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Good morning.

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How are you all doing today?

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Blessed.

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Blessed, amen.

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Hey, we want to start by welcoming anybody that's here for the first time or visiting us at Hosanna,

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or if you're visiting us online for the first time, welcome.

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We're so glad you're here to worship with us today.

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I am Pastor Nathan, and today we're going to be taking a brief break from our study of Genesis

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to recognize a number of men and women here at Hosanna who are being raised up to formal leadership in our fellowship.

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These are individuals that have met all of the biblical qualifications for leadership,

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and today we are going to be formally commissioning and or ordaining some as pastors, elders, deacons, and deaconesses of our church.

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You see, every year the existing pastors and elders and our board of directors here at Hosanna,

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we nominate individuals that we have been watching and observing and praying over to be in positions of leadership here at the church.

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These are individuals who have demonstrated a gifting and a calling to serve the body here at Hosanna

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in positions of servant leadership and spiritual authority in different areas.

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And so, like I said, after observation of their character and discussion and lots and lots of prayer,

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the decision is made to appoint them before the Lord and before you, the body here, that they will be serving.

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And the reason we do this in the presence of the congregation is because the appointment of leadership in the church

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creates a two-way relationship between them and the body they're going to be serving.

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On one side, all leaders in Christ's church are accountable to God, to oversee, to teach, to preach, to protect,

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to nurture, to serve and care for the church.

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And the body that they serve is accountable to God to pray for them, to lift them up,

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and according to Hebrews 13, 17, to willingly and voluntarily trust and follow their leadership,

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knowing that the leaders in your church are accountable to God.

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And he's a big boss to be accountable to.

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But really, Hebrews 13, 17 also says that this willing trust and following of the leadership

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is for the purpose of helping your leaders fulfill their calling to serve you with joy and not grief,

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is what the Bible says.

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So today I'm going to be sharing with us all what the Bible says about church leadership,

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who they are, what they're to do, and then at the tail end of that message,

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I'll be bringing up our existing leadership, and then we will together as a body recognize

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pray for and lay hands on our new leadership here at the church.

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But before we do all of that, we want to spend time worshiping God.

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That is the most important thing to start these times with because God is, He is almighty,

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He is worthy, He is holy, and just putting everything aside to say,

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God, I just want to for a moment praise you and recognize you for who you are

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and what you've done in my life and how He is using every single one of you

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through this local church to further His kingdom.

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He is worth the praise for all of that. Amen? Let's pray.

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Father, we love you so much.

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God, we are so grateful that every single one of us have the opportunity, Lord,

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to be a part of the body of Christ.

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God, we are so grateful, Lord, that you saved us and then you use us, Lord.

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For some of us, we're like, really?

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Because God, we know, we know our weakness, but God, you see beyond our weakness,

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you see us through the blood of Christ, you see us spotless and blameless.

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And God, your Holy Spirit dwells within us.

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God, you give us gifts to be of ministry to one another

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and really to be a witness to the world around us.

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And God, we can't ever say thank you for that enough.

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And Lord, we know that it's all about glorifying your name, lifting your name high.

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It's all about being changed people, different from this world that we live in, God,

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proclaiming the truth and the hope that is found in you, Jesus.

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And so, Lord, today as we're recognizing some new individuals

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that you have appointed and raised up to serve and to lead in your church, God,

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we just pray, Lord, that you would bless them and anoint them

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and fill them with your Holy Spirit, God.

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And that the body here, Lord, we would be diligent to pray for the leadership

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that you have placed here in our church, Lord, to lift them up, to encourage them, God,

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that we together collectively as the Church of Jesus Christ

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would be effective and fruitful and blessed.

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Lord, we praise you for all of that.

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We praise you for your love.

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We praise you that you are our chief shepherd,

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that you lay down your life for us,

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and that you serve us, God, in so many ways when we really don't deserve it, God.

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But we thank you. We love you.

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God, we just want to praise you because you are worthy.

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Bless us today, Lord. Speak to us through your word and encourage us all.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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All right, as I said, today we're taking a quick break from Genesis

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to talk about church leadership because we're going to be recognizing

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a number of individuals who are being lifted up today

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to be servant leaders among the church here.

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But I wanted to kind of go through what the Bible says about leadership

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just so we all have an understanding of these terms that get brought up a lot

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when we talk about leaders in the church.

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And so I want to read a number of scriptures to you just to highlight to you

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all the different places and different words that are used for this.

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In Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 it says this,

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Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

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to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,

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including the overseers and the deacons.

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 says this,

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this saying is trustworthy.

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If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.

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Now that same verse in the New King James version reads this way,

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this is a faithful saying.

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If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

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Titus chapter 1 verse 5, Paul says,

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the reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone,

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and as I directed you to appoint elders in every town.

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In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 it says,

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and he, speaking of Jesus, gave himself, gave some to be apostles,

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some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.

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Now if you study through the New Testament you'll see all these words,

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overseer, deacon, bishop, elder, pastor.

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Who are these people and what do they do?

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And how do they become pointed to the position that they're in?

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You know it can be confusing because especially in today's church

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different faith traditions have different interpretations of what these terms are

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and what they mean and different applications of these terms.

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But regardless of the faith tradition we should be concerned with what the Bible says

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and so that's what we've been looking at today.

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You see having good leaders in the church is critically important

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because of the influence that they can have both good and bad.

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Church leadership is often the most visible element of the church

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to the world that is looking into the church

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and they're always watching to see what happens with those who claim

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leadership amongst God's people.

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If leadership falls it has a tremendous negative effect

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on the witness of Jesus Christ in the world.

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Before I was saved I had known many Christian people,

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allegedly Christian people that would party with me and do drugs with me

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and drink with me and stuff and I always thought why do I want anything to do

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with what you profess to believe? You're just like me.

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And so godliness is an important thing.

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As leadership can be bad, conversely, when leadership is an excellent example

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of Christ likeness to their church and to the world

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it does a lot to further the work of the kingdom of God around us.

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And so scripture takes leadership very, very seriously.

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Now in the New Testament there's two positions or two offices of leadership

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in the church that are very clearly mentioned within a local church.

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We find these listed in 1 Timothy chapter 3 where we see the qualifications

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of what is called overseers and the qualifications of deacons.

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Now in Titus chapter 1 if you're taking note, overseers are called elders

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in Titus chapter 1 which completely clarifies the whole issue, right?

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So the Bible defines what these leaders are to the church

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and what they're expected to do for the church and so I wanted to go through this

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so that we all understand when it comes to the leadership here at Hosanna

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that you recognize who they are, what they're here for,

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what they're to do in service to you so that you can call upon them as needed.

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Now that first word we saw was overseer in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

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It says if anyone desires the office of an overseer they desire a good thing.

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Now other translations of that word are bishop

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and that is a word in the Greek that is episkopos, episkopos.

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What that word simply refers to is a guardian or an overseer or a supervisor, right?

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We understand those terms.

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This is a person who watches over, directs or rules.

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It's the guy, the people in charge of what is going on

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and so this is one of three different words used in the New Testament

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to refer to church leadership.

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Now the second word is the word elder that we saw in Titus chapter 1.

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This in the Greek is presavitoros, right?

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Remember that because it might come up on Jeopardy one day, who knows?

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But we hear the word the Presbyterian church, that's what this word is

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and what that word presavitoros or elder means, guess what?

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It means an old man, an elder, okay?

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But what it also means is older in experience.

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So it could refer to a man who's older and by chance of having lived a long life

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has experience and wisdom.

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It could also refer to someone who's younger but also has experience

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and or wisdom even at a younger age.

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Timothy was actually an elder of the church and he was told by Paul the apostle,

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let no one despise your youth because he was a young man considering the age of people

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and yet he was called and gifted to be an elder in the church.

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And so we see these words all over the place, elder,

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we see it about 18 different times in the New Testament,

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overseer or bishop is about five different times,

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and then the third word that the New Testament uses to refer to church leadership

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is the word we're most familiar with, pastor.

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This is a word in the Greek called poymen and what it means literally is shepherd.

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And you go well, metaphorically, right?

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No.

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What the word poymen means is one who herds sheep.

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It literally is referring to a shepherd,

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the idea of the one who takes care of a flock of sheep,

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who is protecting the flock of the sheep,

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but the word is then used in the New Testament to refer to the heart attitude

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with which a leader in the church serves the body.

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This word we find 18 times in the New Testament,

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but only in one place in all of scripture is it rendered pastor.

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That's in Ephesians chapter 411 where it says he gave some to be pastors and teachers.

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Everywhere else in the New Testament it's rendered shepherd,

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either as a noun or as a verb when it's encouraging the leaders of the church

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to shepherd the church that they're leading.

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So these three terms are used to describe the primary leadership role within the church.

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It's important to understand that they are not three different places of leadership,

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that they're all describing one role within the church,

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that role that we refer to as elder or pastor most often in the modern church.

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So those three words, why are these three different words here?

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Well, the first one, overseer, is the job description.

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The overseer, the bishop, that word episkopos is what that person does.

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They oversee, they rule, they lead in that sense.

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The second word elder is who the man is, their character, their moral character,

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their experience, their maturity, that's what that word is describing of a church leader.

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And then that third word which is pastor or shepherd is describing

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how that individual serves the church, the heart with which they do it.

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It's describing that heart like a shepherd taking care of his sheep, right?

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So when you put all these three words together,

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what's important to understand is an elder is an overseer is a pastor, okay?

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They all have the same function, the same character requirements,

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but there's a unique emphasis on this role in the church

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with each word that we find in the New Testament.

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Now, there are different emphases within eldership.

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Some elders might rule more, some elders might teach more,

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and there's allowances for that in the New Testament.

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We'll deal with that in a little bit, but it's important to understand

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that elder and pastor and overseer, they're not three separate things within the church.

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They are describing the same role of leadership.

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And we have examples of these three words using to describe the same person

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or the same people within the church in a few different places in Scripture.

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One of them is in 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 1 through 4.

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Peter is writing to a multiple group of churches and he says this to them,

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I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ,

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as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed, shepherd God's flock among you,

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not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly.

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So let me reread that with you in the definitions of these words.

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I exhort to the older and experienced among you as a fellow older and experienced individual

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and witness to the sufferings of Christ as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed,

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pastor God's flock among you, not supervising out of compulsion but willingly.

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You see how all three words are describing the same people, these leaders within the church.

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We see this again in Acts chapter 20 verse 17,

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where Paul is gathering all of the leaders of the Ephesian church

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as he's about to give them his final farewell.

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And it says this in verse 17.

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Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.

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Later on down in verse 28 Paul is still addressing these elders.

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He tells them, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit

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has appointed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God,

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which he has purchased with his own blood.

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So we see these three words are describing one office within the church,

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overseers, elders, pastors.

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They are not functionally different roles within the church but the same.

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But as I stated earlier there are different degrees of availability.

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Some elders, overseers, and pastors are full-time individuals in the ministry.

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Others have a job outside of the church, like a tent-making job,

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and they serve as elders in kind of like a part-time or a lay elder capacity.

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Now how does one qualify to be an elder, an overseer, or a pastor of the church?

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That is what is detailed for us in 1 Timothy chapter 3 as Paul was writing to Timothy

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and saying, hey, I want you to go out and raise up leaders in the church

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and this is the type of men you're going to look for.

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So it says in chapter 3 verse 1 of 1 Timothy, this saying is trustworthy.

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If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.

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An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,

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self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

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not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy.

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He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity.

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If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God's church?

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He must not be a new convert or he might become conceited

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and incur the same condemnation as the devil.

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Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders.

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This is people outside the church, the non-saved world.

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He must have a good reputation among them so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil's trap.

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Now Titus chapter 1 has a very similar list of character qualifications for those he calls elders

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and so these leaders, elders and overseers in these two positions, have this list of qualifications

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and the first thing that I want to point out here is that this list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3

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unequivocally restricts the office of elder or pastor or overseer to men.

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It restricts that office to them within the church.

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Now I know in some churches that's not a popular thing to say today,

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but again we want to see what does scripture say, not how we feel about it, okay?

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And so the reason we see that is when it says the husband of one wife, those are very specific terms.

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A female cannot be husband according to this Greek word, right?

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And the word husband cannot be referring to a male who's going to be a wife, you know, that type of thing.

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So it is clearly referring to husband of one wife, a male who has one female spouse.

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And then throughout the whole thing he keeps saying he must be, he must be, he must be.

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And so here at Hosanna we're a church that is complementarian in our understanding.

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We are not egalitarian, which go look that up if you don't know what those words mean.

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But we believe in a very specific order within the house.

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We believe that Ephesians talks about husbands are ahead of their household

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and all of that type of stuff, but when it comes to church leadership

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we also believe in what the Bible teaches here, that the role of pastor and elders is restricted to men.

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But you'll notice in that list all but one, maybe two of these qualifications are character qualities.

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Character qualities, who the person is, right?

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What does that tell you about pastors and elders and overseers in the church?

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That it's not about what they can do.

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It's not about their skill set.

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It's not about how great of a speaker they are or how great of a teacher they are.

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It's about what their Christian character is like.

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These are the qualifications to lead in God's church and it's very important

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because if you are going to oversee the finances within a church and you're a greedy person,

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that's a problem.

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If you're quarrelsome, meaning you're a fighter, you like to argue and fight

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and you're called to be a peacemaker within the church, you're going to have a problem.

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Right?

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All of these are qualities about who the person is.

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And the reason that's the focus is because the skills, God equips with the skills.

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If God is calling a man to be an elder in the church and it says he needs to be able to teach here,

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God is going to equip him with the ability to teach the word of God.

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We've often said that God equips those he calls and that is true.

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So we'll notice here that the most important thing is the character of the individual

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and it starts out by saying an overseer therefore must be above reproach.

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That phrase above reproach encompasses everything else in the list.

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Above reproach is the idea of being blameless.

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Now that does not mean that an elder is supposed to be perfect,

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that a pastor has to be without sin because that's impossible.

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We're all sinners. We all stumble, we all fall, we all struggle.

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But what that phrase above reproach means is that a leader who is raised up in the church

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has to be a man of character where he cannot be legitimately accused

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of hidden or unaddressed sinful activity in his life.

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Legitimately accused.

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There are people all over the place who like to illegitimately accuse people.

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And the sad part of our society is if someone tells a lie,

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50% of the people believe it right away.

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And so people get accused of things that aren't true all the time and it ruins their reputation.

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The church has the responsibility to say when we receive an accusation,

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we have to receive those things biblically.

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And so the individual though has to be a person who cannot legitimately be accused of hidden sin.

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Pastors, sin.

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And we have to do what every Christian is called to do, repent, go to the Lord,

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find accountability, make boundaries around our life so we don't fall into things.

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The leaders of the church in that regard are no different than everybody else in the church.

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We're just called to a leadership position.

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It doesn't mean they're without sin, but they cannot be legitimately accused.

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Now we don't have time to go through the rest of this list individually,

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but the idea of this qualification for elders, pastors, and overseers

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is that they have to have a proven, observed, verifiable, godly, mature moral integrity.

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Got that?

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Right, okay, good.

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Now one of the more critical qualifications of elders and pastors within the church

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is Acts 20, 28. We read this verse already.

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Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers.

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You have to be called by God.

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It doesn't matter if you're a great teacher, if you're not called by God to be an elder and a pastor,

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you are not an elder and a pastor of the church.

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It doesn't matter how skilled you are in teaching.

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This is the most important qualification.

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And it is an important understanding that is God is the one who appoints people

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and raises people up in his church to lead and to be in servant leadership in all these different areas.

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You see, a church commissioning or ordaining somebody is not what makes them an elder or a pastor.

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What we're going to be doing today and recognizing people, this isn't the moment,

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you are now an elder or a pastor or a deacon or a leader in the church.

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Commissioning or appointing or ordaining somebody simply affirms what the Holy Spirit is already doing

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and has already done in their life.

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That is why we, the existing leadership, we observe people.

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We go, hey, we think we see a calling in this person's life, and we step back and we watch.

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And we watch what the Holy Spirit does in their life,

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and as their character is molding and changing and maturing,

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serving just because they are called to serve, you notice those things in their life.

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And so those three words we talked about that refer to these people, overseers, elders, and pastors, right?

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It's about observing who the Holy Spirit is transforming them and has transformed them to be.

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It's about seeing what they've already been doing in service to God and his people,

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and it's seeing the heart in which they've been doing it.

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That they're not doing it because they want to be recognized in the spotlight.

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They're not doing it because they, you know, well, if I get paid, I'll do it.

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They're doing it because God has called them to.

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And so when a church has the ceremony like we're doing today,

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it's simply saying, yeah, we see what God is doing and we want to ratify that appointment.

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So then what is an elder to do?

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There's a whole lot of stuff, right?

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We've gone over some of it already.

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An elder is to oversee the affairs of the church.

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This is that idea of supervising the affairs of the church.

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It doesn't necessarily mean that they are doing everything themselves,

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but they're overseeing it like a manager would be in a managerial type of position.

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We see a few of these types of things in Scripture where in Acts chapter 15, 22,

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the elders of the church were the ones who determined church policy, right?

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In Acts chapter 15, what happened is Paul was preaching the gospel

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and Gentiles were getting saved and the Jewish Christians were going,

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they need to get circumcised.

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And Paul's like, I don't know about that.

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And what did they do?

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They went back to Jerusalem to talk to the elders of the church and say,

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can we establish a policy about this?

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And they prayed and they sought the Lord.

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And when they came back, they said, no, the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised.

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They just need to not eat blood and another thing.

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So it was policy that was established by the elders.

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It also refers to them managing and supervising the affairs of the church.

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Like 1 Timothy 5, 17 refers to the elders who rule well

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or the elders who are good leaders in managing.

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Elders of the church are called to raise up leadership

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and appoint and commission and ordain them.

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We see this in Titus chapter 1 where Paul said, Titus,

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I want you to go appoint elders in every city.

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They're to pray. That's a big one.

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If an elder isn't praying, I don't think they're going to be a very good elder.

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And so they pray. Acts chapter 6, we're going to see this later,

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where the elders got caught up in the logistics as the church was growing.

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And they said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we need to devote ourselves to preaching the word and to prayer.

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And we can't do that if we're so busy taking care of the practical things.

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And then, of course, in James 5, 14, it tells the church, if you're sick,

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it's all for the elders of the church to pray and anoint you with oil.

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The elders are to be for the body what a shepherd is to sheep.

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Sheep are a very not so flattering example of all of us within the church.

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I don't know if you've seen videos on social media about sheep.

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They're dumb. They get rescued out of a hole.

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They jump right back into it. Right?

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Doesn't that describe us sometimes?

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You know, we're like, God, get me out of this. He's like, you're out.

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And we go right back in. It's like, come on.

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What does a shepherd do for sheep?

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They feed them. They care for them.

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Sometimes they got to come alongside and shave off all that wool because it's going to weigh them down and kill them.

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They keep the sheep from killing themselves.

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They care for them. They love them.

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They watch over them. They protect them.

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This is what a shepherd is for sheep and this is what an elder or a pastor is for the church.

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And then you say, well, what are they feeding them?

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The Bible very clearly characterizes that as teaching the word of God.

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We're feeding the word of God to you so that you can grow and become strong and healthy as a Christian.

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Elders are also to exhort and refute, according to Timothy 1.9.

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That word exhortation means to encourage adherence to sound doctrine.

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So the job of an elder or a pastor is to say, hey, this is what the Bible says.

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I'm encouraging you to follow it.

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I'm encouraging you to apply this in your life.

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Help me help me figure out how to how to get this into your heart.

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Right. Let's talk about this. That's the exhortation.

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And then refuting is simply those who go, I know the Bible says that, but I'm going to live a different way.

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And it's right.

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The elder's job is to refute that and go, no, you're wrong.

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This is what the Bible says. Right.

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And then to teach and to preach. And this is the one we're most familiar with.

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Right. When we think of the term pastor, you think, oh, that's the guy that's teaching the word.

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And that is definitely one of the calls for pastors who are elders, who are overseers.

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First Timothy 3 says that the overseers amongst all their character qualities have to be able to teach that word,

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able to teach that phrase means skilled at teaching.

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You have to have skill at communicating the word of God in order to qualify to be an elder.

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What that means is there are people within the church that have these wonderfully just they check all the boxes with the character qualities,

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but God hasn't given them the ability to teach.

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They don't qualify to be an elder in the church. Right.

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And this, incidentally, is the primary difference between elders and deacons in scripture.

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Otherwise, they basically have the same character qualities.

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Now, before we move to deacons, I want to address the question, then why is there a difference between elder and pastor?

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Like here, some people we recognize and ordain as elders and others we recognize and ordain as pastors.

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If they're the same thing, why do we do that?

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That is a great question. I'm glad you asked.

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As already stated, functionally, there is no difference between an elder and a pastor.

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Functionally, right.

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You go through the New Testament, you're going to see that the elders are repeatedly told to shepherd the flock.

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Right. So functionally, there's no difference.

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Now, some people will look at a verse like First Timothy 5, 17, which says this,

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the elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor,

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especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

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So they'll read a verse like that and they go, oh, there's a difference between elders who rule and elders who teach.

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And in a lot of regards, that can apply.

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Now, it doesn't mean that elders only rule and pastors only teach.

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They both do both.

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But scripturally, we do see that some elders might focus more on the ruling and the leading,

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and some elders might focus more on the teaching and the shepherding types of things.

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So here at Hosanna, what we do is we recognize that among the elders of our church,

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there are at times where it becomes clear and obvious that certain elders among the eldership

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are kind of stepping into a greater shepherding role or God is gifting or calling into a greater shepherding role among the flock.

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And that means the teaching and the preaching and the exhortation and that direct shepherd-like care over the body.

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Now, as an elder, they're still involved in all of the stuff elders are to do within the church.

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They still oversee. They still do all of that stuff.

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But their calling seems to be rising up as they're more focused in their calling into the feeding and the shepherding of the church.

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Those elders, we will ordain as pastors.

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Okay?

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Now, again, functionally, no difference between the term.

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But the reason we will ordain someone as a pastor is just simply to recognize to you as the body

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that this particular person has a unique focus among the eldership to teach, to feed, to care, to be a part of that spiritual care for you.

444
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:33,000
And then, of course, the world understands what that means, right?

445
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,000
If you go out to the world and you say, I'm a pastor, they have a general idea.

446
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,000
See, the problem is if you go out to the world today and you say, I'm an elder, they're going to be like, you're a Mormon.

447
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,000
Like, where's your name tag, right?

448
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,000
No, no, that's not what I mean by elder.

449
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:50,000
You know, just because this cult has taken the term and changed it into something else

450
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,000
doesn't mean that we're not going to use the term here within our church.

451
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,000
But again, you know, that's why we will make a difference between the two.

452
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,000
It doesn't mean that one is better.

453
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,000
Pastors aren't better than elders.

454
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000
They're not closer to God than elders, right?

455
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000
Pastors don't get a VIP section in heaven where all the elders have to sit on the outside.

456
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,000
It's not like that at all.

457
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:16,000
They are the same people who are just recognizing a special calling amongst the eldership.

458
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:17,000
Does that make sense?

459
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:27,000
All right, so to summarize it, elders, overseers, pastors are by God's call men who are devoted to the teaching of the word,

460
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:32,000
to prayer, to shepherding the flock, to provide oversight of the church as a whole,

461
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:38,000
which includes counseling and discipling and raising up leaders and all of this stuff.

462
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:48,000
Now, the characteristics of that type of ministry is primarily the spiritual ministry to the body, right?

463
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:57,000
The primary focus of elders and pastors is to operate within spiritual ministry to the body.

464
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:07,000
What this means is that elders, pastors, overseers shouldn't be preoccupied with business details.

465
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:15,000
They're to oversee the affairs of the church, but they shouldn't be preoccupied with PR and administrative issues

466
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,000
and practical organizational matters.

467
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,000
They're involved.

468
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,000
They're overseeing.

469
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:29,000
They're making decisions with those things, but to be preoccupied with these things takes them away from their availability to be focused on the spiritual matters.

470
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,000
Right?

471
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:36,000
In the Old Testament, what would happen is when the people would stop taking care of the Levitical priests in the temple,

472
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:41,000
those Levitical priests then had to go out and start farming the land so they didn't starve to death,

473
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:45,000
and what that meant is they were not available to take care of the spiritual needs of the people.

474
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,000
That's the idea.

475
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,000
Now, sometimes pastors and elders do have to be preoccupied with these things,

476
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:57,000
and these might be situations where there literally is no one else to do it and it still has to get done.

477
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,000
But like I said, when they do get preoccupied with these things,

478
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:05,000
it takes them away from their availability to minister the word, to tend and feed the flock.

479
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,000
This is where deacons and deaconesses come into the equation.

480
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,000
Read with me in Acts chapter 6 verses 1 through 4.

481
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:20,000
This is a picture of the type of work expectation that deacons and we'll get to deaconesses do within the church.

482
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:24,000
In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number,

483
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:32,000
there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

484
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:37,000
This is very clearly an administration issue. This is a logistical issue, right?

485
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:44,000
This would be, for example, somebody that is running a business or running a warehouse or something,

486
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:50,000
and they're just trying to make sure that trucks get in and trucks get out and logistics, right?

487
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,000
The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said,

488
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,000
it would not be right for us to give up preaching the word to wait on tables.

489
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:03,000
Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation,

490
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:07,000
full of the spirit and wisdom who we can appoint to this duty.

491
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:11,000
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

492
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:18,000
Now, God gives different people different gifts, and do pastors and elders have gifts of administration and logistics?

493
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,000
Absolutely, right?

494
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:26,000
But what we see here is a problem that happened in the early church as the church was growing.

495
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:33,000
Organizationally, it got a little more difficult to handle the practical tasks of ministry.

496
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000
So the apostles, who were the elders at the time,

497
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:42,000
recognized that their primary calling in leadership in the church is to preach the word of God,

498
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,000
to pray, to do what they said is the ministry of the word.

499
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:53,000
That is our primary responsibility, and we can't do that because we have to make sure that the logistics

500
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:58,000
of feeding the widows and passing out the food and waiting the tables is handled.

501
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:03,000
So what they said is, look, our responsibilities are these spiritual things primarily.

502
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:09,000
We need to raise up some people to handle the practical needs because the practical needs don't go away.

503
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:15,000
What that means is as a church, right, we have to vacuum the floors and we have to clean the building

504
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:19,000
and we have to take care of things and get the trash out and, you know, all that type of stuff.

505
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:24,000
When we have our church barbecue, we have to set up tents and set up tables and, you know,

506
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:28,000
these practical things that are part of the ministry of the church.

507
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,000
So they raised up these men of godly character.

508
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,000
They said they were full of the spirit and appointed them to this duty.

509
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,000
Now, that is a picture of what 1 Timothy 3 calls a deacon.

510
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:47,000
The word deacon in the original language is diakonos, and it very simply means servant, all right?

511
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:53,000
So from one perspective, every Christian is a deacon because we're all called to serve, right?

512
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:59,000
But this office, this office of servant, this office of one who ministers or cares for the needs of others

513
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:03,000
is seen in 1 Timothy 3 right after the overseer qualifications.

514
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:09,000
It then tells us deacons likewise, meaning deacons like elders.

515
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:15,000
Here are the qualifications of these individuals, and it's a very high standard of character.

516
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:21,000
Now, in that list, what we learn is that deacons are qualified individuals called to serve the body of Christ

517
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:26,000
primarily by managing the practical needs of the church

518
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:34,000
so that the elders and the pastors and the overseers can focus primarily on their primary role in the church,

519
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:39,000
which is to meet the spiritual needs of the church. Does that make sense?

520
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,000
Now, the qualifications for deacons, again, I said it was found in 1 Timothy 3.

521
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:47,000
I'll go through it real quick. It says they're to be blameless.

522
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,000
That's the same thing for the elders when it said above reproach.

523
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,000
It says they're to not be a hypocrite, not be controlled by alcohol, not greedy for money.

524
00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,000
They need to manage their household and their children well.

525
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:03,000
They need to have a good reputation among the church. They have to be full of the Holy Spirit.

526
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:09,000
And 1 Timothy 3 says they need to hold fast to the mysteries of the faith.

527
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:16,000
What that means is they must know sound doctrine and embrace sound doctrine.

528
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:22,000
Very similar to the qualifications of an elder. High level of moral integrity.

529
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:27,000
But what's missing in the list for deacons is able to teach.

530
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:33,000
Deacons are not required to be skilled at teaching, and it's talking about teaching the Word of God and all of that.

531
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:38,000
They can, but they're not required to be skilled at doing this. Why?

532
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:44,000
Because the elders, the pastors, the overseers are primarily focused on the spiritual care,

533
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,000
the feeding of the flock, which is teaching, and deacons are primarily focused on practical ministry

534
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,000
to free up the pastors and elders so that they could do those things.

535
00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Now you might be going, well, what is the difference in between a deacon and a volunteer?

536
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:04,000
Well, effectively not much, but practically.

537
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:10,000
Practically, for our cases here, a deacon is an individual who's demonstrated the maturity

538
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:18,000
and the character necessary to provide leadership in getting the things done.

539
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:25,000
Elders are able to delegate tasks to the deacons of the church and trust,

540
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,000
because we know their moral character, we know their responsibility, we know all of these things,

541
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:36,000
we can trust that they can get the thing done so that we're freed up to go on the hospital call,

542
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,000
to do counseling appointments, whatever it may be.

543
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:43,000
Now, Acts 7, as we looked at it, said that these seven men were appointed.

544
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,000
That word appointed means put in charge.

545
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:52,000
So they're put in charge of, they're put into a leadership position of the food distribution and the waiting of tables.

546
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:59,000
Very practical things, but regardless, they still had a very high level of moral integrity

547
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,000
that was necessary to be appointed as a deacon,

548
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:08,000
for the same reasons that the elders need to have a very high level of moral integrity.

549
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:15,000
One of the practical things a church might be dealing with, especially in our modern day, is bookkeeping, right?

550
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:16,000
Taking care of the money.

551
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:22,000
Now, if God raises up a deacon or a deaconess to do that, you've got to make sure that they're not greedy,

552
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,000
so they don't steal the money, right?

553
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:28,000
So on and so forth. There's so many different things to this.

554
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:33,000
Now, 1 Timothy 3.10 does say, though, that deacons must be tested,

555
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:40,000
and if they prove blameless, or prove themselves to be blameless, or if they are proved to be above reproach,

556
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,000
then they can serve as a deacon, right?

557
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:49,000
Now, deacons are very simply just servants by definition.

558
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,000
So the person that's appointed as a deacon should be naturally inclined to want to assist others,

559
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,000
especially the elders, right?

560
00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:02,000
And the body that they're serving should expect maturity and character

561
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,000
and a great example and a witness from their lives.

562
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:12,000
So this office of ministry, we at Hosanna, we believe is open to women as well,

563
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,000
and so we use the term deaconess, all right?

564
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,000
Deaconess is not in the Bible anywhere.

565
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:23,000
We just simply use the word to refer to the female deacon, right?

566
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,000
It's kind of like the word count and countess, right?

567
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:30,000
So that's what it means, but they're functionally the same as deacons,

568
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:35,000
same godly character qualifications, but they have an added responsibility of leadership

569
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:41,000
in the discipleship of other women in the church, both practically and spiritually.

570
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:45,000
We see this in Titus chapter 2.

571
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:51,000
Now, one of the reasons we see that there are women deacons is in Romans chapter 16, verse 1,

572
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:55,000
Paul concluding his letter says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe,

573
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,000
who is a servant of the church in San Shre.

574
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,000
That word servant there is diaconess.

575
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,000
It's the word that is translated deacon.

576
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,000
Now, there are people who argue that.

577
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:12,000
If it was meant to be deacon, it would be translated deacon, but it's translated servant instead.

578
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:18,000
It says she's a servant, she is a deaconess of the church in Crenshe.

579
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:26,000
That, to me, implies that she was somebody recognized in this fellowship as a deaconess.

580
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,000
Now, again, if you disagree with me, I'm sorry, but that's how we see that, okay?

581
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:36,000
And so we do recognize, and I've seen over and over again that there are women in our fellowship

582
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,000
that are highly gifted.

583
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,000
There are some women that are gifted as shepherds.

584
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:48,000
Now, they're not elders, they're not pastors, but they have a gift to spiritually care and tend for others.

585
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,000
And I see it in our women's ministry.

586
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:55,000
There are women that have gift of teaching here, and they're just great teachers of God's word.

587
00:43:55,000 --> 00:44:01,000
And so we will recognize them as practical servants as well as spiritual ministry to other women in the body.

588
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:10,000
Now, obviously there is overlap between elders and deacons and deaconesses.

589
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:17,000
Elders are not immune to cleaning the toilet, changing the light bulb, right?

590
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:20,000
Of course, right?

591
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,000
Elders, pastors, overseers, we are servants.

592
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:26,000
And deacons and deaconesses do get involved in spiritual stuff, right?

593
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:33,000
Deacons can pray for you, and they can, you know, explain Scripture to you because they have to understand

594
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:35,000
and embrace sound doctrine.

595
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:39,000
But they both have a primary focus of leadership within the church.

596
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:45,000
The elders, the spiritual things primarily, the deacons and deaconesses primarily the practical things.

597
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:53,000
And when that is followed within a church, a church is healthy, a church is fruitful, and a church is blessed.

598
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:59,000
But more importantly, according to Acts chapter 6 verse 7, as we saw the apostles were like,

599
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,000
hey, we got to focus on the spiritual stuff.

600
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:03,000
Let's raise up people to handle the practical stuff.

601
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,000
What is the result?

602
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:13,000
Acts 6, 7, so the word of God spread and the disciples, which means Christ followers, increased greatly in number.

603
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:21,000
So now that we know what we, the congregation here at Hosanna, can expect of the leadership,

604
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:28,000
I want to invite up all of our existing pastors and elders and deaconesses to come stand up here in the front

605
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:32,000
because they're going to lay hands on those that we are raising up today.

606
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:38,000
And so if I could have all of them come forward, we got Pastor Rick Ice, Pastor Manny Martinez,

607
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:47,000
and these are our elders, Ron Love, Nathan Vandebrake, Edgar Serrano, Fred Humphel, Rick Bromley,

608
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:51,000
Roger Ramos, and Perry Skull, who is out of town.

609
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:57,000
Our deaconesses who are coming forward is Irene Bromley, Luanne Johnson, Deborah White,

610
00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:04,000
and then Christiana Bromley is down the street as she is heading up our Children's and Hosanna Kids Ministry.

611
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,000
Now these people, these are the existing leadership within your church, right?

612
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,000
So we just went through it, right?

613
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:13,000
You can call all of them at 3 in the morning for prayer.

614
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,000
No, just kidding. Don't do that.

615
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:19,000
Some of us are full-time in ministry, some of us are not.

616
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,000
And so the full-time people, yeah, you can call us whenever.

617
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:29,000
But the point is, is you can approach these people for your prayer needs, for practical needs, for whatever it is.

618
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:34,000
These are the leadership that God has raised up in this fellowship to serve you,

619
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:39,000
whether it's through teaching or preaching or care or counseling or discipleship.

620
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:42,000
Now again, there are some of us that are full-time in the ministry,

621
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:48,000
and we do carry the bulk of the responsibilities, but especially here on a Sunday morning,

622
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:52,000
these are people you can grab and say, can you pray with me right now? I need prayer. Okay?

623
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:57,000
But we are going to be recognizing today a few men and women from among you

624
00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,000
whom God has raised up to serve and lead here at Hosanna,

625
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:03,000
and so I want to invite them up by name right now.

626
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:10,000
Rich, you're already coming forward, so why don't you come up?

627
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:15,000
Rich is, and you've all seen him outside, he runs our food ministry.

628
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:19,000
We have a very small food ministry right now that God has allowed us to continue with,

629
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,000
and Rich has been so faithful in just serving it.

630
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,000
Every single week he drives, he picks up stuff all week long,

631
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:32,000
and so we just recognize him as leading that practical ministry of our food ministry.

632
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:38,000
Gavin Bromley, where is he at? There we go.

633
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,000
Gavin has been our tech director for a while now.

634
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:46,000
He is heading up and running all of that technical stuff back there so church works.

635
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,000
He makes sure the lights work and the computers work and the livestream goes live,

636
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:54,000
so all of you online watching, it's because of him, and so we're so thankful for that work.

637
00:47:54,000 --> 00:48:01,000
Daniel Cervantes.

638
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,000
Daniel has been, gosh, a member of the church for a very long time,

639
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:10,000
and over the last few years God has just anointed him with an evangelistic zeal

640
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:15,000
and a spirit to preach the gospel, and he's always out somewhere at a pier or something, passing out tracks,

641
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:20,000
but specifically he has been such a great servant to the leadership here at Hosanna,

642
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:25,000
and he now is leading our communion team and putting together all of that,

643
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:29,000
as well as our offering team, and so we say thank you, Daniel, for that.

644
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:37,000
And last, William Vandebrake.

645
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:41,000
I'm sure you guys recognize Will. He is one of our worship leaders here at Hosanna,

646
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:45,000
and he's one of those guys that can play every instrument known to man.

647
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:49,000
You ever met someone like that? You go to Siberia and they have this weird instrument nobody's ever seen,

648
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:53,000
and he's like brrr and can play music out of it. That's Will.

649
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:58,000
And we're so blessed that he is a part of our worship team and teaching and training

650
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:03,000
and helping the members of the worship team really kind of improve in their skills and whatnot,

651
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:07,000
and so it's so vital to be able to provide leadership in that,

652
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:09,000
and so we're so thankful for his leadership there.

653
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:17,000
And then we have three new deaconesses, Marissa Martinez.

654
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:24,000
Marissa is our assistant director in our Hosanna Kids' Ministry, helping Christiana run that.

655
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:28,000
She's the switch off every other week, making sure the kids are checked in,

656
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,000
making sure everything is safe, making sure curriculums are ready,

657
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:36,000
and all of that stuff to teach your kids here at Hosanna the gospel of Jesus Christ.

658
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:44,000
And so next one is Gracie Spicer.

659
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:48,000
Gracie is a whole lot of things.

660
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:52,000
She is one of the leaders in our women's ministry with Irene,

661
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:58,000
and she helps Irene put together the teachings and notes and all of this stuff,

662
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:01,000
and it's just so critical, her help with Irene,

663
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:05,000
especially because Irene has been starting her family and stuff,

664
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:10,000
and for those of you that have done that, you know that kind of dampers your schedule and availability a little bit.

665
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,000
So we're so thankful for that.

666
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:17,000
And Mallory Gibson, she is not here today, but yeah.

667
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:22,000
Mallory has been leading our evangelism ministry for the past three years.

668
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:27,000
She has been faithful in leading our skills classes every now it's Tuesday

669
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:31,000
to teach and train anybody here in the body that wants to learn how to share their faith,

670
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:38,000
as well as leading teams out to Seal Beach and Convalescent Home and all kinds of stuff.

671
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:41,000
So if you're interested in evangelism ministry, make sure you plug in with her,

672
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:44,000
and you know she's not here today, so I can't show you who she is.

673
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:48,000
But with this, these are the new deacons and deaconesses that are serving here.

674
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:52,000
I did forget to say that Luanne, she's the one leading our prayer ministry

675
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,000
if you're here at 9 a.m. on a Sunday.

676
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:58,000
She's leading the prayer teams if you're on the prayer chain.

677
00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:00,000
You know, anytime there's a prayer request that comes in,

678
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:03,000
and of course if it's not confidential, you know I forward it to her,

679
00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:07,000
and it's instantly out to the entire prayer chain as those things are lifted up.

680
00:51:07,000 --> 00:51:11,000
And then Debra, Debra just rallies the troops.

681
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:16,000
You know, if you've ever gotten a call from Debra, we need help, right?

682
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,000
If we're raising funds for something, Debra's like, I don't care, I'll call everybody.

683
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:26,000
So she's so, so faithful in just helping organize and getting volunteers together and stuff with that.

684
00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:31,000
And so what we're going to do right now is I want all the elders to lay hands on the new deacons here,

685
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:34,000
and the ladies lay hands on our deaconesses.

686
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,000
And body, I want you guys to reach out your hands here.

687
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:41,000
We are going to pray for these new deacons and deaconesses here in our fellowship.

688
00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:46,000
Father God, we are so grateful Lord that you raise up people in your church to serve you, Lord.

689
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:50,000
We know none of us are worthy, but God you love us so much, you equip us with gifts.

690
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:56,000
And Lord, when we step out and trust you, Lord, you raise us up to lead and to serve God.

691
00:51:56,000 --> 00:52:00,000
And I pray for these deacons and deaconesses specifically, God, Lord,

692
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:04,000
the places you've called them to serve to help the practical needs in this body, Lord,

693
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:07,000
as well as those opportunities to pray and to share with others, God.

694
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:12,000
I pray, Lord, that you fill them overflowing with your Holy Spirit,

695
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:20,000
that you continue, God, to equip them with the gifts needed to fulfill the ministry you've called them to, Lord.

696
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:26,000
I pray, God, as we recognize the godly character that they've demonstrated, not as perfect people,

697
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:31,000
but as people who genuinely pursue a life of obedience to you, God.

698
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:36,000
I pray, Lord, that you would continue to guide them and protect them and surround them with your angels, Lord,

699
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,000
that there would be no legitimate accusation to be brought against them, Lord,

700
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:44,000
but instead they'd be free to serve and to further your kingdom, Lord, in every way that you call them to, God.

701
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:48,000
And so, Lord, we thank you for them. We pray, God, you would bless them abundantly.

702
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,000
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

703
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:54,000
All right, all the deacons and deaconesses, you can go ahead and take your seats.

704
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:57,000
Elders, please remain up.

705
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,000
We have two new elders that we're going to be recognizing today.

706
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:05,000
For those of you that don't know, we have a Spanish ministry that meets on Sunday nights at 5 o'clock,

707
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:08,000
and it is a Spanish language ministry.

708
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:12,000
And that ministry has been going for a number of years now,

709
00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:19,000
and there's a couple men in this ministry that have been incredibly faithful in helping the leader of that ministry.

710
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:24,000
And so we want to recognize and raise these men up as elders in our Spanish ministry.

711
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,000
First one is Abraham Avalos.

712
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:38,000
You guys might remember Abraham was the one we sent or supported in his mission to Cuba, right?

713
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,000
Was it Cuba? Yeah, Cuba.

714
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:45,000
And he's actually gone out there another time since and is likely going to be going in the future,

715
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:48,000
and so just a faithful man of God there.

716
00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:53,000
And then David Valdivia. Did I pronounce that right?

717
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:58,000
All right. Somebody gave me the phonetic breakdown, so I hope I did it right.

718
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:04,000
David as well has been serving faithfully in our Spanish ministry for a number of years

719
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:09,000
and again has just been such an incredible help in bearing the load of just the spiritual care

720
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:12,000
of those that are attending our Spanish ministry.

721
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:16,000
And so we would like to pray for both of these individuals as a church as well,

722
00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:20,000
and so we could have the elders lay hands on them and everybody else hands out.

723
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:25,000
And let's pray. Father God, we are so grateful, Lord, for these men that you have raised up

724
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:32,000
in our Spanish ministry to care spiritually for those that you've brought to our Spanish ministry, God.

725
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:36,000
We are so grateful, Lord, that they know the Word, that they're able to teach the Word.

726
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:41,000
God, that they have the character that you have spelled out as people who cannot be legitimately blamed

727
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:45,000
for any hidden or unaddressed sin.

728
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:49,000
And so God, I pray, Lord, we as a church pray that you would fill them with your Spirit,

729
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:53,000
that they would overflow with the giftings to do what you've called them to do, God.

730
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:58,000
That you would continue to give them wisdom as they lead and oversee in that Spanish ministry, Lord.

731
00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:02,000
That they would have the opportunity and the ability and the availability, Lord,

732
00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:07,000
to meet the spiritual needs of those there, Lord, to pray, to disciple, to counsel, to teach,

733
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:09,000
to train, and to raise up, Lord.

734
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:15,000
And we pray, God, Lord, that you would bless their lives, to keep them humble in everything they do, Lord.

735
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:19,000
And let their lives be an example to those they lead that they would be able to say,

736
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:21,000
follow me as I follow Christ.

737
00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:23,000
God, we're so grateful for them.

738
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:26,000
Bless them, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

739
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:32,000
Guys, if you would remain up here as elders now,

740
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:39,000
because today we actually have the opportunity to recognize two individuals as new pastors of Hosanna.

741
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:46,000
The first individual is Edgar Serrano,

742
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:52,000
who has been leading our Spanish ministry for, again, a number of years,

743
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:56,000
and has been so faithful in doing everything that an elder is to do,

744
00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:02,000
to oversee, to shepherd, to care for, to teach, to train, to exhort, rebuke, and all of that.

745
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:06,000
And so we're so grateful for his leadership there and all he's done over the years.

746
00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:13,000
And we also want to recognize today someone that has had the opportunity for years to minister to you guys in worship.

747
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:17,000
And over the last couple years, God has opened up a door to minister to you,

748
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:20,000
specifically through the Word, on a number of occasions.

749
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:26,000
This individual has been a great friend of mine for 24 years now.

750
00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:30,000
We have laughed and cried together. We have fought.

751
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:33,000
We were once going to go be contestants on the Amazing Race,

752
00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:37,000
and that would be great television. But we never did that.

753
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:42,000
However, this person has been such a great help and encouragement to me,

754
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:45,000
and I've seen the spirit in this person's life.

755
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:51,000
And I know the calling he has, the care, the heart, the love for you, the church he has is abundant.

756
00:56:51,000 --> 00:57:01,000
And so that is Ron Love.

757
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:03,000
Thank you, brother.

758
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:06,000
All right, elders, if you could all come up and surround both of these guys.

759
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:09,000
We're going to lay hands on them in church. Hands again.

760
00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:12,000
All right, we need that power. All right.

761
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:18,000
Let's pray. Father God, we are so grateful for these two individuals, Lord,

762
00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:22,000
that God, as they have led for a long time, Lord,

763
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:26,000
elderly here in the church, overseeing ministries, Lord, doing the work of shepherding God.

764
00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:32,000
We just today want to recognize and ratify this special calling that you've led them to, God.

765
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:34,000
It's not something they haven't been doing.

766
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:38,000
It's something they have been doing, Lord, and we simply want to recognize that.

767
00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:41,000
God, we pray for these individuals, Lord, both Ron and Edgar, God,

768
00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:45,000
that you would bless them, that you would fill them with your Spirit, Lord,

769
00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:50,000
that you would continue to overflow out of their lives, Lord, in ministry and love to your people, God,

770
00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:54,000
as they sacrifice of themselves and sacrifice of their own lives

771
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:57,000
to care for the flock you've put before them, Lord.

772
00:57:57,000 --> 00:58:00,000
I pray, God, that you give them wisdom in all their oversight

773
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:03,000
and just watching over the affairs of the church, God.

774
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:07,000
I pray, Lord, you give them great compassion, Lord,

775
00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:10,000
in their shepherding and their love and their care

776
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:15,000
and even the sacrifice that comes in ministering to the needs of the flock, Lord, that they are over.

777
00:58:15,000 --> 00:58:19,000
I pray, God, that their wisdom and their experience would pour out, Lord,

778
00:58:19,000 --> 00:58:22,000
as they raise up new leadership and new generations, God,

779
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:25,000
to encourage them on what it means to be a man of God,

780
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:31,000
what it means to be an elder, and what it means to even step into the role of a pastor over the flock, Lord.

781
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:35,000
So, God, we're so grateful again. We pray that you would bless them abundantly, Lord.

782
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:39,000
We commission them, Lord. We ordain them here today, God, as a church,

783
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:42,000
as pastors at Hosanna Christian Fellowship.

784
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:44,000
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

785
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:47,000
Thank you, gentlemen.

786
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:51,000
Please take a seat.

787
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:54,000
All right.

788
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:57,000
That's it. We're done. All right.

789
00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:00,000
1116. Yeah, I did it on time. Okay.

790
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:06,000
So, I just ask you guys to pray for the leadership.

791
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:11,000
I just wanted to close in a couple of verses just as encouragement to all of us.

792
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:16,000
Hebrews 13, 7 says, Remember your leaders who have spoken God's word to you,

793
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:21,000
as you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.

794
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:26,000
The role, the call of leadership into the church is to be people that can say,

795
00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:28,000
follow me as I follow Christ.

796
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:32,000
But we're sinful humans, and that's why we need prayer.

797
00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:35,000
That's why we need the encouragement of the body.

798
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:37,000
And so please, please pray for all the leadership here.

799
00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:39,000
Pray that they would lead in wisdom.

800
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:43,000
Pray every day for the leadership because, you know, we do need it.

801
00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:47,000
We all know what it's like to be attacked by Satan, by the demons,

802
00:59:47,000 --> 00:59:49,000
by all the spiritual attack that takes place,

803
00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:51,000
and it's no different for the leaders in your church.

804
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:54,000
And so as we pray for you, pray for us, let's pray together

805
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:57,000
that God would have victory in all of our lives. Amen?

806
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:04,000
And the last verse I want to share with you is, again, in Hebrews 13, verses 16 through 18.

807
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:07,000
It says, Do not neglect to do what is good and to share,

808
01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:10,000
for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

809
01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:12,000
Obey your leaders and submit to them,

810
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:15,000
which means to trust them and yield to their leadership,

811
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:21,000
since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account to God himself,

812
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:25,000
so that they can do this with joy and not with grief,

813
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:27,000
for that would be unprofitable for you.

814
01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:30,000
Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience,

815
01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:34,000
wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

816
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:36,000
Let's pray.

817
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:39,000
Father, we're so grateful to who you are.

818
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:42,000
We're so grateful, God, for the gifts that you give us.

819
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:47,000
Lord, the ultimate gift, the most important gift, is our salvation.

820
01:00:47,000 --> 01:00:51,000
Lord, that you went and died on a cross for our sins,

821
01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:59,000
that you suffered the punishment, the chastisement, the all that we deserved, God.

822
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:04,000
You took it upon yourself that we would be able to be forgiven.

823
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:07,000
That, Lord, that we would be able to be a restored people to you,

824
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:11,000
restored to what the relationship originally was back in the garden, God.

825
01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:14,000
That we would be people who reflect your glory,

826
01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:18,000
people who reflect your love and your care and your compassion,

827
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:21,000
and God, we're so grateful for all of that, Lord.

828
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:26,000
And we're grateful, God, for the people you bring into our lives to lead,

829
01:01:26,000 --> 01:01:28,000
to rule, to minister, to care for.

830
01:01:28,000 --> 01:01:31,000
God, all the leadership within your church, Lord, we pray, God,

831
01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:36,000
and I include myself in this, God, please fill us with your spirit to overflowing.

832
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:38,000
Give us wisdom beyond our years.

833
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:40,000
Give us wisdom beyond our experience, Lord.

834
01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:44,000
All the elders, all the pastors, the deacons and deaconesses, God,

835
01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:49,000
let us be an example of you, Jesus, to your people.

836
01:01:49,000 --> 01:01:54,000
As you were the example to us, you laid down your life for the sheep.

837
01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:59,000
You gave of yourself sacrificially that those you served would be blessed.

838
01:01:59,000 --> 01:02:04,000
Lord, you led by example on what it means to be people of God, Lord, and we pray that.

839
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:08,000
For not just the leadership here in our church, but in every church, God.

840
01:02:08,000 --> 01:02:13,000
Lord, I pray for those in our fellowship, God, that are on a path to be leadership, God,

841
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:16,000
that you would encourage them, Lord, as they would look to the leadership

842
01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:19,000
you've placed into their lives in their church, Lord, that they would be encouraged

843
01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:23,000
and that they would learn who to be and how to be, God.

844
01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:26,000
I pray, Lord, for patience for those who are in that walk,

845
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:30,000
becoming deacons and deaconesses, elders and pastors, Lord.

846
01:02:30,000 --> 01:02:33,000
But most importantly, God, we pray that collectively as a church,

847
01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:37,000
a local church here at Hosanna, your name would be glorified.

848
01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:41,000
We pray that all would be accomplished, would point to you and only you.

849
01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:46,000
We pray, God, that as we come together to serve one another, to do church

850
01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:51,000
as you're calling us to do it, Lord, that the result would be that many are added

851
01:02:51,000 --> 01:02:53,000
to the disciples here at Hosanna.

852
01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:56,000
That, Lord, the fruit, the health, and the blessing of our church

853
01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:59,000
wouldn't be about us or our church.

854
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:01,000
It would be about you and the people you've saved.

855
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:04,000
We love you, God, we thank you.

856
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:06,000
We look forward to what you're going to be doing here in our church,

857
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:09,000
Hosanna, Lord, and may we be a part of the work in your kingdom

858
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,000
around the whole world, Lord.

859
01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:18,000
Bless us, encourage us, teach us, rebuke us when necessary.

860
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:22,000
Use us, God, for your will and your glory.

861
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:23,000
We love you so much.

862
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:26,000
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

863
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:31,000
All right, let's worship, church.