Sunday, November 7. 2021 AM

Worship with us at Sunnyside this morning. We've got lots to cover in.

Church Announcements and Upcoming Events

Announcements this morning, so bear with me and follow along. We'll have deacon ordination this morning as part of our service, but be sure and come back tonight. We're going to be having a deacon ordination fellowship with Cake and Punch in the fellowship hall after our evening service tonight.

Before that, after church though, if you want to participate in the shoebox packing, that's going to be going on in the fellowship hall. I believe Jill is already trying to figure out how many pizzas she needs to order to feed everybody who's going to be helping with that, so a lot of fun this afternoon helping out with that.

Coming up on Wednesday, November 10th, dinner at 545 and then 630 tag for the kids and Bible study and prayer time for the adults. In church on Wednesday evening to set up tables and chairs for our upcoming Thanksgiving, that would be appreciated as well.

And then, like I just said, churchwide Thanksgiving service and meal, November 14th at 530 p .m. We'll be having our annual Thanksgiving fellowship and then looking ahead to the 21st, if you want to participate in our Christmas choir, those rehearsals are going to be starting up in the evening at 530 on that day and then continuing through the month of December.

This week's fighter verse comes from John chapter 15, verse 5. Jesus is saying, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Again, Operation Christmas Child going on as well. A little bit more details about our Thanksgiving dinner that's coming up. The church is going to provide all those foundational elements. We're going to build our base layer with turkey and ham and rolls and all of that, but members are asked to kind of provide those supplemental additions.

So a side dish and a dessert, generous portions that can serve roughly 20 people or so. We always we always need the food, okay. There is in your bulletin a there's a link in there if you want to sign up online for what you're going to be bringing or you can contact Wendy Hill.

Her number is in the bulletin there as well. Alright, lastly Tristan Call has made some updates to our church pictorial directory. There's some new pages for you to put in your directory as well as some updates or additions to people that were already in there.

You can pencil those in with that first sheet front and back inside there as well. Alright, any other announcements before we get started this morning? Alright, we're gonna have a time of prayer and preparation for worship this morning and then after that, oh do we.

Have a presentation? Yeah. Our joy this morning to welcome Carol Gathright to our membership and we love Miss Carol and she is such a blessing to us. Always an encouragement. Every time I come by nearby I get a hug and a smile and an encouraging word.

She is full of joy, full of the joy of the Lord and we are so grateful to be welcoming her into our fellowship. Our church wants to love you in some specific ways. We want to love you by encouraging you in your faith in Jesus Christ.

We want to pray for you and if you have any needs we want to serve you and be a blessing to you. We are committing ourselves to you as brothers and sisters and saying you are our sister in Christ and we want to love you and be for you in Jesus.

How's that sound to you? Okay, wonderful and do you commit to the same for our church? Will you pray for us? Well thank you and will you will you love us and encourage us in Jesus Christ? Wonderful and and are you okay with having all these brothers and sisters?

Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, wonderful. Well, church do you affirm, do you affirm your commitment to our sister Carol at this time? Yes, yes and amen. I'm gonna go ahead and pray just thank God. Thank God for you and thank God for our church and the way he built it.

Father I thank you so much for this time. Thank you for Carol. What a blessing she is. I thank you Father that you have brought her not only into our church but that first and foremost you have brought her into into your fellowship as your daughter through your son Jesus Christ and that you have given to her your Holy Spirit and Lord we thank you for the life that is in her and I thank you for bringing her to be a part of us and that in this way that you continue to bless us.

We thank you Jesus Christ for building your church in this way and we.

Pray all these things in your name. Amen. I thank you and I praise you for your.

Great love and your mercy. You've brought us together this morning to worship you so help us to do so. We are your people, the sheep of your pastor. We are your children. We thank you and praise you that we can call you father that you watch over us and keep us and that you meet every need that we have.

And we thank you and praise you for your son the Lord Jesus our Savior who came and gave his life for us who shed his blood on our behalf that we might have life abundant life eternal life. I thank you for your son the Lord Jesus and for your spirit who is here among us.

I thank you and I praise you for your Holy Spirit father to bring us together to unite us to be of one mind and lift our hearts before you in praise in song in thanksgiving for you are worthy. We thank you and praise you for the salvation we have in your son the Lord Jesus in his.

Name. I pray amen. Good morning. I pray you ever rejoicing in being here today because this is a privilege privilege that not everyone in this world gets to enjoy. We're going to have a call to worship going to ask you to stand if you're able.

I don't know why I didn't catch on to this but we are Psalms. Call to worships are also tied to our first song which is a Psalm out of your psaltery your psalm book. So this comes out of Psalm 71 verses 22 through 24 and then we'll sing.

Our first song will be 71 C which is also part of Psalm 71 and then next month we'll do Psalm 72. You're a sharp bunch. Read with me. I will also praise you with a heart for your faithfulness. Oh my god.

I will sing praises to you with the liar Oh Holy One of Israel my life's shout for joy. When I sing praises to you my soul also which you have redeemed and my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long for they have been put to shame and.

Disappointed. Who sought to do me harm. 71 C chapter 6. In the year that King.

Uzziah died. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings. With one he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.

And one cried to another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth and the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out and the house was filled with smoke. So I said woe is me for I am undone because I'm and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lives.

My eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth with it and said behold this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send who will go for us. Then I said here am I send me. And he said go and tell this people keep on hearing but do not understand. Keep on seeing but do not perceive.

Make the heart of this people dull and the ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed. Then I said Lord how long.

And he answered until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant. The houses are without a man. The land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

But yet a tenth will be in it and will return and be for consuming as a terebinth tree or as an oak whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be at stump. Let us pray. Father your name is holy.

We thank you for sending your spirit that our ears would hear our eyes saw and that you preserved a remnant we Gentiles by the flesh who were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel estranged from your promises of the covenant that by your holy seed Jesus of Nazareth brought us near.

And as we are gathered here one of many local bodies that we are just one all that you were calling to yourself throughout time across this planet that you're building your church as we labor for your name battling us a church militant under you Lord Jesus our banner that you would strengthen us until you turn faith into sight and become church victorious.

Thank you Lord Jesus for your word for what you've.

Done amen. Please be seated amen. Next two songs are from HMA for all I have is Christ your black him no and then take my life. You should have song sheet for that. We're gonna sing the first and second verses in the course and then the.

Third verse in the course. Thank you for gathering us together today what a joy.

It is to come together on this first day of the week the day that Jesus rose from the dead the first day of the week first day of a new creation brought about through the power of his resurrection overseen and brought along by the power of his Holy Spirit.

Here we are today rejoicing in and beneficiaries of his mighty grace. Sir thank you for providing all that we need in every time in which we live. But I thank you for this special service today as we ordain new deacons for the church and Lord.

I pray that we would serve you well that we would take up all that you have entrusted to us and that we would be good stewards maximally use our lives for your glory. Pray these things for the sake of Jesus the one with whom you are well-pleased.

Deacons, Church Order, and the Call to 1 Timothy 3

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to the first letter to Timothy. Paul's first letter to Timothy chapter 3. We'll be reading verses 1 through 13. First Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 13.

Taking a little break from Daniel. As the Lord has seen fit to provide for our church new deacons felt that it'd be needful for us to pay attention to what our Lord has to say about how he wants his church organized and what deacons are and how they serve our Lord and Savior.

Jesus Christ is a good Shepherd and he leads us so clearly and so well through his word. All we have to do is see what he has to say and follow his instructions. Title of the sermon today is a good standing and great boldness.

A good standing and great boldness which is the blessing of the deacons who serve well. And of course a good standing and great boldness is a reward to every Christian who faithfully serves our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now this morning we're going to ordain four new deacons in our church James Brown Jacob call Daryl Hamilton and Dylan Hamilton. And why do we have new deacons here today. Well it's because of our victorious risen Jesus Christ.

He gives to his church through his Holy Spirit all that we need for the equipping of the Saints for the work of ministry Jesus Christ promised and he is in the process of keeping his promise. He said I will build my church and he is.

He's building his church and we are rejoicing in that today. One way that he builds his church is by raising up deacons now. Now what does a deacon look like. And how does a deacon function in the church.

I'm glad you asked those are great questions and we're going to talk about them today. So thank you for being inquisitive. We're going to read first Timothy 3 beginning in verse 1 we read reading verses 1 through 13.

If you are able I invite you to stand as we read the word of the Lord by his spirit through his Apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy. This is a faithful saying if a man desires the position of a bishop he desires a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife temperate sober minded of good behavior hospitable able to teach not given to wine not violent not greedy for money but gentle not quarrelsome not covetous.

One who rules his own house well having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house how will he take care of the Church of God. Not a novice less being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condition as the devil.

Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside lest he fall into reproach in the snare of the devil. Likewise deacons must be reverence not double-tongued not given to much wine not greedy for money holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

Let those all these also first be tested and then let them serve as deacons being found blameless. Likewise their wives must be reverence not slanderers temperate faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife ruling their children and their own houses.

Well for those who have served well as deacons obtained for themselves a good standing in great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. This is the word of the Lord thanks be to God. You may be seated.

The Character of Deacons

You may not know this. But in traditional Baptist circles deacons have gotten a bad rap. Deacons have often been the butt of jokes. You know where are the deacons. All they're all outside the church smoking after the service.

That's an old joke. In seminary it went like this. The deacons would get together and pray to God to keep the pastor humble. And they promised God that they would keep the pastor poor. That was in the seminaries.

I heard that one a lot deacons have been mislabeled misused misaligned a great deal. I think in the context of a weakening Protestant evangelical context there might be a connection there. We need to go to the Word of God so that we have the right picture in mind what is a deacon according to the scriptures.

And then I think we'll see the the beauty and the grace of deacons in the church. Jesus Christ having been given all authority in heaven and on earth calls us to make disciples of all the nations. And he adds to his church.

He adds to his church by the grace of conversion through the new birth. And then we in honoring our Lord and Savior give our amen to what he does by adding to our churches through baptism. So Christ adds to brings in to the new covenant by conversion.

And then what we do is we give an amen to that through baptism. Welcome welcome to brothers and sisters in Christ. And we really are brothers and sisters as I was saying earlier to Carol. And we were saying to Carol together brothers and sisters.

And Jesus talks about this in more than one place in the Gospels natural family lines of course are not a race but there are new ties in Christ that bind us together in stronger love in more priority love.

And so we have this household here it is the household of Christ. Well how will all of the physical needs of this spiritual household be met. One of the provisions from our Heavenly Father is the diaconate the deacon body the group of deacons within each church.

And our passage in first Timothy 3 gives us a healthy picture of deacons. And what I want to do today is to put that picture in agreement with or in conversation with some other passages in the Bible that will help us see how deacons function in the church.

And we see the blessing of deacons in this. Now this is not a technical sermon. It's not one delivered only to deacons only about deacons. And why is that. Because we are members of one another in one body.

We are members together in Christ of one body in Christ. We are joined together and knit together and supplied by Christ for every good work. So everybody here needs to understand what deacons are primarily so that you can pray that you can pray for the deacons and then join with them as they lead out in service.

Here's the main idea from our passage this morning. A deacon models the Christian life through ordained service in the church. A deacon models the Christian life through ordained service in the church.

When we read through the New Testament sometimes we see the church in its infancy stage where things were just getting started. But once things were established it was clear that every local church needed a plurality of elders and deacons in that church.

Every single instance of a church a local body of Christians gathering together to preach the word and observing the Lord's Supper in baptism keeping lines clear about confessionally who is a Christian who is not.

Every local expression of the church had multiple elders as we do here by the grace of God and multiple deacons which we do here by the grace of God. Here's an example when Paul opens up his letter to the church in Philippi.

This is how he talks to them. Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. Paul and Timothy bondservants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who were in Philippi with the bishops and deacons.

Bishop is a term that we often associate with certain church traditions. However it is simply the word. The English word covering the Greek word for overseer or another word that's a synonym is that of an elder.

So notice that there are bishops and deacons. There are there are overseers and deacons elders and deacons in the church both of them plural and he says grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. I want God to bless our church that way that that God would so bless our church with his mercy and grace that and that the congregation of saints along with the elders and the deacons are thought of and prayed for with thanksgiving that we would be a blessing.

And I think that having a biblically robust diaconate a deacon body that will bring glory to Christ. And I think that will prove a sweet savor to struggling widows weary missionaries needy families and over committed Saints.

So let's let's look in first Timothy 3. Let's consider from our text a deacon's character a deacon service a deacon's household and a deacon's reward. First of all a deacon's character in verses 8 and 9 listen to this again.

Likewise deacons must be reverent not double-tongued not given too much wine not greedy for money holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. So Paul is instructing Timothy his disciple and he wants Timothy to help the churches that Timothy is ministering to.

And he says look you've got to have deacons in your church. And this is the kind of men that you're gonna be looking for. And first of all we have this comparison. Likewise he just talked to him about overseers just talked to him about elders in the church.

And then he says likewise so there's a comparison going on here between elders and deacons different roles in the church but very similar character at the leaders of a church are to have holy character Christlike character.

They are to be godly they are to be obviously different than the normal pagan ways of the world. So there's a likewise there's a comparison here. So when we look at the bishops and the description of elders we see issues of of character.

We see that they are to be humble that they are to be temperate that they are to take care of their households. Well and in like fashion the deacons are going to have the same character. There needs to be a proper stewardship of one's own house.

So there can be a greater stewardship in Christ's household. There needs to be a good reputation both within the church and outside of the church. So also likewise with the deacons there's a comparison there.

Also there's an exhortation. He says they are to be reverent and they are to hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience a term reverence. We have the word grave in the old King James here the word dignified and many other translations.

What does this mean. It simply means that the man is honest that the man is devout plainly and clearly believing the things of the Bible and not and not trying to deceive others not putting on a show reverence.

Also we have the exhortation that they hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience meaning in this particular context that that the deacons would have no doubts as to Jesus Christ no doubts as to him fulfilling the old covenant bringing to pass the new covenant that they would be fully convinced of the good news of Jesus Christ and that they would hold fast to that without any tremors of uncertainty.

So that's the exhortation. And that's the comparison. And also there's a prohibition. There's a three-way prohibition here Paul says to Timothy look you don't need anybody. You don't need anybody who is using in a proper in an improper way using language liquor or lucre.

If you're the servant of Jesus Christ for the blessing of the church you must not be enslaved to deceit be enslaved to drunkenness or enslaved to dollars. That's what it comes down to. If you're gonna be a slave of Jesus if you're gonna serve Christ then you can't have all the other loyalties pulling you in a different direction and subverting your service to Christ.

And so these three things Paul brings to the foreground. Double-tongued is the word that we have here. They must not be double-tongued. What does that mean. It means to be of two words. To have one way of saying thing but meeting another to say two different things to different folks in different settings pretending to have only said one thing.

Or you could put it another way. You could say a double tongue could also just simply come down to complaining. Right. You know the kind of servant who goes about doing all these servant things. And boy do they let you know about how much they do and how much they resent that nobody else is helping me.

That's an example of being double-tongued. The servant of Christ is is a deacon is brought into the service of Christ. And they said I want to serve Jesus. Well you can't serve Jesus and then promote yourself.

You can't serve Jesus and try to do things for the Lord for for his glory and the and the good of his bride. And then go around complaining about how much trouble is all causing me or how nobody else does what I do.

That's this is definitely not deacon material. You don't need anybody doing that anyways in the church. So no double tongue also given to much wine is another prohibition. Being someone who is focused on alcohol or obsessed with alcohol don't need any deacons in the church being like that in Proverbs 23 29 through 32 we have an example of somebody who was like that who has woe who has sorrow who has contentions who has complaints who has wounds without cause who has redness of eyes.

Those who linger long at the wine those who go in search of mixed wine do not look on the wine when it is red when it sparkles in the cup when it swirls around smoothly at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper.

I don't need deacons in the church who are obsessed with alcohol and always drinking and getting drunk. It is not for Kings. Oh Lemuel it's not for Kings to be given to wine. Why. There's a stewardship.

There's things to be to be working on and taking care of. And so although the Bible never prohibits wine or drinking it says don't get drunk. Just like the Bible does not prohibit anger. There is a really good reason why we should be angry.

There are righteous reasons to be angry. But yes of course it is easy to misuse our anger isn't it. And in a like fashion wine is not prohibited in the scripture. Alcohol is not prohibited in the scripture but we are to make a proper use and stewardship of it.

If you can't handle your your tongue and you're complaining then how are you gonna handle service in the household of God if you can't handle your wine. And you're giving yourself over to it over and over again.

And you're not gonna be able to serve in the church and be responsible with that stewardship. And the last word here in first Timothy 3 is not greedy for money. Now this covers over a ridiculously long word in the Greek which I don't have a hope of pronunciating after two years of the study.

But it simply means this the love of sordid gain or the King James the lust for filthy lucre desiring to get money. However one can get it. And if I can if I can get it and nobody notices then I will.

One may imagine what a damper it would be to have someone like Judas Iscariot or Ananias the husband of Sapphira serving as a deacon pilfering and taking and being dishonest with the money. What a damper that would be in the care of widows and the missionaries and church property and so on.

So we can't have deacons who are enslaved to language and liquor and lucre. Now when we think about the comparison with the character and reputation and maturity of elders when you think about the exhortation to reverence and holding fast to the faith we think about the prohibitions against being enslaved to other things.

I think we see how that qualifies and equips how it helps a deacon. And in fact any Christian in serving the Lord you know why don't. Why don't people serve Christ more often. Why don't. Why are they not more free to serve Christ.

Well it just may be. It just may be that there needs to be a growing up in Christ. It just may be that there needs to be a growth in and devoutness in the faith. It just may be that somebody can't serve Christ very well because they're enslaved to these various things.

But God has forged Christ's own goodness in a deacon's life by the grace of God. This makes him fit ably to serve and fit relationally to serve within the church rather than be enslaved to various vices he is given over to follow in Christ with a full conviction and a pure hope.

And honestly you know the qualifications for a deacon really should be a template for every person in the church. And why is that. Because this is quite simply Christ likeness. This is just godliness.

And everybody should see that template. You know deacons deacons are modeling the Christian life ordained through being ordained to service in the church. They're modeling what the Christian life looks like.

So deacons character matters not just to the deacons but really to all of us. What we're reading really here is the fruit of the Spirit. What we're reading here is the grace of God at work in somebody's life.

The end and the fruit of the Spirit is the outcome which is evident in the lives of those who are satisfied in Jesus. When a tree drinks deeply of the water in the earth and draws from the earth the nutrients the the minerals the the the food from the earth into itself then out comes the fruit of that tree.

And likewise when we are rooted deeply in Christ and satisfied in Christ and being nurtured through Christ the fruit of his Holy Spirit is made abundant in our lives. Well that's a deacon's character.

The Service of Deacons and Acts 6

Now what about a deacon's service. In verse 10 verse 10 we read this. But let these also first be tested then let them serve as deacons being found blameless. So these men that I have mentioned earlier have all been through Timothy school which is a time of testing here at our church where the pastor sits with these men and we work through the truths of scripture and and talk about the nature of the church and what it means to serve and so on and hash a lot of things out.

And so these men have been tested. They've been through Timothy school their character their beliefs their their approach and their understanding of the church has been verified. So yes these men have been tested.

We have given you their names the Saints here we've given you their names to think about for a couple of weeks get back to us if they if you have any concerns whatsoever. And there was no news and that's good news.

And so now having been tested now they're to serve as deacons being found blameless meaning having the proper reputation. There's no there's no glaring fault that impedes them from being deacons here now to understand the dynamics of this testing and the meaning of the service.

I think we need to reflect on the initial commissioning of deacons in the church in Jerusalem. This is just months just months after Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father. And so in Acts chapter 6 and you can turn in your Bibles there Acts chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 we see what happened.

We see that the Saints and the elders together selected tested men for serving the church serving the household of Christ in the physical needs of this church for the kingdom advancement. So I'm going to read verses 1 through 7 of Acts 6.

Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists. This is within the church. Do you know that churches sometimes don't get along.

Jesus sure does. And he's got a lot to say in the Bible about how we are to love one another and what to do when there's a problem and then how to get along. Well complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

Verse 2. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said so here's the Apostles here's the leaders of the church gathering the Saints and they say this it is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables up until this point in time.

As people saw needs in the church they were given generously and they would bring the money and lay it at the Apostles feet. And then the Apostles were kind of overseeing all the logistical physical needs of the widows and the poor and the needs of the church.

And so the Apostles realized hey we're having a conflict in the church and we're having this problem because we can't do it all. We've totally dropped the ball because we have too many other balls in our hands.

We're trying to teach the word and we're trying to pray. I'm trying to shepherd the church through the truth of God's Word. But we can't do all of that and at the same time meet all the physical needs going on in the church.

So they admit their limitations. I can't do it all if they can't do it all. That's what the elders are saying. Therefore verse 3 brethren seek out from among you seven men of good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business.

That short description good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. All of that is an extended form explained more in our passage this morning 1st Timothy 3 verses 8 through 13. But all of that is in complete agreement.

This is where it comes from and whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And so there's a division of labor here the elders are going to commit themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

And these men who later were called deacons are going to look after these other needs in the church. And the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit and Philip Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas a prophet of light from Antioch whom they set before the Apostles.

And when they had prayed they laid hands on them. When they had prayed they laid hands on them. We're going to do that at the end of the service today. Then the word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

So at the beginning of the passage we have conflict. By the end of the passage we see the growth of the kingdom. You see what happened. And so this is. This is evidence that Christ is building his church in a particular way.

He says that we need deacons and this is for the good of the church in the spread of his gospel. And so a deacon service it's pertaining to these matters physical logistical matters. There are many needs in our church.

There are benevolence needs in our church. There are. There is the need to make sure that the the property we held in common is cared for properly so that we retain the the value of what we have here.

Why. Because it belongs to Jesus. This is his building. This is his three-quarters of a city block. And we have a bank account that belongs to Christ. And there's all sorts of missionaries all over the world that we give money to in local ministries that we give money to and all that money belongs to Jesus.

And all that work that he is overseeing across the world that all belongs to him too. And if it was all to the to the elders we couldn't do it all. We couldn't do it all. And so we have to have deacons here in our church who will be taking up the stewardship of Christ's property and Christ's funds to make sure that we are maximizing all that God has entrusted to us for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

So that's what deacons are about and they are of great necessity and blessing to the church. Now it is important that we notice this that the men were the men who were called forth to be deacons. We're not called forth because they had special expertise or experience in various fields.

This is not the kind of resume or or job interview that you would expect. It comes down to those who were filled with the Holy Spirit those who had the Holy Spirit that's who were called forth to serve in this way.

And and why is that so important. Because the flesh profit of nothing. Flesh profits nothing. The Spirit gives life and peace. 1st Peter chapter 4. 1st Peter chapter 4 verses 14 and 15. Let's take a look at this actually.