What to Expect

That's good. This morning, we're going to, do what we normally do, but I've got some extra helpers this morning to, to get our children's, worship part, our children's lesson going. I'm gonna ask, Christopher, if he'd come forward, and he he would read the passage we've selected. I'm gonna be reading from Romans chapter 10 verses 14 and 15. But how are the men to call upon him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how come no one preach unless they are sent? It is written. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.

Thank you. Thank you very much. That's an excellent reading, Christopher. I have a question, for you because, in this passage that we've just read, they're talking about, or Paul rather is talking about an individual, a particular person. Does anyone know what person that he is talking about here?

He mentions him several times. Well, I know you know because you just read it, but let's give these other guys a chance. Anybody any idea? Do you know? Anybody knows who they talk to?

Who? Oh, okay. Well, you've changed places. That's good. Well, let me help you a little bit here.

Let me help you a little bit. In this passage that Christopher just read, Paul is talking about preachers. He's talking about preachers. Let me ask you a question. Do you know any preachers by name?

Are there who are the preachers? Who are they? Do you know anyone? Like you. Yeah.

Like me. I'm one. I was so afraid there. Let me ask you. Are there any other preachers here at Stillwater?

Can you name some? This is a give me right here. I got Magalonezo. That's me again. I think you're in trouble here.

You've got a your own son named me here. Alright. We have several, don't we? Alright. We have Woody over here, mister Woodrow, brother Woodrow over here, and Mike Dawes.

Yeah. Your dad and Mike Dawes. I don't know where he is. Thank you, Mike. Mike got me into this in the first place, and I really appreciate him.

Yes. There's several men here that work as preachers. Now I'm gonna ask you a really hard question. Now you're really gonna have to think hard and if, can you tell me what do preachers do? I mean, what do they do?

I'm gonna ask the ladies because they're always asking that question to begin with. You're gonna have to move forward. I wanna hear what you say. Yeah. You come over here.

I don't have enough mic cord. They preach the word of god. They preach the word of god. That's right. They tell people about god.

That's what preachers do. They tell people about god. Now this is a very hard question. Boy, I'm not sure anybody knows this one here, but we'll see. Does anybody know what Paul in the passage that Christopher read says about preachers?

He says 2 things about them. Do you know what he said? Anybody remember at all what he says? Oh, okay. Wow.

We got a good guy. Go ahead, Kim. They're kind. Well, they are kind. All of them are kind and good looking, I might add.

But Paul doesn't say that particular, thing right here. What Paul says about preachers is that people cannot know about Jesus unless preachers preach. Isn't that important? Unless preachers tell them about God, people are not not gonna gonna know about God. And that's so important because if people don't know about God, what's gonna happen?

Anybody know? Ladies? People do bad things. That's right. People do bad things and the devil's gonna get them.

That's another way of saying it. Yeah. So preachers tell people about God and that's very important. Another thing that Paul says in this particular passage is that people or rather preachers can't preach unless somebody sends them. That's really important.

And that word there sends means unless somebody helps preachers, preachers can't do their job. Now, I have something to tell you that concerns all of you here this morning. Something very special is happening today, and something very special is going to happen in 2 weeks. Does anybody know what special thing is happening today? Let's see.

Let's get somebody that did okay. You come on up and talk right into the mic. What special thing is happening today? Is it your birthday? Yeah.

I I got my birthday in August. You're not close enough. Okay. Well, what special thing is happening today? Okay.

We'll give you a chance. Potluck. Well, I was thinking of something else, to tell you the truth. The potluck and many people are here for that. Yes.

Okay. Go ahead. Kip. Church. Yes.

Church is happening today. Well, one special thing that's happening today is this is the last Sunday that I'm gonna be here. It's the last day. So I wanna make sure I said goodbye to you in person and that no you wouldn't be surprised. So that's a special thing.

My time to tell you about God and to tell you about Jesus is over. Now what's the other special thing that's gonna happen in maybe 2 weeks from now? A new preacher is gonna come. That's right. The new preacher is gonna come in 2 weeks.

Right? Anybody know his name? Oh, boy. Yeah. Over here.

Randy Dill. Oh, Randy Dill. Oh, here's a hard one. Girls, what's his wife's name? Oh oh, you know that too?

Pam. Yes. Her name is Pam. Right? The 2 kids.

22 children. Anybody know the name of the children? Jennifer. Jennifer. Listen to that.

Jennifer and Jason. Right? That's still a special thing that's happening in 2 weeks. The new preacher is coming and he's gonna tell you about God and he's gonna tell you about Jesus. So today in our prayer, what I want us to do is I want us to remember as we're praying and throughout the day, let's pray for him and his family that they arrive here safely and that they stay a long long.

I wasn't supposed to stay very long, just a little while, but they're supposed to stay a long time. Let's pray that they stay a long long time here. And the other thing is, like Paul says, that you help him because he won't be able to do his job unless you help him. Now this morning to end off our our, our little lesson here, we have asked the Wyatt Wilson if he will lead us in a prayer. And, Wyatt, if you come up here, stand up nice and straight.

Kids, if you just pay attention now, we're gonna pray to God. And you kids out there, you listen as Wyatt leads us in prayer. Go ahead, Wyatt. Dear heavenly father, please let Mark have a safe way here, and please let all the children be safe that they have. And please let Michael be safe on his way.

And you so much water. Amen. Amen. Okay, kids. Thank you.

It was wonderful. We sang. We prayed. Can you hear me over there? Louder.

Closer. Closer. We prayed. We sang. I was thinking, you know, sometimes we sing and sometimes we don't during communion and, some people have different ideas.

That's not what my sermon is about. But I was I was I was sitting there and I said, you know, we have another option. We can just listen. We can just listen and let the words kind of just edify us. You know, it doesn't have to be, I gotta sing, I gotta pray all by myself.

We could just kinda get into it and just listen to what they are. Let the others sing to us. That's what I did. It's a wonderful experience. I must be dumb.

It took 15 years to figure that one out. Well, it is the first time in a long time, and I'm speaking about as lot as I can without overbearing the first row and still reaching the last row back there, but this is the first time in a long time that my family and I are together on a Sunday morning and we're happy to share it here with you in Stillwater. I have grown close to many people here and that's not just preacher introduction talk, that's the truth. And I am and continue to be thankful for the opportunity of having served you in the last several months. It was a great opportunity for me personally and I'm thankful.

Before I start my lesson, I just wanna say a few things while most people are are gathered. You have made me feel you've made me feel more than welcome. You've made me feel wanted. There's a difference. There's a difference.

You've made me feel wanted and this has motivated me a great deal. Thank you for each word of kindness. Thank you for each word of acceptance that you have uttered. Thank you for each generous act that you have engendered towards me. I'm grateful.

Thank you to Anne Brumley. I can't name individually everybody, but I wanna thank Anne Brumley for her help in the office. Everything that I've asked her was always done enthusiastically, was always done well, was always done on time. I think that's called being a professional. Thank you, Anne.

Wherever you are, I can't see you, but thank you for your help and your encouragement. Thanks to Woody. Thanks to Mike for their, their encouragement. Every time we plan worship together, it's always an edifying experience for me. Thank you, Sandy, for your great enthusiasm, always anxious to do what is good.

Thank you to the elders, all of you, for your love, first of all. I could sense it. I could feel it. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your encouragement.

Most of all, thank you for your example. I have found in each of you and your wives the composite qualities which make up the image of Jesus Christ altogether, and the true spirit of love that will serve me in the future as a standard for what leadership is all about. And I don't say that as an empty word. I could just say, thank you, elders. You were very kind.

But I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You have given me a new vision of what leadership needs to be, and I take that with me and I will implement that, what you have taught me. Without teaching me verbally, you've taught me a great deal in all of my actions, your purity. I am impressed. Thank you to all the brothers who have led singing and who have worked so hard in preparing worship services and the mic and the, you know, can I take this stand with me?

Where was this the last 4 months? I love this stand. This is great. Thank you for all those little things. You know, the microphone works.

Somebody hands you a mic. Somebody hands you a sheet. It's all ready. It's ready to go. And I know that during the week, people are working hard.

Thank you, deacons, for serving as you ought to and fulfilling your ministry, especially when it concerns me. And of course, I wanna make a special thanks to the children who always lifted my spirits each and every week, especially during that children's lesson, and also have always been so well behaved and respectful during the worship. Thank you, children, for that you've given to me personally anyways, and and in that way, you've cooperated. I am grateful. So we come to an end of our special relationship and this part of our relationship.

And as John the Baptist said in another context, of course, I must decrease so the new man will be able to increase. And that's good and that's right and that's the way it should be and that's the way we planned it, and it's going according to plan, and praise God for that. And there's always great enthusiasm when a new preacher arrives, and it's no different here. There's great enthusiasm for Randy and his family arriving here, and everybody wants to see the church grow, and everybody wants the church to become more dynamic, and this is good. This is a good thing.

And I've spoken with a lot of you on this point and I've noticed that you have high expectations. So this morning, as I leave to make way for the new man, I want to share with you some thoughts about what you should expect from the preacher. Not just what to expect from Randy but what to expect from preachers, period. And maybe what not to expect from preachers. Maybe we'll start with what you ought not to expect, What not to expect from this man.

You ought not to expect perfection. Don't expect perfection. I'm not saying this as a cop out or a cover up for sin or laziness, you know. I mean, preachers gotta try hard like everybody else, maybe harder even sometimes. But I know that, you don't really think that preachers are perfect people.

But somehow, it seems that people become extremely disappointed when they see flaws and character in their preacher. They become extremely disappointed when they see weakness, and sometimes failure. And maybe they notice that there's an obvious struggle in that man's life with particular sin. Or maybe they, they're struggling with their wives or with their children. You know, it's bad enough that preachers and their wives want to raise perfect children.

Ask my son, Paul, he's perfect. It's bad enough that preachers and their wives want to raise expect perfect children without the congregation expecting them to to succeed. In 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 9 and 10, Paul said, for I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But he says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. In the same way, I can say this morning, it isn't education.

It isn't talents. It isn't a claim to perfection that will bring Randy here. It is the grace of God that loved him and saved him from the curse of imperfection and has made him useful in God's service. That man that is coming is perfect in the eyes of God through grace, although through your temporal vision, you will see the unfinished product of God's love. It isn't by being more perfect than anybody else that somebody gets to preach.

It isn't merely by ability that you are sustained in this particular task. It is the grace of God that sustains you in this ministry. The task of preaching is too great. The message is too wonderful. The responsibility is too heavy for mere human strength or mere human wisdom.

And so please, don't expect perfection from him. Expect rather that like Paul, he will labor in his ministry in such a way that the grace of God toward him will not prove to be in vain. Perhaps another thing that you ought not to expect from him is church growth. Church growth. Don't expect church growth from the new preacher.

You know, there are a lot of people who think that the thing to do to get church to grow is to hire a new preacher, or maybe build a new wing, or maybe start a new program. But church growth is not generated by man. Church growth is not generated by mere human effort. Church growth is a product of God. As Paul said in 1st Corinthians chapter 3, verse 6, I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the increase.

You know, preachers can preach and preachers can exhort and preachers can rebuke, but the church grows when each individual takes on his or her responsibility to submit to God's will. That's what makes the church grow. In Acts chapter 2:38, Peter preached, Repent and be baptized. But the growth came because 3,000 individuals decided to respond. Do you know that God could have used anybody to preach that message?

Anybody could have said the same thing that Peter said. The growth did not occur because of the messenger, but because the people responded to the message. And nowhere in the Bible does it say that Peter was a dynamic speaker. As a matter of fact, it says he was kind of common. And people who study the biblical languages tell us that his writing and his communication is kind of rather simple.

The gospel, Paul says, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Romans chapter 1 verse 16. So I tell you, a new preacher is not the cure for apathy or for laziness, or for sinfulness, or for worldliness, or for a rebellious spirit. I'll tell you what the cure for that is. Repentance is the cure for those things, brothers and sisters.

So the growth of this church depends on you and how you are going to respond to God's word no matter who is preaching it. Church growth belongs to you and how the word works in your heart. Okay. What should you expect from him? There are things that you should expect from him.

Absolutely. And I think it's safe to say, and in all fairness to Randy himself, I think you should expect for him to do the work of an evangelist. Expect that. That you can expect. And briefly stated the work of an evangelist according not according to the resume, not according to the job description, not according to what's happening in the brotherhood, or what's convenient, or what somebody is doing so we'll leave this, you know, we'll leave this over here to the priest.

According to the New Testament, the work of the evangelist is, a, to proclaim the gospel to the Philip's in Acts chapter 8, Philip is telling the gospel to someone who is lost. The life or the death of the church is directly proportional to this activity. You want to grow? Preach to the lost. You want to shrink?

Stop preaching to the lost. It's very simple. You don't need a PhD to figure that one out. When the lost hear how God has dealt with their sin and with their lostness, they come to God and the church grows. It's so simple and yet we get away from this simple fact so easily.

We end up making the means the end. You know what I'm saying? We end up making getting together to hear about the fact that we've got to go preach to the lost. We make that the purpose of our existence rather than actually going out and preaching to the lost in our community. And trust me, there's still lost people in Stillwater.

There's still lost there are a lot of church buildings in Stillwater. Don't let that facade, you know, it kind of lull you into some sort of complacency. Well, they're over there. They don't think like us, but they're close enough. They're not close enough.

Remember I told you that many weeks ago. Close enough is not good enough. Close enough is not good enough. Unless you have believed in Christ, repented of your sins, been immersed in the name of Jesus, you're not saved. It doesn't matter how big you're building in it and how much stuff you do in the community.

Another thing that, another thing that he does, or rather what he is doing when he is preaching from the lost is that he is doing it from whatever status you give him, either from the pulpit, or from media, or through other means. The evangelist's job is to try to mobilize the church in carrying out the task of bringing the gospel to the lost. You can expect that from him. You can expect him to establish and organize the church. That's another part of his task, is it not?

In Titus chapter 1, excuse me, verse 5, Paul is talking to, to a young well an evangelist and he says to him, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Now the word set in order, that term suggests, 1, that Titus was to amend the defective parts. That church still had some things that needed to be fixed and Paul left him there to do that particular work. And secondly, it suggests the idea that the complete task of putting together all the components so that the church there would be operational according to the New Testament. This is a model church here that Titus was sent to to finish.

It wasn't finished yet. All the pieces were there. You know, the main parts were put together but they had a lot of parts still that had to be put on. And Paul says to Titus, You finish up putting the model together. That's part of the evangelist's job.

The task here is to find ways to make all of the parts of this body in still water work together more cohesively. Is this the church? Yes. Do you have elders? Yes.

Deacons? Yes. Preachers? Yes. But there are still parts of the model that are still in the box.

And the work of the preacher is to make sure all the parts are put on and all of the parts are working in conjunction with each other properly. So when you throw the switch, it all works. That's the job of the evangelist. Expect that from him that he fixes the broken parts and he puts the rest of the parts onto the body. And so the evangelist works with every part of the body with teachers and deacons and elders and all of the saints so that the body will, as Paul says in Ephesians 4 16, build itself up in love.

And then another work of the evangelist is to minister the word to the church. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, Paul says to Timothy, Preach the word, Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience, he said, and instruction. This is the work of the evangelists. The lost need to hear God's word in order to be saved. And the church needs to be organized to carry out this task.

But the church, the saved, also need to hear God's word in order to remain saved. You know, they come in the front door, something's gotta happen so they don't go out the back door. That's the work of the evangelist. Please, please do not be offended if one of your beliefs is corrected in line with Scripture by the preacher. That's called a reproof.

Please don't be angry if He deals with your sins and your bad attitudes. That's called a rebuke. Please don't be, hard hearted if He encourages you to do better or to forgive somebody or not to quit. That's called an exhortation. You see, that's His work.

That's why you brought Him here. That's why you pay Him. That's what God wants him to do for your benefit. So don't fight him on these things. Don't get mad if he tells you you're wrong and you are wrong.

Repent. You can expect your preacher to do the work of an evangelist, to preach to the lost, to organize the church, and to minister the word to the saints. Expect that from him. Expect that because that's his job. That's what you're paying him to do.

Now, I could kind of end right here and, you know, we'd have pretty good lesson, I think. But I think there's one more point that we need to make. There are some things that you should not expect from him and there are some things that you should expect from him. But you know what, there are some things that he's going to expect from you. And I want to tell you about the things that He's going to expect from you.

He's going to expect you to obey the word. He's going to expect that from you. If what is preached and taught is accurate according to God's word and you claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, then your response is not just a comment on his style of preaching or how good he was. Well, he's like this guy. He's not like you know, preaching is not figure skating.

It's not, you know, he preaches and you hold up, you know, 8, 7a half. That's not preaching. That's not what preaching is all about. Your true response to the sermon And it's always, you know, don't get me wrong, it's always encouraging for the preacher when someone says, I enjoyed your message, or That was encouraging to me, or I learned something. Or you know, that's always encouraging.

It's a very emptying experience. You try it. You get up here and talk for 40 minutes and you're kind of empty when you're finished. So to be to be hugged and loved all after is kind of filling your spirit up again. But that's not the point of it all.

The point of preaching is for you to obey because God has spoken to you through the preacher. God has spoken to you through the preacher. No one is above obedience. You're never too young or too old to obey God's word. And you know what?

We usually have more problems with older Christians than younger ones in this category. Obedience is always what God expects. And obedience is always what God has demanded. He's demanded it from kings and slaves, from teachers and students, from the very old to those who are just beginning, from Genesis to Revelation. You are never beyond obeying God.

You never get that good. And you know what? God expects all of His people to keep all of His word all of the time. You might retire from, OSU or General Electric, you know, but you never retire from obeying god. From the most simple and basic things in his word like go to church regularly.

You know, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. From the most simple and basic instruction like go to church regularly to the most sublime and encompassing ideas of offering your body as a living sacrifice, Romans chapter 12 verse 1 and 2. You know, from the simplest command to the most encompassing command, God expects you to obey. This man will expect you to be eager to obey God's will as you know it. And you need to be ready to be rebuked when you're not.

Otherwise, why come here? Why should you come? What what are you doing here? You don't fool God if you're disobedient and the the brethren usually know who the hypocrites are. We got them figured out.

We let them in. They can sit down. They can drink the juice and bite the cracker, but, you know, eventually we'll do the separation act. Jesus has told us specifically, Don't bother right now. The wheat and the tares, don't do that.

You'll upset the church trying to figure out who all the hypocrites are. Don't do that. Just let them grow. It's alright. I know who they are.

The new preacher will expect you to obey. And the second thing he'll do is he'll expect you to be involved. He should expect everybody who confesses Jesus Christ and claims to be a part of the body, the church, to be involved in the life of the church. You know, in a human body, every single part has a specific function that in some way supports and nourishes the whole. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse, 15 and 16, Paul says, But speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself.

And Lot, he says, It is the proper working of every single part that causes the growth. Notice? When every single part is working and working the way it ought to be working, then there is growth in the body. Now, if someone asks you, What do you do at church? And your only reply is that you go to services, something is wrong.

I mean, I hate to shatter your illusion but going to church is not involvement. I hate to bust the balloon this morning, but going to church is not involvement. When we come to services, we receive something. We don't give a whole lot other than praise to God. Teaching others in some way, visiting or bringing others to church or studying with someone or maintaining the physical property or giving or helping or serving or sharing or driving, This is involvement.

But coming to church and listening to the sermon, whether you do it once or 5 times a week, that's not involvement. It's like saying that we are musicians because we play the radio. There's a big difference. You know, what do they call it? Airbands.

My kids are they do the airband deal. You know, they put the radio on and go, you can. And they pretend, you know, you're just pretending. That's not involvement. I want to tell you something.

There are no spectators in the kingdom of God, only players. And the new preacher should expect each individual here to begin thinking seriously where and how they will serve because I'll tell you, I think you're going to be asked. I think you're going to be asked. You know, one of the basics of good communication or rather for good communications and relationships is the clear understanding of mutual expectation. Let me say, I muffled that didn't I?

I muffled it, maybe you weren't paying attention. So, you pay attention and I'll say it over again. One of the basics for good communications and relationships is the clear understanding of mutual expectations. So with this idea in mind, I've explained some of the things that you will need to offer each other, you to the new man and the new man to you, if you're gonna build up this great church. And this is a great church.

Don't don't make no mistakes about what I feel about this congregation. 2 things, a, expect him to work hard and as an evangelist, reaching out to the lost, organizing the work of the church, administering to you and your particular needs through God's word. Expect that, you have a right. And he should expect you to obey God's word with all your heart and to get involved with all your ability and you all have great ability. Now, if you both do these things, here's what you can expect.

You can expect, first of all, that you can, you will have spiritual and numerical growth. You will have it. You can expect to be a model of encouragement to the brotherhood around us. We don't think about that very often. That by your actions and your growth and your spirituality and your love, you encourage others.

When I go somewhere and I say, So what are you doing? I hear, So I hear you're on Stillwater. Yeah. And they say, Great church. I'd say, So I mean that.

Great church. Yes, great church. Now I've preached at some places and say, So where are you preaching? I'm over, I'm doing the work over here. So how's it going?

You making it through, you know, they rip you apart. Yeah. I'm serious. You can expect to encourage the brotherhood And you can all expect to be favorably welcomed into heaven when Jesus returns for his beautiful bride, the church whom you are. I hope that I've lived up to your expectations with my preaching and my teaching during the last 6 months or so.

And my only expectation of you from week to week has been that if you've not obeyed the gospel, you would not put off until another day repenting of your sins and confessing Christ and being baptized. I have always expected you to obey the gospel. And I've always, always expected, if you've been rebellious or disobedient or unfaithful or uninvolved, I've always hoped that you would want to make a fresh start. So I offer that same invitation, a fresh start with the Lord as a new child in Christ or a fresh start in the church if you've been disobedient. And if you wanna prepare for the coming of the new man, what a great way to do this.

You know, I've offered this invitation over 30 times, few people have accepted. So I offer one more time. If you need to be baptized, if you need to repent, if you need to start over, we're gonna sing another song of invitation. Don't put it off for one more day. This morning's no different.

I encourage you to do this. I thank you and I pray that God bless you in all that you do.