around long enough, I promise you I'm not going to try to, but I'm going to do something or say something that's going to be offensive to you or that might even hurt you.

So here's what I ask you to do Anything that you see of Christ in me, follow that.

Even Paul used these words follow me as what as I follow Christ, so follow us as elders, as we follow Christ.

Does that make sense?

What the Bible's teaching here?

Why?

Because the overseers have wisdom that comes from years of experience in the things of God.

We have seen some things, we have done some things.

We have been some places.

If you put the collective, just knowledge that we've gained over the many, many years of serving the Lord, I'm telling you we could write some books, couldn't we, gentlemen, and maybe some of you are, and maybe we should write more?

And a lot of wisdom comes from what?

Learning from making mistakes.

So it's not all wisdom, that's just.

You know, we did everything right and this is why you should do it like this.

Leaders have a deep, experiential knowledge of the Word of God.

The Word of God is our life manual.

We live in it, right In it, we live and move and have our being, and they are the ones to whom God has given responsibility for the care of the sheep.

Now, here's the truth.

There's a temptation in every new generation don't blame it on this one, because you were once this too, if you're honest in every new generation to resist the wisdom and leadership of those who are in authority.

Am I right?

That should not be true of the church.

We should be the one institution that is free from what becomes the cultural norm within our society.

If it is anti-Scripture, does that make sense?

We should be living our lives in such a way that we prove out the word of God, not that we resist it or that we push against it.

Right, when we do things God's way, he gets the glory and things work out for good.

Hebrews 13, 17 says obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls.

As those who will have to give an account Forgot to add that in too.

We, as spiritual leaders, those who are elders and pastors and the other five-fold ministry within the church, when we stand before God, we will stand before God for ourselves, for our wives, for our families and for the church and churches that we were leaders in.

That is a serious and sober thing.

As those who will have to give account, let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

I have to say again never been a part of a church leadership like this.

I've never been a part of a church like this either, where there is so much joy that comes from serving, and that's because of the heart that each of you have and maintain your relationship with God first, your relationship with each other within your families and friend groups, and all of that and also the way that you relate to us as leaders within the church.

You make ministry way easier than it could be.

That make sense.

Thank you for doing that.

Thank you very much.

So how are we going to do this?

How are leaders going to lead the way they need to and how are followers going to follow the way that they need to?

The key to proper relationships within the church is what Humility Peter goes on to say.

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that, at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him.

Because why?

Because he cares for you.

How many of you know that?

Humility is one of the greatest virtues of all.

It is beautiful.

It leaves me speechless when I see people exercising humility in their lives.

Because I know what you guys are made of and I know the strengths that you have and I know the accomplishments that some of you have accomplished in your life.

And for you to carry yourselves with humility I think of Aaron Jones, I mean and I could call out so many different names For you to carry yourselves I know he loves that I called him out, but for you to carry yourselves in such humility is remarkable.

It's remarkable.

It's a gift of grace that God gives us to be able to walk that out and we are following Christ in that right.

Can you imagine a church whose leaders were characterized by humility?

We pray, when we pray together, we ask God to help us to lead from a place of humility, to help us to lead from a place of humility.

I want to say something to you this morning, just as an acknowledgement of something that I messed up.

We, as a team, we should have gone back to one service before we did, and we waited longer than we needed to wait to do that.

And so I just want to acknowledge and humble myself before you and say it would have been better for us to do that, and you, a lot of you, paid the price by having to serve in extraordinary ways, and thank you for doing that, for keeping a good heart and all of those things.

But looking back on it now, I wish that we had done that sooner, and so I just wanted to.

I just felt like the Lord quickened me just in this moment to just express to you just an attitude of humility in that it would have been better for us to have done that sooner.

Does that make sense?

So thank you for loving us and for giving us the chance to make mistakes and to own them and to move forward.

Aren't you glad to be together?

I know I am.

I know I am.

So how about the members of the church if all of you carried yourself with the same kind of attitude of humility?

If that was your MO as well?

I think it is for the largest part, but maybe today the Lord's dealing.

I know he's been dealing with my heart all week as I've been regurgitating this and considering it and trying to figure out what I needed to say from this passage.

Maybe the Lord's dealing with our hearts about humility.

Maybe it's not even church life, maybe it's in your marriage.

Can you imagine if both of you in your marriage chose to live humbly and to exercise humility in your relationship with each other?

How about children who chose humility?

I know that I don't know if Jordan's in the room here or not, but Jordan and Hannah when they were teenagers I don't know if Jordan's in the room here or not, but Jordan and Hannah when they were teenagers, jordan especially knew some things.

He was born knowing a lot of things.

You know what I'm saying and that's it's true.

I'm not even making that up.

He really was.

And so there came a point in time where I was becoming frustrated overly frustrated with the fact that he knew so many things and he declared them with such confidence that if anybody else thought differently, it didn't seem to really matter.

Does that make sense?

So what did we do?

We instituted a rule, which I'm going to.

This is free for you.

You can take this home and exercise it if you want.

It's called the in my opinion rule.

And so everybody, we just came together at the table, we talked about it and we said guys, from here on out, you're free to have strong opinions, you're free to express those opinions.

All I'm going to ask that you would do is simply add three words to the end of your statement, or you can even put it at the beginning.

Maybe it'd be better to start with this.

In my opinion, whatever, and what does that do?

Just those three words.

It leaves room for the fact that you may be wrong.

You're probably right, but it's possible that even you, as much as you know you, might actually be wrong.

Right, some people have taken this idea and added another word in.

In my humble opinion, and those are those who are really spiritual people I would not encourage that.

For the average Christian.

I would not encourage that For the average Christian.

I would not encourage that you have to be almost like in a monastery to apply that.

In my humble opinion, maybe that'll help somebody the same things that we're talking about this morning can be applied in our workplace, in our homes.

Fathers, you are called to be shepherds of your homes, you are called to lead your homes, and single moms, you are called to lead your homes, and so the same principles that we're talking about here can be applied in those aspects of your life.

It's not just for church leadership and for those who participate in church, not just for church leadership and for those who participate in church.

It can be applied in many different ways across the board.

These truths are true.

That's a simple way of saying it.

If there were no other reason for being humble, how about this?

God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

Think of it.

The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, is opposed to me because I'm proud and I'm determined to not be broken.

Or the mighty God makes himself powerless in a way to resist a broken and contrite heart?

You know what I loved about David and why God says that he was a man after his own heart.

It wasn't because he was perfect.

He made some egregious mistakes, sins of the highest nature.

He broke several of the top tens right.

And yet when he was found out and he was confronted with it, what did he do?

He said I have sinned against God.

He recognized the source of his problem was pride, and he acknowledged it and he was forgiven and restored.

It's only when we fully embrace this mindset of humility that we can effectively cast away anxiety.

Embrace this mindset of humility that we can effectively cast away anxiety.

You know, a lot of anxiety is tied to worry and a lot of worry is tied to the fact that we're proud.

What does that mean?

We're so proud that we don't think that God can handle it.

We think we're going to have to handle it.

I'm going to have to figure it out, I'm going to have to make this decision.

I'm going to have to be the one to fix this problem.

I, I, I, how many of you know?

God is with us and God, there's nothing that God.

You can't surprise God.

He knows everything, he sees everything and he has all wisdom and insight.

And what does it say?

It says that we can cast away anxiety.

It means to violently hurl it away from us.

It's like if a violent dog entered your house and started to try to attack your children.

What would you do?

Oh sweet little doggie, would you like a treat?

No, what would you do?

What would you do?

You would deal with that dog, fight him, throw it away.

And we should wrestle more in the area of coming to a place of letting go of control.

There's wrestling that happens in that that's what it takes to enter into.

His rest is wrestling with the idea that I'm the one who's in control.

You see, when Christians humble themselves under God's mighty hand, they experience his uplifting, as they cast all their care on him, knowing that their good shepherd cares for them.

My friends, you don't have to worry, you don't have to wonder, you don't have to worry, you don't have to wonder, you don't have to question, you don't have to ever not be assured.

God cares for you, he cares about every aspect of your life.

You're not going to bore him.

He's open to you and he wants to be a part of every aspect of your life.

Satan is always attempting to stir up trouble within the church.

It says be sober minded, be watchful.

Your adversary.

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

We have an enemy.

The enemy is not your pastor.

The enemy is not the devil.

He prowls around.

He's seeking someone to devour.

He hopes that we will give up and give into offense, or be terrified by hardship and persecutions, or that we'll be deceived and fall into sin.

That's his whole goal.

It's to mess with us and fall into sin.

That's his whole goal.

It's to mess with us.

See, a carefree life in Christ is not a careless one, and the Christian must be watchful as we are involved in a constant spiritual battle.

The facts of this are there is an enemy.

His name is Satan.

He seeks opportunities to destroy Christians, and the way to overcome him is by resistance.

Such resistance is based on confidence in God.

We can stand up to Satan because Jesus stood up to him and destroyed him and defeated him once and for all, and because of Jesus's victory, as Jack would sing victory in Jesus, we have the ability to speak and to resist Satan because God is in control of our lives.

Our resistance is also backed by the knowledge that we are not alone in the struggle.

He is with us.

Even if it feels like he's asleep in the struggle, he is with us.

Even if it feels like he's asleep in the boat, he's with us.

The outcome lies with God who, because of his ultimate destiny for us, will meet every need on the way.

This same God has the power, forever and ever and ever and ever, ever and ever and ever.

Amen.

And finishing up, the last thought when Jesus returns, he's going to make all things right.

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself listen to this.

He will restore you, he will confirm you, he will strengthen you and he will establish you.

To him be the dominion, forever and ever, amen.

What is Peter's final parting thought, after giving this whole great letter in this great book, this epistle where he's spelling out how to walk through difficult times of suffering and remain as a Christian?

What is his final thing?

He is worthy of all of the glory and the honor.

To him be the dominion forever and ever and ever.

I'm going to close this morning by doing something that can seem a little self-serving, so I'm just going to tell you that up front Is my son, benjamin, here.

I know he's here, but where is he at?

He's in the back.

He's serving on the media team this morning, so I'm going to ask him to come up front.

He does not know that I'm doing this, so you can see his face turn different shades of red as he appears and comes down.

Come on down, man.

This is Father's Day and please, he's so cute thinking he can stay there.

All right, what's up?

So, benjamin, my son and Amy's son, by the way, let's not forget that you can come up if you want, amy.

Yeah.

So Benjamin, our son turns 16 on Wednesday.

Yeah, yeah, and you know, I speak a blessing over you every Sunday, and I'm not I don't do that just as like a habit or a rote.

There's something powerful about imparting blessing and I want you guys to know that that's not something that should just be carried on on a Sunday service.

I hope that you are choosing to speak words of blessing over each other throughout the week, husbands speaking blessings over your wives and over your children, and vice versa.

I hope that, even in your workplace, that you speak words of blessing over those that are around you, because there's power in those words.

There's power, and I just want you to know, benjamin, that I am so proud of you as your dad.

I love you very, very much and I know that God's put in you everything that you need to be able to accomplish the will that he has for you.

And I just want you to know that I am your biggest fan and I'm going to root for you from here on out and I know that's hard to see sometimes, because a lot of times I'm on the corrective side of things.

So I'm telling you, like, what needs to change, what you need to do differently, but I'm telling you in my heart of hearts I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's got a hold of you, that you love him with all your heart and soul, and I know that whatever it is that you do in this life, it's going to be great.

It's going to be great for the kingdom, and my hope and mom and I's hope for you is that you outshine us, that you outrun us, that you do much more than we ever thought or dreamed of doing in our own lives, and that's what we've been trying to prepare you for all of these years, and so we just want to pray a blessing over you and just ask the Lord to really encourage you.

You're still at home and you still got to obey the rules right, but I want you to know that 16 is an important birthday and I just want to speak words of blessing over you, amen.

So, father, I thank you for Benjamin and Lord, I just pray, in the mighty name of Jesus, that you would bless him, lord.

Lord, he's been through a lot in his short life and a lot of it's been really really good and some of it's been really really hard, and I just pray, lord, that you would continue to do the good work in him that only you can do.

I thank you, father, that you have called him, that you have chosen him, that you have transformed his life by the power of the Spirit, that he is a born-again Christian and that I pray, lord, god, that he will follow you all the days of his life.

And, lord, I just pray that you would bless him with every blessing, and I pray that this year would be a significant year for him, that it would be a time of more assurance in his relationship with you.

And also, lord, I pray that he would begin to settle into what it is that you've called him to for the future and begin to take steps in that direction.

And Lord Amy and I are just so grateful to be able to have been given the gift of being his parents, and we are so grateful, we thank you for him and we just want to say to you, ben, that you've got what it takes.

You're going to do it, you're going to make it and there's nothing that's going to be able to stop you.

All right, love you, love you, thank you, thank you.

All right, would you stand to your feet?

Thank you for giving me that moment.

My hope is that you'll practice this in your own lives.

The power of blessing is so important, so I'm going to pray and then I'll close with the blessing for you as well, father.

I thank you for our time together today and we say happy Father's Day.

Lord, so grateful for your kindness toward us.

And, lord, we thank you that you've called us to be a part of church life, and it's not our idea, it's not man-made, it's your idea.

And so, lord, we pray that you continue to cause us, in increasing ways, the church leadership of this church to walk in humility and to obey the commands of Scripture and draw us closer together.

And, father, when the time is right, add others to our team.

Lord, that you've called to be a part and to build toward the future for Trinity Community Church, for those who are a part of our church, lord, that are here to be partners, I pray, lord, that they would be able to serve with hearts filled with joy, that they would understand the protection that comes from being a part of your economy, the way that you do things, and so I pray that, lord, god in Jesus' name, and I also pray, lord, that you would give us, that you would teach us to be humble, that that would be our heart's cry.

I also pray, lord, that you would give us strength when we resist the devil, that we would not give in to any lies, to any tricks that the enemy would try to play on us.

Lord, I pray that we would be free from any kind of oppression or depression or anxiety or fear or worry.

We cast all of our cares on you because you care for us.

And, lord, I pray now that you would bless your people, that you would bless your people, that you would cause your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them that you would lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace in Jesus' mighty name, amen, amen, dads, I hope you get a nap this afternoon.

Have a great week.

God bless you, love you.