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00:00 books. Uh I'm the CFO there in case you're wondering why I'm uh asking, but
00:05 uh we're looking for this person to be a part of our team. It's a small team, but a very important position. So, if you
00:12 know anyone who meets those qualifications, then I'd be most happy to speak with you about that.
00:20 Leadership is so uh important uh in the life of a family, uh in the life of the
00:26 church, in the life of any organization. I thank God for the leaders that we have here in this church. Uh they typify so
00:35 many of the great qualities of spiritual leaders and uh I've certainly been
00:42 benefited by uh observing how they conduct themselves. I I do want to say
00:47 at the front end that I understand completely that there is a a matter of being
00:53 and a matter of doing. And today mostly we're going to be talking about the doing part. Uh the
01:00 being part of a Christian, the being part of a of a leader is probably a
01:06 subject for another time. So we read a little bit of background
01:12 about uh this uh section of scripture from 1 Thessalonians 2:17 through the
01:18 end of chapter 3. Uh Paul and Silas were traveling together uh in Macedonia and
01:25 they went to a town called Philippi. And in Philippi they uh met a lady who was a
01:31 fortune teller. And Paul after hearing days of this got frustrated with that
01:37 and and the demonic activity that uh guided her and he commanded the devil to
01:44 come out of her, the demons to come out of her. And the scripture tells us straight away they did. But the men who
01:51 were employing her were enraged and they brought Paul and Silas into the city uh
01:57 to be judged by the magistrates. The magistrates found uh Paul and Silas to
02:03 be at fault and they cast them into jail after beating them. And there at midnight they sat uh in the jail and
02:10 began singing praises and praying uh to our Lord. And all of a sudden God showed
02:16 up. I mean, the other uh jailers, the other inmates uh recognized what was
02:21 going on, but God showed up and he broke their chains and set them free. And the
02:27 Philippi Philippian jailer was about to kill himself when Paul told him, "Don't do that." Uh eventually they were set
02:36 free, but they were told to leave the city. And so they did. And they wound up in uh in uh our town of Thessalonica.
02:46 So just a brief summary. Paul and Silas were in Philippi. They were beaten and thrown in jail. They were singing and
02:54 praising Jesus. And God delivered them and set them free. The jailer uh and his
03:01 entire house were saved and the town leaders basically told them to leave.
03:09 They wound up in Thessalon were chased out to Berea. And then the Thessalonans were so angry with him, they followed
03:16 them to Berea and forced Paul to leave. And Paul ultimately wound up in Athens.
03:24 And that's where the uh setting of this book takes place. So when he talks to them uh uh to the congregation, the
03:31 former congregation that he used to uh lead there in Thessalonica,
03:37 he had this on his mind that he was uh separated from them. and it really uh
03:43 grieved him. So, one of the things that we see from this scripture uh this portion of scripture is that leaders
03:50 lead through love for God's people. Verse 217 says, "But since we were torn
03:58 away from you, brothers, for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavored them more eagerly and with
04:05 great desire to see you face to face." Little interesting uh play on words here
04:11 in that Paul is using the Greek word apopanesio which is uh basically the word that we
04:17 derive our word orphan from. And so the sentiment that Paul was enduring was
04:22 this feeling of being torn away forcibly separated uh from those that he loved
04:28 his children in the ministry there in Thessalonica. And this was a burden that he was carrying as he pinned these
04:35 words. It pained him greatly to be separated from them and uh he had come
04:41 to love them deeply during his time with them and he continued to pray for them and support them. But here he finds
04:47 himself in Athens uh and they're in Thessalonica and they're getting ready to see some hardships. Paul knows this
04:54 is coming because of the way he's been treated and he's concerned about how they're going to deal with that.
05:01 One of the second things that uh a leader does in serving the church is he
05:06 uh shares with the truth of his own trial with the congregation with the people. He doesn't put on a front. He's
05:14 not always super spiritual and you know uh the hand of God doesn't always rest
05:19 on him in every utterance that he makes. But he's vulnerable. He's transparent.
05:25 He shows people his weaknesses because he knows in his weaknesses uh God is made strong. Uh verse 18 of chapter 2
05:33 because he wanted to come to you I Paul again and again but Satan hindered us.
05:39 There's a real truth here that uh Satan is active and he is at work in the world
05:45 and his uh purpose is to destroy and uh mitigate the testimony of Christians and
05:52 believers in the lives of others. So he wanted to see them. Hindering is a
05:58 device of Satan. Uh we see this in Daniel 10:13 where the prince of the
06:04 king of Persia or the kingdom of Persia basically withtood Michael for 21 days.
06:10 And in that process uh Michael prevailed and and came to help Daniel and uh he
06:18 actually overcame the king of Persia. So there's an example of this hindrance in Paul's case.
06:25 uh eventually even though he was hindered from being with the Thessalonicans, we see in Acts chapter
06:30 20 that he actually goes back to Thessalonica where he can continue to do his work and uh uh edify the body of the
06:39 churches in that area. So also by telling the truth of their own lives and their own trials uh we
06:46 know that God uh has revealed to us throughout scripture other devices of Satan uh you know to trouble Christians
06:55 and believers. And it tells us in uh Revelation chapter 10 that he's the accuser of the brethren.
07:02 And this verse says, "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, now salvation
07:07 and power and kingdom of our God and the authority of his Jesus Christ or his Christ have come, for the accuser of our
07:14 brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our
07:20 God, but they overcame him." And how did they overcome him? Satan is an accuser.
07:25 Sometimes in our life, we feel this uh accusation that's against us. we're not good enough, you know, we're not
07:32 spiritual enough, we don't do the right things, or our motives are bad. And
07:37 Satan accuses us and it it uh disillusions us and sometimes
07:42 discourages us to the point of not being able to overcome that and continue on
07:47 with the strength of Christ. But these people in Revelation, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. If you're
07:55 going to overcome the difficulties in your life, you have to overcome first by
08:00 the blood of the lamb, by the uh shed blood of Christ on the cross. So becoming a Christian, a personal
08:06 believer is essential to an overcoming life. Scripture tells us, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the
08:12 world." But just because you have a head knowledge of Jesus doesn't necessarily mean that you have a heart reality of
08:19 him. And I think where in nations where uh the Christian faith has been promagated for centuries or for a very
08:26 long time, people take for granted this headnowledge uh as something that is
08:32 real and genuine. And the scripture tells us the devils believe also and tremble, but they're not saved. And so
08:40 it's important that if we're going to overcome our enemy, the wicked one, the devil, that we do so by the blood of the
08:46 lamb and by the word of their testimony. The word of their testimony means they
08:52 were faithful to uh what they said they believed and what they preached and what
08:57 the world knew at that time as the message of Christ. So they overcame him by being faithful. When hardship comes,
09:04 sometimes it knocks us back and we want to uh think about what's happening. And
09:11 sometimes we get sidetracked and that hardship, that adversity, whether it's a
09:16 health issue, an employment issue, a broken relationship in a marriage or with an employer, sometimes that uh puts
09:24 us back a bit and we struggle to regain our uh footing in our relationship with
09:30 Christ. But I would say to you that we have to soldier on. We have to be faithful to do what we know is the right
09:37 thing to do and God will honor that. Last but not least, they said that they
09:42 love not their lives until the death. These people love God more than themselves. And I'll tell you what's
09:49 remarkable to me. I see it here. I've seen it many other places, but there are people here who love God. God has their
09:56 whole heart. And you can see it in their attitude and in their service. They're selfless. They're caring. They show
10:03 grace and exhibit grace in their relationships with others. And God honors that. But these people were
10:09 prepared to sacrifice their life if necessary. And we know that some Christians are called upon to sacrifice
10:17 their life. And yet many of us fear that. We fear it to the extent that we
10:22 uh really change our way of relating to the world uh on behalf of Christ. We're
10:29 a little shy and reticent. I'm not saying there's not a place in a time for
10:34 uh listening to the voice of God and doing something that is uh perhaps extravagant or radical. But I would say
10:42 to you that you should do so under the control of the Holy Spirit and not just
10:47 because you got a an idea that you ought to say something or do something uh to make a stand, but you're doing it in the
10:54 flesh. That could have pretty disastrous results. We also know that one of his
10:59 other devices is by tempting us to act independently of God. This is a great quote from Oswald Chambers. He says,
11:05 "Sin is not wrongdoing. It is wrong being
11:11 deliberate and emphatic independence of God. Now, that's not the definition
11:17 you've usually heard for sin, but I think it's a very appropriate one. Sin is when we decide to go our own way
11:23 aside from what God uh has told us. And so, Satan tempted Jesus in the
11:30 wilderness. We see in Matthew 4. And in Job, we know that Job lost all of his family, all of his possessions, and he
11:37 was tempted to curse God and die. Uh that's what his wife uh told him. And yet, he persevered until the end. He was
11:45 humble. I think the book of Job says, "In all of this, he sinned not with his mouth, in all of the hardships." Uh if
11:52 you've ever suffered and gotten angry with God, sometimes we say things that we regret. you know, uh, in retrospect,
12:00 we would probably be better to hold our tongue. And, uh, Job was a man who I think God lived in his heart. And Job
12:08 had the character and the grace of the Lord Jesus, uh, even if he was an Old
12:13 Testament guy, but he had that manifest in his life. And then believers uh, are
12:19 told to be sober minded and watchful because our adversary, the devil, is prowling around seeking whom he may
12:27 devour. So he's like a lying lion and he wants to destroy us. He wants to devour
12:32 us. He wants to make waste of our life, of our relationships, of our influence.
12:41 And uh the next is uh I think I just hit the same. Okay, here's a great great
12:49 quote. Satan's seeking whom he may devour is no match for a savior seeking
12:56 whom he may deliver. We can have confidence in our deliverer
13:02 in our lord. He is the ultimate victor over this uh matter of life and death of
13:10 eternity. And so this was all set from uh eternity past
13:16 by rejoicing with them. leaders also uh encourage their people for verse 19 and
13:22 20 says, "What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus
13:27 at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy."
13:35 So, a leader's hope is the faithfulness of his followers so that his labor is not in vain. If you
13:42 want to honor your leaders here, uh be faithful. be faithful in church
13:48 attendance, be faithful in uh you know uh the ministries of the church, be faithful in your tithes and offerings.
13:55 And that will edify the church. And if everybody would simply do uh these
13:60 things, the church would be a dramatically different place with a a significantly different impact on their
14:06 communities. A leader's joy is the encouragement that
14:11 he receives as he sees you remaining faithful. Paul actually drew encouragement and strength from uh
14:18 observing the lives of these Thessalonian brethren and and we see that too. Many of you have encouraged me
14:25 here in our short time here and continue to do so. I think perhaps the best
14:30 sermon that will be preached today was Pastor Ramen's prayer. Rama, sorry. And
14:36 uh uh if you listen to those prayers, I've asked him to send them to me from time to time because they're so
14:42 powerful. So so powerful. so full of grace and so full of truth. Uh they're
14:48 pretty remarkable. I've encouraged him to compile them together and make a book
14:53 because I think it would I think it would sell. It would be that uh that good. Certainly the uh the content is
14:58 that good. So, brother, we appreciate your faithfulness encourages us to be better uh than we would otherwise be.
15:05 And so, we thank you for your your ministry and your testimony here. a leader's crown uh which is the word
15:13 Stephanos or the re wreathlike crown that was given out during uh the Olympic games or something similar like that a
15:20 competition is our reward in this life and next. So who is that crown? The
15:25 crown is you. The crown Paul was saying is you the Thessalonican brethren who
15:30 have turned your back on sin, turned your back on the way of the world and given your heart and life to Christ.
15:37 That's our crown. And you know what? As leaders in the church, when we're trying to influence people for the kingdom,
15:43 when we see people come to Christ or remain in Christ and grow in Christ, uh
15:49 it's an encouragement to us. It empowers us. It gives us the ability to continue on through our own personal adversities.
15:57 And ministers have some unique uh adversities. I'll try to go over those in a minute. Uh but we need to be
16:03 prayerful for everyone in leadership that they have godly wisdom that they uh
16:08 develop and and maintain a godly character and that they listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as he leads and
16:15 guides and directs in their life. Here's the great exchange that takes
16:22 place when a person becomes a believer. You remember I told you they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. What does
16:28 the cross mean? The cross means that Jesus exchanged our obedience or his
16:34 obedience for our rebellion. He exchanged his intimacy for our condemnation and his life for our death.
16:42 And because of the faith that we have in Jesus Christ when we become a Christian, we exchange our sin for his
16:49 righteousness, our condemnation for his intimacy, and our death for his
16:55 resurrection life. Quite an exchange if you ask me.
17:02 Leaders also uh serve the church by partnering with other godly workers. We see in this case when back in the book
17:08 of Acts he was traveling with Timothy and Silas and and himself as he was
17:14 sharing the gospel around Macedonia. And in this we see also uh in verse one and
17:20 two uh when we could bear it no longer we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone. The wei there is Paul and
17:27 Silas. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker. This is the only
17:32 place in scripture where that word co-worker is used. And it means uh
17:38 something synergistically. Uh Timothy was so walking with Jesus that he was
17:44 like Jesus uh in the world. He was God's co-worker. There was an intimacy and a
17:50 power uh in the life of Timothy. And Timothy was a young man. A lot of times
17:55 we think that because we're young, we can't accomplish something uh for Christ or we're limited in our scope and our
18:01 influence and our abilities to uh advance the kingdom. But Timothy was an example that you can do that even as a
18:08 young person. And he was a co-orker of the gospel in Christ to establish and
18:14 exhort you in your faith. And what we learn here is there is a three a
18:20 three-fold cord is not quickly broken. You've heard that phrase. As a matter of fact, we dealt with it in Ecclesiastes
18:27 a few weeks ago, but that means there's strength in numbers. And so, we see
18:32 examples of this, Paul, Silas, Timothy here. We see Peter, James, and John, and other examples throughout the scripture.
18:40 If you don't have people in your life that you can be accountable to, you need
18:45 them. You know, the Bible says iron sharpens iron. And we need to have
18:51 people that we have close connections with, fellow laborers in our walk, in
18:56 our journey. Not everybody's called to be a leader in the church. You may be a housewife. You may own a business. You
19:02 may be a teacher. But look, the Christian journey is not a journey to travel alone. We all need fellowship. We
19:10 all need the encouragement and correction that comes from friends. And I would say to you that we also need the
19:15 adversity that comes from friends from time to time. Because friends challenge us. They
19:21 rebuke us. They're kind of like sandpaper on wood. They smooth out some
19:26 of our rough edges. But you could well know if you put sandpaper on your elbow or on your arm, it wouldn't be very
19:33 pleasant. Sometimes friendships are like that. The scripture tells us that the wounds of a friend are faithful. And
19:40 sometimes our friends have to speak truth to us in a way about what we're doing that will hurt our feelings at
19:47 first. But if we take their advice in the spirit in which it's given, God has a good outcome for us and we live more
19:54 and look more like him. So we draw strength and encouragement,
20:00 correction, and accountability from one another. The question is, who are you accountable to? Now, most of the
20:06 children in here would say that they're accountable to their parents. Most of the parents would say, I'm accountable
20:12 to perhaps an employer. Who are you accountable to? Who will you
20:18 allow to speak into your life to give you advice to give you correction? Who
20:24 will you allow to become uh that you personally will become transparent enough that you'll
20:31 share with them your hurt, your frustration, your failings, your weaknesses.
20:36 It's critical that we all have somebody like that. And and Paul certainly understood the significance of it. So
20:42 Timothy was Paul's spiritual son in the ministry. He was sent to establish or
20:47 strengthen and ground these Thessalonian Christians for the trials that were to come.
20:54 And Paul was most interested in the faith of these believers rather than their happiness, rather than their
20:59 comfort or their health or their wealth. I know in many circles today in Christendom, uh we think or we hear that
21:08 God wants everybody healthy and wealthy and and prospering. And I believe there's an element of truth in that.
21:16 But we can't forget fellow Christians that are suffering around the world who enjoy neither health, happiness,
21:22 comfort, or prosperity. And those people are not suffering. Uh
21:28 well, the reason they're suffering is obviously they're being persecuted by others. And some of them are literally
21:35 in fear of their lives. And I would say to you, whether you're the richest, most
21:40 prosperous, happy, dynamic Christian personality in a country, uh your faith
21:46 is no more or no less appreciated and sincere than uh these believers that are
21:54 suffering persecution around the world. And we're told that if we live Christ uh godly in Christ Jesus, we also will
22:01 suffer persecution. But Paul knew that faith alone would carry them through the adversity that they would face. How
22:09 strong is your faith? He was sent to encourage them. Timothy
22:14 was sent to encourage them as a coach might uh come alongside an athlete and
22:19 tell him that he has what it takes to succeed. How many of you have been at a point in your Christian life where
22:26 you've just said, "I I can't do this." you know, I don't have the the motivation uh any longer to continue uh
22:34 to be faithful to the Lord. You know, some people refer to it as a as a dry
22:39 spot in their spiritual walk. There's a loss of intimacy with Christ. We're we're praying, but we don't feel like
22:46 our prayers are heard and and it just seems like we're alone. And yet, we have
22:51 the promises of God. He says he'll never leave us or or forsake us. that he's with us always and will be with us even
22:58 through the hardships and and trials of life. So you need to hear, you need
23:04 somebody in your life saying you can do this. But look, the way you do this, the
23:10 way you please God, the way you become a strong Christian is not in the typical
23:17 uh uh matters of the flesh, you know, through our intelligence, through our personality, through the force of our
23:23 will. The way to become a dynamic Christian who brings honor and glory to
23:29 God is to live a life in constant submission to the Holy Spirit. That
23:35 moment by moment following, that close obedience when he prompts you to do
23:41 something or to not do something. Execute that immediately. And as you
23:46 execute the responsiveness to the Holy Spirit, you'll find that you have more power and more strength in your life.
23:55 leaders also prepare their followers, their fellowship uh for adversity.
24:02 Verse 3-5, that no one be moved by these afflictions, the pain and suffering. For
24:08 you yourselves know that we are destined for this. It's inevitable. For when we were with you, we kept telling you
24:14 beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass
24:20 and just as you now know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for
24:28 the fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would be in
24:34 vain. Paul was concerned that these Christians were going to wash out because of the adversity that they've suffered.
24:41 Remember our story about Job? How would you deal with the loss of your family?
24:47 All of them. How would you deal with the loss of your wealth?
24:53 or the loss of your health. It's a it's a troubling question when we
24:58 start thinking about our identity, you know, and where we draw our strength from. Some of us draw our strength from
25:05 our bank account. Some of us draw our strength from our personality. We're very uh dynamic.
25:12 Some people draw strength from their intellect. But I tell you, all of these can fail
25:18 you. And all of them will fail you from time to time. So important to know that we have to
25:25 draw our strength from the Lord particularly when adversity comes. Paul was concerned that this adversity was
25:30 going to cause these Thessalonican Christians to become disillusioned and say it's no use, no point. I'm not going
25:38 to pay the price to follow Christ. So pain of some type is inevitable and
25:46 we must be prepared for it. We have to tell you it's coming. Some think that when they become a Christian that all of
25:52 their problems go away. In fact, when you become a Christian, you become an enemy of this world. You
26:00 become an enemy of the prince and the power of the air, which is Satan. And he already has the unbeliever.
26:07 He's looking to destroy you just as he was looking to destroy Christ by taking
26:12 him through Calvary. But we have a victor that's stronger than Satan. And we need not fear. We
26:20 need not uh uh become discouraged or disheartened. Pain also has a purpose.
26:26 It gets our attention like nothing else. Some of us know people who are chronic
26:32 sufferers of pain. We wonder how they how they continue in
26:37 light of the the pain that they deal with day in and day out.
26:42 There is a place for pain in the life of a believer. This may not fit the uh the health and
26:48 wealth gospel mentality, but there is a place for pain in the life of a believer
26:54 because when you're in pain or when you're suffering, there is a clarity that comes to your life where you start
27:01 seeing priorities uh in a way that you just don't typically see them when
27:06 you're busy in your day-to-day environments. And so God wants to use pain to draw you closer to himself. And
27:14 that's how you need to look at it. You know, God doesn't hate you. God doesn't want to punish you. God doesn't want to
27:20 hurt you. But you know something, it's not about you.
27:25 It's not about you. It's about God and God seeing glory and God seeing uh
27:33 reverence and service and love coming out of your life.
27:39 So pain has a purpose and it also has a power. And if we're not too careful, it can destroy faith by causing us to doubt
27:47 God's loving purposes in our lives. You have to remember, Satan is a liar. And
27:53 sometimes our pain is more real to us than the promises of God. But I would
27:58 say to you that when you're living in the control and the power of the Holy Spirit, the promises of God are the most
28:04 real and dear thing in your life, even beyond the pain, the suffering, and the
28:09 affliction that you may be enduring. So leaders continue to serve faithfully through pain, affliction, and suffering.
28:18 Here's a great quote from CS Lewis. We can ignore every or even pleasure, but
28:26 pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures.
28:34 He speaks in our conscience, but he shouts in our pain.
28:40 It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
28:46 And so I would say to you brothers and sisters, pain is coming in some shape, form or fashion into your life. It may
28:52 be the death of a loved one. It may be a child who is rebellious, who's not following uh Christ. It could be a
29:00 financial reversal. It could be a health issue. Pain is coming.
29:06 Listen to the voice of God. be particularly sensitive at that time and
29:12 try to see what God is teaching you and what he's leading you to do.
29:17 So, here's just a few types of pain that are suffered by leadership uh particularly in church ministries. It's
29:24 the pain of death of loved ones in their own personal family or in their
29:29 fellowship. And you know, even though leaders may have to endure this personally, they still have to lead.
29:36 They still have to lead. They're humans. They're flesh and blood. They have soft hearts. And so we need to be conscious
29:43 of that. Come around them and encourage them when we see them going through this particular type of pain. There's also
29:49 the pain of broken and unrepaired relationships within the body of Christ.
29:54 You know, the gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of restoration and healing. And
30:02 it it hurts a a leader, a pastor when he sees that there are uh uh little wars
30:09 and factions developing uh among the brethren. And uh I would just say to the to you
30:15 this, God hasn't called anybody to a ministry of criticism.
30:21 You know, it's pretty easy to criticize uh you know, those people that are
30:26 upfront and doing things. Maybe uh the music uh uh group didn't uh hit every
30:32 note perfectly or they're singing too loud or you know a number of things.
30:39 It's easy for us as observers, as spectators to say, I would do that differently. I I don't quite think he
30:45 got that right. Well, get up here and do it. Uh be a leader. you know, whether
30:51 it's a Sunday school teacher, uh, a youth worker or minister, somebody in the praise and worship team, an usher,
30:58 get involved, and I think your perspective in your service will differ and you'll become more a person of
31:05 grace. Also the pain of seeing lost labor on the investment in people's lives when they reject when they reject
31:12 uh the message of Christ, the message of the pastor, the leader. It causes pain when we see people turn our backs on
31:20 God. Members who have been faithful for years, all of a sudden some adversity
31:25 comes into their life and they they just quit. They leave. They're done. They've been gossiped about. They've been hurt.
31:32 you know, uh they're in competition with somebody and they're always coming up on the losing side and they're just burnt
31:39 out. And we see these people come and they go in and out of church. And when we've
31:45 invested years and and and prayers and emotion into these relationships and we
31:52 see somebody walk away, it grieves us in our spirit.
31:57 Do you ever sense that kind of pain when you see somebody just not showing up at church anymore?
32:03 When you see people fighting, do you actually feel that kind of pain?
32:08 My guess is if you're walking with Christ, you do. The pain of unmet expectations for their
32:15 ministry, their family, and their membership. Most people that are in the ministry uh usually get in it at a
32:22 fairly young age. uh some you know see their life as ministry at whatever age
32:28 no matter what they're doing for a living. The question is uh the how we
32:34 deal with the expectations that we have for our life. And if we face unmet
32:39 expectations, we become frustrated with God. We think God's not fair. God isn't blessing me. God isn't uh uh treating me
32:46 like I think I ought to be treated. And that can be very discouraging and very destructive. And ministers face that
32:54 very same uh uh reality. You know, they've been serving for 15 20 years,
33:00 their church is not growing fast or they had a a large church and then the church starts declining and over a period of
33:07 time it's a shadow of its former self and the and the minister's heart is grieved because of that. They see the
33:14 same thing in the family and in the membership when the expectations of their family. Uh I cannot tell you the
33:20 stories of ministers, sons and daughters who have turned their back on the
33:25 Christian faith and how that must grieve the parent who's serving.
33:31 And yet you probably know cases of that yourself. It's a it's a sorry situation.
33:38 And uh on the part of young people, they have so much that they're dealing with. Uh so much pressure and stress, so much
33:45 uh uh strength on the part of the world to force them to compromise their convictions and to sell out to the ways
33:53 of the world. And and sometimes they do. And as parents, we need to love them
33:60 even in spite of their mistakes. And I think the heart of a parent is that way.
34:05 But when you see your child continually over a period of years do things that
34:10 you didn't raise them to do that you did you know is for their uh uh uh pain and
34:17 and and and it's going to cause them problems. Sometimes we can get very bitter with our children because they
34:24 aren't measuring up to our expectations of how they should have lived and and the decisions that they should have
34:29 made. Same is true in the membership. So there's also the pain of leaving a
34:34 congregation willingly or unwillingly. Sometimes pastors or or ministers are
34:41 asked to leave. The leadership team uh disinvites uh somebody in a church from
34:46 participating anymore and it may be for good reasons. It's never a pleasant
34:51 thing and there's always pain associated with that. And so those are just some of
34:56 the unique adversities that uh ministers and leaders in particular see in the in their ministry. The last one uh
35:04 basically says that they soldier on faithfully. So if you're dealing with pain, my recommendation to you is you
35:10 also soldier on faithfully. Next, leaders uh lead by a lifestyle of
35:18 praise and gratitude to God. So three 6-8. But now that Timothy has come to us
35:24 from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and
35:31 long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all of our
35:36 distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith.
35:41 For now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord. As a parent, if your
35:47 children are doing that, you know the power of this verse. you know how proud you are of watching their lives develop
35:54 for the Lord. Paul's life was full of praise even in the midst of afflictions. And one example of that was the story in
36:00 Acts that we saw a little earlier about him being beaten and thrown into prison. And yet at midnight he was praising and
36:07 and uh praying and singing to God and he was delivered. Do we rejoice in seeing
36:14 spiritual prosperity? Or is material wealth more of a cause for our rejoicing? When we see people
36:21 that are broken before God, when we see people that are uh full of themselves or
36:28 sick of themselves because they've been living in the flesh, do we rejoice in their repentance and their contrite
36:35 heart? we should because that's real spiritual prosperity when we're walking
36:41 with God and uh we're not walking in the flesh. Leaders also serve the church by praying
36:47 for the people of God. We see in nine uh verse uh verse 9-2. For what
36:54 thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake and before our God as we pray
37:01 most earnestly night and day that we might see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may
37:08 our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you and
37:13 may the Lord make you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all uh as we do for you. So praying
37:23 thanks to God on behalf of his uh congregation or his followers uh the the
37:30 people in his fellowship leaders do that. They pray for you. We have prayer meetings here. I'm sure in their private
37:37 uh devotions and lives, just as Pastor Rama and a couple of other people prayed for the sick among us today, leaders
37:44 pray for you. Do you pray for your leaders? I would encourage you to pray for your
37:49 leaders. Next time you're tempted to criticize, pray. See what happens in your heart.
37:56 It'll be a pretty powerful lesson for you and one that you'll remember.
38:02 uh praying for the opportunity to add to their faith. So Paul wanted them to
38:07 increase their faith to build up their faith to be grounded. Uh praying for God's direction in our own life as a
38:15 leader uh and in the life of the fellowship. You know leading a congregation of this size involves a lot
38:21 of decisions, a lot of strategy. You have to stay before the Lord. You have to see what God is doing and wants to do
38:29 uh in this area with this fellowship in this congregation
38:34 and praying for supernatural love for God's people. You know, sometimes leaders aren't always walking in the
38:41 spirit. Sometimes they uh deal with conflict within the church and their natural
38:48 inclination is to respond as you would in your natural state. They may get angry. They may get frustrated or
38:55 bitter. Uh but leaders should pray for the congregation that a uh a spirit of
39:03 love and acceptance and grace would permeate throughout the congregation and throughout their relationships and pay
39:10 praying for abundant increases in love for one another. This is one of the uh best things that we've learned about
39:16 life group as participants here. It was a life group that brought us to this church. We attended a life group from
39:22 Vivian and Yaoen uh Wong before we ever came to the church. And the love that
39:28 was evident in that group made us uh feel very accepted and and we
39:35 became really good friends with all of our life group members, even to the extent that we've traveled uh places
39:41 together because we genuinely enjoy doing life together with them. So if
39:46 you're not in a life group, guess what? There's a great place there for you to exercise accountability
39:53 to uh find some friends that can form that three-fold chord we were talking
39:58 about earlier. I I would strongly ask you if you're not attending life group to consider that. And you know what?
40:04 There's a number of them here and in a congregation this size, we probably ought to have more to be quite honest.
40:11 So there's a value in life groups. It's how the early church did things.
40:16 and last by preparing for judgment. And verse 13, so that he may establish your
40:22 hearts blameless in holiness before our God and our father at the coming of our Lord Christ, our Lord Jesus with all his
40:29 saints. He wants to present them blameless, which is a a Hebrew word or a
40:35 Greek word hentos, which is to say uh deserving of no censure, free from fault
40:43 or defect. Now, remember we talked earlier about Satan being the accuser of the brethren. And he stands before the
40:49 throne of God saying, "Uh-huh. You see what they did? They just stole some money. They they stole it from you
40:56 because they didn't give you their tithes and offerings. They slandered a fellow uh believer or someone else." And
41:02 he constantly is pointing out what we're doing. But what I love about this verse in First John, the Bible says that Jesus
41:10 is our advocate. He pleads our case in front of God against his adversary, the
41:17 devil. And so when the devil devil hurls those accusations, Jesus says to God,
41:24 "They're mine. I shed my blood for their sin. They're mine. And because they're
41:29 mine, they're yours." And he can't touch them. So I appreciate that. And it also says
41:35 he's our propitiation in verse two. He's our propitiation which means that uh uh
41:41 he in himself is sufficient to pay our uh debts and obligations to God. So we
41:47 just need to live our lives in submission to Jesus for what he's done. And that ought to be the essence of what
41:54 comes out of our life, our love and our relationship, thankfulness for what God did when he saved us. He also wants to
42:01 present them holy in holiness. The idea behind holiness is to be set apart from the world and unto God. The genuinely
42:09 holy person is separated away from the dominion of sin and self and the world
42:15 and they are separated to God for his purposes and his pleasure. And that's my
42:20 admonition to you is seek holiness in your personal life. Seek holiness in all
42:26 of your dealings. One of the greatest attributes of God is holy. He is other.
42:32 And most of us live, you know, in the resources that we have in the flesh. But
42:38 there's an opportunity for all of us for for the spirit of God to get turned loose in this church when we start
42:44 living in holiness, in grace, in love. And why all of this? Because there is a
42:50 judgment day coming. This says at the coming of Jesus, at the perusia, the
42:56 perusia is the future visible return of heaven or from heaven of Jesus to raise the dead. hold the last judgments and
43:04 set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God. This reality kept me faithful from my youth until this day.
43:12 This verse here says uh John uh 1 John 3:2 and3, "Beloved, we are God's
43:19 children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when
43:25 we or when he Jesus appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he
43:30 is." And here's the key. And everyone that has this hope of seeing Jesus
43:37 uh has that hope purifies himself even as he is pure.
43:43 If you live in light of the judgment of the return, the imminent return of
43:49 Christ, it will cause you to keep short accounts of your sin and make you
43:54 sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading in your life. These are just some of the ways in which a leader uh leads a
44:01 church. There are many others, but these were the ones that came from this particular uh passage of scripture. So,
44:06 I hope that uh there was some lesson, some truth in here that will encourage you, that will strengthen you, that will
44:13 prepare you for the adversity and trials uh that come. We serve a good and
44:19 gracious God who loves us so much that he shed his own blood on Calvar's cross
44:25 so that we could know
