The Model Life: Adaptability, Part 1

Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to 1st

Thessalonians chapter 5. As we look at verses 12 to 15

this morning, and as you're turning, I'm reminded of a of a

parable written by Karen Maines that she entitles A Brawling

Bride. She paints A vivid scene

describing A suspenseful moment in a wedding ceremony.

Down front stands the groom in a spotless tuxedo, handsome,

smiling, full of anticipation, shoes shined, every hair in

place, anxiously awaiting the presence of his bride.

All the attendants are in place, looking joyful and attractive.

The magic of moment finally arrives as a pipe organ reaches

full crescendo and the stately wedding March begins.

Everyone rises and looks toward the door for their first glimpse

of the bride. Suddenly there is a horrified

gasp. The wedding party is shocked.

The groom stares in embarrassed disbelief.

Instead of a lovely woman dressed in elegant white,

smiling behind a lace veil, the bride is limping down the aisle.

Her dress is soiled and torn, her legs seems twisted, ugly

cuts and bruises cover her bare arms.

Her nose is bleeding, one eye is purple and swollen, and her hair

is dishevelled. Does not this handsome groom

deserve better than this? Asked the author.

And then the clincher. Alas, his bride.

The church has been fighting again, calling the church a

bride. Paul says these words in

Ephesians 5. Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her to make her holy and clean so that he could

give her to himself as a glorious church without a single

spot or wrinkle or any other blemish being holy and without a

single fault. That's the plan, to present a

beautiful bride unscathed, spotless, blameless to his

Father in heaven. And positionally that is true.

That's exactly what's going to happen.

But practically everyday life is a lot different in the life of

the bride. Instead of being spotless, she

is filled with anger and bitterness, infighting,

quarreling, arguing, conflict, unresolved happening all the

time, making her a bride that's completely dishevelled and

unlike the bride that will be presented to his Father in

heaven. It is true that the bride does

survive the blows of the world. All the things the world froze

at. The bride she she can handle.

But it's the infighting that makes the bride so unattractive.

Puritan Thomas Brooks once penned these words.

He said for wolves to worry lambs is no wonder, but for

lambs to worry one another, this is a natural and monstrous.

So Paul in his own way is going to address how the church is to

function, to show that the model life is one that adapts to each

and every situation with the leadership and with the

membership, so that the fellowship of the bride, the

fellowship of the church, is all that God designed it to be.

And so Paul pins these words in First Thessalonians chapter 5,

1 Thessalonians 5:12

verse 12 by saying this. But we request of you, brethren,

that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and

have charge over you and the Lord, and give you instruction

that you seen them very highly in love because of their work.

Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish

the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak.

Be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another

with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good

for one another and for all people.

Fall very simply sums up how we as brethren behave and react and

adapt to those who lead us and to those around us, so that the

Church can be that which God designed it to be.

So the model life is not just one of abstinence in chapter 4,

verses 1 to 8, or aspiration in chapter 4, verses 9 to 12, or

anticipation in chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, or alertness

chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, but adaptability, flexibility, the

ability to get along one with another within the body of

Christ. And so he requests, He said that

in chapter 4 verse #1 as well. He appeals to them, first of all

in their relationship to the leadership and then in the

relationship to one another. Now, whether there was conflict

in the church, we don't necessarily know, but we know

that the Church of Thessalonica was a young church, and so those

who led in the church were young in the Lord.

They weren't mature men who had been around and seasoned in

their lives and walk with the Lord over a period of time.

They they were young like everyone else was young in the

Lord, in the church. And so these men, young and the

Lord were appointed by Paul to lead in the church, doesn't call

them elders, but he says they do have charge over you.

So they have some kind of leadership responsibility and

maybe there was conflict between some of the members in the

church. So he gives them exhortation as

to how it is you are to respond to the leadership.

And then he gives them exhortation on how you are to

respond to the membership one one another.

And then he says this is how the fellowship of the church will be

all that God wants it to be. So when it comes to the

leadership, in verses 12 and 13, he gives 3 exhortations, 3

responses, three ways that you are to deal with them.

Number one is appreciation for the person.

Number 2 is admiration for his position and #3A preservation of

the peace. First of all, he says there

needs to be an appreciation for the person.

Look what he says. He says very clearly in verse

12, We request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who

diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord

and give you instruction. The reason you appreciate them

is because of the fact that they labor among you.

They lead you, and they look after you.

That's why you appreciate them. And the word appreciate means to

to know intimately. And it's really interesting

because Paul is exhorting the church to know the leadership

intimately. Usually the leaders are exhorted

to know the church intimately, but here the church is exhorted

to know the leadership intimately.

He puts a responsibility on the church to appreciate those who

lead them, who are over them in a way that they would know them

in an intimate manner. And so he puts the

responsibility of the church to know them and to appreciate

them. Why?

Number one is because they diligently labor among you, not,

not over you, but but among you that they're working hard in the

word. They're working hard to, to, to

treat you in a way that honors the Lord.

They're working hard at at leading you in in the proper

way. It it was used to Paul earlier

in chapter 2 when he said these words in verse #9 for you

recall, brethren, are labor and hardship.

How working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of

you. We proclaim to you the gospel of

God. He says, you know, brethren, how

we worked hard among you. In fact, in chapter 2, we talked

about the model leader. He says, you know this about us.

You know that about us. You are witnesses about us.

You know us intimately because this is how we behaved among

you. And so now he's telling the

church at Thessalonica to appreciate those who lead them,

who labor among them, that they might understand their

responsibility in terms of their walk with the Lord.

Now, I've been around a long time, and I've seen a lot of my

friends and colleagues in pastoral ministry go through

churches unbelievably fast simply because they did not

sense any appreciation from those they led.

And there are various reasons for that, and I understand that.

But I'm a firm believer that you work through those situations

that that you stay long where you're at, that you just don't

come and because of conflict or because of somebody who's

irritated with you or doesn't like you, you end up leaving

because you can't get along with people.

No, you need to work through those situations.

I'm a firm believer that every pastor needs to stay in one

church and one church only. I'm a firm believer that I don't

think you ought to change churches to churches.

I think that's wrong. I think that's instability for

the people. I think it's not good for the

church. You need to stay where God has

called you to minister. But even with some of those men

who stayed a long time, they were running out of the church.

Take for example, Jonathan Edwards.

He was the the author of the Great Awakening, the the

greatest revival in American history, probably the greatest

theologian of his day. He pastored the same church for

23 years. So you're a part of this church

and in the 1700s, and you have Jonathan Edwards as your pastor,

and he's the greatest theological mind of his day.

He's preaching and teaching, working hard, laboring among you

to teach you the truth of God's Word.

And in the 23rd year of his ministry, the people ran him out

of the church, ran him out. They were done with them in the

end of this ministry, teaching a dozen Indians the simple gospel

message. The church that he pastored for

23 years did everything they could to soil his reputation so

no one would hire him as their pastor.

Think about that. The greatest theological mind of

the 17th century or the 1700s was booted from his church.

It gets worse. Move to the 1800s, You had the

greatest preacher, whoever lived, the Prince of Preachers,

Charles Spurgeon. He was a part of his church for

over 30 years. He was so popular, he was so

great, that when he was done preaching, they would edit his

sermons, put them on every ship that left England so that the

world would hear the gospel message preached by the Prince

of Preachers. Think about that.

How long would it take a ship to leave England, to get to where

you live? You'd be waiting weeks, months

to hear that message that was preached by Spurgeon.

But that's what they did. And they ran off all these

copies and they put them on the ships and they moved them out

all around the world. Here he was pastoring the church

in England, and after 30 years of ministry, the Baptist Union

voted him out. And you know who the final vote

was? It was his associate pastor, who

just happened to be his very own brother.

And he was booted out after all those years of ministry simply

because of a stand on truth and his uncompromising conviction of

the on the word of God. Think about that.

You see, it's one thing for a man to be in a church for two or

three years and move on. It's nothing for a man to be in

church for a long period of time, 2 decades, 3 decades, 4

decades and the church rise up and say we're done with you, you

got to go. And Paul says to those in

Thessalonica, I I want you to appreciate those who labor among

you. I want you to know them

intimately. I want you to value them.

I want you to realize the task before them.

You see, one of the one of the problems with with laboring

among the people is not so much the work involved, it's the

loneliness involved. I tell people all the time,

listen, you want to go into the pastorate, that's great.

But I want you to know you must learn to love loneliness to be a

pastor, to be any kind of leader worth any salt.

You must learn to love loneliness because you're

isolated, you're on an island, you're going to make decisions.

Leaders are decision makers. You make a decision.

People are not going to like the decision you made.

There'll be up in arms against your decision.

So you can't make decisions on basing what you do to please

people. You do it based on pleasing the

Lord and, and sometimes you're going to make decisions that

people are not happy with, but it requires great loneliness.

Paul experienced that. Remember over in Second Timothy

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, Paul says these words.

He says to Timothy, You are aware of the fact that all who

are in Asia turned away from me. Here's the apostle Paul all

right, and all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom

are fragilis and homogeneous. The Lord grant mercy to the

House of onociferous, for he often refreshed me and was not

ashamed of my chains. In other words, there were those

who deserted him because they were ashamed of Paul and ashamed

of the fact that he was in prison.

But not onosiferous, whose name means bringer of prophet.

Onosiferous one to bring prophet to Paul.

So he says these words. But when he was in Rome, verse

17, he eagerly searched for me and found me.

The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.

And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus,

Paul says as he's riding away in this Mamertine prison in Rome.

Everybody in Asia has forsaken me, but there is one guy on

Luciferous who searched for me and found me.

The Lord granted mercy to his household, but Paul was isolated

because he was in prison. Look what it says earlier in

chapter 4. Later in chapter 4, he says in

verse #9 make every effort to come to me soon, For Demas,

having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to

Thessalonica. Demas deserted him, He left him.

Demas was a disciple of the apostle Paul, but there were so

many people that would desert him and leave him isolated.

And the later it says this in verse #16 at my first offense,

no one supported me. No one but all deserted me.

Everybody left me. I was all alone.

May it not be counted against them.

This, this is so good. Listen.

But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through

me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all

the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's

mouth. The Lord will rescue me from

every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly

Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and

ever. Amen.

So here's Paul at the end of his ministry, and he's in this

memory team prison in Rome, and he's talking to young Timothy

because Timothy needs to be prepared for the fact that he's

going to be deserted. He's going to be left alone.

It's going to happen. If you're going to lead, this is

what takes place. But know this, that the Lord

stood with me. The Lord will always stand with

the leader who stands alone, and the Lord will stand with that

man and rescue him as he rescued the apostle Paul and

strengthened him to God be the glory.

And so you got to realize that the labor in the ministry is not

so much the, the preparation, the counseling, the teaching,

the late hours. The Paul would say to those in

in Ephesus. I labored day and night with

tears. Acts Chapter 20, verse #31

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Because I wanted you to hear the gospel.

And that's that's hard work, that's labor, that's strenuous

work. But but the hardest work is when

your friends desert you and they leave you and they walk away

from the ministry and they want nothing to do with you anymore.

And Paul experienced that all the time.

And so Paul says, and 1st, that's the way it's five.

I want you to appreciate those who, who labor among you.

And then he says this. Not only do they labor among

you, he says, but he says they have charge over you in the

Lord. They have charge over you in the

Lord. In other words, they stand

before you. They, they stand ahead of you.

Why? Because they're examples.

They're leaders. See all, all, all leaders are,

are examples. I, I want you to appreciate them

because they set themselves up as standing before you as

examples that they're, they're leading you.

You can't, you can't lead unless you're, you're in front.

And so that they're in front, so you can see their lives.

That's just so important. That's why Paul told Timothy in

First Timothy 412. Timothy, I know you're young,

but let no man look down upon your youth, but be thou an

example in your life, in your love, in your, in your faith, in

your, in your purity, in your devotion.

Make sure you set yourself up as an example for everyone to see,

because that's the power of leadership.

It's influence, it's impact, right?

You know what? This has fathers, right?

You can, you can tell your children all kinds of things,

but if you don't lead by example, then they're not going

to follow. You have to lead by example.

You have to show them the way to go.

Just can't tell them the way to go.

You got to show them the way to go.

And this is what this is what Paul does.

He says, look, they are those who who stand before you, they

lead you, not only the labor among you, but but they lead

you, they're in front. And so learn to know them

intimately. But that's just so important.

Let me give you an example. Number of years ago, a lady came

up to me after our first service and she says, you know, I, I've

heard you talk about your wife over the years and say things

about her. But but I've been coming to the

church for a long time, but I've never ever seen your wife.

So I just am curious as a pastor, why is that I never see

your wife? I said that's a great question.

I said my wife, she works in the two and three-year old in the

first service. That's why you don't see her.

I said I assume you only come to the first service.

She said yes, I just come to the first service.

I said if you would come to the second service you would see her

sitting down front with me. I said better yet, you could go

to the first service and serve alongside of her in the twos and

threes. Then you would know her

intimately and then you could come and worship beside us in

the second service and you would see her.

Or even you could come on Wednesday nights.

Do you come on Wednesdays? She says no.

I said, well, if you came on Wednesdays, you would see her in

the Bible study. You would see her here.

I said it's important that you ask the question because as a

leader, if you don't see my wife, there is a problem.

As an elder, if you don't see my wife, that's the problem, right?

Why? Because you need to see how we

interact, how we worship together, how we pray together.

You need to see the physical affection that we have one for

another that provides an example.

You need to be able to see my children.

Why? Because it's the leader.

You're in a bubble, right? And everything about the leader

is magnified in the bubble. And so you have to be able to

say, look, follow me as as I follow Christ.

And so as people look into the bubble, everything is magnified

and bigger than than normal. But you must be able to see the

leader's wife and you must be able to see the leader's

children because you want to know how he functions at home,

right? Does he lead his family?

Are his children in submission to his authority that he follow

his leadership right. Why because they are set before

you. They are examples, Paul says I

want you to appreciate these men Why?

Because they labor among you and they lead you.

They're in front of you. Watch their lives, see their

lives, because you have to examine their lives and examine

them in light of the Scripture and, and to see the man's wife

and to see the man's children and see how he interacts with

them. Because that's the essence of

leadership, right? Because if a leader's

effectiveness at home is minimized, then the ministry in

the church will never be maximized.

It will always be minimized. People need to be able to see.

And so therefore I told the lady, I said, that's a great

question that holds me accountable and I want to be

accountable to you for that. That's great.

But I said, if you come to the second service, my wife will be

right down here with me sitting right here and you won't miss

her and you can, I'll introduce her to you.

And a couple of weeks later, she decided to come to the second

service and I introduced her to my wife.

She didn't get involved in serving at all, but she just

came to 1 service. And that's OK, at least at least

she came, right? But you see that that just

reminded me of the accountability that elders have

that leaders have in the church to make sure that they are out

front leading the way in their marriage with their children,

seen by the people of the church, so that the church can

observe the leadership of the man in his family.

That is so incredibly important. And Paul says these men are out

in front. Appreciate them for their way

they lead you. Appreciate them for the way they

labor among you and pre appreciate them.

Thirdly, simply because they looked after you.

He says they they give you instruction.

In other words, they put into mind those things you need to

know. That's very important.

Appreciate them because they're going to correct you, they're

going to instruct you, they're going to teach you.

The reason you appreciate your leaders is because they want to,

they want to feed you the word of God.

This is so important. You see these, these are new

believers, right? And, and, and, and Thessalonica.

Well, what did new believers need?

What, what does your baby need? You, you, you have a newborn

baby and the baby comes out and, and, and what is the most

important thing your baby needs? Your hugs.

Nope. Your kisses.

Nope. A new blanket, a new car seat, a

new stroller, a new bed. Those are all great things, but

that's not what they need them. What do they need the most?

They got to eat. If you don't feed them, they're

going to die. If you don't hug them, they're

still going to live as long as they're fed.

If they have the bat, a terrible one wheeled stroller, they'll

still survive, right? If you don't kiss them, they're

still going to make it to the next day.

But if you don't feed them, they're dead.

You got to feed them. That's what babies need.

And Paul says you appreciate them because they're going to

instruct you. They're going to put in the in

the into your mind the things you need to know in order to

live the way you need to live for the glory and honor of of

the king. And so you appreciate them for

that. So many times people are

unappreciative of the fact that a leader would come to them and

and confront them on an issue or talk to them about an issue and

they get offended. But they only care for your

soul. They're looking out for you.

They want what's best for you and your family.

So Paul says appreciate them. Appreciate the person because he

laborers among you. He he leads you, he's out in

front and he looks after you. He looks after your soul.

That's why he instructs you and teaches you and put things into

your mind so you'll understand the way to go.

So there's needs to be an appreciation for the person and

then an affirmation of his position.

Look what he says. He says these words in verse 13

and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their

work, their position, what it is they're doing.

There needs to be an elevation of them because not the person,

but because of their position, because the word God has put

them that that that's that's where they're at.

Esteem them very highly because of the work that God's given to

them. No, no, Remember Paul in Acts 23

when he spoke out against Agrippa.

Remember what he says in Acts 23 verse #5 he says, I was not

aware, brethren, that he was the high priest.

For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your

people. Paul apologized because he

didn't know that Ananias was the the high priest.

He spoke rudely to him. If God thinks that speaking

rudely to an unbelieving ruler or official is wrong, what do

you think he thinks about those in the church who speak evil of

those who lead in the church? Think about that.

So Paul apologized, I was wrong. This is God put him in the

position, God has him there, and I was wrong to speak rudely to

him. Well, how much do you think it

would be in the mind of God if you were to speak rudely, rudely

of those that God had placed in the position of leadership in

the church? He says esteem them highly for

their work's sake. What are they doing?

They're they're in the work of the Lord.

They're they're serving the Lord.

A A number of years ago, John MacArthur was asked why he loved

the church. And so he began to to write the

reasons why he loved the church on a napkin in a restaurant.

And the very first thing he wrote was this.

He says #1 I love being a pastor because the church is the only

institution Christ promised to build and bless.

Christ is only doing one thing in the world.

I know that might be shocking to say, maybe sounds a little

oversimplified, but it's actually the truth.

Christ is only doing one thing in the world, and that is He is

building His church. God is through the Holy Spirit

under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, calling out of people

for His name. The part of history that matters

is the redemptive part. All the rest of human history is

simply backdrop. It's Decor.

It's the staging for the real drama, which is the drama of

redemption and how exhilarating it is to be in the middle of

that, to be a part of the only thing that Christ is doing in

the world and that is building his church.

If I want to be at the epicenter of what God is moving, then I

need to be in the church. God's purpose in the world is to

call to Himself a redeemed people who will live to the

praise of His glory, to build His church, to build the body.

And there is no greater calling possible, conceivable than to be

a servant of Christ and under shepherd in the church.

It is of great comfort and great encouragement and great joy and

produces great gratitude in my heart that God has given me a

small part to play in the work of Christ, to build His church.

I wouldn't, he says, stoop to do anything else.

What a statement. I'm in the epicenter of what God

is doing this. God's only doing one thing.

He's only involved in one building project, the church.

That's it. Why would I do anything else?

Why try to accomplish anything else?

I'm involved in doing what God Himself is building.

He loved the church. He loved being a pastor of the

church. So for 50-6 years he remained

the pastor at Grace Community Church until God called him

home. That was his mission in life.

That should be the the the the church's leaders response and

everything. I love being a pastor because

this is what God is doing in the world and I'm at the center of

it. This is so great, so grand.

What? Who can do anything better than

this? That's why it says if any man

desires the office of an elder, he desires a noble work, a noble

work. Why?

Because you're involved in the building project of the Lord God

Almighty. And therefore Paul says, I want

you to to admire these these people for their work's sake,

for the position that God's given to them.

You might not like the person, but admire the position of the

person that's there. Appreciate the person, get to

know him, get to understand them, get to know his family.

Appreciate that person, but admire his position because God

has placed him there. And then he says a presentation

of the of the peace. He says these words so good.

Live in peace with one another, live in peace, maintain peace.

The unity that you have in Christ, you're at peace with God

because you have the peace of God.

Therefore, manifest that peace one toward another by

endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of

peace. Ephesians 4, three, because

that's what we do. This is how you preserve the

peace. How?

By by admiring the position of the leader and appreciation the

person who leads and therefore there needs to be a preservation

of the peace. You know Satan is is is at work

in the church in the series you did when we did it now is it was

a whole series of 15 weeks series, 17 weeks series on the

church and that the church is a playground of the enemy of God.

It is Satan wants to destroy the testimony of the church.

If he can get you bickering and arguing and, and, and looking

down on one another and, and, and being upset with one

another. If, if, if he can get you doing

that, he can mar the testimony of the church.

There's a warfare going on. That's why Paul says over in, in

Romans 12, these words he says in Romans 12 verse number #9 he

says let love be without hypocrisy.

In other words, no hypocritical kind of love.

Don't come on Sunday and act one way and then go on Monday and

act another way. Your love needs to be genuine

and needs to be sincere. So when you come to church and

you gather with the people of God, make sure that that what

you're demonstrating in your facial expressions, in your

words, in your, your relationship with one another is

true and genuine, not fake and phony.

We got a lot of fake people in the church today.

They come and they put on a on on their Sunday face on Sunday

morning, but their Sunday evening face is not one you want

to see because it's diametrically opposed to the one

you saw on Sunday morning. Say, let love be without

hypocrisy. A poor one is evil.

Clean to what is good. Be devoted to one another in

brotherly love. Give preference to one another

in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,

serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in

tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the

Saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep. Be the same mind toward one

another. Do not be haughty in mind, but

associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own

estimation. Associate with the lowly.

You ever notice that we come to church?

Who do we associate with? Our friends, our friends.

We we, we sit with our friends, we talk to our friends.

And then there are people that sit alone all by themselves who

kind of come in and and go out without anybody ever talking to

them and imposter. Make sure you associate with the

lowly, those who are not the high position people who would

be good if if every one of us was to, to pinpoint someone

sitting by themselves, coming to church by themselves, leaving by

themselves and going after them and said, Hey, just want to

introduce myself to you. I'd like to take you to lunch

today if you're you're available.

Just so that we can get to know one another.

I don't want you to feel like you're all alone here at the

church. Associate with the with the

lowly. It goes on to say, do not be

wise in your own estimation. That's just so good.

We, we just think ourselves are so grand.

Don't we think of ourselves that way?

We think we are so cool. We are so unbelievable.

And Paul says, you know what, you've overestimated who you

are. Don't think that way.

Think in a lowly, humble manner. Having said all this, I want to

conclude with these words. I have been your pastor for just

about 31 years, and in those 31 years, I want to let you know

that I have never, ever been under appreciated.

I've never been undervalued. I have never been treated

inappropriately in 31 years. That is a testimony to you as a

church and your commitment to verses 12 and 13, the First

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 5. Not one time in 31 years have I

ever wanted to go anywhere else. Not once, not one time in 31

years have I ever been discouraged.

Not once. Why?

Because there's something about the church that you have

exemplified. So when my wife and I, I were

away this week on our anniversary getaway, I have to

get up early in the morning and and I would study.

I begin to write down certain things that I have seen in our

church, never been under appreciated, undervalued or

under admired for that matter. But I have witnessed first hand

your submission to God's message and His authority.

I've witnessed that. I've seen that in you.

I, I've seen you embrace the message, as hard as it may be

for some of you, but to embrace it and say, this is God's word,

this is his authority. And, and you're willing to

submit to the authority of God in your life.

It's not me you're submitting to.

It's, it's the word of God that you submitted to.

And so I sit as your pastor for 31 years and, and, and I see

your submission to the message of God and its authority in your

life. Are you perfect at it?

None of us are. But do you want to move in that

direction? Absolutely you do.

That's why you're here. And then I, I I've also

witnessed your adoration, your adoration for our Master and his

glory. You love the Lord, you love him.

Do you love him perfectly? No.

Do you love him sometimes, like Peter?

Yeah. And Peter said, Peter, do you

love me? Yeah.

I kind of like you a lot, but you love the Lord.

And so for 31 years I have witnessed the the church's

Christ Community Church's adoration, adoration of the

Master for his glory. So the Bible says let there be

glory in the church. You don't want Ichabod written

across your church. The glory of the Lord has

departed. In other words, there's no

manifestation of God's presence within the assembly.

So I've sat back and, and I and I have watched not, not just

your submission to the message and it's authority, not just

your adoration to the Master and His glory, but I've also

witnessed your demonstration of your maturity as you seek to

grow in your walk with the Lord each and every week.

I, I am truly a blessed man. I, I could, I could say as, as

Paul would say in, in First Thessalonians chapter 1, I

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

could, I could say, I give thanks to God always for all of

you making mention of you in our prayers constantly bearing in

mind your work of faith and labor of love.

Is that fastest of hope? And you excel still.

All the more so as I talk about leadership in the church, as I

talk about your response to the leadership in the church.

I've experienced that. I've seen it in action.

I've witnessed that. And I am.

I am so blessed to be here. I am honored to be your pastor.

I am honored that you've allowed me to come week after week after

week after week. I am honored that you sit and

let me repeat things over and over and over and over again,

week after week after week after week.

But I am truly a blessed man. God has done exceedingly,

abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think.

And I'm grateful to you as a church.

I'm grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be here and be

your pastor and will continue to be here for as long as I can

breathe. I can still stand up.

My mind is still right, but I am blessed and I just want to say

thank you. Thank you for fulfilling First

Thessalonians 512 and 13 because that's what you do.

And I would be, it would, it would be wrong for me not to let

you know how God has used each and everyone of you in my life.

And for that I will always be grateful to the Lord.

So today, I applaud you. I thank you for your willingness

to do what God's Word says. Let me pray with you, Father, we

thank you for today. I thank you that I can be here.

I thank you, Lord, that I had the opportunity to be here, that

31 years ago you opened the door for this to happen.

And through all the years, people have come and people have

gone and, and they continue to come and they continue to go.

But you've sustained the ministry, You have maintained

the ministry. You have done great and

wonderful things in the lives of people.

We could focus on the negatives. That doesn't do you any good.

But to focus on all the positives and to realize what

you're doing is, is fabulous. You've healed marriages, You've

changed lives. You've saved souls.

You have brought rebellious children home.

You have answered prayer, You have done so many things, but

what I am thankful for, Lord, is that what you have done in the

lives of your people, they would grow to maturity in Christ and

wanting to grow even all the more.

For that I'm grateful and I thank you and praise you for

what you have done and what you are doing and what you are going

to continue to do because of who you are.

So we thank you Lord, anticipate your soon return.

Until that time, may we be found faithful in our service of the

King in Jesus name, Amen.