1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,720 Hello and welcome back to the PHSA podcast. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:11,720 My name is David Bigford. 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:13,580 I'm the pastor here at SalmonArm. 4 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:17,760 This is a very special podcast series where I'm going to be sharing with you messages 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:23,280 from our most recent conference in Prescott, Arizona, the Beyond Limits Conference with 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,600 a theme of to preach the gospel in the regions beyond from 2 Corinthians 10-16. 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:37,000 I'm going to share all of the sermons from this conference series to include Greg Mitchell, 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:44,600 our head pastor, Joe Campbell, Richard Ruby, Tom Payne, and many, many others during this 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:45,600 series. 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,280 So I'll be sharing these with you over the next couple of weeks. 11 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,040 And I hope you really enjoy these messages. 12 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:58,000 If you'd like to see these messages in a video format, you can go to PrescottPottersHouse.com 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,360 where all of these will be available for you to view in a video format. 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,680 So without further ado, I'm going to pass, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the messages 15 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:09,680 and I hope you enjoy them. 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:10,680 God bless. 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:25,680 Thank you. 18 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,480 Thank you for that wonderful welcome. 19 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:36,160 I appreciate once again the fearful privilege of getting behind this pulpit and preaching 20 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:37,160 to you. 21 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:43,560 If you have your Bibles, Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter 9. 22 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:51,800 I've had a conversation with a number of my friends through the years and we are all 23 00:01:51,800 --> 00:02:00,400 in agreement that when we stumbled into this fellowship, we struck gold. 24 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:09,680 And that when we found ourselves under the care of our pastors, we hit the mother load. 25 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:16,720 It's an incredible privilege and blessing to have a pastor in your life. 26 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,480 And I want to think about that with you. 27 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:24,520 I don't speak about our fellowship and our pastors with a sense of pride. 28 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:34,560 It's more of a sense of wonder and of gratitude that we were able to hit this spiritual lottery. 29 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,420 Amen. 30 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:39,880 So we're going to be hearing from pastors this week. 31 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,680 We're not going to be hearing from administrators. 32 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,540 We're not going to be hearing from celebrities. 33 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:50,440 We don't have any guest speakers from the cover of Christianity today. 34 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,400 There's no flavor of the month here. 35 00:02:53,400 --> 00:03:00,160 We are going to hear from full-time, hardworking pastors. 36 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,580 And that's appropriate. 37 00:03:03,580 --> 00:03:08,680 Pastors are the deliberate product of our fellowship. 38 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,320 That's what we do. 39 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:18,400 And that suggests that maybe we should give some thought to these that are called and 40 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,600 these that are functioning and these that are doing their best to serve you. 41 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,880 And so let's think about this. 42 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,000 Matthew 9, beginning with verse 36. 43 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:38,040 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless 44 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,600 like sheep without a shepherd. 45 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:47,880 Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 46 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:54,840 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 47 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:55,840 Let's pray. 48 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,400 Father, I thank you for your word. 49 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,200 I pray for your anointing on it in the preaching and in the hearing of it. 50 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:07,960 And I pray above all, God, that it will be received in the spirit in which it is spoken. 51 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:14,280 I pray for grace, blessing, salvation loosed throughout these morning seminars. 52 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,480 In Jesus' name. 53 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:17,840 Amen. 54 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:20,680 Sheep without a shepherd. 55 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,200 What a heart wrenching condition. 56 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:26,400 Sheep without a shepherd. 57 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:31,080 Can you feel the weight of that as Jesus did? 58 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,240 The Bible says he was stirred with compassion. 59 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,640 That's the Greek word, splonk, nosomai. 60 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,880 It literally means to be deeply moved. 61 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:49,800 It's a word that's associated with your bowels, the inner man, the depths of your being. 62 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:54,600 And it's talking about a deep inner agitation. 63 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:03,240 You know, a really profound concern that's reaching deep into the heart of Christ as 64 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:08,640 he's looking at sheep who have no shepherd. 65 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:13,360 Christ was greatly disturbed by this proposition. 66 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,200 And the spiritual landscape hasn't changed. 67 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:24,200 The reality still exists that there are countless sheep without shepherds. 68 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:32,760 How else do we account for all of the misguided souls that we encounter on a daily basis? 69 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,640 We talk to people. 70 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,400 And there are nominal Christians out there who wouldn't know Luke the physician from 71 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,840 Luke Skywalker. 72 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:51,880 Strange, woke, hybrid religious creatures who are as confused about Jesus as they are 73 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,320 about their gender. 74 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,880 And I understand that a percentage of these are just sinners carrying Jesus around in 75 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:02,600 their pocket. 76 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:07,540 They have no desire to follow Christ, and that's why they're so deluded. 77 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:15,160 But I dare say that a greater portion of them are the consequence of having no shepherd 78 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,720 to care for their soul. 79 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,240 They just go to church, some mega thing, some, doesn't matter. 80 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,080 It doesn't matter what the kind of church they're in. 81 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,560 The problem is the kind of spiritual leadership they have. 82 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,480 We see this throughout the Scriptures. 83 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,400 There's always been this problem. 84 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,280 Isaiah 56 verses 9 to 11. 85 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:37,280 Listen to this. 86 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,720 This is a terrifying passage. 87 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:44,240 Oh, come, all you beasts of the field. 88 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:49,480 Come and devour all you beasts of the forest. 89 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,160 Israel's watchmen are blind. 90 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,160 They lack knowledge. 91 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,040 They are all mute dogs. 92 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,000 They cannot bark. 93 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,800 They lie around and dream. 94 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,800 They love to sleep. 95 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,400 They are dogs with mighty appetites. 96 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,960 They never have enough. 97 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,160 They are shepherds who lack understanding. 98 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,440 They all turn to their own way. 99 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,600 They seek their own gain. 100 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,600 Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 6. 101 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,000 My people have been lost sheep. 102 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:35,120 Their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. 103 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:41,720 They wandered over mountains and hills and forgot their own resting place. 104 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:49,160 These are descriptions of a breakdown in spiritual leadership, men that are supposed to be helping, 105 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,840 guiding, and serving, and they're failing to do so. 106 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:58,320 They're consumed with their own issues and they forget the sheep. 107 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:06,840 Jesus called them, in his day, blind guides who made people twice as fit for hell as they 108 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,920 are themselves. 109 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:15,100 This is an ongoing problem. 110 00:08:15,100 --> 00:08:19,680 This is descriptive of our generation. 111 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,600 Sheep without shepherds. 112 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,520 They are lost prey. 113 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,240 They are harassed and helpless according to our text. 114 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:36,120 This is what Jesus says a Christian is who doesn't have a pastor who cares for his soul. 115 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,280 He's harassed and helpless. 116 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:46,600 He's a four-legged happy meal set for the slaughter. 117 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:54,560 You have no idea what a high caliber bullet you dodged when you found yourself in a church 118 00:08:54,560 --> 00:09:01,080 full of born-again believers who had a pastor who actually gets up in the morning and prays 119 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:10,040 for them every day. 120 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:17,600 Who labors in the word and in doctrine, who is actually saved by grace himself. 121 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,840 It always helps if the pastor is saved. 122 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:28,000 Who understands the spiritual struggles of the sheep because he has faced them and does 123 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,780 face them and is in the trenches with them. 124 00:09:32,780 --> 00:09:39,800 We are incredibly blessed to have such a pastor. 125 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:46,160 Jesus said he was the door to the sheepfold in John 10. 126 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,840 He goes on and says, most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold 127 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:58,920 by the door, which Jesus just claimed to be, but climbs up some other way, the same as 128 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,600 a thief and a robber. 129 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:07,680 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 130 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:12,400 So your pastor came into the kingdom the same way you did. 131 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,320 Conversion. 132 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,060 God did something supernatural in his life. 133 00:10:19,060 --> 00:10:22,360 He didn't graduate from a seminary. 134 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,800 He doesn't have a string of letters behind his name. 135 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:27,160 He didn't climb over the wall. 136 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,360 He came through the door. 137 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:35,840 And thank God that that's the way your pastor came into the kingdom because now he has a 138 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:41,280 living relationship with Jesus. 139 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,120 He's not just filling a slot. 140 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,000 He's answering a call of the divine. 141 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:54,840 He's doing something that God says must be done because if we don't have this, we are 142 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:55,840 lost sheep. 143 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:03,120 You know, we could have fallen down any one of a thousand spiritual sinkholes that clutter 144 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,000 the religious landscape. 145 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:14,560 We could be laughing, swimming, cockroach kicking, banner waving, butt shaking, guns smoking, 146 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:27,040 mid-tribber, saboteurians, waiting for the comet Halbop to take us to the planet Golob. 147 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,240 Any one of us could be that today. 148 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:36,600 You could be the guy we see on the side of the road with his dog and his knee-length 149 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:44,440 beard who hasn't had a bath in 30 years and is convinced he's John the Baptist. 150 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:53,040 Instead, we are blessed to be Spirit-filled saints walking in the truth by the grace of 151 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,080 God. 152 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,920 And we are not filled with vision and purpose. 153 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:06,360 We are not clothed and in our right minds because we are such spiritual giants. 154 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:12,200 We are not those who God didn't make us like other men. 155 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:17,340 That's why we're so together. 156 00:12:17,340 --> 00:12:19,880 We are not more virtuous than others. 157 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,160 We are not more upright. 158 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,480 We are just incredibly lucky. 159 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,640 Amen. 160 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:34,080 We are the ones who got a shepherd. 161 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:41,560 I am a shepherd with a shepherd over me and I thank God for that because if I didn't 162 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:49,320 have that, my whole congregation would be smoking ganj. 163 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,520 I know what I'm capable of. 164 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:01,160 And the bottom line is sheep always need shepherds. 165 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:07,080 And it's because we have shepherds that we're not wandering in the desert without direction, 166 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:13,280 without guidance, without a snowball's chance in Arizona. 167 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,840 Many of us have heard Pastor Wayman Mitchell's story about being out hunting and seeing a 168 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,480 lamb out there in the middle of the desert. 169 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:26,960 And the first thought in his mind is that lamb is not going to make it through the night. 170 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,200 And that was an absolutely true observation. 171 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:35,800 In the desert without water, without guidance, pray to everything that's out there. 172 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,320 He's coyote bait. 173 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,760 And Pastor Mitchell knew that and that would be equally true of us if we were doing this 174 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,960 on our own. 175 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:57,840 But we live in a pagan Christian culture where churches and pastors are unwanted anachronisms. 176 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,760 The spiritually hip have no use for them. 177 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,480 I was thinking about how the Egyptians hated shepherds. 178 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:14,000 Genesis 46, Joseph says, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. 179 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,440 That's what pagans think about shepherds. 180 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:23,520 And unfortunately there's some pagans here this morning. 181 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:24,520 Pastors are detestable. 182 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,120 They're just, you know, they're baggage. 183 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:32,600 I don't need this in my life. 184 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,360 Some of you guys would rather have a root canal surgery than get counseling to fix your 185 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,920 marriage. 186 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:41,560 Your wife is desperate. 187 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:48,000 She's contemplating murder, suicide, or divorce, or all three. 188 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,680 And you're sitting home contemplating your navel and refusing. 189 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,560 Oh, go ahead. 190 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:55,560 You go talk to him. 191 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,560 I ain't talking to him. 192 00:14:58,560 --> 00:14:59,560 Amen. 193 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:07,840 Some of you guys would rather die than hit an altar because your pastor preached one 194 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,360 right down your chimney. 195 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:16,280 Now that's the last thing you're going to do is let anybody know that that sermon was 196 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,320 custom delivered. 197 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:21,920 Your pastor probably didn't even know it. 198 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,960 He's just preaching the Word of God. 199 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,720 But the Holy Spirit's got his eye on you. 200 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:33,200 And he has moved this to bring deliverance in your life, but you'll never get that deliverance 201 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,000 because you can't hear. 202 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:41,920 Because you're so busy, as Pastor Mitchell preached last night, complaining about your 203 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,240 pastor. 204 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,760 Complaining about people who all they want to do is get you to heaven. 205 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,440 That's all they want to do. 206 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,400 Because we have to give an account to God. 207 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,440 We're going to stand before Jesus. 208 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,000 He's going to say, what happened to Mary? 209 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:04,560 And you're going to go, Mary, let's talk about Mary. 210 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,200 You got a couple years we could talk about Mary. 211 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:09,200 Right? 212 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:18,760 You know, it's all we're trying to do is help you live for God. 213 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:20,080 Somehow that's an offense. 214 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,080 Somehow that makes us detestable. 215 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,760 Amen. 216 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:33,320 Some of you pastors that are shepherds, you still have a shepherd, you know. 217 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:38,360 You don't want to be a shepherd-less shepherd. 218 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:43,120 A sheep-less shepherd sheep. 219 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:49,640 Shepherding sheep without a shepherd. 220 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:55,880 You don't want to do that. 221 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,480 I'm sorry, but I have to go with Jesus on this one. 222 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:06,720 Not having a church and not having a pastor specifically that will preach the truth, that 223 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:13,000 will call you out when you're going sideways, that will counsel your marriage, counsel your 224 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:20,340 children, counsel your home, that will care about you when you don't even care about yourself. 225 00:17:20,340 --> 00:17:26,080 To try to live as a Christian without that reality in your life is a recipe for spiritual 226 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:27,080 disaster. 227 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:32,800 Jesus looked at it and thought this is cause for grief. 228 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,480 This is cause for mourning. 229 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:44,880 To have sheep from the pastor of God who have no shepherd to care for their spiritual well-being, 230 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:45,880 their soul. 231 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:52,440 Ephesians chapter 4, we're all familiar with it, verse 8 says, when Jesus ascended on high 232 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:58,080 he took many captives and gave gifts to the people. 233 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:04,360 And then on in verse 11, so Christ himself gave the apostles, prophets, the evangelists, 234 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:12,360 the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ 235 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:15,080 may be built up. 236 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:24,000 Paul says Christ himself gave gifts, including pastors. 237 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:31,640 Now he might be talking about the spiritual gift of pastoring or he might simply be talking 238 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,720 about pastor as gift. 239 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,000 Here is a gift to the church. 240 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,320 Here is a man that will step in and will help you. 241 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:51,440 Here is something that will equip you for your destiny, for your purpose in Christ. 242 00:18:51,440 --> 00:19:00,400 You know one of the greatest losses in the kingdom of God is service less saints. 243 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:07,520 Whole lives wasted without direction, without clarity. 244 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:14,160 Saints who have no idea why they're saved, no idea what they should be doing with their 245 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:22,360 lives, who are never challenged for regions beyond or even regions close by. 246 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:28,240 Never given vision, never given marching orders. 247 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:37,360 Their time, their money, their very lives have no eternal dimension to them. 248 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:48,480 They are not doing anything for the kingdom, just a pointless, mindless consumerism. 249 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:54,720 They're not evil, at least no more than me, no more than most of us. 250 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,960 They just have no idea what they're supposed to be doing. 251 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,880 They'd like to do something significant. 252 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,800 They're simply sheep without a shepherd. 253 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:12,160 Here we are on fire. 254 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,640 Here we are touching the world. 255 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:16,880 Is it because we're so great? 256 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:25,360 No, it's because we got blessed with men who have vision, who cast that vision, who spoke 257 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:31,080 that vision, who had the temerity to stand behind a pulpit and challenge you to do the 258 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,080 will of God. 259 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,880 We hit the mother load. 260 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,400 I've been saved for 50 years. 261 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:49,960 In 50 years I've had exactly one born-again Christian knock on my door to share the gospel 262 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,600 with me. 263 00:20:52,600 --> 00:21:02,240 I've had countless JWs, tons of Mormons, but one Christian. 264 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,560 How many doors have you knocked on? 265 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,120 How many people have you spoken to? 266 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:16,680 In my 50 years of being a Christian, I have had one Christian try to hand me a track. 267 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,080 I was in a crowd. 268 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,320 I think we're coming out of a baseball game, if I remember correctly. 269 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,960 One guy standing out there alone. 270 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,360 One guy. 271 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:39,560 Whenever I fly and I fly way too much, my arms are tired. 272 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:45,760 I have never, in all of my years of flying, never had one fellow passenger strike up a 273 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,240 conversation with me about Jesus. 274 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:55,900 I'm always the one who initiates it with varying responses. 275 00:21:55,900 --> 00:22:02,160 I'm always the one to start the discussion in the grocery store, at the gas pump. 276 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,920 Nobody's ever started a conversation with me about Jesus. 277 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,320 Why do I do it? 278 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,660 Because that's what I've been trained to do. 279 00:22:12,660 --> 00:22:15,920 That's what my pastor taught me to do. 280 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:20,000 My pastor gave me permission to live the great commission. 281 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:30,600 There you go, all you rappers can steal that line. 282 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:41,240 Your pastor birthed something in your heart that most pastors never birth. 283 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,240 Think of some of the other things your pastor's done for you. 284 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,640 Things that are called out in scripture. 285 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:51,080 Isaiah 40 verse 11, he will feed his flock like a shepherd. 286 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:57,680 He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those 287 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,200 who are with young. 288 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:06,080 It's such a picture of pastoral care who is dealing with each person based on what he 289 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:07,840 knows about them. 290 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,720 This is a weak one, I have to carry him. 291 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,280 This is a ram that needs his butt kicked. 292 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:21,040 This is a pregnant lamb that needs to be led slowly and gently. 293 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:26,040 Pastor Mitchell, he was that guy. 294 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,700 And Pastor Greg is that guy. 295 00:23:29,700 --> 00:23:32,800 They know their sheep, they care about them. 296 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:40,240 When I started to be a serious disciple, when he brought me on staff, you know, I had watched 297 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:41,240 him. 298 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:46,640 You know, he had pointy cowboy boots. 299 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:51,240 He could do damage. 300 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,560 And I would do the stupidest things. 301 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,220 And I have no scars. 302 00:23:59,220 --> 00:24:02,120 And I always used to ponder that. 303 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:07,620 Why did I get away with things that I saw him rip some guys for? 304 00:24:07,620 --> 00:24:12,120 But he knew the difference between me and that guy. 305 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:17,240 And he knew that if he did that to me, I would just kind of, like the wicked witch of the 306 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,640 West, I would just kind of dissolve into a puddle, right? 307 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,720 That would be all that would be left of me. 308 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,080 He knew. 309 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:28,400 He knew his sheep. 310 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:29,400 He knew them by name. 311 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:30,400 He knew their families. 312 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,320 He cared about us. 313 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,800 He always did. 314 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:41,240 Pastor Greg Mitchell, he's keeping a more furious pace than Pastor Wayman Mitchell. 315 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,040 But I can call him anytime. 316 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,360 I can reach him. 317 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:46,360 Where are you now? 318 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:51,640 Do you hear that funny little long distance kind of sound in the conversation? 319 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:57,000 Yeah, well, you know, I'm over here in Botswana somewhere. 320 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,500 But he cares. 321 00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:00,800 Your pastor cares. 322 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,700 First Peter five, two and three be shepherds of God's flock. 323 00:25:04,700 --> 00:25:07,960 That is under your care, watching over them. 324 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:16,020 Not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be. 325 00:25:16,020 --> 00:25:23,360 Not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve, eager to take a lower place to lift 326 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,600 somebody up. 327 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,720 Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 328 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:38,320 I thank God for the example ship of Pastors Mitchell. 329 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:46,800 I thank God that their ministry has served me and has helped me and has brought me to 330 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:48,840 the place where I am. 331 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,920 I didn't get here on my own. 332 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:51,920 Right? 333 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,480 The old saying, is he a turtle on a fence post? 334 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,680 You know, he didn't get there by himself. 335 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:01,120 And the truth of the matter is, I didn't get here on my own. 336 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,440 I had shepherds and have shepherds. 337 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:09,880 And those shepherds have ushered me into my destiny. 338 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:11,100 And that's how it works. 339 00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:17,160 That's why God gives us pastors to equip us to fulfill our destiny. 340 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,280 Amen. 341 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:24,960 Acts 20, verses 28 to 30, keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the 342 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,480 Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 343 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:33,120 Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 344 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:40,360 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 345 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:45,980 Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away 346 00:26:45,980 --> 00:26:49,280 disciples after themselves. 347 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,880 I have seen the wolves come. 348 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:57,440 I have watched our pastors protect us. 349 00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,920 I have watched them go to bat for us. 350 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:05,920 I have been saved by my shepherd's staffs and their slings. 351 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:13,120 They have brought me to reason and to truth and have given me clarity when I couldn't 352 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:15,680 find clarity. 353 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:17,560 That's what shepherds do. 354 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:24,000 And I might add that those who are closest to their shepherds are more likely to find 355 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:32,640 protection when the wolves show up than the ones who are out on the edges, kind of going 356 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:33,880 their own way. 357 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:40,160 I don't say any of this to curry favor or to kiss up to anybody. 358 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:45,800 I pray you understand this is not a self-serving sermon. 359 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:57,400 I am offering a much needed perspective in this day of rabid individualism, of mad narcissism, 360 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,380 of wanton rebellion. 361 00:27:59,380 --> 00:28:06,120 God has put a man in your life to help you. 362 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:13,120 He's a gift. 363 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:31,040 If Jesus is to be understood correctly in our text, sheep without shepherds is a losing 364 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,800 proposition. 365 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,960 It's a real bad idea. 366 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:44,080 So Hebrews 13, 17 in the New Living says, obey your spiritual leaders and do what they 367 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,360 say. 368 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:51,880 Their work is to watch over your soul. 369 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,160 And they are accountable to God. 370 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,920 Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. 371 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,480 That would certainly not be for your benefit. 372 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,360 What a blessing it is. 373 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:13,160 We hit the mother load when we found a pastor who cared for our souls. 374 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,120 Amen. 375 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:26,720 So with all of that in mind, in that context, Jesus said pray for the laborers. 376 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,680 It was in the context of shepherdless sheep. 377 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:36,200 And so there's more at work in that statement than just pray for men and women who will 378 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:37,720 bear witness of Jesus. 379 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,800 Though certainly that is elemental. 380 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,640 That's essential to the kingdom. 381 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:45,800 And I'm not detracting from that. 382 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:52,480 But what Jesus really was talking about was the need of shepherds. 383 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,040 There is a great dearth, he said. 384 00:29:55,040 --> 00:30:01,280 I'm looking at multitudes of people, he said, who don't have shepherds, who don't have 385 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,840 anybody caring for their spiritual welfare. 386 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:09,080 He's disturbed by this and he says you've got to pray about this. 387 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:14,120 You have to pray about the need that is obvious and present. 388 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:19,680 We need shepherds for the sheep. 389 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:28,260 Our conference theme is beyond limits to preach the gospel in regions beyond. 390 00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:33,520 One of the early lessons that Pastor Wayman Mitchell learned was the ineffectiveness of 391 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:38,280 sending invasion teams to places where we didn't have church. 392 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,640 We could go in, especially in the early days, down to Phoenix. 393 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:48,440 We could see dozens upon dozens of people get saved on our outreach, but they had no 394 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:49,440 church to go to. 395 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,640 They had no shepherd to care for their soul. 396 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:57,160 And so the truth of the matter is the Great Commission wasn't being fulfilled. 397 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:03,760 But souls saved didn't play out to disciples made. 398 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:08,840 We could get them saved, but they needed shepherds. 399 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,840 So Pastor Mitchell started planting churches. 400 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:22,520 Our calling is not simply to preach the gospel, but to make disciples and to reproduce and 401 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:23,680 to send them out. 402 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:30,880 What we need is Timothes who will teach this gospel to faithful men who will then be able 403 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,280 to teach it to others. 404 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:34,280 We're all aware of this. 405 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:40,740 This isn't a difficult concept, as Pastor Mitchell said last night. 406 00:31:40,740 --> 00:31:42,800 This is what we do. 407 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:52,640 Jesus said in John 10 verse 16, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. 408 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,080 I must bring them in. 409 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,960 I know he's talking about Gentiles, but the principle holds. 410 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:05,360 Jesus has a lot more people to save. 411 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:09,440 Country after country, city after city. 412 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:14,480 I was gobsmacked to hear that we actually have four states in America that we don't 413 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,560 have pastors in. 414 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:18,920 That was a bit shocking for me. 415 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,840 It's like, how is that possible? 416 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,440 Well, it's always been a problem, hasn't it? 417 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,360 There's always been sheep who desperately need a pastor. 418 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:38,040 The problem is getting pastors to go, getting sheep to become shepherds. 419 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:45,480 There are regions all over the world that need shepherds. 420 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:52,240 These conferences that we hold all over the world are not simply gatherings to scratch 421 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,480 your religious itch. 422 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:02,960 They are recruitment campaigns. 423 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:10,640 You thought you were being invited to come have a nice week of preaching, a free hotel, 424 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:12,760 get some meals, enjoy yourself. 425 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,960 That isn't what we have in mind. 426 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,880 That's not why you're here. 427 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:29,600 Conferences are deliberately calculated to facilitate calling, to put pressure on you 428 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,680 to respond. 429 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:42,720 We are here to disturb you, to incite you, to pry you out of your comfortable place. 430 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:51,400 To blow up your stony fortress and to get you to respond. 431 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:59,280 We are here to expose you to the light of an irresistible call. 432 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:09,240 We are here to preach that God wants you to rise up and go. 433 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:16,240 To be a shepherd, be it here, be it overseas. 434 00:34:16,240 --> 00:34:27,440 But that's what we're doing here all week long. 435 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:31,320 Every one of you. 436 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:40,880 I constantly tell my church, you hang around here long enough, I'm sending you out. 437 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:50,600 The bottom line is don't come to these conferences saying, yay, we're sending churches. 438 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:57,720 Don't come saying, here am I, send them. 439 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:00,080 What about you? 440 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,400 Why not you? 441 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,880 Why not you? 442 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,480 Amen. 443 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:15,640 What has to change in your life to fit you for the work of ministry? 444 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,680 What do you have to pay attention to? 445 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,120 You need to develop some people skills. 446 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:22,120 You need some self-discipline. 447 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,120 You need to learn liberality. 448 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,520 You got to deal with your own anger issues. 449 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,040 You got fears and insecurities. 450 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:33,120 That's what's holding you back. 451 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,120 We could go on. 452 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:40,440 The list is probably endless of things that we recognize in our lives that this is what 453 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,840 stands between me and destiny. 454 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,440 This is what stands between me and calling. 455 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,320 I could never. 456 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:51,720 I'm not capable. 457 00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:52,720 And I get it. 458 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:57,880 Not everybody here is called to be a pastor. 459 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:03,680 But I'm looking at a pretty big crowd. 460 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:09,360 And I'm thinking to myself, why not you? 461 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:22,960 We as a fellowship are only as limited as your heart, as your vision, as your surrender 462 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:27,520 to what God wants from you. 463 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:35,720 Can you look at this generation without getting disturbed by what you see? 464 00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:44,200 Can you talk to people who claim to be Christians, who are completely clueless and not feel for 465 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,160 them an empathy, a concern? 466 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:53,680 It's like, dude, you are lost. 467 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:59,520 There are so many religious people in the world today that think they're fine and they're 468 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:05,720 going to have a rude awakening. 469 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:11,120 Where are the shepherds? 470 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:17,120 Will you let God stir you this week? 471 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:19,280 Will you let him do that? 472 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:24,360 Will you let God bother you? 473 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:25,360 Splunk nizami. 474 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:26,760 I like that word. 475 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:37,080 It sounds like something's wrong with your bowels. 476 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:44,080 Can you let God trouble you? 477 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:45,560 Trouble you. 478 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:52,040 I became a pastor because of pressure from on high. 479 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,080 I had no intention. 480 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,600 It wasn't on my bucket list. 481 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:00,200 It wasn't on any list. 482 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:09,040 And I watched him go and I said, have a wonderful time. 483 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:13,760 I'll see you in a couple of years. 484 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:21,040 I had no intention and I honestly really didn't think that it could possibly work. 485 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,880 I said to my dear friend, Scotty Flickcroft on my way out of town, I'll be back in six 486 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:26,880 months. 487 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:34,720 Don't worry. 488 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:35,960 Any one of you can do this. 489 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,900 Isn't that what Pastor Mitchell always taught us? 490 00:38:38,900 --> 00:38:42,120 You can do anything that I'm doing. 491 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,400 He meant that. 492 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,560 You can do this. 493 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:48,920 You just have to have a want to. 494 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,240 You have to let God disturb your bowels. 495 00:38:52,240 --> 00:39:12,840 Good luck.