SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Celebration Baptist Church Podcast, where we help people connect with God and others.
SPEAKER_00: Each week you'll find biblical teaching, practical encouragement, and conversations designed to help you follow Jesus in everyday life.
SPEAKER_00: To learn more about Celebration Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida, visit iCelebration.org.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get started.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it was a lot of years ago, but I was invited to uh with the International Mission Board to go to the country of Macedonia and lead, be a co-leader in a conference on church planting.
SPEAKER_01: It was a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_01: And I was so excited to do it because, you know, they were paying for it, first of all.
SPEAKER_01: So anytime you get to travel to another part of the world for free, I'm like, yeah, I'm all in.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's good stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And I'd never been to that part of Europe before.
SPEAKER_01: So I was really excited to kind of be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: And when I found out who was co-leading the conference, I was really excited and a little intimidated as well.
SPEAKER_01: The other leader of the conference was a guy named David Garrison.
SPEAKER_01: And David is absolutely brilliant.
SPEAKER_01: I am sure that on the IQ scale, he is a true genius, and I can promise you that I am nowhere near it, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so it was just a chance to be around somebody who just sees the world a little bit differently than the rest of us.
SPEAKER_01: And David had spent some time as the senior vice president for the International Mission Board.
SPEAKER_01: He had spent some time as the senior leader for all the missionaries serving in South Asia.
SPEAKER_01: So he was responsible for several hundred missionaries there.
SPEAKER_01: And so just a real high capacity kind of guy.
SPEAKER_01: And during his time in South Asia, David had developed a reputation of being kind of hard on the missionaries, being very demanding, very exacting on them in one area in particular.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of the regions in the world, the IMB regions of the world at that time, were hiring marriage counselors.
SPEAKER_01: You can imagine living cross-culturally in difficult environments can be hard on a marriage.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of the regions were saying, hey, we want to help equip our missionaries and kind of help them through that.
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to hire marriage counselors, and each region will have one, and that way they can help our missionary families.
SPEAKER_01: And David said, We're not doing it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want anything to do with it.
SPEAKER_01: And so he developed this reputation of being kind of hardcore.
SPEAKER_01: And so here we are together in Macedonia, you know, for a full week.
SPEAKER_01: And he and I shared a hotel room and I had him into myself.
SPEAKER_01: I figured, now's time to ask, right?
SPEAKER_01: So I said, Dave, why are you so hardcore, man?
SPEAKER_01: He looks at me like, what?
SPEAKER_01: I said, everybody else was hiring marriage counselors.
SPEAKER_01: Why didn't you?
SPEAKER_01: And he said this to me.
SPEAKER_01: He said, David, the mission field is for people who are ministry ready.
SPEAKER_01: I said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Well, if a missionary's marriage is in trouble, it would be cruel to leave them in one of the hardest, uh, most difficult ministry assignments on earth.
SPEAKER_01: It would just be cruel to leave them there.
SPEAKER_01: So I send them home where they can find the help they need and get their marriage and their spiritual lives back on track.
SPEAKER_01: And then when they're ministry ready again, we bring them back.
SPEAKER_01: I don't send them home because I don't care.
SPEAKER_01: David, I send them home because I do care.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember thinking, man, that is that is brilliant.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that is.
SPEAKER_01: And to this day, you all, I've I've hung on to that phrase.
SPEAKER_01: This was this was 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: To this day, I've hung on to that phrase, ministry ready.
SPEAKER_01: And if you hang around our church long enough and you hang around me and we're talking and assessing someone's capacity for ministry, you'll hear that question come up.
SPEAKER_01: Are they ministry ready?
SPEAKER_01: And I would submit to you that nobody, nobody becomes or remains.
SPEAKER_01: No one becomes or remains ministry ready by accident.
SPEAKER_01: I would submit to you that it takes some intentional effort on our part.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I would submit to you that there are three simple questions that every single one of us, every person in this room, needs to be asking themselves really daily.
SPEAKER_01: And you can assess your own ministry readiness.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just going to give you the questions right now.
SPEAKER_01: Here they are.
SPEAKER_01: Take a look.
SPEAKER_01: The first one is, am I willing?
SPEAKER_01: The second one is, am I ready?
SPEAKER_01: And the third little question is, am I called?
SPEAKER_01: I believe that every believer should ask themselves those simple little questions every single day just to determine, am I ministry ready?
SPEAKER_01: And you all, the answers to these questions have impact.
SPEAKER_01: They determine where you're going to live, what you're going to do, and how you're going to spend the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_01: And so today we come here to 1 Timothy chapter 3, and let me just tell you, we're going to face these questions.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just kind of catch you up.
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't found it yet, 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul is writing to his friend, his young apprentice named Timothy, who's in Ephesus to turn that church back from false teaching.
SPEAKER_01: And in 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul tells Timothy how to determine the ministry readiness of a potential pastor.
SPEAKER_01: In the first couple of verses, he picks up our first two questions there.
SPEAKER_01: Am I willing and am I ready?
SPEAKER_01: And then to pick up the third question, we're going to reach out to another text that tells us about a conversation that Paul had with the leaders of that same church where Timothy is.
SPEAKER_01: It's found in Acts chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: I'll lead you there when the time comes.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And again, as I said a moment ago, some of you might be thinking, David, I'm never going to be a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: I'm never going to be a missionary.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing like that.
SPEAKER_01: What in the world does this have to do with me?
SPEAKER_01: And I would submit to you, I think that the posture of every believer ought to be, hey, I am living my life with my bags packed.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: I'm living my life ready to go, right?
SPEAKER_01: We should be able to respond to any assignment that God has for us without delay, because our heart, our mind, and our character are ready to go.
SPEAKER_01: That's how we ought to be living our life.
SPEAKER_01: So if you genuinely want to be used by God and let God work through you, I would submit these questions of ministry readiness are absolutely essential for you.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul picks up on that first question here in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: Look at it.
SPEAKER_01: It says, This saying is trustworthy.
SPEAKER_01: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul begins with a discussion about church leadership, but he doesn't begin right away with qualifications.
SPEAKER_01: Did you notice that?
SPEAKER_01: He's going to get to that.
SPEAKER_01: There's a whole lot of qualifications in chapter three, but that's not where he begins.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't begin with character, though there's a lot of look-in on character.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to come to that in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't even begin with the office itself.
SPEAKER_01: He begins with willingness, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_01: Look at what he says.
SPEAKER_01: He says, if anyone aspires, I want you just to look at that word carefully for just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: The word aspire means to stretch out for, right?
SPEAKER_01: How many of y'all have ever wanted, you know, like a cookie or something like that, something delicious, you know, sweet, not good for you at all, right?
SPEAKER_01: And when I was growing up, my mom kept those things on the very top shelf in an effort to regulate, right?
SPEAKER_01: Well, what did I do as a kid?
SPEAKER_01: I would go in there, and what would I do?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: I would reach, right?
SPEAKER_01: I would stretch.
SPEAKER_01: That's the word aspire.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, listen, men, you need to be reaching, you need to be aspiring.
SPEAKER_01: Men, if anybody aspires, if anybody is reaching for that opportunity, it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's the attitude of saying, Lord, if you give me the opportunity, I just want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: If you open that door for me, I'm going to dig in.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to prepare.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to give it all I got.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I'm reaching for that, right?
SPEAKER_01: I aspire to it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what are you aspiring to?
SPEAKER_01: Well, he says here, aspiring to be an overseer.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that's not a word that we really use anymore in church life.
SPEAKER_01: So, what does it mean?
SPEAKER_01: Well, an overseer was someone in a local church in the days of the New Testament who was entrusted with shepherding, leading, teaching, and caring for the Church of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And so when you look through scripture, you're going to find the word overseer or elder or pastor.
SPEAKER_01: It all describes the same office.
SPEAKER_01: It's always going to be kind of that same basic word, right?
SPEAKER_01: And the emphasis isn't on the title.
SPEAKER_01: The emphasis is not on positional authority, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The emphasis is on responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul says, hey, men, when you aspire to the responsibility, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: You should want to be engaged at the highest possible level.
SPEAKER_01: It's uh the best example I can think of is comes from football, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you're watching a football game and they they kind of pan the sidelines, right?
SPEAKER_01: And the coach is pacing back and forth, you know, and he's shouting into his headset and he's taking it off, and there's some guy behind him grabbing him by the belt, pulling him off the field, and all that's going on.
SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed that sometimes, sometimes there's a player who's like right next to him?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: He's got his helmet on, mouthpieces in, and you can just imagine what this player is saying, right?
SPEAKER_01: What's the player saying on the inside?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you on the outside.
SPEAKER_01: Put me in the game, put me in the game, put me in the game, right?
SPEAKER_01: I see the mess that's going on in the field, coach, and you know what you need on the field right now?
SPEAKER_01: You need me.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Just gonna be honest, coach.
SPEAKER_01: I I am what you need.
SPEAKER_01: Put me in the game, coach.
SPEAKER_01: You know what that is?
SPEAKER_01: That's aspiration.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's willingness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, does the coach put every eager player into the game?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: But when the coach looks down the sidelines, does he want to see a bunch of players who are checked out and apathetic?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: What time does this get over?
SPEAKER_01: Is that what he's looking for?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: What's he looking for?
SPEAKER_01: He is looking for someone who is eager and who has tremendous desire and willingness.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, Men, you need to be like that when it comes to being an overseer.
SPEAKER_01: You need to be asking yourself all the time, am I willing?
SPEAKER_01: Because willingness is the first quality of somebody who is ministry ready.
SPEAKER_01: They live their lives eager for a God-given opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: Just a few weeks ago, uh, we had a sister church in our area that contacted us.
SPEAKER_01: They'd been kind of struggling a bit as a smaller congregation.
SPEAKER_01: They had lost their pastor who'd served there for quite some time.
SPEAKER_01: And uh so they were kind of having a hard time of it.
SPEAKER_01: And so they reached out.
SPEAKER_01: Nate caught wind of it, and Nate has been, Pastor Nate has been working with, I don't know, about a half a dozen men from our church, all different stages of life, but about a half a dozen men who have at least thought about it one time serving as a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: And so Nate's been working with them and trying to get them kind of spooled up and and excited about doing that very thing.
SPEAKER_01: And like I said, all walks of life, all different ages.
SPEAKER_01: And so Nate reaches out to this church and says, Well, I'll tell you what we can do.
SPEAKER_01: We can help fold your fill your pulpit for the next several months.
SPEAKER_01: How about that?
SPEAKER_01: Would that help you guys?
SPEAKER_01: And the church was like, great, we will take it.
SPEAKER_01: And so Nate got these guys all organized and got a preaching schedule together.
SPEAKER_01: And now these guys are going a couple of counties over, they're going over there and they're preaching each Sunday at this church.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning, uh somebody from our church is preaching at this little country church, uh, you know, helping them out over the next several months.
SPEAKER_01: And for some of these guys, this is gonna be the very first time they've ever preached in their lives.
SPEAKER_01: And you all, I just gotta tell you, if some of their sermons are like my first sermon, let's just say it could get ugly, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It could, it could be rough, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But it's okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Why is it okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because you know what those guys are saying?
SPEAKER_01: I'm willing.
SPEAKER_01: You know what they're saying?
SPEAKER_01: They're saying, put me in the game, coach, I'm ready to go.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the point of 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, Timothy, you want to find a pastor?
SPEAKER_01: Find men who are willing.
SPEAKER_01: And by extension, Paul is saying to you and to me, every single day, every single day.
SPEAKER_01: We should wake up in the morning, we should pray, Lord, whatever you want me to do, however you want me to serve, I will do it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm hungry, I aspire to it, I desire it.
SPEAKER_01: Put me in the game.
SPEAKER_01: I am willing.
SPEAKER_01: Why is this so important?
SPEAKER_01: Because God is looking for people who are willing and eager to step up and to lead with all of their heart and all of their soul in the local church.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to encourage you to make this a part of your daily prayer, right?
SPEAKER_01: Lord, do you want me to go to the mission field?
SPEAKER_01: I'll pack my bags, I'm out of here.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, you want me to stay and teach?
SPEAKER_01: I'll stay, I'll teach.
SPEAKER_01: You want me to give?
SPEAKER_01: I'll give.
SPEAKER_01: You want me to pastor?
SPEAKER_01: I'll pastor.
SPEAKER_01: You want me to plan a church?
SPEAKER_01: I'll plan a church.
SPEAKER_01: You want me to serve in the nursery every single Sunday for the next 10 years?
SPEAKER_01: I'll pray for patience.
SPEAKER_01: And then I'll do it.
SPEAKER_01: Then I'll do it.
SPEAKER_01: I'll do whatever it is because I am willing.
SPEAKER_01: You guys get it?
SPEAKER_01: Can we agree that's something that ought to be in our heart as a follower of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Just the willingness to do, right?
SPEAKER_01: But willingness alone is not enough.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's one thing to say, coach, put me in the game, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's another thing to be truly ready when the coach does put you in the game, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the ball boy could run up to the coach and say, Coach, put me in the game, right?
SPEAKER_01: Is he gonna do it?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because the ball ball boy is not ready.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's just not.
SPEAKER_01: He's not up to it for any number of reasons, right?
SPEAKER_01: Readiness matters, and it matters a lot.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's where Paul goes next.
SPEAKER_01: He picks up that second question, which is Am I ready?
SPEAKER_01: Look at it in verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna stop right there because this is the very beginning of a rather lengthy list.
SPEAKER_01: I believe it's 11 different qualities, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Qualifications that a pastor and overseer needs to have.
SPEAKER_01: And over the next few weeks, I just want you to know we're gonna be gonna be hitting those, just kind of taking them on, kind of one at a time, one at a time.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: And so today we're gonna do is we're gonna zero in on above reproach, and then we're gonna throw a little elbow over at husband of one wife, and then we're gonna come back in a couple of weeks when we talk more about the family.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that's verses four and five.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna come back and pick that up and really get into it more there.
SPEAKER_01: But today we're just gonna kind of bump it, acknowledge it, let you guys kind of know a couple of things about it, and then we're gonna pick up and deal with it in in detail a little bit later on, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because it deserves a lot of our time, and I want to give it the attention that it deserves, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But let's begin right there with those two little words above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: You see it up there?
SPEAKER_01: Above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean, right?
SPEAKER_01: Well, to be above reproach means that there's nothing for anybody to grab onto, okay?
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing for anybody to grab onto.
SPEAKER_01: It means unable to be held.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: And what it really means here is that to be above reproach means that you're a person about whom no legitimate accusation can stick.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: It means your integrity is so good that you're like you know, protected with like Teflon or something, okay?
SPEAKER_01: When anytime somebody throws dirt at you, it just slides right off.
SPEAKER_01: If somebody wants to tear you down, the only way they're going to pull it off is if they start lying about you, because there's nothing about your character, right, that's assailable that's above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: And if you go back to the Old Testament and you find the story of Daniel, do y'all remember his story?
SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows about Daniel and the lion's den, at least most of us do.
SPEAKER_01: It's a really common story.
SPEAKER_01: When Daniel was a young man, he was taken captive from the city of Jerusalem and taken by the Babylonians, and he rises in power in the Babylonian Empire, and his enemies just grow to despise him, and they want to destroy him because Daniel's grown so powerful.
SPEAKER_01: But look in Daniel chapter 6, verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_01: Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize or condemn.
SPEAKER_01: He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
SPEAKER_01: So they concluded our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: The only way they could bring an accusation against Daniel was to make his faith in God illegal.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because Daniel was what he was above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: And a life of a church leader that's absolutely essential.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the thing: being above reproach isn't something you just get to claim.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get to just say, Me, above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't work that way.
SPEAKER_01: Being above reproach is something that has to be seen in your life.
SPEAKER_01: It has to be something that is seen in your character.
SPEAKER_01: It has to be something that's seen in your relationships and habits and responsibilities.
SPEAKER_01: All of that has to be put together.
SPEAKER_01: And when we examine somebody's life, we come away going, okay, there it is.
SPEAKER_01: I see it.
SPEAKER_01: That person above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: And so here, Paul just begins with kind of one of the most important relationships in the human experience, right?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Listen, an overseer must be the husband of one wife.
SPEAKER_01: As I said, this is so important that we're going to come back to it in a couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's going to be talking about the family of an overseer or pastor in verses four and five, and we're going to really drill into this idea there.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a couple of things I just want to, you know, make sure I just get out there.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that Paul is only saying that a pastor cannot be a polygamist.
SPEAKER_01: That means somebody has more than one wife.
SPEAKER_01: Although it certainly does mean that.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be clear.
SPEAKER_01: Don't leave here and go, David said it was okay for a pastor to be a polygamist.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: The exact opposite.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: He is certainly precluding that.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think this is only about divorce, although I do believe that's excluded here, too.
SPEAKER_01: I think Paul is describing a man whose marriage is marked by faithfulness and integrity.
SPEAKER_01: And this guy really loves his wife.
SPEAKER_01: And he seeks to reflect Christ in the way that he loves and in the way that he leads her.
SPEAKER_01: He guards his heart, he guards his eyes.
SPEAKER_01: He is a one-woman man who is so close to his wife that there's just not any room for accusation.
SPEAKER_01: So as I said, we're going to unpack that more.
SPEAKER_01: But today I just don't want you to miss Paul's larger point.
SPEAKER_01: Before God entrusts someone to lead a church, he's looking for someone who leads in his marriage and leads in his family well.
SPEAKER_01: He just expects, God just expects that someone who's going to be an overseer is going to be faithful in the most important relationship that he's already been given.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So let's come back to the question Am I ready?
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, okay, to be ready, your life must be above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: And one critical area where you want that to be seen is in your marriage.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure that you're above reproach there.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what I want to ask you to do.
SPEAKER_01: This week, sit down with your wife and ask her this question.
SPEAKER_01: And say, honey, when you look at my life, is there anything inconsistent between what I say I believe and the way that I actually live?
SPEAKER_01: That's a toughie, right?
SPEAKER_01: Ask her, is there anything about my character or my lifestyle that needs to change?
SPEAKER_01: And then buckle up.
SPEAKER_01: Just buckle up, because here it comes.
SPEAKER_01: And don't get defensive.
SPEAKER_01: Don't explain yourself.
SPEAKER_01: It's a problem for me.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever Pam gives me this kind of feedback, I'm in my head, I'm going, you've got to listen, you got to listen, you got to listen.
SPEAKER_01: Then the other half of my brain is going, don't get defensive, don't get defensive, don't get defensive, right?
SPEAKER_01: Don't get defensive, right?
SPEAKER_01: Don't try to explain yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Just listen to the person who knows you the best.
SPEAKER_01: And then ask your wife, is there any way that I can better love you and serve you as a husband?
SPEAKER_01: So that people would look at me and say, That guy, that guy loves his wife in such a way that it's above reproach.
SPEAKER_01: Is there anything that I can add there?
SPEAKER_01: Now, ladies, right now you may be enjoying this.
SPEAKER_01: You might be thinking, Oh, baby, it's coming, right?
SPEAKER_01: But before you go too far, I know that Paul is expressly addressing men who aspire to be pastors, but I believe the principle of living above reproach reproach applies to every follower of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Does God expect holiness only out of half of his kingdom?
SPEAKER_01: No, he expects it out of all of us, right?
SPEAKER_01: So you don't get a free pass here either.
SPEAKER_01: I would encourage you to have some of the same conversations in reverse, right?
SPEAKER_01: As you were to answer the question, Am I ready?
SPEAKER_01: Ask your husband, is there anything inconsistent between what I say and what I believe and what the way that I live?
SPEAKER_01: And then just listen.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you might now, you might be thinking, Oh, thank goodness I'm not married.
SPEAKER_01: I'm off the hook completely.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, you're not off the hook.
SPEAKER_01: Invite somebody who knows you well, a mature Christian friend, a mentor, a family member, and ask them the same kinds of questions.
SPEAKER_01: Just give somebody you love the permission to really kind of put you on the spot a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: And as you hear their feedback, determine in your heart that you're gonna deal with whatever they bring up.
SPEAKER_01: If they say, here's a challenge, here's a problem, just make your mind up.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to take that thing head on.
SPEAKER_01: Just commit yourself to a prayerful, intentional, and likely painful journey of moving this from a negative to a positive in your life.
SPEAKER_01: So the Holy Spirit can shine through your life in a way that he desperately wants to.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So back to Paul here in 1 Timothy.
SPEAKER_01: Before you can serve as a pastor or in ministry, God has prepared for you.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be willing.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about that.
SPEAKER_01: You have to be ready.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about that.
SPEAKER_01: And there's one more question that remains, and that's the question, am I called?
SPEAKER_01: And I told you a moment ago that in order to pick this question up, we need to leave First Timothy for just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to know we're not really moving very far, okay?
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna move over to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: And what is going on here in Acts chapter 20 is Paul is meeting with some of the key leaders of the church of Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's the same church where Timothy is being sent here.
SPEAKER_01: All this instruction that Paul is giving to Timothy is all aimed at the church in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul is meeting with some of the leaders from that church.
SPEAKER_01: And as he talks with them, he's talking to them about shepherding God's people, about this role, right?
SPEAKER_01: And look at what he says in verse 28, Acts chapter 20, verse 28.
SPEAKER_01: He says, The Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: Now, did you catch that?
SPEAKER_01: I want you to look at that very, very clearly.
SPEAKER_01: Paul doesn't say, hey, you all are overseers of your church because you really wanted it.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say, hey, you all are overseers in your church because you're qualified.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: That's not what he says.
SPEAKER_01: What does he say?
SPEAKER_01: He said, you're overseers in your church because the Holy Spirit has done what?
SPEAKER_01: Has appointed you.
SPEAKER_01: He's appointed you.
SPEAKER_01: Who is it that put them into the game?
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, listen, I want you to pay attention to this.
SPEAKER_01: This is, it's up to the Holy Spirit to call.
SPEAKER_01: It's our job, right, to be willing, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's our job to be ready, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's up to the Holy Spirit to do the calling.
SPEAKER_01: So a man may want to pastor.
SPEAKER_01: He may have, uh he may even be ready to pastor, but unless the Holy Spirit calls him to shepherd Christ's church, both he and the church are headed for heartache.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm just telling you, no church should have an uncalled pastor inflicted upon them.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to make a real mess if that occurs.
SPEAKER_01: So what's the call of the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: What does that look like, right?
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you look at the stories in the Bible, there's all in across the Bible, there's all these call accounts in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you see over and over again you see these stories of times where people are called by God to serve.
SPEAKER_01: And when you look at these call accounts, you begin to notice a common pattern, okay?
SPEAKER_01: God plants within them this deep, persistent conviction to act.
SPEAKER_01: And once it latches onto them, it won't let go.
SPEAKER_01: So it's not just like this passing emotion.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just like a moment of excitement, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It becomes a settled certainty that God is calling them and they feel compelled to obey.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: And you can look at all different call accounts and you kind of see this at work there.
SPEAKER_01: For example, let's look at the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah was given an incredibly difficult assignment to call Jerusalem to repent after years of living in disobedience to God.
SPEAKER_01: And now the Babylonians are about to come in and they're about to take the city.
SPEAKER_01: It's just ugly.
SPEAKER_01: And the people of Jerusalem absolutely hate Jeremiah because he's the bad news prophet.
SPEAKER_01: Every time he gets up, he's just doom and gloom, and they are over it.
SPEAKER_01: There's all kinds of action against him.
SPEAKER_01: There's plots against his life.
SPEAKER_01: He's thrown into prison.
SPEAKER_01: It's just terrible for Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: But Jeremiah won't quit.
SPEAKER_01: He won't quit.
SPEAKER_01: And he gives us this verse in Jeremiah chapter 20, verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: He says, But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire.
SPEAKER_01: It is like a fire in my bones.
SPEAKER_01: I am worn out trying to hold it in.
SPEAKER_01: I can't do it.
SPEAKER_01: Every time that I just kind of get like, I'm just fed up.
SPEAKER_01: I just, I don't want to do this anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a professional bass fisherman.
SPEAKER_01: That's what I really want to do.
SPEAKER_01: Every time I kind of get into that head space, I just reach out here to my man Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: And look at verse 9 in chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: And I say, I I get it.
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't really have a choice.
SPEAKER_01: It's something I have to do because God has placed a call on my life.
SPEAKER_01: And Jeremiah, he wants to quit.
SPEAKER_01: The opposition was relentless, and he reaches a point where I just don't want to do this anymore, but he can't because the word of God burns in him like a fire.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's what a calling looks like.
SPEAKER_01: It just wrecks you from the inside out.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want you to know that if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life, you won't be, you won't be able to leave it alone.
SPEAKER_01: And you also won't be the only one to see it.
SPEAKER_01: This is the beauty of the church.
SPEAKER_01: The church will also recognize it in you.
SPEAKER_01: They'll see your willingness, they'll see your readiness, they'll see the call of God on your life, and they'll affirm what the Holy Spirit is doing in you.
SPEAKER_01: And they'll help you answer the question, am I called?
SPEAKER_01: And I think you all, I think that the question, am I called?
SPEAKER_01: I think it's absolutely mission critical.
SPEAKER_01: I think it's so important that we ask it.
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the great sad things though is I believe there aren't enough people who are asking themselves that question.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think there are.
SPEAKER_01: I think the Holy Spirit is calling a far more people to pastoral ministry, vocational ministry, missionary service, whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_01: I think the Holy Spirit is calling far more people than actually respond.
SPEAKER_01: And so I wonder about why that is.
SPEAKER_01: Why is it that if the Holy Spirit is calling people, why aren't people responding to that?
SPEAKER_01: And I would submit to you, the answer is just really simple.
SPEAKER_01: We're not listening.
SPEAKER_01: We just completely don't expect that God would have anything more for us.
SPEAKER_01: And so we just kind of go through our lives on autopilot, assuming that what was yesterday ought to be there tomorrow as well.
SPEAKER_01: We just don't listen.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I get it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, being called into the pastorate or being called to the mission field, whatever it might be, those are really peculiar callings.
SPEAKER_01: And we see people who respond to those callings as a little peculiar.
SPEAKER_01: All right?
SPEAKER_01: Tell people you're gonna move overseas and pack your bags and take your whole family with you.
SPEAKER_01: They'll look at you like you've lost your mind.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: It's peculiar, it's different.
SPEAKER_01: I get that.
SPEAKER_01: And I understand that most believers aren't called to vocational ministry.
SPEAKER_01: I understand that as well.
SPEAKER_01: Most of us glorify God by serving Him faithfully right where we are.
SPEAKER_01: But every one of us, every one of us, ought to live our life with one ear open toward heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And every single day we ought to be praying, Lord, are you calling me to a different assignment?
SPEAKER_01: Are you asking me to leave the familiar?
SPEAKER_01: Are you asking me to prepare for something I've never even dreamed of?
SPEAKER_01: Are you asking me to pack my bags?
SPEAKER_01: Because, Lord, if you are, if you're calling, I'm willing and I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01: Now, some of you are teenagers, right?
SPEAKER_01: You got your whole life in front of you.
SPEAKER_01: It's so cool.
SPEAKER_01: Some of your 20s, in your 20s, you think you're old.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you, you're not.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Your face is still wet from where you were born.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you are just you're just a baby, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You're in your 20s.
SPEAKER_01: You've got your whole life in front of you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You're in your 30s, you think it's too late for me.
SPEAKER_01: Life has passed me by.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, my friend, it is not.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And we can go on and on and on and on, all up through years.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just tell you.
SPEAKER_01: If God were to call you and say, hey, listen, I want you to spend the rest of your life in vocational ministry.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to spend the rest of your life pastoring a church, serving as a missionary, whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just ask you this question: are you willing to do that?
SPEAKER_01: Are you ready to do that?
SPEAKER_01: Is your integrity intact, right?
SPEAKER_01: Are you above reproach that if God called, you'd be like, boom, ready to go?
SPEAKER_01: Not, well, God's called, but I got all this baggage I got to deal with, right?
SPEAKER_01: And are you are you listening so that should God call, you can respond and you can spend the rest of your life doing exactly what God created you and made you to do.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just tell you, if you're in your teens, your 20s, 30s, this is how you ought to be living.
SPEAKER_01: This is the question you should be asking every single day.
SPEAKER_01: Just Lord, I'm ready to go.
SPEAKER_01: You say the word.
SPEAKER_01: I'm on it, right?
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you're at a crossroads in your career and you feel like God is loosening the roots that have been holding you in place for a really long time.
SPEAKER_01: Why don't you just say, you know what, Lord, I'm not just gonna ask that that you know lead me to a different department here in the state?
SPEAKER_01: Or, Lord, I'm just gonna ask you to lead me to a different company to work with.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_01: But I'll ask you to also consider the bigger question, too.
SPEAKER_01: Just pray, Lord, at this moment in my life, are you calling me to shepherd a church or to plant a church or to go overseas and serve in as a missionary?
SPEAKER_01: What are you calling me to do with this next season of my life?
SPEAKER_01: Are you calling me to do something that I would never have thought even possible a year ago?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Because you all, when the Holy Spirit of God calls your name, do you want him to find you unwilling?
SPEAKER_01: Do you want him to find you unprepared and unready?
SPEAKER_01: No.
unknown: No.
SPEAKER_01: You want to live your life ministry ready.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Let's take that a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just pray that down, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: You know, Lord, you could have accomplished your purposes and your task any number of ways.
SPEAKER_01: Any number of ways.
SPEAKER_01: You are God, everything is at your disposal, but you have chosen to accomplish so much of your kingdom purpose through us, through people.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Father, right now, you are looking for people with clean hands and a pure heart who are ready to stand before you and say, Lord, I am willing, I'm ready, and you call, I'm gone.
SPEAKER_01: You just say the word.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I just pray that we would be those people, that we would be the ones who are ready and who are prepared and who are responding to your call.
SPEAKER_01: Father, I know that right now in this space, you're calling just a number of people into something vocational, something that is a total redirect in their life.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure of it.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that today's the day they have the courage to say, I've got to pick that up.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to pray that down.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to understand what it is that God has for me.
SPEAKER_01: We love you, Father.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your word and the way it challenges us.
SPEAKER_01: We pray all this in the beautiful and powerful name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone agreed and said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us on the Celebration Baptist Church podcast.
SPEAKER_00: We hope today's conversation helps you take another step in your faith journey.
SPEAKER_00: For more resources, upcoming events, and to join us live, visit iCelebration.org.
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep connecting with God, connecting with others, and living on mission.