3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer1 must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,2 sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Footnotes
[1]3:2Or bishop; Greek episkopos; a similar term occurs in verse 1 [2]3:2Or a man of one woman; also verse 12
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,1 and his children are believers2 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,3 as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound4 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Footnotes
[1]1:6Or a man of one woman [2]1:6Or are faithful [3]1:7Or bishop; Greek episkopos [4]1:9Or healthy; also verse 13
3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer1 must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,2 sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Footnotes
[1]3:2Or bishop; Greek episkopos; a similar term occurs in verse 1 [2]3:2Or a man of one woman; also verse 12
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,1 and his children are believers2 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,3 as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound4 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Footnotes
[1]1:6Or a man of one woman [2]1:6Or are faithful [3]1:7Or bishop; Greek episkopos [4]1:9Or healthy; also verse 13
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:
If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to first Peter chapter 5. That is not what is in your worship guide. I decided to call an audible because I'm the lead pastor and I get to do that. So, when I look at first Peter, really, we're going to be looking at all of Peter. In addition, we'll be looking at those texts in front of you.
Jeffrey Heine:
First Peter chapter 5 beginning in verse 1. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Jeffrey Heine:
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. If you would, pray with me.
Jeffrey Heine:
Our father, we are here because of the chief shepherd, your son, Jesus, who went after us when we had gone astray. Jesus, you have captivated us with your love and with your grace, and you have pulled us into yourself. It's why we are here. It's why we celebrate. It's why we sing.
Jeffrey Heine:
And it's why we come now before your word because we're eager to hear from you. Lord, I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:
This morning, we're going to be ordaining 3 men. We're gonna be ordaining Allen King and Eric Williamson as elders, as lay elders of our church. And then we'll be ordaining Dwight Castle as a pastor, a full time vocational pastor in this church. So we're gonna be talking about it. I thought this was an appropriate time for us to talk about church leadership and church government.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now, I already see after we read the text, some of you are already eyeing the exits, by a a sermon on church government. But really, we've already stationed elders there. You cannot leave. And, I know you're about as excited as this is maybe going through Leviticus or Lamentations, but, this is something actually that is incredibly important for us as a church. And we purposely waited until most of the people came back from vacation over the summer because we wanted this to be heard, by our entire church.
Jeffrey Heine:
A church is only as healthy as its leadership. A church is only as healthy as its leadership. More than that, I would say that the congregation of a church takes on many of the qualities of its leadership. So if the leadership is missions minded, usually the congregation is going to be missions minded. If the leadership of the church believes in the authority of scripture, the centrality of the word, then you are gonna have a congregation that believes in the authority of scripture and the centrality of the word.
Jeffrey Heine:
If the leadership is humble and is kind and is patient, you're gonna have that in your congregation. And negatively, this is true. I would say actually negatively this is doubly true that if your leadership is arrogant, if it is selfish, then you better believe that you will have a congregation that reflects that. That is full of back stabbing, gossiping, unkind, divisive people. The church reflects its leadership.
Jeffrey Heine:
This is why all these qualifications that you have there in your worship guide from Titus and from first Timothy is why you see all of these godly qualifications that are necessary to be an elder. These men need to be these things because these are going to be the things that are reflected out through the church. And so when you read things like an elder has to manage their household well or an elder has to be a good father, The reason that's so important is because that is going to be manifested through the congregation. And God will not allow a bad father or one who is mediocre at household management for that mediocrity to spread throughout the congregation. He says, no.
Jeffrey Heine:
These have to be men of character. They have to manage their household well. And he goes through all of these lists in Titus and in first Timothy of what it what you're looking for in an elder. And I hope as you just take the the time to glance over these, you'll realize something that they're really not that extraordinary, these qualities. A matter of fact, it's a pretty ordinary list.
Jeffrey Heine:
I've I've heard that the only thing remarkable about these qualifications is that they aren't that remarkable. This is what is expected of every Christian really, these qualifications with the exception of being able to teach. But this is why it's so important to find men of this character because that's the character we want throughout the church. We want men who has have these qualifications. Now some of you, I'm sure in here and just hearing the word elder, eldership just kind of creeps you out.
Jeffrey Heine:
Alright? I grew up with that. I I we didn't have elders in the church tradition that, that I had. We, you know, we had deacons, we had congregational votes, we had all this. And when I think of an elder or did at the time, you kind of think of a a really old man with long beard, plain clothes, You have to have buttons, not zippers, you know.
Jeffrey Heine:
They meet in closed door secret meetings talking about how they could get women to be submissive to them, you know, and that's just that's what elders do. And I've had to go against that and reeducate myself as to what an elder actually is. Throughout the new testament, the word elder and the word pastor are used interchangeably. They mean the exact same thing. And the word pastor and the word shepherd are the exact same word in Greek.
Jeffrey Heine:
Shepherd and pastor. What what we're installing here today with these men are shepherds of the church. It's not a bunch of men who are board of directors. It's not people wanna be CEO or just, you know, have closed door meetings and talk about how they can make the church bigger, you know, or things like that. That that's not their role.
Jeffrey Heine:
They are shepherds. And this is a language I think that we need to keep. I've heard a number of other churches transitioning away from the language of shepherd. You know, maybe using the term team leader, coach, you know, whatever you wanna learn but use. But you miss something when you don't have the image of shepherd.
Jeffrey Heine:
A shepherd who takes care of the flock. A shepherd who gets dirty with the sheep. A shepherd who rejoices in bringing the stray sheep back home. And it's the image that God uses of of him. Jesus is the great shepherd.
Jeffrey Heine:
And so we need to keep that language here and we need to have that image here when we think of our elders because ultimately our elders as shepherds are to point to the chief shepherd, Jesus. And how they serve and lead this church. So, I don't think this term is outdated or archaic or no longer of use. We need to hold fast to this term of elders as shepherds. Now, in Paul's letter to Titus, which you have there in front of you, chapter 1, verse 5, we read these words.
Jeffrey Heine:
This is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. So Paul as an apostle, as a herald of the gospel, has been going around Crete. He's been establishing churches, And he's moved on to another mission to plant even more churches. However, when he leaves all of these congregations, he doesn't just leave them alone. But he sent them Titus.
Jeffrey Heine:
And he he entrusted with Titus this one task. Said, Titus, I need you to appoint elders in every one of these churches. I just want you to stop and just think about that. I know we we just read over things like that, but just think. Paul, he saw the churches he had planted that they were spirit filled.
Jeffrey Heine:
They were bible believing. Full of born again Christians. Yet, he knew they could not become the people that God wanted them to be until elders were appointed over them. Paul saw that it was absolutely necessary for churches to have shepherds to help guide the people and their devotion to the Lord. Now Paul could have just said, Titus.
Jeffrey Heine:
Titus, you know, we did a whole lot of work. We planted these churches and there is nobody more knowledgeable you than you. There's nobody, that I trust more than you, who cares about this more than you. So I just need you to do this. I just need you to follow-up and be the pastor and lead all these churches.
Jeffrey Heine:
But he doesn't do that. And although it's true that there was nobody more knowledgeable than Titus, there's no one who knew the gospel or the bible more than Titus, no one more gifted than Titus, But he doesn't say, Titus, I want you to lead these churches. He says, instead I want you to pick elders. Pick men who will lead these churches. And that's the task that Titus has.
Jeffrey Heine:
And notice here that he doesn't charge Titus to go and pick 1 guy per church. I I want you to find the senior pastor. I want you to find that one guy and put them over each church. He says, find elders. Every time you go throughout the New Testament, you're gonna see elders in plural.
Jeffrey Heine:
Never is one person to guide the church. There's always a plurality of leadership. There's always multiple men there. So there's not to be that one guy. There's not to be that one personality that the church is identified with.
Jeffrey Heine:
This is not Joel's church. And this is hard in a podcast culture. And so you you know, you listen to a John Piper podcast and you think of John Piper's church or a Tim Keller podcast and you think of Keller's church, but it's not their church. One of the reasons we actually have a plurality of teaching here at Redeemer. I teach about 2 thirds of the time.
Jeffrey Heine:
The other thirds we have different elders preach. It's because it shouldn't be identified as just me and my voice and my personality. There's a shared leadership in a healthy church. And you see that so clearly here in Scripture. Redeemer is to be all of our churches, but is represented and is guided most fully through this leadership of this group of men called the elders.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now, I shared this story a number of years ago. But I'm gonna have to embarrass my middle child again, Natalie. Because I'm gonna share it again. But Natalie wanted to go on a trip with me over the weekend one time. And so she asked, daddy, can we go on a trip?
Jeffrey Heine:
And I said, well, we we can't because I've I've got to be there on Sunday. She goes, but I don't get it. Don't you get to do whatever you want? Mean, you're the lead pastor. I was like, well, no.
Jeffrey Heine:
I I don't get to do whatever I I want. I need to be there and, you know, I'm just one of many elders that are there. She goes, but you're the boss. Right? I said, actually, no.
Jeffrey Heine:
I'm I'm not the boss. She goes, but you can fire them. Right? I said, well, no. I I actually they're lay elders.
Jeffrey Heine:
I mean, what would firing look like? We don't pay you anymore? Like, they're the ones who can fire me. And, she just thought about for a moment and then she got really sad and goes, but no. Why would they ever want to fire you?
Jeffrey Heine:
And I was like, I don't think they are. I mean, I I haven't I haven't got any secret memo about that. But but there's this shared authority. And and I'm not elevated over any of these guys who are lay elders. It's not the church is not to be ruled by 1 guy.
Jeffrey Heine:
No matter how good the guy is, gifted the guy is, or godly the guy is, That was not God's intention for the church. So the the local church is to not be a monarchy, if you will. But I have to say this, when you look throughout history, monarchies are by far the most efficient way to lead. To lead a country. To lead a city.
Jeffrey Heine:
Having a senior pastor with all the power is by far the most efficient way to lead a church. Decisions can be made quickly, decisively. Vision can be instilled in people almost instantly because it all comes from one guy. Think of the frustrations that you've had with church. I mean, other churches, obviously.
Jeffrey Heine:
Not not this church. But but but think of some of the frustrations that you've had with with all these other churches. And perhaps, it's it's been because the wheels of a church move so slowly. So you come up to somebody in leadership maybe with a suggestion or something you wanna see the church do and you're really excited about it. We need to start this bible study or this outreach.
Jeffrey Heine:
Or maybe you wanna give benevolence towards this person or this program and so you come to somebody on leadership like we really should do this and you probably get the answer of thanks for, like, bringing that to my attention. I'll take it before leadership and we'll discuss it. And they're like, just I mean, when am I gonna hear back? We we need these decisions now. And and you could get frustrated at how slow, sometimes, the wheels of church move.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now, if you had a lead pastor with all of the power and the authority, you'd come up and be like, that's a great idea. We'll do it. Nope. That's terrible idea. We're not decisive quick.
Jeffrey Heine:
The things happen. And if you have a Godly lead pastor, it is the best, most efficient way you can lead a church. So the positive effects I would see are enormous. So you have to ask a question, why did God choose not to set up church leadership that way? And it's a good question.
Jeffrey Heine:
I'll tell you that I don't think it's because God was just hedging his bets. You know, hey. Things work really well when we got the right guy there, but we all know what happens when you get the wrong guy there. You get the wrong guy there. Takes the church off in the wrong direction, terribly abuses power.
Jeffrey Heine:
I I know for a fact that a number of you are here at this church because of the terrible abuse of another lead pastor at another church. And you've come into here with road rash. One of the meetings I had last week was I got church road rash. And I was just dragged through. And it's painful to walk again in a church.
Jeffrey Heine:
And some of you just, you have a terrible even fear of church leadership now because of what has happened to you. And so, yes, you can see the terrible effects of when you have the lead pastor with all the power and then he becomes domineering or goes astray through his sin. But, I don't think that God set up this system here just to hedge his bets. Say, we need checks and balances. We need to make sure, you know, whether it's good, it can't be that great.
Jeffrey Heine:
Whether it's bad, it can't be that bad. We just, we check and balance one another. I don't think it's this that. I think God set up eldership to be the way that a church is led, because God values humility. He values humility.
Jeffrey Heine:
And He values it so much, He set up a governing structure that requires it to work. Humility, if if an elder group of men, if they're together and they don't have humility, eldership falls apart. It cannot work. If you have one person who's just domineering, one person who's bullheaded, the whole system falls apart. And so God, he sets up a system that requires men to be patient and kind and to graciously to submit to one another.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now, I have to confess that there are times that I disagree with our elders, that that have some strong disagreements. I wanted the personal jet. You know? And they said, no. I realize if you're visiting, sarcasm.
Jeffrey Heine:
That was a sarcastic thing. Don't think. Alright. Well, I'm glad they said no. No, I'd never suggested that.
Jeffrey Heine:
So there's times I I do disagree. And that's common for all the elders, that there's time decisions are being made that they disagree. So so what are we supposed to do in that moment when you disagree? Do you do you shout? Do you scream?
Jeffrey Heine:
Do you just kind of, you know, you force your way through? Is that what you're supposed to do? Or do you say first, well let me hear. Let me patiently listen. Let me pray that maybe the Spirit would guide us all on the same page.
Jeffrey Heine:
And then, if still after all of that, you still disagree, then you graciously submit. I still disagree, but I graciously submit, because I believe, and this is how the Lord moves His church and works for our leadership. Eldership needs to reflect John 17, that we are unified and we love one another in such a way that the world takes notice and says that's only because of Jesus and who he is. And it's hard at times when you believe that you are right and other men are wrong. That's the nature of a disagreement.
Jeffrey Heine:
But hear me, I think that God is just as glorified through the means as he is through the ends. Okay? And we focus so much on the end decision or we focus so much on the actual work we do and those are great and God is glorified in those, but he is glorified just as much in how we get there. How are we making these decisions? How are we treating one another through this process?
Jeffrey Heine:
And if we are kind and if we are patient and if we are seeking the Lord in this, I believe He is glorified in the process and not just in the ends. Alright. So I was recently asked by some other pastors, we were having lunch together, and they asked me the question, so what do you do when your elders oppose you? What do you do when you've got this God given vision and they won't get on board with it? What do you do?
Jeffrey Heine:
And I thought about it, and I said, well, I would submit. And you would have thought like an alien had landed there and they were looking at an alien, like, what? It's like, well, I would I would submit. I would submit to their authority. And they had a hard time understanding that.
Jeffrey Heine:
I said, well well well, for 1, these are godly men with godly counsel, and I have to at least acknowledge that I might be wrong. Why should I think all of them have the blind spots and yet I don't have the blind spot? So I need to at least acknowledge that they might be right and I might be wrong. But regardless, even if my position is right and theirs is wrong, God is honored in the process. He's honored in the means and not just in the ends.
Jeffrey Heine:
And that's how we set up the church leadership. God set up a church government that requires people to be humble in order for it to work, and I think that is a beautiful thing. Ultimately, it points us to Jesus, our humble savior. Now, one of the things that jumps out to me as I read through 1st Peter, we are getting in 1st Peter, is the humility that's on every page of first Peter. And what he says to the elders especially just drips with this humility.
Jeffrey Heine:
And so look at verse 1 again. Peter, he says this, so I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. So here at the end of his letter, Peter is addressing now just the leadership. So he's addressing the elders of the church and he addresses them as a fellow elder. He he doesn't say, guys.
Jeffrey Heine:
As the apostle. As you know, the one they call the rock. Listen to me. He doesn't call himself the apostle. He doesn't call himself the rock.
Jeffrey Heine:
He says, I'm a fellow elder. I'm one of you guys. And then the very thing he says after that, he says, in order like to give you his credentials, he says, as a fellow elder and as a witness of the sufferings of Christ. He brings up his failure there. When did when did Peter witness the the sufferings of Christ?
Jeffrey Heine:
He wasn't there at the cross witnessing it because he had run. When Jesus was arrested, well, he also ran with the rest of the disciples. He was a witness to the sufferings of Christ when he was in the courtyard outside the temple, and he saw Jesus getting beaten. And he was denying Jesus while Jesus was being interrogated and beaten. Even when he acknowledges here, as a fellow elder and as a witness of the sufferings of Christ, he is highlighting not his successes, but he is highlighting his failures before this group of men.
Jeffrey Heine:
And this is something you see throughout the letter. How Peter humbles himself, because he sees how God works through his weaknesses and not through his strength. And that's what it means to be called to be an elder. It's not your strengths. It's not all your successes.
Jeffrey Heine:
It's to be very open and vulnerable with your weaknesses and your failures, and you allow God to use those to guide the church. The most powerful truths we have in 1st Peter come from Peter's failures, not from his successes. Let me just walk through those. Because I realize that you could just say that and then not get back to the text. But I wanna just walk through 1st Peter.
Jeffrey Heine:
Plus, we're about to do it as a church, so maybe you could see 1st Peter in a different lens, those of you who are in the 1st Peter study. So chapter 1 verse 6, Peter talks about being grieved by various trials and how this is a time of testing for one's faith. How can you not read that and think about how Peter was grieved in his trial, and how his faith was tested, and how he failed. He utterly failed. But he's pulling out that failure as a way of actually encouraging the church.
Jeffrey Heine:
I failed, but look how the Lord has restored me and now I know to rejoice in the trials that are coming. Chapter 2 verse 5, famous passage in Peter. Oh, Peter. He says that, we've now come to God like living stones being built up into a spiritual house. It's this beautiful imagery of living stones.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now where did Peter get this idea that church members are rocks in the church, building up the church? It's because Jesus looked at Simon and said, you're no longer Simon Bar jona, you are Peter. You are the rock on which I will build the entire church. And so he says he's a rock and now we are all rocks, but he's highlighting his failure because we all know as we read that story, right after Jesus called him the rock, what's the next thing Jesus called him? Satan.
Jeffrey Heine:
That moment that should have been so triumphant for Peter was a time of total humiliation, as Jesus had to say, get behind me, Satan. We go on, chapter 2 verse 24. Peter writes, by his wounds, you have been healed, For you were straying like a sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Now, you cannot read this, I hope, without thinking of Jesus sitting at the table with His disciples the night that He was betrayed and He says these words to them. You will all fall away because of me this night.
Jeffrey Heine:
For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Peter was a scattered sheep, but who was brought back to the shepherd? 1st Peter 3:15. Peter writes that we are always to be prepared to give a defense for the reason of our hope. I mean, it is hard not to read that.
Jeffrey Heine:
Always prepared to give a defense and think like you were, Peter. Like you were so ready, you know, to give that defense. Peter is highlighting his utter failure. He was utterly unprepared to give a defense for the reason for his hope. But now we look who Peter is and who he is now and it gives us such incredible hope that that utter failure.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now look at him. Now look at the boldness that he has. Chapter 4, verse 8. Peter tells us that love covers over a multitude of sins. It's hard to read that and not think of Jesus' conversation with Peter after the resurrection, in which they're dealing with Peter's sins.
Jeffrey Heine:
And Jesus just simply asked Peter, Peter, do you love Me? Peter, do you love me? Chapter 5 verse 2. He tells the elders to shepherd the flock of God. Man, Peter loves this language of, of the shepherd with the sheep.
Jeffrey Heine:
He loves using that to describe Christ and his church and the role of the pastors. Where do you think Peter got that imagery? Well, from his restoration. Peter, do you love me more than these? Feed my sheep.
Jeffrey Heine:
Peter, do you love me? Tend my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. He never got over that notion that he was being called to shepherd God's sheep.
Jeffrey Heine:
But that came from a moment of incredible failure with him and being restored from it. Chapter 5 verse 8. Peter writes, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Peter writes this from experience. You know, Jesus, the night that he was betrayed, he looked at Peter, and he said, Satan has asked to come after you.
Jeffrey Heine:
He goes, and I'm gonna let him. Could you imagine Jesus saying that to you? Satan has asked come after you, to sift you like wheat, and I'm gonna let him for a season. But then, I'll restore you. Peter writes these powerful words.
Jeffrey Heine:
Why? Because he experienced Satan devouring him. And I love how Peter, he closes this letter. I mean, it's it's one of the best benedictions we have. Verse 10.
Jeffrey Heine:
He says, and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. That is exactly what Jesus did for Peter. He restored him, confirmed him, strengthened and established him after his failure. Peter only got to be the great leader that he was because of his weakness and because of his failures, and then God restoring him from that. Here he's exhorting these elders and he's reminding them of the humility humility necessary, but also just reminding them don't shy away from your weakness.
Jeffrey Heine:
God uses weakness and failure for his glory. And that's how you lead the church. Why go through all this? Why walk all the way through 1st Peter? I love 1st Peter.
Jeffrey Heine:
That's reason enough to walk through this, but I want you guys to see that your failures, your weaknesses, through God's grace, all become platforms for His glory. In many ways, they qualify you for leadership, because they have humbled you, and now people get to see the gospel at work in your life. Peter simply could not have been the leader, the rock he was supposed to be apart from those things. Now, elders are not perfect men. I can attest to you that many of our elder meetings, many, turn into times of just confession of sin and acknowledgment of all the ways we have failed.
Jeffrey Heine:
A lot of times, we just start, alright. 1st failure. You know, like, I mean, we just we just acknowledge our fail we feel the weight of our failures. But God uses even the failures of men to guide and to direct His church. That's our hope and confidence.
Jeffrey Heine:
In just a moment, we're gonna ordain some of our men as elders, and I I wanna just read this quote that that I think pulls a lot of this together. It's by a woman named Barbara Brown about what it means to be ordained. And see this in light of what Peter does. She says, being ordained is not about serving God perfectly, but about serving God visibly. Allowing other people to learn whatever they can from watching you rise and fall.
Jeffrey Heine:
You probably won't be much worse than other people, and you certainly won't be any better. But you will have to let people look at you. You will have to let them see you as you are. Can I tell you how thankful I am that Peter allowed us to see him as he is? And that was our encouragement and edification of the church.
Jeffrey Heine:
Let me pray for us and then I'll have the elders come forward. Father, I pray that you would write these words on our hearts. Thank you that you turn our weaknesses, our sins, our failures into platforms of your grace and your glory. I thank You that You love this church so much that You've established shepherds to help take care take care of us and to lead us closer to you. I pray you would be with us in this time as we ordain these men.