05 Called and Qualified Men - Part 1

You know the choir can get me in trouble. We are not against a choir. I like a choir when I go visit other churches. But we have taught you that you are the choir here. And when you sing well and when you sing loud, it makes me want to sing loud. And then I use my voice too much singing. So I had to be careful. You were blessing me this morning. I enjoy hearing you sing out. We're singing truth, wonderful truth. I was thinking about what we were singing earlier about the church. The church is treasured in pride. I tell you that just warms my heart and blesses me. Thank you for singing.

Thank you for putting your heart into singing and being the choir for us. Well, if you would take your Bible, turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. I did read all of those verses, verses 1 to 7. But this morning we will be only in verse 1. So 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1. We'll get to that verse here in just a minute. Now ever since we turned the corner into the new year, I have been addressing certain subjects that have been on my heart really all through November and December. Things that I have been praying about and studying along the way.

And many of you know that I take those kind of messages and I put them in one series called Messages from the Pastoral Heart. Now first we study what I call five essential components of a true church. That would be from Matthew 16, 13 to 20. Of course there is a lot that should impact us from that message. But the most important fact that we must live out is the fact that the church belongs to Christ. And the fact that we should have a mighty expectation for his church. Then second we looked at the very important subject of church membership and what I called meaningful church membership.

And in that message we saw that church membership as seen in the scriptures now certainly has great, great spiritual meaning and great purpose. And then we turned our attention to our approach to money and to giving in the life of the church. And I talked to messages on that subject. We looked at what I called the tithe and our approach to giving and we saw that that is really the beginning, the foundation on where we start with our giving. And then we looked at what I called the call to build God's house which pertains to our need to give towards a building of our own in the future.

Now question, what was and what is the purpose of those messages? Really would be several purposes. For those of us who have been members of Grace Life Church for a while, these things are a much needed reminder of some very important truth and facts and standards. I think about when I taught through those verses in Matthew and looked at the five essential components of a church, one of the men of our church who have been here for quite a few years came up to me with very sober look and expressions said, "Pastor, I needed that." He needed that reminder. Sometimes we need these kinds of reminders in our Christian journey.

And for those of you who are visiting our new to Grace Life Church, these things help you see who we are and what our church is all about. I think about when I taught through meaningful church membership. One of the men who was visiting our church and been through church membership class came to me and he said, "Pastor Chris, I've never heard membership talk like that." He said, "I needed to hear that.

That was a lot to chew on and I think that he is still chewing on those things." Now this morning I want us to turn our attention to a need in our church that's been on my heart for quite a while and I have been mentioning this off and on so this should not surprise any of you unless you've not been paying attention. I'm talking about the subject of elder leadership in the church and our need for additional elder leadership. Now church, I want to make sure we all know the standard that has been established here and I have preached on this many, many times in the 14 years or so that I've been the pastor of this church.

I am solidly convinced from the scripture that God's plan and standard is that the church is to be led by a plurality of elders and within the body of elders there is a lead elder or lead pastor and many times we call him the pastor. Another way of saying that, the pastor of the church is a leader among equals in a body of elders and those elders lead the church in three ways, by governing the church, by shepherding or pastoring the people of the church and by teaching and preaching with the lead pastor or lead elder leading out in those things especially in the area of preaching and teaching and we will see this standard, we will see this pattern for church leadership in the message this morning and of course there are many more things I can say about this standard.

Well after much prayer and along with brother Keith as well because he has been an elder in the life of our church since well before we relocated. Keith, I think it's been about 14 years, I think it's been about 14 years, it's gone by very fast. But after much prayer and since addressing this need two years ago, I am convinced that it is time for me to put forward two men for the position of elder in the life of our church. Now let me share with you two things, first how I want us to proceed here and second how this has worked out.

Let me repeat that, I want us to see how I want us to proceed as a church and second how all of this has worked out. First as a church we do not have church bylaws which dictate how these things are to take place and that's okay, that's okay. I am not against church bylaws at all. As a matter of fact the need for healthy balanced church bylaws is one of the many reasons that we do need additional elders, that is to assist in that work. So this is how I want us to proceed here.

As your pastor through much prayer and out of much counsel from some very wise and seasoned anchoring truth pastors and other elders within some of those anchoring truth churches, I want to put forward two men that I believe are called to serve as elders in the life of our church. But as a body, as a church body, I mean the membership of Grace Life Church, it is up to you to pray, to ask questions, even to study and to determine as a body that this is indeed God's will for us.

You see we are elder led so I am putting forward two men and brother Keith is in full agreement as well but we are congregationally governed so that means that the membership of Grace Life Church has the responsibility to pray over these men, to ask questions of them, ask questions of me and we as a church body must make the decision unanimously. We actually see this very same thing in Acts chapter 13. There in the church at Antioch we see the elders of the church. Now they are listed as teachers in verse 1 but in our message we will see that this term is synonymous for elder.

But we see that the Spirit of God called Barnabas and Saul to the work of taking the gospel to the lost. Of course we know that this became Paul's first missionary journey. Well as a result of God's call and the fact that Barnabas and Paul believed that they were called of God, the entire church prayed and even fasted over them and the work. And after the Holy Spirit's confirmation in and to all the entire body, the entire body, the entire church sent them out.

So as the pastor of Grace Life Church and along with brother Keith is an elder as well I am putting forward two men, Tommy Alderman and Jared Walters and we believe that the Spirit has called them to this work. But of course it is the membership of Grace Life Church that makes the final decision. Now let me explain how this has worked out. Back on January the 29th and February the 5th of 2003, two years ago, from these verses that we have before us this morning, I preached on our great need for elders and more elder leadership.

I even said that we were in a critical time in the life of our church and that the time for more elder leadership is now. And in that message I put out a call to those who believe that they are being called to this service and this work. Well shortly after and I believe about any knowledge of how God was working in one another, Tommy came to me and Jared as well and both said that God was calling them to this work, to this service.

Tommy came to me, I think we met in the conference room, but Tommy came to me and he confessed that he had been dealing with this call for a while and he explained that he had suppressed this call and he reasoned away in his mind and in his heart that he was prideful. But he said, "Pastor, I believe now that's God calling me. It's not me. It's not out of pride." Jared had been wrestling with this call for quite a while before and I had been counseling him and praying with him along the way so as to know what God was doing in his life. Most of those messages were nothing more but confirmation for him.

Now let me explain how I want us to proceed. This will be a multi-step process. First this morning I'm putting them forward and I will teach on the call of the elder out of verse 1. And then second, next Sunday morning I will begin to teach on the qualifications of the elder and then both men will share their testimony as to how God is calling them. We need to hear these things from their lips. And a part of that I will share how I see their calling, how I see their giftedness and the needs that they will feel in the life of the church. And then third, I will call our church to pray exactly like we see in Acts chapter 13.

And then fourth, we will have a members meeting for several purposes on February the 19th, which is on a Wednesday night by the way. Make sure you mark that down church members. And this will be a time for any discussion that's needed, for any testimony that's needed. And if the vote is not unanimous, that means that they are not affirmed by the entire membership. Well we will not proceed. We will believe that it is God's will to just put those things on hold and pray. But if the vote is unanimous, that means that the entire membership votes yes in affirming them as elders, then we will proceed.

And if we proceed fifth, the body affirms both men. We will have an ordination service where we officially set them apart for the ministry exactly like we see in Acts 13 and in other places in the scripture. So this means that we will complete the process of putting forward both Tommy Alderman and Jared Walters next Sunday. Then we will have our members meeting for any needed discussion, any testimonies that are valid and needed in our vote. That will be February the 19th. Again that's on a Wednesday night so mark that down. So that means that we have two and a half weeks for prayer starting this morning.

And again if the vote is unanimous, which means 100% affirmation, we will have an ordination service on Sunday night, March the 9th. Now before I proceed, I want to tell you there's no such thing as dumb questions. I have a corner on dumb questions. So if you have questions, you come to me. I think most of you who know me, all of you who know me, you know I am approachable. You can get my phone number, you can come to my house, I'll meet with you anytime because I don't want any stone to be left unturned. Any question you have, you ask. Now this morning I want to start off Timothy chapter 3, these verses that are before us, verses 1 to 7.

But I want to show you how I want to approach the message, the verses and the messages because we'll have more than one. This morning I want us to examine the call of the elder. This is from verse 1. And I will mention some other verses. And then next week and the next we will examine the qualifications of the elder from the remaining verses. Now all of this teaching really is one message. I've just broken it down into three parts because of time and we need time for those testimonies next week. So the title of the message is called and qualified men. Again, it's a part one. So if you're taking notes, you can jot that down.

Called and qualified men. Let's read verse 1 again. You know me, my habit is, we'll go back to that verse over and over. You know I'll do that on purpose so that the verses get solidified in our minds. Verse 1. The saying is trustworthy. Some translations say true. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Some translations use the word work. A noble word. So number one, I want us to look at the call of the elder. I want us to look at the call of the elder. It is easy to see the call of the elder. It's right here in the verse. Paul says, the saying is trustworthy. Here it is.

If anyone aspires to the office of the elder, of the overseer, he desires a noble task. Now before we look at the call of the elder, I want to clear up any possible confusion by looking at the reality, the certainty of this office within the scripture now. We need to see that in the New Testament there are several titles that are used to describe one office and those different words describe the different gifts, the different abilities and the function of that one office and that one calling. In the New Testament the terms bishop or elder or pastor are synonymous.

Those are different terms which speak to one office but they describe the different gifts, abilities and function of that one office and that one calling. This term bishop means to oversee. In the New Testament we see that the elder has the ability and the responsibility to oversee and to govern the work of the church. We see the office of the elder clearly mentioned in Acts 20 verse 17. That's a good one for you to see. In Acts 20 verse 28, we'll come to that verse a little later, in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 to 3. Now listen as we read those verses.

Listen for the responsibility of the elder to oversee and to govern from verses 1 to 3, 1 Peter 5. Peter says, "So I exhort the elders among you." See he's speaking to elders. As a fellow elder, as an apostle, he functioned as an elder as well and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Now notice when he says, "Shepherd," that can say pastor, shepherd, the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. There's the governing. Now notice the motive and the heart behind it all. Not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you.

In other words, there's the call of God there. Not for shameful gain but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And also in the New Testament, there is this term shepherd. I mentioned that. Our shepherd in the verb form. This is where we sometimes get our word pastor. In the New Testament, we see that the shepherd of the pastor has the ability and the responsibility to shepherd or to pastor the people of God, the church of God. And we clearly see this in these verses that we just read. Let's read them again. Pastor says, "So I exhort the elders among you." They're the elders.

"As a fellow elder, he operated as an elder even though he was an apostle 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." See, pastor, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. How? How does he do all these things? Not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. Not for shameful. That would be dishonest gain, but eagerly. Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And then also in the New Testament, we see that the elder or the shepherd must have the ability to teach.

The ability to teach and the exercising of that ability is one of the qualifications of the elder, and we'll cover that extensively. See this in the qualifications for elder or overseer later on in chapter three. Verse two says, "Therefore an overseer," that could be translated pastor, bishop, elder, "Therefore an overseer must be above reproach the husband of one wife, so reminded self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach." Some translations say apt to teach. So what we need to see here is this. We clearly have one office. There's one calling with three abilities and three responsibilities within that one calling.

This man is called an elder because he is called and gifted to govern the church. This man is called a shepherd or a pastor because he is called and gifted to shepherd or pastor God's people. This man is called a pastor teacher or a teacher. Sometimes in our culture he's called a preacher because he is called and gifted to teach and to preach God's word in and among God's people. Simply we have one office with three functions, three gifts, three titles, all in one office. Now I have taught on this through the years, and I would invite you, if you're curious and want more teaching here, go to our church website.

You can dig those sermons up because there are times when I have taught on this more extensively. And of course there are others in the life of the church who can and do teach God's word who are not elders. We see that in the lives of other men and even some who could be in a vocational role who are not elders. We also see women in the life of the church who are gifted to teach children and the other women. Oh, I am so blessed when I see all of the women in the life of our church who teach women and teach children.

No matter of fact, when I was out of town I was blessed that I could ask Evan and Devon Allory to fill in and teach our teenagers. And I know that God used Devin. She ministered to those girls and Evan as he ministered to the boys and the girls. But here we are aiming at this office of the elder, the overseer, the pastor, one office with three functions and three gifts and three areas of service. Now if you've been here at Grace Life Church for a while I want you to notice something. That's what I've done here among you and in your life for almost 15 years.

And I've been doing this in the life of the church since God called me and placed me in ministry. Notice that. I want you to think about how God has used me to teach you God's word through all these years. Think about how God has used me to govern the church, not perfectly now, faithfully yes. Think about how God has used me to shepherd you and to pastor you. I try to always give you any time that you need, all the time that you need. Many times you will call or you'll meet with me and you'll say, "Pastor, I'm sorry to bother you. You're never a bother." That's what I'm here for. I love you dearly.

I love you so therefore I study to preach and teach God's word. I love you therefore I work hard to govern the affairs of the church well. But I love you. I give you all that you need to shepherd you, the pastor. He's done the same thing as he's been an elder alongside me. Now church, this is what I want you to see. I want you to understand this is God's pattern as found in the scripture. And for some of you, you will have to die to faulty patterns and faulty models that you have seen. Now Grace Life Church, listen to me. Here's your pastor. I have had hours and hours and hours of conversation with both Jared and Tommy over these things.

Hours of conversation on the phone, in person. We've read books together. We've studied scripture together. We've listened to podcasts and other sermons together. Hours. And they understand this office, these three functions, these gifts in this wonderful office and privileged this before us. Now with any confusion in those things out of the way, again if you have questions I'll be glad to help you there. And with a clear understanding that what we have here is one office, I want us to examine the call, the call of the elder.

And I want to make four observations about the call and all of this comes right out of verse one in some other scripture. First I want us to see that this is an important call. I want us to see that this is an important call. Notice that Paul prefaces this call with a phrase. He says that what he is about to say is trustworthy. The King James says true. Now if we study Paul's writings, we see that he used this phrase five different times. He used this phrase in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy and in the book of Titus. And in every case where he was using this phrase, he was always using this phrase to introduce a subject of great, great importance.

So what is the point here? Paul was emphasizing that what he was about to say was and is important. He was saying, and I'm putting all this in my words now, listen church, listen well, what I'm about to tell you is trustworthy, it is true, and it is very important. And look Grace Life Church, this is an important call and this is an important office. And notice if we strike out here in this call, if we strike out here with this office, what happens to the church? What happens to the church? Rhetorical questions here, please don't blurt out any answers.

How many churches have serious problems and make horrible decisions all because they have the wrong men leading the church? Let me say that again. How many churches have serious problems and make horrible decisions all because they have the wrong men leading the church? Many of us have been hurt by that. We have the scars to prove it, sadly. Now Jared, Tommy, Tommy's not here because he's still dealing with sickness. Both you men and your wives, this is not a call to be over the booster club. There's nothing wrong with a booster club. This isn't a call to be over the PTA or to be president of your deer hunting club. No.

We have before us the most important call in the life of the church, one of the most important calls in the world. Second, this is a desirous call. Notice that Paul says that if anyone aspires to the office, he desires a good work. I hear Paul used two words that help us see that this is a strong desire that is acted upon. This word translated aspire, the King James uses the word desire. It means to want something and to literally reach out for it. It even means to have a strong inward desire and even passionate desire for something and reaching out for it. The point here is this.

Paul was in his saying that there would be some men in the church who would truly desire the calling of an elder and they will reach for it. They will strongly desire the calling. They will strongly desire the service. They will even strongly desire the office. They will possess a strong inner desire within them for these things. Therefore they will act out in a positive way, reaching out for it. Now church, that is what both Jared and Tommy have been saying and demonstrating for me, to me and even before you.

Jared has been dealing with this aspiration and this desire through much prayer and much study on his own long before he came to counsel with me. Honestly, when he first broached the subject with me and came to me with this burden of desire, some of the books that I recommended, he already had. But I think about how with Jared, this came on the heels or alongside years of service in the life of the church. I did some math. Jared served faithfully in the life of the church in various capacities in six different churches for years. Not that he's hopped and skipped around, no.

Tommy's been dealing with this aspiration, this desire for quite a while as well. Now one interesting thing about Tommy that many of you may not know is this. At one time Tommy thought that he was called to vocational ministry, to pastor. He did try to pastor and as he tried to serve in that capacity, it just didn't work. I never forget one of the things that he told me was, "Pastor, I thought I was called. I tried. I wasn't sinful, but I'm not called to do what you do." He told me that in those back double doors one day. But I've also seen Tommy try to serve as an elder in different capacities in other churches through the years as well.

What Tommy has come to realize is this, he had the desire and the aspiration for this kind of service for years, but he never had an acceptably healthy church to live out these desires and this calling. Now church, let me share with you something. Listen close. This is a must. A man can't serve as an elder. A man can't serve as a deacon. We'll get to that soon. A man cannot serve as an elder like we have before us unless he is in an acceptably healthy church. When you try to serve as an elder in an unhealthy church, it's very difficult.

It's even difficult to do that as a pastor, but the pastor is charged to straighten out those unhealthy churches. What I'm trying to show you is this. Tommy desired and tried to live out some of those aspirations in some sadly unhealthy circumstances and it just didn't work. Third, Paul tells us this is a noble call. Notice that Paul says that the one who aspires to the office, he desires a noble task. The English standard says noble task. The new American says it is a fine work he desires to do. This word noble or fine, this literally means beautiful. It can mean handsome. It means excellent. It means admirable. The point here is this.

Paul was saying that this calling and this desire, this work and this office and this position is honorable. It is good. It is an admirable thing, all of it. He says this desire is good. This calling is excellent. This office is honorable and the service attached to all of these things is a beautiful thing. Church a question here. Do you see the beauty? The excellency? The goodness and the calling in the office in the service of elder ministry? I hope you do. I want to say this and I do say it humbly.

In my years of service before you, pastor, preaching and teaching God's word, shepherding and pastoring and governing, I hope that you see the beauty and the excellency, the goodness and the calling in the office and the service by how I flesh that out. Not perfectly, but faithfully. Luke, church, if you're looking for a perfect pastor, please leave. You're not going to find one in this man standing here. I'm talking about faithfully. I hope you've seen the beauty of it and how I have served. But Jared and Tommy, I want to ask you a question. Do you see that this is a noble thing that is before us? It's noble. It's beautiful.

It's an admirable thing. And listen, this is for me. This is for Keith. This is for any man who would serve in the life of the church in the elder ministry. We must see that this is a noble thing, a high thing. But listen, church, how many men have taken the office? How many men have taken the position? How many men have taken the service of elder and even the pastor of the church? That which is supposed to be beautiful, excellent and high because it all comes from God. How many have taken it and run it through the mud of sin?

Some of you know about the great and terrible scandal with Steve Lawson, very famous pastor, preacher, conference speaker, came out that he was involved in years of adultery. He took his calling, he took his position and he ran it through the mud of sin. But how many wives of pastors, how many wives of elders have taken that calling to be the wife of an elder and they have run it through the mud of sin? And then fourth, I want us to see this is a laborious call. Notice that Paul says that this is a noble task or a good work. The English standard uses the word task. The New American uses the word work.

Listen to verse one in the New American standard. Listen for this word. It is a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work. It is a fine work. Any desires to do, notice it is a fine work. In this word task or work, this speaks of labor. It speaks of business. It speaks of a job that needs to be done and it can even speak of employment. So the point here is this. Paul was saying that this calling and desire is a calling for work. This is an office that pertains to work. This is an office and a position that pertains to work.

The work of governing, the work of pastoring, the work of teaching, sometimes the work of even preaching. Now church, do you understand that the office of an elder is all about three works of service, works of service, teaching and preaching God's word in the church? Shepherding and pastoring God's people, governing and overseeing the work of the church, this is work. And notice, this is not white shirt work. You might say, "Pastor, you got on a blue shirt." This is work shirt work. What I mean is, is it's work. It's roll up your sleeves work. Let me let you in on a little secret. Did you know that preaching is the easy part?

Now it's hard work. It takes time. My wife can tell you the time that I put in. But preaching is easy. Pastoring people can be tough because we're all sinners. You see? We're all sinners. And you know, as I have matured and grown, when I minister to you and I see your sins and shortcomings, years ago I would have wanted to jerk a knot in you. God's changed me a lot. It's because when I look at you and I see your sins and your shortcomings, I just see me. I've done the same thing. Probably more than you. But what I'm trying to show you is this, is work.

And sometimes governing the life of the church is work, especially when troubles and difficulties come along. But Jared and Tommy, I want to ask you, do you understand that this position is a position of service, work? I think about Paul's example from 1 Corinthians 4.1. He uses a particular word where he says that they were to be slaves, who berate slaves, the lowest of slaves, the lowest of slaves. The great apostle Paul, what did he say? I am the lowest of slaves and a steward, a manager of the work. The church noticed something I've been doing for the past two years, even longer.

I've had Tommy and Jared serving and working in elder type ministry right before your eyes. I'll give you an example. Four years ago, this February and March, I got Tommy and Jared to help me and help Brother Keith and I with a very, very difficult church discipline case. Very difficult. We had an individual in the life of our church who was creating all types of division, trying to create a confederacy against me, accused me of preaching heresy. He did not have a biblical accusation. Chris Travis knows about those circumstances. He can tell you all about it. But I brought them in and I got them to help me with this very, very difficult case.

They worked hard along beside me and along with Keith for a long period of time, trying to bring this man to repentance as he was making false accusations and trying very, very hard to stir up division against the pastor and the elder leadership. Church discipline is very, very hard work. And they were faithful. They've worked hard on the financial team. They've both worked hard and do work hard in small group ministry. See small group ministry is about preaching and teaching and about shepherding. You know, a lot of times I don't see the shepherding that they do.

And then I'll hear and make a comment about meeting with someone, talking with someone. I think, yep, that's shepherding. Sometimes we don't see those things. So notice what we see here just in verse one. This is quite a lot. It's very good. It's much needed. And I'll be honest with you. I could preach a lot more here. There's a lot more ground we could cover. But notice Paul is describing this calling to a particular office, the office of an elder. He says that this is a very, very serious and important calling. It's a high and noble and even a beautiful calling.

He says this is a laborious calling and that this position pertains to a certain work and a certain business. And he says that some men have this God-given desire for this calling and for this work. So as a result, they reach out for this service and this office because they have a strong and an even passionate desire for the work all from the Spirit of God that has worked in them and called them and equipped them. Now I want to move away from the verses or the verse. And I want us to see three things about this calling to elder service.

In Luke, Grace Life Church, we must see these three things in these men or if we do not and we affirm them, we'll miss God's will and we'll miss God's plan for the church. First this is an upward calling. The calling to the office and the work of the elder first comes from above, which means it comes from God. It simply starts with God and ends with God. Think about this with me. If I'm called to go to war, who issues that call for me to go? If I'm called to serve on a board, maybe on a nonprofit or on the hospital board or for a particular business, who issues that call for me to serve?

If I'm called to serve on a jury, on a local or state or even a federal level, well, who issues to me that call? Well in regards to a biblical elder, we must see that this calling comes from above, it comes from God. Now I cannot help but deal with these, I cannot help but go back to my call in dealing with these things. I have preached my testimony, my saving testimony, and I've preached my call to the ministry. But I'll never forget as I was serving the Lord at Highland Baptist Church in Laurel, Mississippi.

I was serving as best I knew how there in the gym of Highland Baptist Church in the month of March of 1995, God visited me and called me. I'm not sure what the gym looks like now, but if those bleachers are still there, I could take you to the very spot where the Spirit of God dealt with me and he called me and in my mind and in my heart I could see ministry that was before me, I've been serving in the life of the church and the Spirit of God birthed in me this desire, this call and he said to my spirit, "I want to do this through you, I can do this through you." And I looked at him in my mind and in my heart, I said this prayer, "Lord, I've been average or below average at so many other things.

I don't want to approach what you're doing in my life that way." And I took almost 11 months to pray and to fast and to seek God. I didn't trust my feelings. I beat my feelings back like you would a rattlesnake. I sought counsel from my pastor and others and in those 11 months, God solidified that call, that above call, that call from God. It wasn't me and Tommy and Jared, you were both declaring that you've been called by God to do the work. And if God is not called, you, well, you're blaming God for something that he hadn't done. Second, I want you to see that this is an inward call and calling.

The calling to the position in the work of an elder. Second, it comes from within because it is a desire and an aspiration from within. Didn't we see? So the man being called reaches out for, he even passionately desires and seeks after the work in the office. Now think about this with me. This is experiential. This is even subjective. This is not seen until it is fleshed out in the work, not for a short period of time, but over the long haul. I'll make a confession to you. There have been people that I have known that said, "I am called, I am called, I am called." And over the long haul, they didn't demonstrate they were called.

I don't understand that. But I've known people who've said, "I am called, I am called, I am called." And 30 years later, they're still exhibiting that call. But this is personal. This is experiential and it comes from within. This call for me was tested greatly. I went through a difficult time in ministry where it seemed like I was out of the ministry. I wasn't serving on church staff. After 10 years of ministry, God had me working a job I hated every day. And I'll never forget wrestling with being hurt by the church. My call was tested.

My wife can tell you, and brother Keith can tell you, I spent four years living on Psalm 40 verses 1, 2, and 3. Psalm 40 talks about waiting on the Lord, waiting on the Lord, waiting patiently. I waited, but I didn't wait patiently. Most of the time I was kicking and screaming. But I'll tell you what, I was the most miserable person on the face of the earth because I could not live out the call. But God had me waiting and He was preparing me for Nola Baptist Church and for you. Jared and Tommy, you were both saying that you have an inward call, a personal call. You have experienced this call for service in the church, elder service.

Then third, this is an external call. The call to the service in the office of an elder, third comes from without. This is an external call in that there is an external call from the members of the church, the body, that's you. I go back to Acts 13 in the church at Antioch to illustrate this external call. Now listen close, Grace Life Church. Verses 1 to 3 says, "Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers." Now there's your elders right there, remember? Teachers, preachers, elders, overseers.

"Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Meneon, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetris, Arkansas." Notice, "While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" And notice what we see there right there in verse 2. The upward call of God and the internal call within the men, you see? Listen to the verse.

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" Verse 3, "Then after fasting and praying, they," who's they? The church leaders in the church body. "They laid their hands on them and sent them off." And notice what we see here, the external call of the church affirming the call of God on these men and affirming the internal call that they had expressed. I think about my external calling. It came from Highland Baptist Church in Laura, Mississippi. In my office, I have an ordination certificate.

There's a list of men that affirm that calling. My brother-in-law's on that list. Christie's brother-in-law, Joey, is on that list. My old home church pastor's on that list. I had already started serving at First Baptist Church Ellisville, and many men from First Baptist Church Ellisville are on that list. That piece of paper is valuable to me. Not that there's anything holy that comes from it, but that represents my external calling. There was a church and there was a body and there was a pastor and there were leaders who affirmed that upward calling and that inward calling.

You can go all the way back to Highland Baptist Church and there are men there today that will say, "Yeah, I signed it. I still see it." Jared and Tommy, you must realize that the affirmation of your calling is in the hands of this church, your church, your brothers and sisters. You see that? Jared and Tommy, you must realize that the affirmation of your calling is in the hands of the church membership of Grace Life Church Brookhaven, your brothers and your sisters. And church members of Grace Life Church Brookhaven, you either see this, their calling is from God and affirm it and get in on their calling or you do not.

Church, you either see their calling and you see their calling as from God and you affirm it and you get in on it or you do not. And look, church, I do not say this as some kind of an ultimatum. No. I'm not domineering over you. I never have. I'm putting this decision and this affirmation in your hands and God's hands as God's church. So what we have here this morning, called and qualified men. Now this is how we close. I'm putting before you, Grace Life Church Brookhaven, two men to potentially serve in the work in the office of elder alongside me and Keith. Jared Walters and Tommy Alderman, you know them.

Next week we will hear from them how God has been working in them in this call and I will share how I see their calling and their gifting. Brother Keith will share as well and then I will show you and share with you the areas of service that I believe we need them in and some of those things they've been doing them already. Then we will have our members meeting for any discussion needed, maybe some testimonies and then our vote. That is on a Wednesday night, February the 19th. So that means that we have two and a half weeks to pray and to ask any questions.

And if the vote is unanimous, which means 100%, we will have an ordination service Sunday night, March the 9th. So as we always do, let's pray and commit the message to the Lord. But this is a little different because I am calling you, Grace Life Church, to pray and commit this work to the Lord and then it's up to us. It's up to us.