Moving Forward At Maranatha

I would be remiss this Sunday morning if I did not ask at the very outset that you pray for me.

! Over the years I have often, when I find myself a little encumbered by my emotional frailty, I task Jack with the responsibility of praying.

He kind of knows that's going to happen and goes with the task.

I've never asked him to preach.

I told Pastor Shearer yesterday, when the absolute crowd was in their home and all over,

and we were fairly finished with at least putting boxes and beds and bed frames and washers and things in their places,

I got a little emotional, and so I tasked him.

I said, in the future, when I get emotional, I'm going to make you pray.

And I'm not going to make you preach.

But I do ask your prayer because this is a very poignant moment for me,

and one that encourages my soul greatly.

Because I find our fellowship at a point in our history that bears testimony to our confidence

in God revealing to us in His Word His wisdom and following it to our blessing.

I want you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Numbers chapter 27.

Numbers 27 · chapter mention

And I'm going to read for you, beginning there in verse 12 down through verse 18.

Numbers chapter 27, verse 12 through 18.

Numbers 27:12–18

The Lord said to Moses,

Go up into this mountain of Abiram and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel.

When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people as your brother Aaron was,

because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled.

Failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.

These are the waters of Meribar at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,

Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh,

appoint a man over the congregation,

who shall go out before them and come in before them,

who shall lead them out and bring them in,

that the congregation of the Lord may not be a sheep that have no shepherd.

So the Lord said to Moses,

Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit,

and lay your hand on him.

Make him stand before Eliezer, the priest, and all the congregation,

and you shall commission him in their sight.

Let's pray.

Father, we frame our thinking with your word,

because it is settled in the heavens,

because it is our life,

because it has been given to us

as a fit and suitable instrument of guidance and blessing,

because we understand that it reveals to us

not only the way of salvation,

but also the way of godly living.

It helps us understand how the body of Christ is to function,

and how we as your people go about

dealing with the issues of life

in a fashion that is above and beyond

and atypical of a broken

and profoundly troubled world.

We're thankful

for the word that you've given to us

that we may rely upon today

and every day,

and we ask, Father,

that we, in our dependence upon your word

and our dependence upon the Spirit,

would be a people that,

in our walk,

are marked by humility

and joy

and fruitfulness.

We ask for the teaching of your word,

that it is enabled by the Spirit

and it is received by your people

for the glory of Christ,

and we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Allow me to deal with one more issue.

I want to mention that Awana training

will be taking place tomorrow evening.

It's one of the things that I penciled in on my notes

and I don't want to forget it.

Monday evening, you'll notice,

and greatly appreciate all you that are involved in this.

Numbers chapter 27 is a passage

Numbers 27 · chapter mention

that gives to us a picture of a transitional moment

in the life of the nation of Israel,

people of God.

It's a point where,

and you have to stop and realize

the emotion of this moment

is pretty significant

because here is God coming to Moses

and saying,

you're done.

It's over.

You're out of here.

And if I were in Moses' shoes,

I could imagine that it'd be kind of,

yeah.

And not only that,

but God brings up his failure.

Do you remember when,

yeah,

I am struck,

and I think you should be,

by the incredible heart

Moses had for everyone beside himself.

his execution had been announced.

His sin brought to the forefront,

and his singular interest was in other people.

Lord,

I'm concerned

that after I leave,

the nation of Israel have a shepherd

that will take care of them.

today

marks just another step

in this congregation's journey

toward a God-honoring transition

from one generation to another.

The fact that we're here

and we are looking at a passage

such as this

that lays a biblical foundation

for the fact that transition

is appropriate and necessary

and should be done

in a certain fashion

is an indication

of our complete confidence

in the fact

that the Word of God

can be trusted

for counsel and instruction

for the blessing of God's people.

Handoffs are tough.

I ran track.

I know you're looking at me

and saying at 68,

you've got to be kidding me.

But I did.

I ran 220,

440,

and I ran the relays

in both legs.

Is Joe here today?

He's not.

He's at Cedarville.

Much faster than I was

and am.

We worked hard.

In fact,

we worked harder at handoffs

than any other part

of our individual skill.

And the reason for that

is that handoffs

are where it all happened

and blew up

or succeeded.

And as a matter of fact,

when you run relays,

there is only

a certain amount

of track

that you are allowed

to make the handoff in.

If you hand it off before

or you hand it off

after that little

passing lane,

guess what?

You are disqualified.

And the truth of the matter is

is a number of years ago,

actually over eight years ago,

Pastor Saul and I

began talking about the fact

that as he and I

got old together,

we realized the day

would eventually...

We did.

We got old together.

He and I began talking

about the fact

that handoffs

were important

and that sadly enough,

most churches

did not prepare

and think about it.

And behind the scenes,

we spent probably a year

in discussing

and praying about it,

eventually brought it

to the deacons

a number of years ago

and they began

confirming and affirming

the principles

and we began actually

saving money

because handoffs

take money.

And we began doing research,

both among fellow believers

and in churches

and also in the secular environment

and even in the military,

learning the issues

that are related to

how important it is

to put together a plan

and think it through carefully

in relationship

to how you make the shift

and the change.

You as a congregation

approved

by unanimous vote

in 2014

that we move forward

with that

and that we began

the process

for searching

for the man

that we would call

our senior pastor elect.

It was really exciting

yesterday

to finish moving.

Well, I don't know

that we're entirely

finished moving.

There's still wood

down in Chillicothe

that Pastor Shearer

covets.

he is a wood burner,

guys.

You know,

hey,

if you have a tree

that needs to come down,

just chop it up

in little bits

and I guarantee

he'll move it.

So,

I don't know

that I could guarantee that,

but he's nodding his head.

He's with it.

That's why he had six kids,

he said.

I heard that.

The wood burning team.

But,

you know,

it was kind of neat

to walk out of there

and the house

is absolutely filled

with boxes

and I thought to myself,

our part of the moving

is done.

I texted him this morning

and said,

I'm praying for you.

You're probably wondering

which box

some things were packed in

that you need for Sunday.

I was like,

where are my shoes?

I remember that.

The truth of the matter is

is that in approximately

23 months,

the day will come

when I'm going to hand

a towel to my brother.

It will not be a miter

or a scepter

because his role

and place among us

while he is a man

that God has called

to be the leader

of this fellowship,

at the end of the day,

the most significant part

of his leading

will be his service.

to the word,

to you,

and to Christ.

And so,

what I want to do

this morning

is just give you

a little further insight

into the biblical roots

of our effort

and then lay out

for you

some practical

mileposts

to our plan.

our fellowship

over the years

has relied

over and over again

on clear communication

to frame our prayers

and to help us

know together

the path that we're on

and the reasoning

behind it.

And so,

I want to follow

in some senses

the same pattern

that we followed

back in 2014

when I laid out

for you

the steps

that were going

to lead us

to begin

this process

together.

In your bulletin

this morning

you have

or you were

to have

a printed copy

of the pastoral

transition planning.

What have we been

working on

behind the scenes?

And I'm going

to come to that

later

so you can

follow along

and know

some of the

mileposts

that we are

shooting for.

But let me begin

by addressing

the fact

that what we're

engaged in

here in our

fellowship

really has

a biblical

model behind

it.

Numerous

models actually.

And we are

looking right now

at Numbers

Numbers 27:15–18

chapter 27

verse 15

through 18

and as we

look at this

passage

and kind of

frame this

I want you

to understand

that what

we find

here

is a

conclusion

in a sense

of Moses'

ministry

and an

interest in

seeing that

a clear

path

is followed

and an

individual

is assigned

with the

responsibility

of caring

for God's

people.

Here was

Moses expressing

his heart

he said

listen I

understand

my day

is up

my time

is over

but as I

leave the

people I

love

I want

to know

for certain

that someone

else is

going to

come along

so that

they are

not like

people that

have no

shepherd.

It's not

an accident

that when

people ask

Tim Kenoyer

so how do

you want

to be

called?

Last night

as I was

walking in

my neighborhood

people have

figured out

finally that

I'm a

Baptist

pastor

and this

one individual

relatively new

neighbor

he had heard

from somebody

else I think

that I was a

pastor

and he

comes from

a more

formal

liturgical

fellowship

and so as I

was walking

by he said

hi reverend

and you know

it's like

hey

good to see

you Bob

whatever

he is

I said

but just

call me

Tim

you know

to our

people

I'm a

pastor

I'm a

shepherd

and here

is Moses

expressing his

interest in the

same fashion

he says

I'm just

interested

that you

provide

God

that you

provide

a shepherd

for your

people

we do

see here

in this

passage

in Numbers

Numbers 27 · chapter mention

chapter 27

that God

appointed

Joshua

to be

Israel's

next

leader

what is

not evident

in these

few verses

that we

note here

is all

the time

that had

taken place

in preparation

for that

the day

would come

when all

the responsibility

of caring

for the flock

of God

the shepherd

that was

going to be

needed

would fall

on the

shoulders

of this

man

Joshua

but what

we really

don't

understand

is that

Joshua

was trained

for his

role

of

leadership

over

time

it took

place

quietly

behind the

scenes

and I'm

not going

to bring

you back

all the

way back

into the

book of

Exodus

and have

you track

with me

all the

process

but I do

want you

to understand

that Joshua

had spent

40 years

with

Moses

he'd been

with Moses

when Moses

had gone

up

to receive

the law

he had

been the

commander

that Moses

had sent

to deal

with the

battle

with the

Amalekites

remember

when Moses

stayed

removed

from the

nation

and the

warfare

down in

the plain

Moses

raised his

arms up

and so

long as

Moses

kept his

arms up

Joshua

was the

one that

was down

on the

plain

doing the

hard work

and engaged

in the

conflict

it was also

Joshua

you'll remember

at one

point

when the

spirit of

God

had fallen

on a

number

of

individuals

in the

camp

and there

were two

other

individuals

that Joshua

didn't think

were qualified

to be

prophesying

and remember

they were

lighting up

and Joshua

comes running

to Moses

and says

hey there

are a couple

guys that

are kind

of freewheeling

and put a

stop

and Moses

says oh

would to

God

that all

of his

people

would be

prophets

by the way

that has to do

with music

in case you're

wondering

I love it

when all of

us get

into the

business

right

this is a

sidebar

it's not

in my

notes

but I

gotta tell

you

I love

listening

to you

sing

I do

and I

can tell

you that

the people

who are

on this

stage

do not

view

themselves

as

professionals

who are

here to

entertain

you

they are

here for

one reason

and that is

to encourage

your heart

to worship

the Lord

of glory

enthusiastically

and joyfully

with every

bit of

energy

that you

can

muster

I have

to tell

you the

deacons

let me

know

that in

the future

when we

do

communion

that if

we're

going to

be doing

special

music

at the

front

they need

further

warning

but it's

alright

you know

it says

make a

joyful

noise

unto

the

Lord

right

and

I

will

clue

them

in

John

we need

to remind

them

if

they're

going

to

be

singing

probably

fewer

of them

will

want

to

participate

but

we're

in it

together

right

we're

in it

together

and

here

was

Joshua

concerned

with the

fact

that

too

many

people

were

involved

and

Moses

says

oh

no

no

bring

them

all

in

get

them

involved

Joshua

was

sent

by

Moses

to

be

a

spy

Joshua

was

one

who

came

back

and

pled

with

the

nation

not

rebel

against

God

and

it's

important

for us

to

understand

that

over

the

years

Joshua

was

right

there

by

Moses

over

and

over

and

over

again

as

Moses

dealt

with the

people

of God

with a

shepherd's

heart

and with

an interest

in the

glory

of God

and

when

it

came

time

and

Moses

recognized

that his

day was

finished

and he

desired

someone

to be a

shepherd

in his

place

the man

God

appointed

was a

man that

had spent

much time

in doing

what

shepherds

do

you see

what had

happened

is that

Joshua

had grown

to understand

that godly

leadership

principally

was an

exercise

of biblical

principle

it's

something that

I think

is important

for us

to figure

out in

our lives

how is

it that

Joshua

ended up

being in

this position

for one

he was

there with

Moses

over and

over again

in the

journey

but I

want you

to understand

that the

exercise of

leadership

on the part

of Joshua

was not

so much

a matter

of his

personality

as it

was a

dependence

upon

principle

to argue

that case

and you

should always

be thinking

to yourself

pastor can you

prove that

in the

Bible

I want

you to

turn

you are

there in

numbers

I want

you to

turn

forward

just a

little bit

to Joshua

Joshua 1:5–9

chapter 1

verse 5

through 9

Joshua

Joshua 1:5–9

chapter 1

verse 5

through 9

my argument

is this

is that

biblical

leadership

is ultimately

the exercise

of biblical

principle

we make

a mistake

of thinking

that that

leadership

is ultimately

in the

family of

God

a matter

of unique

personality

or characteristics

and the

individual

who

possesses

these

that's

the one

no

no

no

look at

Joshua

Joshua 1:5

chapter 1

verse 5

no man

shall be

able to

stand before

you all

the days

of your

life

just as

I was

with

Moses

so will

I be

with you

I will

not leave

you or

forsake

you

verse 6

be strong

and of

good

courage

for you

shall

call this

people to

inherit the

land that

I swore

to their

fathers

to give

them

only be

strong

and very

courageous

be careful

to do

according

to all

the law

that Moses

my servant

commanded you

do not turn

from it

to the right

or to the

right hand

or the left

that you may

have good

success

wherever you

go

this book

of the law

shall not

depart from

your mouth

but you

shall meditate

on it

day and

night

so that

you may

be careful

to do

according

to all

that is

written

in it

for then

you will

make your

way prosperous

and then

you will

have good

success

nine

have I

not

commanded

you

be

strong

and

courageous

think with me

why would God

tell Joshua

three times

in these few

verses

be strong

and courageous

what do you

think

now listen

to me

the weight

of the

responsibility

of leading

God's

people

was more

than any

man

could bear

on his

own

I am

reminded

of Solomon

when he

received

the blessing

of being

the king

following

David

and remember

God came

to him

and said

hey

what would

you like

what did

Solomon ask

for

I tell

you what

I'd like

a thousand

concubines

and three

hundred

wives

is that

what he

said

I would

like all

my enemies

to drop

dead

now

I'd

like to

be the

richest

man

around

what did

he say

he said

I'm a

rookie

free rendition

here for you

who are

literalists

you know

it's kind

of broad

I am

inexperienced

and I really

don't know

how to do

this thing

of caring

for your

people

I desperately

need

wisdom

anybody

who steps

into a

position

of

spiritual

leadership

that is

not

overwhelmed

by the

responsibility

is a

fool

and here

is

Joshua

being told

three

times

be

strong

and

courageous

it is

interesting

that along

with the

counsel

of being

strong

and

courageous

depending

on how

you count

the

statements

you can

come up

with as

many as

four times

that God

says

explicitly

follow

my

instructions

Joshua

don't be

a wimp

don't be

a wuss

don't be

intimidated

by the

responsibility

of leading

the family

of God

and bringing

blessing to

them

and by

the way

what your

job is

essentially

is follow

instructions

my wife

is actually

a better

cook than

I am

principally

because she

is laboriously

committed

to following

instructions

last year

I thought

it was a

good idea

for us

to make

sauerkraut

I bought

the crock

I mean

hey

I got

all the

tools

in fact

everything

that a

person

could

fantasize

to go

along

with being

a sauerkraut

maker

of the

first

order

I've

got

it

I

tried

once

details

bore

me

I was

like

how many

of you

know

that

cabbage

can

become

a

spongy

stinking

foul

mess

within

about

four or

five

weeks

does

anybody

else

have

experience

okay

well I

thought

okay

once

burned

fool

me

once

you know

shame

on me

I'll

try

again

the

second

was

just

as

bad

!

thankfully

it has

dissipated

over the

last year

but

out in

the

alley

of my

neighborhood

there were

two piles

of fetid

stinking

kraut

that was

not

fermented

it was

just

rotted

you

see

when

God

says

to

Joshua

you're

to

lead

my

people

it

came

down

really

to

this

follow

instructions

and

so

as we

think

about

what

is

involved

in

pastoral

leadership

it

really

comes

down

to

this

be

courageous

because

of

who

God

is

and

number

two

trust

him

and

follow

his

advice

I

do

want

you

to

look

at

a

second

illustration

because

we

see

something

a little

different

not

off

the

page

but

a

little

more

detail

I

want

us

to

think

about

Timothy

Timothy

ended

up

being

the

pastoral

leader

there

at

the

church

in

Ephesus

and

his

ministry

there

did

not

happen

by

accident

before

he

became

the

shepherd

of

that

congregation

he

spent

many

years

with

Paul

he

traveled

with

the

apostle

he

listened

to

Paul

preach

he

saw

Paul

deal

with

some

of

the

difficulties

and

I

guarantee

you

Paul's

ministry

was probably

more

marked

by the

conflict

and the

tension

that he

endured

than anything

else

phenomenal

teacher

a man

with a

shepherd's

heart

and yet

adversity

just seemed

to track

him left

and right

it's

very

interesting

that

when it

came

time

for

Paul

to

recommend

Timothy

for

ministry

Paul

made a

very

interesting

statement

about

him

and I

want

you

to

look

at

this

passage

in

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

that

gives

us

another

little

picture

at

what

we

are

looking

for

in

pastoral

leadership

and

are

anticipating

God

to do

in our

fellowship

in

relationship

to

Pastor

Shearer's

ministry

Philippians

Philippians 2:20–22

chapter

2

verse

20

through

22

here

is

Paul

referring

to

Timothy

his son

in the

faith

for I

have

no

one

like

him

who

will

be

genuinely

concerned

for

your

welfare

for

they

all

seek

their

own

interests

not

those

of

Jesus

Christ

but

you

know

Timothy

's

proven

worth

how

as

a

son

with

a

father

he

served

with

me

in

the

gospel

very

interesting

statement

isn't

it

here

is

the

apostle

saying

this

and

by

the

way

at

this

point

in

the

apostles

life

and

ministry

he

had

spent

much

time

working

with

many

individuals

in

preparing

teaching

coaching

stirring

up their

hearts

for

pastoral

ministry

and

yet

he

says

this

he

says

most

of

the

guys

that

I

have

served

and

taught

really

don't

have

a

sincere

heart

for

what

it

means

to

be

a

pastor

why

is

that

pastoral

ministry

really

is

about

loving

people

if

you

are

going

to

think

about

what

is

engaged

in

the

responsibility

you

think

about

first

of

all

it

takes

courage

because

of

who

God

is

it

takes

a

commitment

to

follow

the

word

of

God

even

when

people

don't

always

like

hearing

the

word

interesting

I

had

an

individual

say

to

!

one

of

the

things

pastor

as

I've

been

around

different

churches

I

noticed

that

there

are

a

lot

of

places

where

all

you

hear

is

just

feel

good

info

and

the

clear

commitment

to

teaching

the

glory

of

Christ

and

the

word

of

God

without

shame

is

a

diminishing

affection

in

the

church

today

being

a

pastor

means

teaching

of

the

word

and

being

clear

about

what

God

has

to

say

whether

or

not

people

smile

there's

a

third

piece

though

and

that's

what

we

see

in

the

life

of

Timothy

pastoral

ministry

really

is

about

loving

people

I

remember

many

many

years

ago

when

I

actually

was

before

I

had

my

first

responsibility

as a

shepherd

I

asked

a man

named

Bill

Good

he's

with

the

Lord

now

I

said

hey

Bill

I'm

new

at

this

and

I'm

a

little

nervous

at

doing

this

and

help

me

understand

what

does

it

take

to

be

a