Questions & Answers

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

0 views

0 comments

00:01
Before I have Steve come up I've asked Steve to give his testimony and then talk about what really Motivates him in ministry, and then we'll have a time of questions and answers
00:09
Just to give you the overview from the church perspective from the elder perspective There'll be no decisions made this weekend.
00:15
You know votes tonight. I remember when I came out to candidate I got we voted on Sunday night afterwards remember that It was 44 0 against and excuse me.
00:25
Yes 0 against and 2 abstentions Tom was that you? But We won't vote for we vote won't vote for Anything denied or do anything like that?
00:39
There is a business meeting a national meeting or annual meeting the 22nd of February, and I'll be in Omaha So we'll push that to the 29th.
00:46
There'll be a lots of time for dialogue If you have questions or concerns, or you want to know more about Steve Would you ask the elders would you pick an elder and talk to us about that?
00:56
We may or may not take a formal vote, but we want to know because if the congregation Doesn't want
01:01
Steve on a whole, but then I think the elders need to take that into consideration But if it's overall the people say yes, we want
01:08
Steve to come We need to know that as well and Steve also has to agree So there'll be time for interaction and prayer and all kinds of things so tonight is just one more opportunity to get to know
01:20
Steve and People have asked well, what will Steve do if he comes?
01:27
Steve will have the position title of associate pastor He'll be an elder as well And so everything that comes with shepherd ology he'll be responsible for and that is prayer and the word and discipleship training up men he will have
01:41
Pretty much the responsibility of running the church on a day -to -day basis Part of his job is going to be to free me up So I can do other things and part of his job is going to be to do extra things
01:52
I would love to have a Bible Institute For churches in the area and training other people in other churches
01:58
I have a real heart for other pastors and wouldn't it be great if we could have this church as a hub For hurting pastors and their families to come and we could just love on them some kind of I don't even know what to call
02:09
It and I'm bad with names but some kind of you are in the ministry you just come to our church and we are going to lavish love on you and have a conference and Teaching and take care of you and and there's those kind of things that just never get done now
02:21
Some may say why should we hire Steve when things of the church seem to be going pretty well Well, we are getting by but We need some more help here and it's been hard to last probably year and a half without Terry around just because he did a lot of things whether it's the newsletter and other things that He picked up the phone to answer and he was the terminal man instead of me now.
02:41
And so I Wrote down a few other things that Steve will be we'd be doing I Want him to work on a writing ministry if I give a message on assurance like the last couple
02:52
Sunday nights I think the message can go farther than just the message When you know, when's the last time you had a question about assurance or you knew somebody else did well then we'll give that message transcribed to Steve and he can put it in a little booklet
03:05
Steve has a Good gift of writing and you can take some of the messages and we'll work on You know when someone says eternal security
03:13
We really need some more information on internal security Well instead of having all those booklets back there written by other people and we can generate some of those here in -house as well
03:23
Evangelism, you know Steve has a passionate heart for that when you get to pick whatever topic to preach on on Sunday morning and you pick those parables
03:30
About God's love for the lost he can train and equip so we'll be responsible for that For other conferences
03:38
Don Whitney coming James White those kind of people he'll be responsible for that Deacons training new deacons are firming up the deacons that we have now he'd have oversight
03:49
Hospital visits. I mean all kinds of things Someone asked me an insightful question this morning They said if Steve more of a mirror of your personality and gifts
03:57
Mike or is he a compliment? I thought that was a good question. I said well Dave is more a compliment to me in the ministry and Steve is more a mirror
04:06
I would say even though we have some complimentary things, but I said that's fine. You don't always have to hire
04:13
Compliments Steve in a sense and Steve and I are very similar But then he can go out and do what I need to do with another 50 hours of manpower to do it
04:21
And so I'm not concerned that we he and I are alike. We've been we've had the same school
04:28
Discipleship relationship all kinds of things we think a lot alike, but I don't think that's bad And so he doesn't have to be the exact opposite for me to shepherd and I just can't get my arms around everybody
04:40
If somebody said would you rather hire an associate pastor or finish off the parking lot? I know what my answer would be would you rather have it cool upstairs, or would you like an associate pastor?
04:49
It's easy for me to see to say today. I want it an associate pastor, but even in the summer And so he'd be doing some of those things
04:57
I told Steve even today I said I'm not concerned about your job job description What do you do from Tuesday morning?
05:03
nine to ten as I'm concerned about who you are and do I know you and are you trustworthy with the scriptures with your family and Loyal to the ministry here because I can figure out lots of things for you to do
05:15
So that's just kind of some ideas that I had training up leadership Discipleship you'd have to teach every week and have a home home group and shepherd
05:26
So he's gonna have his plate full and it almost be an extension of the ministry that I do here But he'll do it a little bit differently
05:32
And I think I've said it before he's usually a little more sweet than I am and more compassionate And so that'll be a good compliment to you.
05:40
Don't you forget it? You can ask him some more questions too about what he'd really like to do and you know
05:49
I love Steve for a lot of reasons But Steve if you ask him and this is even back when I was ministering with them back in,
05:55
California Steve I'd like you to do this this this and this and they're all righteous things and they're all above board things
06:01
You know what Steve's response is Okay It just delegate authority and off we go and run so it is
06:09
It is great and I've said it once and twice and now for the third time I'm not concerned about giving
06:15
Steve ministry opportunities within the church if I'm not concerned About he and his wife who would raise our kids if both
06:22
Kim and I died I mean, I'm I think I trust him and I think the elders do too So I mean,
06:28
I know I trust him and then lastly we have to consider money and giving It cost a lot to bring somebody on board
06:35
And if we do then we are going to go down with the ship when it comes to providing for him and his family
06:41
We aren't going to do the well You've been here three months and we can't really afford you and have a good day And so I was very pleased today to give him is almost 9 ,000 using about 5 ,000 so So I'm up here rambling along I'm sorry,
06:56
I didn't get a preach today, but I just have that urge to preach But Steve, why don't you come give us your testimony?
07:02
After his testimony, why don't you just take about 20 minutes or so and just tell us what you want to do with ministry
07:07
I'll never forget Kendoura came once and he said Mike what do you want me to do in the church? I said well, what would you like to do?
07:16
I said and let's see if they match Ken said I'd like to teach Sunday school and do biblical discipleship
07:21
I said that's exactly what we need Teaching Sunday school and doing biblical discipleship And so if God is going to bring a man who has certain passions in ministry, then
07:30
I'm gonna assume We're going to need some of those things And so I don't think
07:35
Steve is going to fill the gaps of doing a lot of things that we don't get done now I think he's going to help us shore up what we already do, but just do it better All right, okay
07:49
By the way, Mike I'd like to get a copy of that list at some point
07:58
Well, good evening everyone I'm trying to master now the microphone Working on that well, you know,
08:07
I just want to thank everybody here because y 'all have been Y 'all is southern we're from Southern, California.
08:14
So I just want to say thank y 'all for all your Compassion your kindness and your generosity to us this week
08:21
We've just had a great time and I know I speak for my wife and my daughter. We've just really enjoyed our time here this week
08:29
I've been asked to share my Testimony this evening and so I'll just do that quickly and I want you to know a few things
08:38
First of all, as I shared yesterday morning, I was raised in a Mormon home and My folks divorced my dad was really never involved in the
08:48
Mormon Church My folks divorced when I was eight years old and that had a huge impact on me
08:55
I mean, I didn't mention this yesterday morning, but I'll just tell you I think I'm the only third grader I know whoever got thrown out of school for fighting with his teacher.
09:03
So it just had a really big impact on me I was eight years old and I didn't know how to handle it.
09:09
But my mom got remarried a few years later to a Mormon gentleman and we
09:16
I Would say our house was you know, I mentioned this it was very confrontational very it was an angry household and it wasn't between my brother and I and my folks it was between them and there was all kinds of violence and just Everything that you can imagine going on in a household as far as yelling and fighting and all these kind of things was going on And yet every
09:41
Sunday morning we got up We got dressed. We went to church.
09:46
We marched in and we look like the model Mormon family We did everything, right?
09:53
I Went to all the Boy Scout camps. It wasn't much of a Boy Scout My brother was the star Boy Scout, but we went to all those camps.
10:01
We were involved in everything I went out and I I was a deacon at 12 a teacher at 14
10:07
These are offices in the in the church and a priest at the age of 16
10:12
So all these things were going on I went to a seminary every morning that I was in high school, my mom didn't care if I went to school as long as I went to seminary and So we had this image in our local congregation of being really
10:28
Fastidious really faithful Mormons and yet our home life was anything but You know peaceful and tranquil and spiritual so this all culminated in Eventually my mom
10:43
Kicking my stepbrother out But it just really had all this had a big impact on me and I remember sitting one night with my friend
10:52
I was probably about 16 or 17 one of my best buddies and Saying to him, you know,
10:58
I mean, we're just kicking back, you know looking up at the stars and I don't know what we were doing But you know just kind of sitting there listening music whatever
11:05
I'm talking and I said, you know what mark I said I can never imagine me being perfect.
11:10
I can never imagine me stopping sinning I can never imagine me being God and having my own worlds and doing you know all these
11:18
Mormon type theology things and You know his basic advice to me was don't worry about it
11:24
You know somewhere down the road you'll become perfect and I you know, I just it just didn't seem reasonable to me and I just kind of passed it off at that point, but if we fast -forward a few years
11:40
I'm in the army now. I'm in the army now anyway,
11:46
I And and I went to Okinawa after I spent a year and a half in Maryland I went to Okinawa and that's where I met
11:53
Janet and Janet and I dated for a while while I was there and I came back to the
11:58
States and I got re -involved with Mormon Church while I was in Okinawa. I didn't do anything because I didn't know anybody and So when
12:07
I got back to the States some of my old friends contacted me and they said, you know, Steve You're not really involved in anything or you haven't done anything for a year and a half.
12:16
Why don't we go to Utah? And go to the General Conference in in In Salt Lake City and see the prophet, you know go to the tabernacle do all these kind of things
12:27
So I did and I came back from that and by the way when we were in Salt Lake City We stayed with my aunt and uncle my extended family is all very very active and passionate in the
12:38
Mormon family And or in the Mormon Church, in fact, I think my brother traced us all the way back to I think we're like We go back to where I think someone that Joseph Smith baptized baptized somebody in my family and then the rest of us just kind of came out of that so Anyway, I came back from Salt Lake City and started really getting involved in the local ward and I wrote
13:03
Janet a letter and I said, you know what I Don't think I could be involved with you anymore because you know
13:10
Mormon and I'm really active and I just don't think there's any room for you in my life because she wasn't a
13:17
Mormon So she wrote back and she said well, I have some good news Says my good news is
13:23
I've been to see the Mormon chaplain here on the island and I've taken the missionary lessons and I've been
13:28
Baptized and now I'm a Mormon. So what's stopping us now, you know that kind of thing. So We got married probably about Maybe about a year after that I think and We were we lived in Palmdale.
13:44
We were involved in the Mormon Church there and This the sense of I would say
13:52
Sin awareness of understanding that I was never going to be perfect that I was never going to be
13:58
God kind of came back to haunt me, but it wasn't in a good way because I think I just I got to a point where I just kind of Was spiraling out of control and so because I'm a police officer a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County We have free access to psychologists
14:18
So I thought well, I'm getting miserable. I'm getting depressed I will go in and see this psychologist and I did and I don't know what you know about psychology
14:25
But I'll tell you this they will tell you whatever your problem is Let me backtrack on that they will tell you have a problem whether you have one or not, okay
14:37
And once you start explaining whatever your situation is, it's like oh Well, let me tell you what you need to do and they focus so much on you that you just kind of grow in your own sense of importance and really kind of selfishness
14:55
So one of my and mentioning selfishness one of the things I mentioned yesterday morning was how
15:00
I felt like my wife Janet was just a complete Mismatch for me because I was selfish and she was selfless and I can remember saying to her
15:12
You know what? You just need to be more selfish. What is wrong with you? And and this is just the foolishness that was going on any event after seeing the psychologist for a while I kind of I came to a point where I decide, you know in order to really be happy I need to separate myself from my wife and my kids.
15:30
And so that's what I did. I moved out to Santa Clarita We were living in Palmdale. I moved out to Santa Clarita and I started attending 12 -step groups and This I'm really compressing a lot into a little bit of time
15:42
But I started attending 12 -step groups and if you ever been to a 12 -step group, you know that there are obviously 12 steps.
15:49
Well, one of the steps is Surrendering your life to a higher power
15:54
So we're sitting there one night and this was probably my fourth or fifth meeting or sitting in a circle one night and people are going
16:01
Around the circle talking about their higher power and one person says my higher power is
16:06
God and I'm thinking myself Okay, next person. My higher power is Jesus Christ next person.
16:13
My higher power is this group I'm going That's a little weird Next person my higher power is part of my brain that I've set aside to be my higher power.
16:23
I'm going very weird Okay, we were very weird But in these groups you're not allowed to express any kind of opinion or judgment or anything like that But I sat there that night just realizing that here
16:36
I'd spent my whole life most of it Anyway in the Mormon Church, and I knew that there was a God But I also knew that he wasn't the
16:42
God of Mormonism and I knew that because I knew I could never be God I didn't really want to be
16:47
God I knew I was never gonna stop sinning and I also knew that because of many of the things in the
16:52
Mormon Church Not just their emphasis on perfection But their emphasis on a lot of little rules and regulations that it wasn't right and I didn't belong there so I started thinking about who
17:04
I knew that I could go to to find out who God was and I had a friend named Tony and I went to see
17:11
Tony one day after work and I said Tony I understand that you guys have a Bible study for police officers and he goes.
17:18
Yeah, that's right. I said I'd really like to go He looked at me with all the love he could muster and he said
17:25
Yeah, what's the punchline? So he didn't he didn't really take me seriously and I told him what had happened in this 12 -step meeting and I said no
17:33
I really believe that there's a God. I just know that I don't know who he is. I like to find out
17:38
So can I come to the Bible study or not? Basically is what I said and and I did and that got me studying the
17:44
Bible and interested in those things I didn't get saved for quite a while But I remember reading one night in Isaiah and Coming across in Isaiah 9 about God being wonderful about God being
17:58
Counselor about Jesus Christ and I just I went there and I just kept thinking about God being a counselor and what it meant to me was
18:07
That God knew everything about me and the idea that God could know everything about me and loved me was just beyond my comprehension
18:15
I couldn't understand that well, I started I kept pondering these things and thinking about them and eventually one night
18:23
I was working and a man named Edwin Seidman came to Preach to the inmates at the jail
18:29
I was working at and he came up to my staff station and he said I'd like to have the inmates out for service
18:35
Please and I said I can't do that. We're on lockdown Which meant the red lights were flashing and also meant that we had a riot somewhere inside the jail
18:44
So I said I are you a chaplain he said yes and I started asking him some questions and we sat probably for the next hour and a half or two hours and I would just ask him questions and he would answer him and He asked if I would like to get together on a regular basis and talk about things and I said
19:00
I'd love to so we started meeting every week and It was during this point that I or during this time that I Came to know
19:08
Christ. I mean there were a lot of things for you to overcome Even once I knew the truth about Jesus Christ, I still couldn't grasp the
19:15
Trinity because I'd spent my whole life disbelieving that So there were a lot of things for me to unlearn and to learn but anyway one night
19:25
Edwin and I were supposed to meet and he called me and said
19:30
I can't meet with you tonight. I've got a babysit and that's when I said well,
19:36
I'll go with you And so I went over and I met Mike and Kim and we were babysitting
19:41
Haley and That was my first run -in with Michael Avendroth And he gave me a book as he was running out a little booklet called sinners in the hands of an angry
19:50
God light reading You know Something you just love through so after this
19:58
And as I began to grow Well, I got baptized at Grace Community Church After I came to faith and That very night.
20:09
There was an earthquake. It was the Northridge earthquake and Our son was living with me
20:15
Stephen and He was scared to death. I needed to go to work, but I had absolutely no gasoline in my tank couldn't get any gasoline
20:23
So Stephen was in a panic because of this earthquake and I called Steve or I called Janet and I said, you know
20:30
Would you please? Bring me some gasoline and would you please take
20:35
Stephen? I need to go to work and So a lot of the roads were closed and stuff like that she basically had to drive across a field to come to me, but she did and This really started things going for us it was still kind of a process, but we were eventually reconciled and by the grace of God in 1995 and after that we began attending
20:58
Grace Community Church together and I started looking for a Bible say that we would go to Well, I wanted to go where Edwin wins.
21:06
I wanted to learn more of the basics of the Bible I want to learn about the Bible period and so we wind up we wind up at my cave and Ross Bible study and several years after that After Mike left to come out here.
21:20
I decided that I wanted to be able to do the things that Mike Avendroth did so I went to seminary and Graduated in 2002.
21:30
So that's where we are If you have any questions about that you'll be able to ask him in here in a few minutes
21:38
First, let me tell you a few things about What makes me tick? You know,
21:45
I could do the easy things I could talk about the Red Sox and the Patriots and the Celtics and stuff like that But that would be way too easy, but we're talking about ministry here tonight
21:54
Let me just say The main thing and the thing I will always challenge guys to think about is
22:01
Priorities, what are our priorities and let me just tell you that in my experience
22:08
When somebody when a Christian is struggling in a particular life in their area
22:13
It's usually true that their priorities are out of kilter. There's something not quite right there
22:19
Let me tell you what I try to keep as my priorities and you know what when I struggle It's because my priorities are out of kilter.
22:26
So let's I'll just run through my priorities here. First of all My master
22:33
Jesus Christ, I want to be pleasing to my master Jesus Christ Hebrews 13 20 and 21 says now the
22:42
God of peace Who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant?
22:51
Even Jesus our Lord Equip you in every good thing to do his will
22:57
Working in us that which is pleasing in his sight Through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever
23:07
Amen so my first thing is I my first priority is
23:12
I want to work through him through Jesus Christ and Please him and glorify him and all that I do and I guarantee you if that is my priority if that's your priority
23:24
Our lives are going to be a lot better each and every day First Corinthians 520 says for you have been brought with bought with a price therefore glorify
23:36
God in your body So again that same idea that we are to bring glory to God and Christ and everything that we do
23:43
So that's my first priority It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to honor and glorify him and everything that I do my second
23:51
Priority is my missus and I just kind of use that to summarize my family
23:56
You know, this is so it's God family is my second priority. I mentioned it this morning during Sunday school
24:05
Ephesians 5 25 Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for and you know what?
24:14
This is the greatest challenge for any man on the face of the earth why because it is not easy to put a self yourself aside and to Sacrifice yourself and have that sacrificial kind of love for your wife.
24:29
Why because we're inherently selfish But you know what if you want things to go well, if I want things to go well,
24:37
I'll do that to the best of my ability 1st Peter 3 7 says you husbands likewise live with your wives in an understanding way as with a weaker vessel since she is a woman and Grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered
24:56
Well, you know that passage to me when it talks about being a weaker vessel I don't just think she can't lift as much as I can
25:02
There are ways that women can be hurt that men it just kind of bounces off of them
25:08
I don't know if you found this to be true But For men I find generally if we have an argument
25:14
I know this is true of me if I have an argument with someone the next day. I don't remember any of it It's just gone
25:21
But if you argue with your wife She could probably remember those details a lot better than you can and the question
25:29
I would ask each and every one of us that are a husband is Yet and what you constantly have to filter through your mind is is what we're fighting really worth fighting for Should I just surrender and win?
25:42
You know It is and that's what happens you surrender and you win
25:48
But grant her honor remember who she is. She is God's precious gift to you as your compliment
25:53
She is a fellow heir of the grace of life. And you know what the promise there is great
26:01
But it's kind of said like almost a punishment your prayers are gonna be hindered if you don't do these things So you need to do them.
26:07
So your prayers won't be hindered you want God to hear your your prayers this is probably the greatest reminder to us as men that we need to Really be sacrificial to our wives and it also yields the greatest results
26:21
Why because it makes it so much easier for our wives to do what they're supposed to do Which is to submit to us, which
26:27
I got to tell you if there's a harder commandment in all of Scripture I don't know what it is You know why submit to your husband's because I know how bad
26:35
I am So for my wife to do as well as she does and submitting to me is just amazing to me and a testimony to God's grace so the priorities that I would suggest to anyone and not just to me, but For anyone first my master or your master
26:51
Second my missus the family so it's Christ family and third is my ministry
26:56
And this is where I'm going to get into the nuts and bolts real quickly first equipping you know pastors and Elders teachers are not here to do all the work of ministry themselves our job is to equip you to do the work of ministry and You know what?
27:16
Quite frankly that is a Pretty time -consuming job to get people equipped to give them all the confidence all the knowledge all the tools
27:25
They need to carry out the work of ministry and that's right out of the Bible Ephesians 4 11 and He gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and Of the knowledge of the
27:54
Son of God To a mature man to the measure of the stature with which belongs to the fullness of Christ verse 14 as a result we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and Carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men by craftiness and deceitful scheming
28:16
But speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head even
28:23
Christ From whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part
28:33
Causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love
28:41
So we are to equip you Pastors equip the body of Christ for ministry.
28:48
We're also part of this equipping and Part of the purpose for it is to bring about a unity of the faith
28:56
You know what? I'm going to tell you one of the things I'm really passionate about is unity Because there's nothing that is more destructive to a local church and We even have it in a big church like Grace Community Church than people who are running around behind the scenes being ununifiers being disloyal being
29:18
Those who would spread gossip and and spreading accusations and all those kind of things
29:25
Unity and loyalty are just huge to me also unity of the faith
29:33
We're also to have it also involves knowledge of the Son of God if we don't have
29:39
Some kind of knowledge we can't have unity. What are we united about? We could be united Unitarians for unity, you know, and what are you all?
29:49
What are you all about? What's your thesis What's your purpose for being? Well, we're united united for what?
29:57
We have to be united in the way that we worship Christ We have to be united in the way we view his word.
30:03
We have to be united in the way we see his body We have to be united in service to one another
30:12
Now the more we know The more you and I know The more likely we are to speak in love why?
30:20
Because you know what? It's easy to speak out of ignorance and to hurt somebody but the more you know the more you understand who you are and how you stand before a holy
30:29
God the more likely you are to be Charitable to someone else the more likely likely you are to be understanding and patient toward other people
30:41
So knowledge is not necessarily a bad thing Like I said yesterday morning We don't just learn so we can insert the needle and increase the
30:48
PSI of our brain we learn So that we can share we learn so that we could be more gracious and we learn as we learn as you know
30:57
It's even as Paul said, you know as he's Getting towards not absolute end of his ministry, but as he's going towards the end of his ministry
31:05
He thinks of his his own life and he considers himself the chief of all sinners
31:11
Well for him to think that he had to realize that he wasn't doing
31:17
Murders and all these other things anymore. Why did he think that he thought that because he recognized his sin
31:23
His sin was bigger to him than it had ever been before Because he knew Christ more intimately than he'd ever known him before So knowledge can be a very good thing and should help keep us humble
31:36
I'd also like to see us or any church be a well -oiled machine in this sense growth of each person in the body as each person grows and as they exercise their gifts as they're equipped to serve the body as They're equipped to do ministry.
31:53
Guess what happens the body starts functioning as it should the body starts having interaction as it should they start loving each other as they should and Administering to each other as they should serving and loving and getting together and just having fellowship with one another and It causes the entire this causes the entire body to grow after equipping the second point
32:21
I would make is Evangelizing and I mentioned that this morning a little bit. I Also told you how
32:27
I grew up in The Mormon Church and you know One of the things they had it was kind of a slogan when
32:34
I was a kid was every member a missionary Every member of the
32:40
Mormon Church is called to be a missionary Well, you know what in the words of a radio talk show host.
32:47
I wonder if We're willing to do for the truth what they are willing to do for a lie
32:55
John MacArthur puts it this way the Great Commission is the central mission of the people of God a mission that tragically many
33:03
Christians do not understand or and this is the bad part or are
33:09
Unwilling to fulfill there's no reason for that. If you love Christ just tell people how much you love him
33:17
Ephesians 2 10 says for we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
33:24
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them listen
33:30
If God isn't able to use you to spread the gospel Then why are we still here?
33:38
He doesn't need us for any other purpose or he hasn't designed us for any other purpose greater
33:45
Than to share the truth about Christ to preach his love for lost sinners there is nothing more important that we can do with our time than to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because God has commanded it and because God has promised to impart all needed strength and Because Christ is worthy of all homage faith and obedience from all men
34:13
The next thing we need to think about is discipling Discipling and that's part of evangelism
34:22
When he gives a great commission, he doesn't go out. He doesn't say you know, what just make everybody a believer He says teach them
34:30
Teach them making disciples of all the nations Discipling is something that every
34:35
Christian should be involved in Every single one of us should be doing that and you say hey,
34:40
I don't know enough to be a disciple Yes, you do if you know more than anybody in this church if you know more than one person is what
34:48
I'm trying to say then you should be discipling that one person and what
34:53
I would like to see and what I would encourage and what I would exhort is for everybody here to look around and to find somebody who knows more than you and somebody who knows less than you and Kind of get together with those people and build one another up Discipling is a very important part of Evangelism we don't just bring people to Christ and leave them there
35:17
We need to bring them along teach them equip them. So the
35:22
I the ideal thing would be as you grow they grow So that maybe they never quite catch up to you
35:28
But if they do great and they can go on and do what you've done with somebody else. So that's the idea so we've seen
35:36
We talked about evangelizing equipping evangelizing and the third one is edifying strengthening and encouraging
35:45
Second Timothy four or five through eight says but you be sober in all things endure hardship
35:51
Do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry and then Paul goes on to talk about the end of his life
35:58
Drawing near but you know The most important things we can do for one another is to come alongside one another and encourage one another
36:05
To endure hardship to do the work of an evangelist and to fulfill your ministry
36:10
Your ministry might not be the same as mine and that's fine Because you know what the body of Christ has many parts and it's important that each and every single part work absolutely in Harmony and work to the best of their ability
36:27
But ultimately we should all Want to emulate Paul in this sense that when we as we close toward the end of our lives
36:36
We ought to be able to say a few things about or hopefully we'll be able to say this about our own lives
36:42
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith we want to fight the good fight live the good life and Have a good focus
36:57
We need to choose our fights carefully We should live always for his glory and keep our eyes fixed on the glory of Christ always fixed on Christ so those are the some of the things that I'm really high on and to just give you a couple of other things.
37:15
I love history Church history specifically. I love Ancient history,
37:22
I'm into American history, especially the Civil War and World War two I'm I enjoy games.
37:30
I like playing games with my family sitting around the table These are just some of the things that that make me take some of the things that I really like and I'd be happy to take any questions you might have at this point about anything
37:48
Anything at all good
38:12
Okay, Carl. What's your name? Okay, I Don't really know about that.
38:27
He asked if I would have a ministry at the local prison. I wouldn't be opposed to that I just have to be careful.
38:33
I think I I know I mentioned at some point this weekend hopefully this won't be too repetitive, but I was at a homeless shelter once which is filled with a lot of guys who've been in and out of jail and I was encouraged to tell them
38:46
That I was a deputy sheriff and when I did they all started charging There were 300 guys and they started charging the stage.
38:52
So that wasn't good so I have to be a little bit careful about what I do, but I would be very happy to be part of that if I thought
39:02
I could just go in there and not you know as long as I didn't have to say anything about my background or anything like that because I know this is surprising but people who are in jail don't like police officers.
39:14
So But good question. But yeah, I I mean what let me and let me just kind of amplify on that One of the dearest friends
39:24
I have in this world and I don't write him like I should or anything but he's faithful to pray for us and write to us is a is a man
39:33
I met in jail who's now in state prison and You know, who knows he may move out to Massachusetts when he gets paroled and if he does you are gonna find out he is the sweetest most hard -working guy that you've ever met in your life, but It is hard You know, even even in the position
39:50
I am now I'm not really allowed to evangelize I've always kind of had a personal policy where I would answer questions if I was asked but that's pretty rare.
39:59
So It's not really allowed for me to you know to proselytize and that kind of thing
40:04
But yeah, I would be open to doing that sort of thing. Okay, ask me if I know how to get the
40:22
Worcester I probably don't but Any other questions?
40:29
Yes. Oh Okay, that's a good question and the answer is
40:49
The answer is not at this point You know, I haven't really given that Consideration.
40:56
I mean some people have asked me even while I was going to school, you know Would I be interested in doing that? And the answer is
41:02
I mean, I Don't want this to sound wrong or anything But I basically always thought that what
41:09
I wanted to do when I got out of seminary was come to Massachusetts and serve at Bethlehem Bible Church, so Lord willing that's that's what
41:16
I'd like to do And if that doesn't work out then I'll work on plan B, but I don't have a plan B right now seeing no objections
41:34
Any other questions, can
41:45
I ask some questions of you? No. Yes.
42:08
Good question. Yeah, I would I would love to do that I remember some years ago.
42:14
They kind of asked me to come to a Back when the greatest community church had discipleship evangelism
42:20
They asked me to come to a leaders meeting and talk about what was necessary to reach Mormons and I said well,
42:27
I Said I went through a little presentation. I had it all worked up and I said, here's the deal
42:33
I said Mormons have a wrong view of God. They have a wrong view of man. They have a wrong view of sin
42:40
They have a wrong view of Scripture and they have a wrong view of salvation And So they said well, what's the one verse that we can give them to solve that I said, well they need the gospel
42:51
You know Mormons and and the key really and and yes, I would like to do that.
42:56
But the key The key really is to just understand That though they may say that they are
43:04
Christians. They don't believe Christian doctrine, you know, they have a book that's entirely spurious in the
43:14
Book of Mormon that means false fake bogus and They don't believe in the
43:21
Jesus Christ always existed. They don't believe that the Bible is true You know, they have the articles of faith
43:26
They believe that the Bible is true in insofar as it's translated correctly and then every time it disagrees with their doctrine
43:34
Well, that's a bad translation so But yeah, we can talk more about that and about how to witness to various cults
43:41
But the primary thing is you know, what any person that you're talking to that doesn't know Jesus Christ just needs the gospel
43:47
So if you know the four W's or whatever format that you've learned the gospel in You need to learn that even better maybe when you're dealing with somebody who's really entrenched in a false religion
43:58
Because they're gonna sort of have quick easy answers and you know that you're doing really well when they go for reinforcements
44:06
I don't really know the answer to that Let me ask my bishop or I don't really know, you know, let me get somebody else who really knows, you know
44:13
So that's when you know things are going well So it's more a matter of studying the word and knowing it and being able to refute their bogus arguments
44:23
But good question. Did you have a question?
44:31
Oh Yes, hi Okay, it really hasn't worked out that way and the reason there's a reason for that though And that's because my dad was never really active in the
44:58
Mormon Church and my mom Maybe about Six months or a year after I left home.
45:07
She got excommunicated from the Mormon Church She's been reinstated now and she's kind of active but She's not real
45:15
Into it. I mean I've witnessed to her many more times than she's tried to witness to me
45:21
Because she it's just not really a passion of hers My extended family is very entrenched in the
45:28
Mormon Church. They're involved in the Mormon educational system Which you know goes from San Diego to I found out it goes to Massachusetts because one of my uncles told me
45:39
He's getting close to retirement and he works for the church education system And he says well, maybe
45:44
I could go out to Massachusetts and retire there But But so so no,
45:51
I really haven't received much persecution because of that It just hasn't happened
45:57
In fact, we had a bit of a family reunion this fall and I saw my aunts and uncles and they were all very No problem
46:14
Not exactly no, I I mean The Mormon mindset is basically one of almost
46:21
I would describe it as pity for Christians Right, they feel sorry for us because they don't think that we have the whole truth
46:29
And I remember witnessing to my mom once and it you know, it really just kind of made her angry In fact, I've witnessed her on several occasions and it still makes her angry
46:38
She she quoted Some passage from Ezekiel about the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph and I said, you know
46:45
Where that is in the Bible and she said no and I said, well, let's go find out I said I have this great thing called the concordance.
46:51
So I pulled it out and we went to the passage I said read that passage mom. Does it have anything to do with Scripture? And she said no and it has to do with Joining the nation of Israel back together and she could even tell that for herself by reading it
47:06
And so she looks at me and you know, like she's gonna stump me Is that the King James version of the
47:11
Bible and I said no mom, it's not I said But if you hold on for a second I will get the King James and I came down and I showed her the
47:18
King James and I said pretty much the same thing And then we had to change the topic, you know, that's They just most
47:25
Mormon folks if you push them far enough what you're gonna find out is Like maybe some people in the
47:31
Jewish faith or or other religions They don't know much about what their their church or their faith teaches.
47:38
They just know that culturally they're Mormon and You know when you try to present the truth to them they become defensive because you're attacking their whole way of life and maybe
47:49
You know their family going back Clear, you know all the way back to Joseph Smith or what have you so it's more of a cultural thing and they don't really have much in the way of knowledge
48:02
But yes Yeah, would you like me an answer to that for you?
48:21
Yes, she would I knew she had Janet is somebody who to say that she shuns the limelight would be to To be right on the money she likes to work she likes to serve but she likes to be kind of behind the scenes
48:39
You know if if I have a list of people that I need called if I have, you know
48:44
Anything that needs to get done. She'll gladly do it for me and she likes to serve. She serves in a nursery at Grace Community Church she'll do just about she serves as a
48:57
The Discussion group leader in in one of the women's ministries there, you know as long as it's small groups and stuff like that That's fine.
49:05
But she just really doesn't want to be in front of a big group of people Talking to folks, but she she's willing to do just about anything
49:15
She quilts that's one of her passions and I think she mentioned that I'm sure she did yesterday
49:21
Because there's not a conversation that doesn't go by You know when she meets someone she always likes to find out what their hobbies are what women's hobbies are and if they quilt man she's gonna latch on to them, so That's just her passion, but she's a great servant.
49:42
Yes I'd pull
49:54
Pedro All right. Well, let's see.
50:08
What do I prefer? I mean I teach this in fundamentals of the faith and I you know at the top tier I say are the
50:14
King James the New King James The New American Standard the English Standard Version, you know below that Kind of second tier.
50:23
I'd put the NIV and then below that, you know the further you get away from a sort of a literal translation
50:31
And the less thinking you have to do then the more, you know the less I like the
50:36
Bible so, you know, I'd and and Third tier I'd put like the Living Bible the
50:41
Amplified Bible You know those kind of things I think they're fine to read but you can't always count on them for accuracy because they've they've tried to take all the nuances out
50:50
So you don't really know if what you're reading is really accurate any other questions.
51:01
Yes, Scott doctrinal differences or places that we clash with one another
51:17
I I will not wear purple.
51:24
It just won't happen. I prefer a nice calm white
51:31
You know and like, you know, the only other problem
51:40
I could possibly see it's happening is say like USC or UCLA was playing
51:47
Nebraska for the national championship. So that that could be a problem but That's a doctrinally no
51:55
Doctrinally, no, I you know, if if there is a place of disagreement, I'm sure that Mike will come to a right understanding.
52:02
So No, I I cannot think of a single place
52:09
So and and when Mike and I talked about it, you know, I told him I said if there is any place
52:14
I'm sure you can straighten me out with a book or an article or something like that So but we haven't come to that place where we found anything any other questions.
52:54
Okay good. I Would like to see I think any young person who is saved who knows
53:01
Jesus Christ has Just as much of a responsibility to serve in the body of Christ as any other believer
53:06
So I don't see age as a barrier to that If they're 16 and a believer and they can work a
53:13
Sunday in the nursery and that would help the church then I think they Ought to do that If they're 16 and a believer and they can lead
53:20
Maybe help lead a youth Bible study or something like that whether it's at school or what have you then good
53:26
You know, I think as long as there's supervision and oversight and that kind of thing I think that's important to train up young people to be leaders
53:34
Because we're not all you know We're not going to be around forever and we have to train these people up to make their own response
53:40
Responsible choices and to teach and to grow and that kind of thing. I think it's important that we look at them as People as adults, you know, and in the same respect it's in my opinion.
53:53
It's very important that we make sure that we evangelize our youth often and Check them and make sure that they're really walking in the faith.
54:03
I think I think there's so many challenges for young people today that we need to Just kind of come alongside them and really help them
54:12
But yeah, I think they actually they're absolutely can serve and do things within the body of Christ Exercise their spiritual gifts, but they're saved they haven't they need to use them.
54:37
Well, I think I'll let my daughter answer. No Yes We have three children our son
54:43
Stephen whom I mentioned briefly this morning made a profession of faith
54:49
In Fact, you know, I I mean after he walked away I listened to that tape and it was just so it's so haunting to listen to it and even the email that he sent
55:01
Kristen to listen to him talk about how Jesus changed his life and Then see him now and how he's completely walked away from it.
55:08
It's just Something I don't understand And we saw the change
55:13
But, you know and he'll say that he even believed but he doesn't believe anymore so It just saddens us our daughter
55:23
Kristen is here she's nearly 20 years old and She's been she's got
55:31
Yeah, she turns 20 next week. Anyway, she's in her second year of junior college and She hopes to be attending
55:43
Boston University this fall Lord willing She's very interested in languages she's
55:50
Pretty near mastered French Well, she speaks a lot of French. Anyway, she took about four years of it
55:58
She's taking a year of German over at the local college and she hopes to stay in linguistics She served in the junior high school ministry at Grace Community Church, I think for what year and a half now just kind of guiding young girls and it's really been kind of exciting to see because she takes them out all the time meets with them one -on -one and it's just really trying to get involved in Discipling them.
56:22
So that's been a lot of fun for us our youngest daughter Megan is 18 she's a senior in high school.
56:30
She also loves the Lord She's not really she's super involved in the high school group and Super involved in doing her homework and right now that keeps her very busy because she's got honors and AP classes and all that kind Of stuff so but I think she's gone at least two or three nights a week doing various things with her small group at Church any other questions?
57:03
What was that? Did you have a question? Oh Yeah. Well, we also have two dogs, but that's really
57:11
And we love our dogs, but they're not really good so any other questions, okay,
57:31
I've had in the last see seven Six seven months.
57:37
I've had two knee surgeries and one shoulder surgery what they did to my knees was they They cut them the tissue in my knees to allow my kneecaps to go back where they belong
57:47
Because they were severely out of place My shoulders they remove some bone spurs on Wednesday Well, that was my right shoulder on Wednesday.
57:59
They're going to remove bone spurs from my left shoulder I've been on the sheriff's department for nearly 21 years and One way or the other
58:09
I'll be retired fairly soon The only question is whether it's going to be a medical retirement or not And it's my understanding that the probability is that it will be a medical
58:18
Retirement but one way or the other I could be retired within a few months. So that's where that stands
58:31
Yes, John, yeah, well we
58:36
You we when I graduated from seminar I didn't do anything right away and one of the reasons I didn't other than getting more involved in grace
58:43
One of the reasons I didn't is because of the counsel I received from Bill Shannon Which brings me to another point that I'll amplify in a minute
58:51
But that we let our daughter our youngest daughter graduated from the local high school
58:57
That we not move her in the middle of that because it didn't seem wise Was the council
59:03
I was given to provoke her, you know to just do it for no reason whatsoever So we just thought we would just wait until she graduated from high school
59:09
Plus it also put us in a position of being able to have a little bit of extra income from retiring from the sheriff's department
59:17
And and that's something else. I'm really big on when I talked about loyalty is I don't just preach that I've really tried to live it out.
59:25
I Mentioned yesterday. Maybe I mentioned it. I mentioned sometime this week that When I want to do something a grace community church,
59:34
I'll run it by Bill Shannon first Why because he's the pastor in charge of my fellowship group. He's the guy
59:39
He's the shepherd over me and I say Bill What do you think about me teaching a grace evangelism class on Sunday morning and Bill says no
59:48
I need you to be in my Fellowship group because I need you to do this this and this well, then
59:54
I just do it Why because that's what he told me to do and it's not an unspiritual thing
01:00:00
It's not a sin thing and it's right for me to listen to what he says so he needs me to help help him and I want to help him and That's just that's just where I am
01:00:11
I mean, I've spent you know Three years before I got on the sheriff's department in the army and it probably took me about those three years in the army and probably about five years on the sheriff's department before I realized the importance of just being willing to Acknowledge those and authority above you and just follow what they said
01:00:29
But as a Christian that's just been my one of my main things Loyalty and submission to authority.
01:00:49
Nobody wants me to resolve in the genealogies or anything like that going one