The Diligent Workman - Testimony

[00:00:00] Let's bow our heads. Fathers, even as we have listened to you talk to us, to the brother, we ask God that your word as it went forth through your spirit and touched our lives, that, Father, it would be fruit that would come from this message. We thank you tonight for Lonnie, for bearing his soul, for sharing that, Father, that which is heavy on his heart, for the boldness you gave him, and Father, for the needs that he has, and for the needs all of us have, Father, tonight. [00:00:42] We just pray, God, that you would just reach down to the Holy Spirit and just touch your hearts. Give us a new vision, Father, the direction you want us to go. Not just as a beach in the constituency, Father, but our individual lives and for our church life, for our spouse's life and our children. Father, we know that you have the answer for everything that we face. You created us. You want to be our shepherd. You want to walk with us beside the still waters. [00:01:17] Father, you promised that you would go through those of us who are going through the fire that won't kindle upon us. When it goes through the water, it won't overflow us. Father, we thank you that you invest so much into each one of our hearts, into each one of our lives. And Father, for whatever Lonnie is facing, we pray that you would just anoint him and the Brotherhood, Father, to stand together. May we all, Father, just gather around each other. We thank you for being that shepherd to us. We pray tonight, Father, for each one of the newly ordained bishops [00:01:50] And for all the older bishops, those who have been bishops for a year or many years As they stand before us and are accountable as we are, Father, we pray that you give them special grace Special leading, Father, that our people can feel the heart of the shepherd in our hands And that the lambs would be fed We pray that we would be willing to say yes where you lead us, that we would be willing to correct those things which you have spoken to us on. [00:02:24] Give us courage, Father, to be men of God for your people, for your shepherds, for your sheep, for your lambs. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Lonnie's faith wasn't sure if he was going to use the leaf blower or the rake. Felt like a crossbow to me. Do we have goals? Are we reaching them? Are we reaching the community for God? [00:02:58] Are we engaging our church members? Are we affirming our people? How desperate am I to hear the voice of God? I challenge each one of you pastors to think about those things. I want to do that. And where are we going with our ministry? Where are we going with our churches? And are we reaching our world for Jesus Christ? [00:03:31] If we're not, we might as well close the doors, go home and quit playing church. Thank you Lonnie for letting God use you to speak to our hearts tonight.