Installation Service for Pastor Matt Seaver

Awesome.

Thank you, Bray Steam.

Just wanted to say to the parents, we're gonna have the kids stay in the service for today, so there won't be a kid connection today.

But they have these awesome bulletins my wife put together.

If you guys want to fill these out, and if you fill them out, they get candy.

So, adults too, right?

Plenty of candy to go around.

Well, hey, I'm super excited, and my father-in-law's doing better from all those kidney stones he had.

I never would have asked him.

But I'm thankful God healed you, and you're you're healed enough to come today and uh not roll any more stones.

So praise the Lord for that.

Well, we're we're privileged to have him today because I believe that this man is related to D.L.

Moody.

So his brother is here today to speak to the church in FBC at Fentwater.

So let's give him a nice round of applause to Mr.

Ellen Moody.

Well, I am the younger brother of DL Moody.

Um, my older brother's name is Daniel Lynn, and uh so we called him DL growing up, and uh um it was uh lots of fun when he got off to Bible College.

He introduced himself to his roommate and said, Hi, I'm DL Moody.

He's like, Yeah, right.

And uh but uh what what uh what great things and opportunities we have today.

I'm honored to be here with you folks.

Um honored that uh I can participate and and uh be a part of this installation service for Matt Siever as your new pastor, your new shepherd.

And uh and so so excited about that.

If you take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We'll start there today and and uh continue working our way through there.

Um the kids are staying in here, so uh I guess that uh we'll have to make sure that we keep this on time.

So you guys keep track of me here and uh and we'll keep things moving along here as well as the uh years have gone by.

Um I went to uh Pensacola Christian College, went to Spurgeon Baptist Baba College, worked at a church in Florida, uh, came back to Michigan, worked at my home church in Cass City, Michigan over in the Thumb, uh as a youth pastor, assistant pastor there, and uh then uh came on over to the to the uh west side of the state, worked as assistant pastor, youth pastor down in Middleville, and uh then we've been at uh uh just uh part of Heritage Baptist Church uh for the last 12 years in Kentwood, Michigan.

My parents were missionaries in uh Togo, West Africa.

Uh Sarah, you were how old?

Like 12 or 13 when you went to Africa with my folks on a trip.

We were on a mission trip with the youth group in Brazil, and I'm able to call her on my cell phone, new things back then, you know, and uh and got a hold of her in Africa and like four seconds.

I was like so amazed.

And uh, but uh my parents were missionaries out there and uh came back.

We spent the last few years taking care of them and uh had sold our place that we'd lived at for 25 years, and I kind of uh moved into the shop uh at my dad's place taking care of him, and he passed away in December.

Mom had passed away four years earlier, so we're we're uh now looking and deciding, okay, Lord, what's next?

What's the next chapter for our lives and where we're at?

So, in the process of that, we moved into uh this subdivision in Zealand.

There was this family that lived there, it was uh Matt and Sarah, and uh and they were about eight houses away, and and uh we had the swimming pool, and uh the neighbors said they always knew that that what time Maverick came over to go swimming every day because they could hear him enjoying the pool, and uh uh we had a good time for eight months.

And then they moved.

But uh we're praising the Lord that they're here, they're with you, and uh yeah, so we might move too.

But uh but uh here we are, and uh so glad for God's leading and God's calling and making today just a special day, a day of thanksgiving for you, a day of celebration for you, and a day that I'd like to share from God's Word's responsibilities for not only Matt as your new pastor uh in our official uh uh installation service here today, but uh as well the fact of the church's responsibility.

I have never had so many people know about my medical conditions in my life.

Um I I've never spent a night in the hospital and and I've never had surgery, and I did all that last weekend on uh moment's notice, and uh um uh I yeah, what uh what not fun.

Um and uh yeah, they were trying to tell me that you could probably still go speak next Sunday, as that was Friday night as I'm in the ER, and they said, Yeah, you yeah, we could we could probably get you there.

And uh the way I was feeling Sunday, yeah, that would have been a real memory maker.

And uh so uh so much better feeling this week, and appreciate your graciousness for postponing things a week for us here.

But but as we recognize today, God's calling upon a man to serve as pastor of this congregation.

We're here to recognize that the ministry of this church does not belong to just one person, it belongs to Jesus Christ.

In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1 starts out if you're looking at your scriptures there.

Ephesians 4:1

It says, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.

And the word to look at here right off the bat is the word walk.

Paul's not simply talking about what we believe.

He spent the first three chapters in Ephesians talking about doctrinal things, but he's talking here about how we live our daily lives.

And uh especially appropriate for installation service because you have a pastor not merely accepting a position, he's accepting a calling.

And uh, my wife always tells me the fact that you know good messages are based around illustrations and and uh in telling good stories.

And so I was sitting here thinking, man, what about a calling?

A calling.

Matt in a calling, Matt in a calling.

Oh, yeah, he called me.

Do you remember calling me?

And uh and and Matt, Matt called me one time, and this is not the calling that it's talking about, but Matt called me one time, and uh him and Sarah have been dating for a few months, and uh, and Matt had reached the point in his uh in his relationship desires that uh he wanted to know for sure that Sarah was all in.

This is my story, so I'll tell it the way I remember it, okay?

And uh and uh and so apparently he'd been talking to her, and and Sarah was not of that opinion to be giving a commitment at that moment about all in or not, um, if that was the two options that she had there.

And so uh so she had declined to go have a meeting with him in Three Rivers at Applebee's, and uh and meeting halfway from him in Indiana and us in Michigan, and and uh and so Matt called me to talk to me about my daughter and why she wouldn't come and meet with him.

And so he explained the situation to me from his perspective, and having lived with my daughter for over 20 years, and seems like most of my kids are rather independent souls, and uh that uh I told him, I said, Well, I can save you time, gas, money, and uh, and and a restaurant fee.

So uh yeah, you don't need to bother to come if she told you not to.

He's like, What?

But I need an answer, and I said, Oh, I can give you the answer too.

She's out, and uh and so he's like, Well, well, can you tell her to come?

And I said, Nope.

Not gonna waste my time doing that either.

And uh, and so uh yeah, so so Sarah finally agrees to go down and and meets, and uh, my understanding of it is that it was a real short meeting.

I don't think dinner was even involved in it.

And um, in those two, three minutes that she was she was there, said her piece, she left.

Matt calls me on the phone.

And uh I actually kind of like the guy.

And uh and uh the fact of having a guy that could potentially you know marry my daughter that was gonna be a pastor, those were those were real positives to me.

And so I was looking forward to it.

So I was feeling kind of sorry for him.

And he's like, She says she's out.

And I said, Well, I told you that.

And and he's like, What do I do?

And so I I don't know, Sarah, if I ever told you this, but uh, so I gave him a little plan to work on and said, Hey, here's an idea.

I know my daughter, and uh, I said, You're gonna have to do this with patience and over time, and you're gonna have to just uh work your way back into this.

So I said, uh don't do anything, don't send her anything, don't communicate her anyway that's not just one-sided, just go one way with it.

And uh, and she's packing up all his stuff and putting it in a box and mailing it back to him, and uh, and uh and he's pursuing that.

And it was about, I don't know, three, four months later, something like that.

Sarah comes upstairs after a phone call that she didn't want us listening on, and she's kind of looked got a little sheepish grin on her face.

She says, I'm headed back to Applebee's and Three Rivers.

I was like, hmm, okay, let me know how that goes.

Well, here they are.

And uh things went pretty good, and uh, and uh we're proud fact, Matt, that you are uh, that she's all in in the relationship.

And uh and happy for that.

Um but uh the calling of Matt calling me and talking to me about those things is not the calling that we're talking about here.

Uh the calling here is that is the fact that Matt has accepted a position, accepted a calling here to be the pastor of First Baptist Church at Pentwater.

Even being a church member is not merely belonging to this organization, it's belonging to the body of Christ.

So three things that I'd like to share with you from Ephesians chapter 4 here.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

And we'll talk about the pastor's calling, the church's responsibility, and Christ's purpose for both.

And we'll sum it up in in uh in easy to remember terms.

Um my wife has been telling me the fact that uh you know old age is setting in, and I said, for who?

I don't remember that.

And um, so uh uh we'll do it with one family, one church, and one mission.

And uh and talk about it in that fashion.

And if you can remember that, then I will have uh made some success in using up your time here today for this installation service.

Ephesians 4 1.

I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.

Before Paul ever talks about being pastors, missionaries, ministry, or church structure, he talks about our character.

Walk worthy.

Um describes that walk.

If you look at verse 2, he says, to do this with all humility, with gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul doesn't say walk with great personality.

He doesn't say walk with impressive leadership skills.

He doesn't say walk so that everybody will admire you, but he does say, here's six things that I need you to do to walk worthy.

Firstly, he says here in verse 2 to walk with all humility.

Humility, putting Christ first, others second, and self last.

Not thinking too highly of ourselves or too lowly of ourselves, walk with humility.

He says that we should walk with gentleness.

Gentleness, meekness, not weakness.

Gentleness, power under control.

Have you seen the Superman movie, one of the original ones, when he's a kid and the bullies are picking on him, and he's up against the fence, and he's got his hands behind him on the fence, and he's squeezing, and he's crushing the metal.

Power under control.

He could have taken them out in the movie series.

Uh he could have taken them out easily, but he had control over the power that he had.

And he says that we're supposed to have the ability to walk with gentleness, meekness, power under control.

We're supposed to walk with patience, long-suffering, um, working with people.

And and, you know, people that have to work with me have to be long-suffering.

Um, and uh that we're all human, and uh some days it gets the best of us more than others.

He says here too, to walk in love.

1 Corinthians 13, 4.

Love suffers long and is kind, to walk in love.

He says to walk in eagerness to maintain the unity that God has given us, um, to uh to uh eager to maintain the unity of the spirit is the is the words there from verse 2, and uh and having that desire for unity to walk in that eagerness to maintain unity.

And then sixthly, he says there in the bond of peace, in the bond of peace.

When we are at war on the inside of ourselves, it's hard not to be on war, not to be in war on the outside.

If a believer cannot get along with God, he won't be able to get along with other believers.

And he says, for us to walk in the bond of peace.

Colossians 3.15, peace, let the peace of God rule in your hearts and minds.

Peace.

He says, and these things here, if we're gonna be walking worthy of the calling, that uh that we're gonna have these six characteristics in our walk and the way we go with things.

Understand the fact here that the greatest ministry will not simply be what you say from the pulpit, it'll be the life that you live in front of the people.

That our greatest ministry will not be what you say from the pulpit, it'll be what you live in front of people.

People will hear our sermons, they'll watch, but they also watch our marriage, they watch the way we treat our wife, the way we treat our kids, they watch how we treat other people, they watch how we respond when things don't go our way, they watch how we handle criticism, they watch how we treat people that can't do anything for us, they watch whether our private life matches our public preaching.

So walk worthy.

Pastor, God's instruction for us.

People from history seem to have caught on to that thought too.

A pastor by the name of Richard Baxter famously challenged pastors to take heed to themselves before taking heed to their flock.

Charles Spurgeon repeatedly emphasized that a ministry must a minister must first seek to have his own soul right with God.

Robert Murray McShaney expressed the same truth in a memorable statement: the greatest need of my people is my personal holiness.

Before we ask God to change the people we shepherd, we must allow God to change us.

Pastoral ministry begins with a pastor walking with Christ.

Remembering in the next verses here, remembering verses four through six here.

Um part of it there says, There is one body and one spirit.

Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

Seven times here that Paul uses the word one.

He says, One body.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we're all part of the body of Christ.

Um we we got placed there at conversion.

One spirit, the same Holy Spirit indwells each and every believer, one hope, the return of Jesus Christ to take us away to, as we learned in Sunday school class, heaven.

And uh one Lord, named Jesus Christ, who died for us, lives for us, and is coming again for us.

One faith, the truth from the word of God deposited to us by Christ for us as his church to learn and live by.

One baptism that uh we are baptized into the body of Christ at salvation by the Holy Spirit, one God and Father.

We're part of God's family.

Um, and as children of God, we all should be loving and serving the same Heavenly Father.

It means that the church is ultimately held together uh uh not by personalities, it's not held together by tradition, it's not held together by preference, it's not held together because everybody likes the same style of music or agrees with every ministry decision that's made.

The church is held together by Jesus Christ.

That's our common bond.

That's what we can be united about, is the fact of Jesus Christ.

And that's why unity means so much here.

If you read uh from Warren Wearsby there, he focuses heavy on that fact that in this passage here, he's talking about the unity of the body of Christ, that we are one family, united together because of Jesus Christ.

And uh and and that he gives us this Christian unity because of Jesus Christ.

Christ creates it for us.

And our admonition is to protect it and keep it and be in one family.

Not only one family, but he wants us to be one church.

Uh Paul moves from the the emphasis here of unity in these first six verses and moves into verse 7, 8, and 9 here and and uh and gives a uh uh a list again of things that uh we as a church are supposed to be involved in.

But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

And and this is why it says when he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.

What does he ascended mean, except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions?

He who um descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers.

Um that uh every believer is different.

Uh God's design for it all is the fact that you and I are different.

We had different experiences, different families, different uh uh personalities, different uh abilities.

There's so many differences about us all.

And he goes on in this passage here and says that in the midst of that, that God gives each of us at least one spiritual gift that he expects us to use for the edifying and building up of the body of Christ.

Um and uh and as he goes through this, he he gave some to be apostles, ones who are sent.

He gave some to be prophets, not prediction the future is not what the word here means in the original languages, but one who proclaims the word of God.

He gave some to be evangelists to share the gospel.

And then the shepherds, which are the pastors and the teachers or the elders, that God gives these gifts, and God has given different people different responsibilities.

And that's where this pastoral ministry comes into focus with here of you folks here at First Baptist Church.

Understand the fact that Pastor Matt is not the entire ministry of this church.

Pastor Mark is here too, but together they're not the entire ministry of this church.

The pastors are just a part of the ministry of the church.

That distinction is very important.

In verse 12, uh it says here that uh he's to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

The pastor's job is not to do all the ministry, the pastor's job is to equip God's people to do the ministry.

And that's a tremendous responsibility, but also a tremendous privilege.

And so understand, church family, that you didn't hire the pastor, you gave him a hundred percent vote.

That's wow, that's awesome, and that's great.

But that's not the end, that's just the beginning.

You didn't hire him to sit back and watch him do all the ministry.

As things come along in the church, try not to ever say the fact, oh, that's the pastor's job.

When someone needs encouragement, you can encourage them.

When someone needs prayer, you can pray for them.

When someone needs a meal, you can provide one.

When someone needs to hear the gospel, you can tell them.

When a young believer needs discipling, you can walk along beside them.

When a ministry needs workers, you can serve.

You see, because Ephesians tells us the fact that God has called the pastor to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry.

And uh that's God's design for one family, one body in Christ to have one church.

All these different people's personalities and differences, using the gifts that God has given them to accomplish great things for the church.

And the uh the goal then of this together between the uh one family and the one church is to have one mission.

And to tell if we're on track with being on this mission, um, in Ephesians 4 and verses 13 through 16, then, realize the fact that the goal of this is maturity.

And in here you find four uh uh four goals, four evidences that spiritual maturity is taking place in our lives.

And you can look at these four evidences here, this goal of maturity.

And uh um the first one is um verse 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood.

Um, that we're looking for the fact that you and I are becoming Christ-like, that there's Christ-likeness seen in us.

Um it's it's uh it's uh a tough thing to live Christ-like all the time.

Um we were down at Kalamazoo Speedway last night racing with my uh one of my grandkids, Riker, and uh he's 10 running these mini wedges down there, and uh in the first race, he's passing for the lead, and we're all excited.

And cart comes and slams into him, takes him out, and he ends up next to last at the end of the race.

And and uh the other the other people involved were very convinced that that was completely Riker's fault.

There's two perspectives to every story.

To me, he was 100% innocent and then just got taken out, but uh you know they saw it the exact opposite way, and so they're ranting and raving and yelling at us and everything else.

And I knew I had to preach this today, so I'm trying to make sure that I'm living it.

And uh so, in the midst of the fact that you'd like to do retaliation, the two of them get stuck on the front row to start the second race.

And uh the other drivers on the inside, Riker's on the outside, can't pass on the outside on that little tight track that they've got for those mini wedges, and so we're like, you gotta get to the bottom, you gotta get underneath her, and you're gonna have to pass her fast because you don't have a lot of laps to get it done.

You don't have time to mess around.

And uh so Riker accomplished that task.

You know, they've crossed the uh start line and uh he dropped back.

Tucked in right behind her in turn one and turn two we went beside her and turn three pulled away and won by a half a lap on the race.

And so we were like, yeah, you know, and uh but in the midst of wanting to retaliate to their drawn people together and say, look at them, they're they're cheaters, and they do all these tears, you know, and they take us out every time we get anywhere near them, and they're going carrying on all this stuff, trying to bite your tongue, not say anything in retaliation, trying to figure out how to be Christ-like in the middle of that.

And so I came up with a plan and I looked at Riker and I said, I need you to do one thing for me so that I can feel good about tonight.

Win.

And try to do it as cleanly as possible as you can.

And he did.

And uh, and what a what a way to be.

But constantly in life, as we go through these things, that we've got to be thinking about the fact is what do other people see in me?

It was a huge honor as we uh, my boys um we raced uh superstocks and superlates and and uh pure stocks and all the stuff between Kalamazoo Speedway and Berlin Raceway.

And and uh we were at Berlin Raceway for several years, and the guy that pitted next to us ran a sportsman car, the number one, Randy Veldman.

And uh a few years ago in August, that he was uh riding a scooter and uh had a heart attack and died.

And it was a huge honor because the family we pitted next to them, and there was a lot of differences between us.

Um, the language, the alcohol, uh the fights, uh things like that, all that went down with them.

But when it came down to it at that point in their life, Randy Villesman's family came and they came and asked, they said, Hey, you guys are different.

We don't have a church home.

Would you do the funeral for Randy?

I was like, absolutely.

I don't know when, where, or how, but we'll figure it out.

And uh we'll get it done, and we agree to it.

Ended up borrowing Berlin Baptist Church in town.

I was friends with the pastor there, and and uh he he was away on vacation, and other church people took great care of us, had a wonderful service, and uh, and was able to share the gospel with a whole lot of people in a funeral service that uh wouldn't have been there any other reason than Randy Veldman's funeral was happening that day.

And that's what God is looking for.

So every now and then in my life I look and say, hey, maybe I did something right, and uh and was successful at that, that they would come and ask such a thing of me.

And uh and honored, honored that we can do that.

Maturity, that we're looking for this Christ-likeness.

It's not just to have a busy church or to have a large church.

The goal isn't to have a full calendar, the goal is to be Christ-like in all that we do.

Looking at the fact of of uh of unity in the first section there, that God gives us that unity, and then he gives us these different gifts, and then these gifts are intended to produce Christ-likeness in us as we live for him, as we think about the things we do, the things we say, and how we go about it.

Realizing the fact that everything as a church, everything that we do as a church, ought to move people towards becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.

Sunday school should do that, preaching should do that, discipleship should do that, children's ministry should do that, youth ministry should do that, men's and women's ministry should do that, evangelism should do that.

Everything ultimately should be pointing people towards Jesus Christ.

And especially in our own daily lives.

To be Christ-like.

Second thing of moving towards maturity is the fact there that uh maturity would be evidenced by stability.

Uh, verse 14, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.

One of the greatest dangers to our Christianity is people who never grow because they're the most vulnerable.

Satan's trying to lead them away, and they can be carried away by every new teaching, every new personality, every new controversy, every new trend, every new theological fad.

See, because the answer is not merely more information, the answer to spiritual maturity is the word of God and the truths that are contained within there.

And in the midst of that, that we have stability, that we stay with the word.

And that's why faithful preaching from Pastor Matt is going to be a big part of that.

And the biblical discipleship matters.

That's why the church must remain rooted in the scriptures.

And that's why your pastor must never become tired of preaching God's word.

Third thing that uh he talks about here as far as evidences of maturity.

In verse 15, rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ.

Truth and love.

Two things here that must stay together, he says.

Truth and love.

Uh because truth without love becomes harsh.

And love without truth is empty, if not even hypocrisy.

The pastor must preach the truth, but he's supposed to preach the truth in love.

The church must stand for the truth, but we must stand for the truth in love.

And the reason is found at the end of the verse, so that we can become more like Christ.

Into Christ.

Christ is the destination, not your pastor, not the church leadership, not a particular ministry, but Jesus Christ is what the goal is here.

And uh in that aspect of having Christ-likeness, having stability, having maturity that's that's evidenced in truth and love, and fourthly, that he says here in verse 16, for whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

From whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped.

That uh he says here that another, the fourth evidence that he gives here of the fact that we are growing in spiritual maturity is that of cooperation.

Cooperation.

Um picture that God gives us.

The church is a body, and every part of it matters.

Every one of us that are true believers in Jesus Christ are part of this body of Christ.

And the gifts, the abilities that God has given us matters for the furtherance of the gospel and for the strength and the growth of the church.

And for the body to be healthy, every part needs to work its peace.

Um, one little 10 millimeter stone stuck in some tube outside of a kidney.

And uh and and and I can't take it.

Um just a little thing, but one part that's not right.

And uh they take this camera with a laser and they go up there and they can blast it apart, and and uh then they stick a stent in you.

No stents, please.

Um and uh uh, you know, but one part that doesn't work, and the rest of the body is pained, not able to function, not able to accomplish what it was intended to accomplish.

Um, having other people care for it because the body is is not all there.

Every part matters.

They all need to work together.

And uh, and we as part of the body of Christ need to make sure that we are doing our part to fulfill the gifts that God has given us to do.

Some parts are visible, some are invisible.

Some stand behind a pulpit, some teach children, some clean the building, some pray in a quiet room, some visit the sick, some encourage the discouraged, some give generously, some quietly serve week after week without seemingly there for anybody noticing.

But God sees every part.

And when every part does what God has called it to do, the body can grow.

And using these gifts that God has given to us.

So some applications from Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Again, to say that it's a special privilege for me to be here today, to be at my son-in-law's installation service.

Matt and Sarah, we're extremely proud of you guys, thrilled with what God's doing in your lives, and looking forward to even greater things that he's going to be able to do with you guys.

I've had a chance to watch Matt grow.

Had a chance to get several, many phone calls from Matt over the years, not all dealing with whether she's all in or not.

Um I've watched God work in your life and thrilled to do so.

Today I have the privilege of watching you step into a calling that's bigger than a job.

It's bigger than a title.

And so, Matt, let me give you some applications from Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Four things.

Number one, love your wife.

Love your wife.

Pastoral ministry can take a lot from a man, but don't let it take your marriage.

Sorry there.

Your wife is not competing with the ministry, she's part of the ministry.

She's part of the ministry that God has given you.

Love her, protect her, listen to her, and pray with her.

And let your children see that you love, that your love for Christ makes you a better husband and a better father, not simply a busier pastor.

Secondly, Matt is my son-in-law.

Love the people of this church.

Some will encourage you, some may challenge you, some may misunderstand you, some might even disagree with you.

Love them, anyways.

Remember that Jesus didn't call you to pastor perfect people, he called you to shepherd people who, just like you and I, are still being shaped by grace.

Love your wife, love your people.

Number three, preach the word.

Don't be tempted to water it down.

Don't be tempted to just do what's popular.

When you're tired, preach the word.

When people don't respond the way you'd hoped, preach the word.

When you don't know what else to say, preach the word.

Because it's the word of God that changes lives.

Preach the word.

And fourthly, stay close to Christ.

Never become so busy doing things for God that you forget to walk with God.

Because your first calling isn't to be a pastor.

Your first calling is to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

And if you remain close to him, he will use you to do great and mighty things beyond what you can think or ask.

So stay close to Christ.

And then the four things here for First Baptist Church at Pentwater.

Applications from today.

Four things.

Number one, church, pray for your pastor.

Pray for your pastor.

Don't just pray for him when things seem difficult.

Pray for him all the time.

Pray for him every week.

Pray for his marriage.

Pray for his children.

Pray for his preaching.

Pray for his wisdom.

Pray for his protection.

Pray that God would keep his heart tender.

Pray for him.

Spend time praying for him.

It's tough to be upset at somebody that you're praying for.

Pray for your pastor.

Number two, encourage your pastor.

He looks like he's got it all together.

You know, he's got the classic, not even classic, excuse me.

He's got the inn styling and clothes going here.

I mean, I get to be here today without a tie.

He's in jeans.

Encourage your pastor.

Tell him, Pastor, hey, thanks for that message.

I really needed that.

Pastor, we're praying for you.

Pastor, thank you.

Your words can mean more than you realize.

Because there's a lot of times as a pastor that you're carrying things that you just can't share with people.

The timing's just not right.

It's too delicate of an issue to be out there.

But he's carrying it.

Encourage your pastor.

Number three.

Church, follow biblical leadership.

I'm sorry to break it to you, but your pastor's not perfect.

He's just like me.

He's not your savior.

He doesn't know everything.

He's not everywhere at all times.

He doesn't always make the perfect decisions, and he'll even make some mistakes here and there.

But don't make the mistake of expecting your pastor to be perfect while expecting grace for yourself.

Give your pastor room to grow.

Give him room to lead.

And if you disagree, handle it biblically, humbly and lovingly.

Going back to what he says here, that we should be eagerly seeking to maintain the unity of the body of Christ, using our gifts to edify and build up the body of Christ.

Follow biblical leadership, church.

Pray for your pastor, encourage your pastor, follow his biblical leadership.

And number four, share in the ministry.

Don't make your pastor the entire ministry of First Baptist Church of Pentwater.

Let him equip you, let him train you, let him send you, let him disciple you, and then we can go out and do the work of the ministry together.

That's what Ephesians 4 is telling us here that we're to be one family, one church with one mission.

Pastor Matt and Sarah, boys, if you guys had come up here to the front, I'm going to ask the elders if you'd come.

I'll say a few more words while they're coming up here.

I'm going to ask the elders if they'd pray over this family as we have the official installation process of what you've already voted in.

It leaves us with this beautiful picture: one family.

We belong to one another because we belong to Christ, that we're one church.

We may have different gifts and different backgrounds and different personalities and different responsibilities, but we are one body with one mission to glorify Christ, to proclaim his word, to make disciples, to build one another up, and to reach people with the gospel.

So today, as we install your new pastor in this official service here today, let's make our commitment together to be one family in Christ, one body, using all of our diversified gifts.

Hey, Callie, and to be in one body working together for one mission.

So, First Baptist Church, you have a new shepherd, a new pastor.

Pastor, you have a new flock.

And both of you have the same chief shepherd, which is Jesus Christ.

Elders, would you pray for this family?

Father, thank you for this day.

This has been a long journey.

You've been faithful and you've been with us to the public church.

We thank you for bringing your servants, Matt and Sarah, to us.

Looking forward to their ministry, what they all to this church's heart.

May we be faithful to them.

May we love them, the children.

May we help them.

We thank you for this new house that you've given us.

We know it comes from you, and uh we just praise you for that.

We we look ahead to the seasons ahead for the ministry here, and may this church always be a light in this community, Lord.

Thank you for all that you've given us.

Thank you, Father, that the uh promise of eternal life and life with you is one of total acceptance.

So we pray that we just thank you that you give us that.

So may we extend that grace to each other as we move forward.

Listen to your call, say yes to your spirit's uh your spirit's direction in our lives.

So we thank you for Matt and Sarah and for what you're going to do through us together as a group.

Father, we thank you for even before time that you had this moment ordained, that Matt and Sarah and their family are here.

Lord, we just pray for them.

We pray for your covering, we pray for their marriage and family.

And Lord, we pray as they transition into this job, this calling, that your spirit will be on them.

Uh bring wisdom and discernment to them.

But most of all, Lord, we just pray that um that you will just shower them with your love and your grace.

Lord, we just thank you for this day.

And we know this has been a long time coming for Matt, as he has wanted to be a worship uh pastor for so long and bring the message to people as he's worked through many, many days.

And um, I just pray for this family that you continue to bless them.

I pray for Matt's ministry here, that um we may have many, many years with Matt here in the pulpit, speaking to us and equipping us so that we can serve you, Lord.

And I just pray for the church, I pray for the congregation and everyone in this building that we would come here, open our hearts, and just be part of the children of God that we are called to be.

And we just thank you for bringing Matt here to us.

Father God, we stand in awe of you today.

We think of the many, many, many opportunities that Matt and Sarah have had over the years that they've been together as a couple serving you.

That this is the pinnacle of their service right now.

That they're here amongst us, in the place that you've placed them, in your timing, and with your grace.

Thank you, Father, for being so good to us.

We'll thank you for it in Jesus' name.

Father, we just thank you for these this full family to come here, Matthew and Sarah, sacrificing different areas in their lives to come up here and speak the truth.

May this whole church feel the Spirit of God is at running through this family, through our family of the church, and this neighborhood water.

We just uh thank you so much for them coming up here, Lord, and we expect that your spirit will be all through us all.

Thanks.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you.

Would you stand with us here?

They're gonna come and lead us in a song here in just a second.

But uh when this chapter of First Baptist Church's history is someday finished, people won't even remember who preached the sermons.

They might even remember who served on committees.

They may remember the buildings and the programs, but what will matter most is whether First Baptist Church of Pentwater became more like Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:15, that we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

Ephesians 4:15

So, Pastor, lead this church to Jesus.

Church, follow your pastor as he follows Jesus.

And together, we'll all be following the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Let's commit this church, this pastor, and this new chapter of ministry into the hands of the one who gave himself for the church.

Jesus Christ is our head, the church is his body, the word of God is our authority, love is our manner, and the gospel is our mission.