The Servant Leader

[00:00:00] Greetings this morning. It's good to be here. And he was right. The heart is racing. I've been blessed already by being here. And I do have some bones to pick with some that are here that have passed the buck. I think they know who it is. But we're not here to pick bones. We're here to just be admonished and be encouraged in the Word of God. If I would come and share today, it's just like I had a hot flash. It was just like walking to a sauna, just hot. [00:00:41] And I think it was that evening or the next evening, I went to an ordination in Rhoda, Virginia. And as I was sitting up there listening, Brother Benny Beiler, which is our bishop, was sharing about us being fellow servants and fellow heirs and working together. And I think, Lord, this is like a confirmation. And of course, my heart was still racing back then. And then the brother that was having the preordination meetings was Wayne Schrock. He got up and he started preaching. He said, but God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind. I said, Lord, there's my answer. I will take it. In fact, I think at that point I had already accepted it. [00:01:24] But this morning I would like to just say that it's a pleasure to be one of God's servants. You know, sometimes we look at it as an obligation, and I think if we lose something, we look at being a servant as an obligation. When we look at an obligation, it's something you have to. In fact, years ago, I've got kinfolks in Alabama, and we were there talking, and one of my first cousins asked his dad, he says, Dad, do I have to do this? And he says, no, you don't have to if you want to. And that's the way our ministry is. [00:01:56] And we don't really have to if we want to. And I must confess, and I've shared with the home congregation already, it had at one time been sort of a burden. You know, it's my time to preach. Well, Brother Albert and I are the only two that preach there in Farmville. Brother Uri is no longer capable. And so every other Sunday we get a lot of experience of preaching. And so if you sort of, you know, you preach and say, okay, I have two weeks off. And all of a sudden, Albert preaches and next week is my turn. [00:02:28] And at one time it was like a drudge, not a drudgery, but a responsibility like, I've got to preach again. I'm sure there's some of you that wish you could preach more. I'll invite you to Farmville, Virginia. It's a little old place. It's a little old place in the hills of Virginia. Just a little old country church. A small flock, and I look at this group here, and we could put our congregation here many times. But you know, as I was staying and meditating and praying on this message, you know, it doesn't matter the size of your flock. [00:03:03] It is God's flock. And it's for us to be just servants there, just hands, be used in His hands. And so this morning, as I want to share with you, I would like to also tell you a little bit more about who I am. Because some of you, even though I've been coming to these meetings for 10 years, I was ordained in 98 and we've been coming every time except I think one time that we were sick, I was sick. To let you know a little more of who I am and where we come from, Uri Shetler used to be our bishop there in Farmville. [00:03:34] And then when he retired, we asked Brother Benny and he consented to be our bishop. Also to let you know who my grandparents were, some of you might know Jonas Horsentruber from, used to be from Montezuma, Georgia. My other grandfather was also a minister from Virginia Beach, Virginia by the name of Ezra Troyer. And I also have an uncle that was in the ministry, which is Norman Swartzentruber, who I've been named after. Clyde Swartzentruber is here today. He's my first cousin. He's in the ministry. And also Stephen Swartzentruber as well. [00:04:08] Donnie Swartzentruber is also my first cousin. So just to give you an idea of who we are and who I am. In the verse that they've given to us as a theme or something to shoot from, is a verse that goes like this, study to show a self-approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And I looked at that verse and I was wondering, Lord, what verse, what word stands out the most to me? What should I focus on in this verse? And the word that comes to me, to my mind, is the word approved. Approved. Now we've looked at, you know, we can come to a place where we start wanting to be approved of this group or that group, the Beachy group, which is all well and good and I like that. I love my constituency. But approved unto God. [00:04:52] You know, we have found in the secular world that the subject of being a servant leader is becoming more popular. It's because they're finding they're getting more results out of their employees. And I've wondered about how could that be? I've listened to a, not a Mennonite preacher, a Beecher preacher, Amish preacher, but just an evangelist And he said that he's found that the longer he serves in the ministry, the more he's found that his ministry is a ministry of servanthood [00:05:24] Of serving, of meeting the needs around him I've been in services where the minister would preach and then he would sit down with his little, almost like disciples up in front here and didn't mingle with the other people. Brothers, this morning, our people should feel our heart. They should look at us and see that we love them. We should confirm our love to them. So as we go in through our ministry, let's remember that our ministry needs to be approved, first of all, to God. A ministry that's approved of God. And brothers, that's the thing that I desire most, is God's approval of my life. [00:05:59] And not that we disregard our brothers and our sisters, because we are their servants through Christ. But that God can say, well done, thou good and faithful servant, when we come to the end of life. And I trust that as we study to show ourselves approved, the word study means to make effort. You know, to put effort forth, you know, in our studying. Not just to download off the internet and read it off, but maybe Holy Spirit inspired as we minister to our people. [00:06:31] As we minister. And I trust that's why we're here today. I invite you to turn to, I didn't write it down, but I've got my bookmark here, Philippians chapter 2. I'd like to read a few verses, then we'll have prayer, then we'll go into the message. I've been having a problem with my voice, and so water is very good. Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 16. [00:07:04] If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of his servant, and was made in the likeness of man. [00:07:44] And being found in the fashion of man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, be ye as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. [00:08:18] Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Do all things without murmurings and disputings That ye may be blameless and harmless as sons of God Without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation Among whom ye shine as lights in the world Holding forth the word of life That I may rejoice in the day of Christ I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain That's great Father, this morning, as we have looked into your word, we just invite your Holy Spirit here, Father, to may my sentence come from your presence. May my life, may the words that come forth, may our lives be such that would glorify your kingdom. [00:08:59] This, Father, we want to acknowledge that it's not about us. It's about you. It's about your kingdom. It's about your people. It's about your sheep. It's about your lands, Father. For those who are not in your kingdom yet, Father, we trust that as you move amongst us, that we would get a fresh view of our place, our calling, in your kingdom. Pray anointing on this service, Father, that I would not say anything out of myself, but Father, just come from you and your glory, in Christ's name we pray. Amen. We read here in verses 5, it says, [00:09:33] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of noble reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Let this mind be in you. What was that mind? It was a servant's mind. Do you mean the one that created the very land that we live in, the very breath that we're breathing, Ray? You mean that one? Yes. You mean the one that spoke the world into existence? And he became humble. He became a servant. I mean the one that has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Him. He became a servant. [00:10:18] Brothers and sisters, especially as brothers this morning, how dare we think that we are more than a servant. When the very creator of heaven and earth, who threw the stars out into space and named every one of them, who was part of the residency for the children of Israel. We are his servants. Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus, who made himself with no reputation. I know there's some dispute about that, but I think that once we have the mind of Christ, he can do work, some miracles in our reasons, in our thought life. [00:10:52] I've been so blessed by that. Let this mind be in you and also in Christ Jesus. I'd like you to think a little bit in John chapter 13, where Jesus is. And we use this scripture for feet washing. It's a great scripture for feet washing. And I think I'll turn to that. But He who has made the heavens and made me and you. He's robed with a garb. He stands there before His disciples. Verse chapter 13, it says this way. [00:11:26] If I can find it. Verse 4. John chapter 13, verse 4. And he rises from supper, laid aside his garments, and took on a towel, and put it on him, and girded himself, and he poured water in a basin, and he began to wash his disciples' feet, and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. And it goes on to say, verse 14, verse 12. So after he had washed their feet and taken his garments and sat down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? [00:12:02] You call me Master and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. And as well, we read this at communion time for feet washing scripture. But I think there's a lot more, and I know we as Christians take this further than just the literal washing feet. But as I look at, let this mind be in you, which is also in the mind of Christ. [00:12:33] He laid aside his garments, took upon him a towel, took upon him a form of a servant. I'm sure that at that time it was not the guest of honor's responsibility to wash people's feet, but Jesus did it. He said, this is what I want you to do. Now there are times that we have to have our own feet washed, do we not? There are times that we have dirty feet and we need to have them washed and we trust that our brothers will do that. [00:13:04] But our responsibility this morning, Menno, is to just bend down there and wash our brother's feet. In fact, we go to prison at home and they have a saying there that I appreciate. I've been blessed a lot by what they share. And they said, in this congregation, there's no big I or a little you. That's a lot to say. But you know, this morning, I can stand here and tell you, there's no big I and a little you. But do my words and do my actions correspond? I would encourage us this morning to look at how our congregation at home, not here in a minister's meeting, but how our congregation at home view us. [00:13:43] You know, we're telling them something about our life if we're a servant or we're just performing a duty. Or if they're a responsibility. Or if they're a pleasure to serve. This past Sunday we celebrated, I just, for lack of a better word, it just seems even too lightheartedly celebrated. We celebrated Easter. And again, as our minds went back to Christ. Brothers, this morning I think we need a new vision of Calvary. [00:14:18] The price that was paid for our redemption. That I could say that I am a son of God. That I could say that I am your servant. This morning I'm glad that the Father was waiting down the road watching for me because I had at one time ended up, as it were, in the pig pen, fighting the hogs for the dredge of the earth to feed my soul. But when I come to myself and when we have come to ourselves and we went home, the Father's watching. Jesus shed his blood that we could be saved. [00:14:50] And I think we're doing our church and our people, our families a disservice by making, now I hope you understand what I'm going to say. I think sometimes we make salvation too easy. I don't mean it's just too easy, but when you just raise your hand and say, I'm a Christian. I think part of our servant leadership should be that we would lead our children, our constituents, to the cross. [00:15:23] And when we get to the cross, we are out of the way and they keep going to the cross. They meet ahead, they have a head, I mean a face-to-face encounter with Christ. It's something that they repent from the inside out, and not just something of light lip service. But that is one of our calls as a servant leader, to lead our people to Christ, our children to Christ, our families to Christ, those outside the church to Christ. It's more than just lip service, but Father, we just pray this morning that you would just give us words. That as we minister to those who are coming into our group and our churches, Father, that you would just bless us with those words in our heart, Father, of yours, that you could bless us. [00:16:01] What a Savior. The story is told years ago when I had my Uncle Noah. Some of you might know the Swartz family. He was in our church for a while there, quite some time. And I love Brother Noah. He shared quite a bit and he touched my life. But there was a story that he told years ago and just touched my heart. And it still touches me today. They say that way back in time of slavery, there was an auction going on and this gentleman, plantation owner, was walking by and he seen this auction going. [00:16:39] And on the auction block with this old gentleman standing there, they were asking, they were talking about the good, his qualities and how good he was. But the old gentleman was sitting, standing there The old black gentleman was standing on the officer block And he kept saying, I won't work I won't work I won't work And the bidding started off And this plantation owner was there watching And he started bidding He ran the bid up and he finally was knocked off to him He was now the owner of old Joe [00:17:12] And as he led old Joe out to his cart wagon And then old Joe crawled into the back and on the way back to the plantation, old Joe kept saying, I won't work, I won't work, I won't work. I don't know what he was expecting, he says, I won't work. He determined he wasn't going to yield anymore to the demands of the master. Master, when he got back to the plantation, it says here, when they arrived at the plantation, the owner took old Joe to a comfortable cottage and told him that this is where he would live. [00:17:46] He says, I didn't buy you to work you, I bought you to set you free. And old Joe fell on his knees and said, Master, I'll work for you the rest of my life. You know, that's where you and I need to find ourselves. It's like old Joe. I am tired of my old master. I'm tired of serving that which doesn't give me any fulfillment. There's no rewards for it. I just keep working day in and day. There's no reward for it. [00:18:17] But when Jesus comes and sets us free, he says, I bought you. You're not no longer your own. You've been set free. And may we, like the prodigal son who came home and says, I no longer am willing or worthy to be called a son. Just make me one of your hired servants. And I believe this morning, brothers, that if we have a view of where we are in Christ, how dirty we were, and that when we repented that God did not receive a bonus, a good deal, but he got an old dirty rag that he made into the image of his son. [00:18:52] And I think this morning that if we're convinced of that, how much more our testimony, how much more our servanthood as we minister to our brothers and our sisters. This is not about us. It's all about Christ. This story isn't about us. We're just here for a short time and then we're gone. And the little bit we can help our brothers and our sisters in helping them. And so many times I've viewed this as a journey towards heaven. I looked at my small congregation. I think we have nine total households in our group. And I look at them and I think, we're on a journey together. [00:19:26] And if I can help my brother, if I can help my sister, you know, we were singing this morning these beautiful songs of when the ransom get home. You know, it's our job, it's our responsibility, it's our privilege, brothers, to be able to minister to our constituents, to minister them the word of life, a word of encouragement. Even when we need to talk to them about areas in their life, That should be a blessing to us to be helpers of each other's joy as we walk towards heaven. As we find ourselves in the place of old Joe of being redeemed. [00:20:03] To be a good and effective leader we must see our people through the eyes of Jesus instead of through sometimes our business eyes. It's not a good investment. We don't want to take the time tonight to go and talk to that brother. You know, he's been, he just needs to come to the end of himself. Sometimes I have to come to the end of myself in order to be an effective servant leader in his kingdom. Moses was a good example. I mean, as I think of Moses, Moses was growing up and as he was experiencing life, [00:20:38] I think he felt the call of the Lord upon his life. I'm sure quite a few of us before we were called to the ministry have felt the hand of God upon our lives. We just felt that God was calling us to a ministry and if you're like I am, I so resisted that. But Moses felt it. I'm sure Moses felt it. And he's seen his people being oppressed and being suppressed and being abused and being beaten and he's out there one day And he sees two of them fighting. [00:21:09] And he kills the Egyptian. He's like, I'm going to lead y'all. My brothers and sisters, I'm going to take you out of this place. I'm going to start with this Egyptian, number one. But God says, that's not the way we're going to do this thing. Sometimes we've got to go to the backside of the mountain for some time. To get the will of God into our hearts and our minds. To know that he doesn't lead by that kind of way, through the arm of strength. But he does it through his own power. Moses comes out behind that mountain and what you see, you see, my Bible says that he was the meekest man that lived upon the face of the earth. [00:21:48] He was no longer that prince of Egypt. He made this prayer. Show me thy way. In Exodus 33 he says, show me thy way. No longer confident. He's like, not I, but Christ. In fact, we want to sing that song. I'm not sure if Joyce Meller is from this congregation or one of the local congregations, Joyce Meller, but she's the one who had introduced our group to this song and I really appreciate this song. [00:22:20] And I've asked Brother Phil sometimes, maybe after the message, to sing this or to lead this. Show me now thy way. I want to follow you, God. God in his goodness and his love has let us fall flat on our face in our leadership when we try to do it in our own strength. But now he's asking us to do his way, his will, doing his service. Ephesians 6, 5 through 8 says this way. Servants, be obedient to them that your masters, according to the singleness of your heart, as unto Christ [00:22:50] And he goes on to say, not with eye service, as man pleasers, but as the servants of Christ He repeats itself, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord, not to men Knowing this, that whatsoever good thing that any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free Someone has said, and I quote, It's amazing how much can be accomplished when no one is concerned who gets the glory. You know, that's a mouthful. [00:23:25] That's a mouthful. Yesterday as I was back in the bathroom, they came in and cleaned our bathroom. And by the way, that doesn't just happen. There was somebody that had a servant's heart. In fact, yesterday it was raining. I was outside, and I was observing this young fellow, and Lord bless you, young fellow, I don't know who he is, he was out behind the van, and it was raining, and he was going behind in the van, and this young fellow was only about yea tall, and he would go in the back of the van and grab this gallon can of vegetables, I think, and he would lug that thing into the kitchen, and he'd turn around and come back and pick another one up and go back into the kitchen again. [00:24:06] Somebody's teaching that young fella a servant's heart. That's not all about us. It's about helping our brothers and our sisters. And who gets the glory? Who gets the glory? And I just think that there's a direct connection between how we view ourselves in the eyes of God and the amount that we serve. If you know what I'm saying. Jesus said, this woman that came in, started washing his feet, drying it with her hair, kissing his feet [00:24:42] He made a profound statement, he that loveth much, he that has been forgiven much, loveth much Her sins which are many are forgiven Another reason why we are a servant leader is because God has given us the word, the work of reconciliation. Just down the road from our place on 15, not the same 15 out here, but 15 north in Farmville, [00:25:18] There's a church that's called Restoration something or the other. But that's the only word that stands out in my mind. And remember, going by there's Restoration, the big word, Restoration. And it's restoration of a lot of different things. And I'd like to look at some of those. Restoration of souls. You know, back when I was into restoring old houses, somebody would buy an old house and they would call us and ask us to remodel it. and to restore it back to its original state. [00:25:51] In fact, the historical society would give like a grant so that they would have money to restore it back to its original state. God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, which means restoration to the divine favor. You know, if we just look at our people as a responsibility like a business, I'm not a fortune teller and I'm not a prophet But I can tell you we're going to look for problems [00:26:21] When we look at our people as just something that we're going through the motion of Okay, it's time for communion, let's have communion Let's have Sunday night service, let's have Sunday night service You're just going through and it's not coming from our heart But when we do it because we love Him that has saved us And has bought us with His own blood If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature Old things have passed away and all things come new. And somebody once said that if you're a Christian, we need to tell our face about it. You know, sometimes we have the longest face maybe because we let the cares of this world drag us down when we should be administering. [00:26:59] You know, we have the greatest story that's ever been told. And sometimes we're the quietest in the land. Shame on us. Shame on me. I won't generalize and say we're all that way. But there are times when the cares of this life can pull us down. I once told my uncle, I said, something about him living under the weather, and he says, we don't live under the weather. We're living under the blood. Restoration of souls. Someone has said, and I quote again, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. [00:27:33] You know, when they can see, you can say, Brother Lester, I love you. See ya. Or we say, Brother Lester, I love you, brother. You've been an inspiration to me. That's a fact. I'm not just making... You know, people can see if we're really true about our words. If it comes from our heart, it actually shows on our face. You know, they say that the eyes are the windows to the heart, and that's a lot of truth to that. I can look at you, brother, this morning, and I can see the love of God in you. Now, sometimes we've been taught pretty well how to put on a nice facade. [00:28:06] But in our ministry, the people need to see, not only see, they need to feel. The love of God in us. To know that what we're doing is because we love them. That we're here to minister to their needs. Not just because back there in 98 I was ordained to the ministry and I've got to preach the word of God. But because I want to serve the Lord. And I want to share with you brothers what God has given to me. Restore relationships. The restoration of relationships. And that includes the ministry. That includes between me and my laity. [00:28:37] And between laity. Maybe between families. But he's given us a ministry of reconciliation, of restoration, to get it back to its original state. We're running out of time here. Restoration in the home. Restoration in the church. Between brothers and sisters. Brothers and brothers, sisters and sisters. I put one down here that I'm going to say. Maybe restoration on the minister's bench [00:29:10] No little you and a big I But we're all on the same page I've got to say this, Brother Albert I love you for a co-minister He's been an inspiration And I will say this as a testimony That when I, you, just me, have an issue When we part ways and there's not an eight And I'm not talking about big issues But just to tell you how we interact, I think God knew, I don't say I think, I know God knew what he was doing when he put Albert and I together. [00:29:45] We sort of balanced each other out. But when there's a little difference of agreement, or not an agreement between us, it feels almost, and I've never told you this Albert, but it feels almost like my wife and I when we get in a little disagreement. It don't feel good down there. I've got to go do something about it. And I appreciate that, that God has given us a ministry that we can work together And I pray that we never lose the plural ministry I love what we have And brothers and sisters, brothers this morning [00:30:15] May we have, if there's something, any differences on the minister's bench I pray God that you'll dissolve those Take it to the blood of Jesus Christ It was there to take care of our needs It's there to take care of our needs You know there's a song that says When a home falls apart, the children are the broken pieces. This morning I would like to say when the church falls apart, or the minister's bench falls apart, our children of the church are the broken pieces. Our ministry is to our children and to our people. [00:30:48] Yes, it is. Restoration may be in a financial life. You know, someone said this morning, if you touch the pocket, the pocket or the wallet, The money of people that you touch pretty close to the heart. We have needs in our churches, financial needs. You know, we can look back and say, you know what, you made your bed, you can just sleep in it. Or we can go and give them counsel and share with them how they can be restored back to financial security. [00:31:22] Not as in security as a big bank account, but knowing to live within your means. Yes, we can. I was blessed by that example in Kentucky, the Esch family God bless the ones that are here, not are here but are remaining on earth But understand that their house burned down And within, I was told, 17 days or was it, that the house was built back Restoration Doesn't this mean that to restore somebody that's hurting spiritually or is out of the way spiritually [00:31:56] But I mean just in our very everyday walk of life that we can restore them to show love when we swing that hammer, we saw that board. And they can see that our pastors are not above us, but no little you and a big I. We have a need in our own church that we're going to have to address. And it's something that we as ministers can say, well, you know what, it's not my loss. [00:32:28] But it's one of those things that we can identify with our brothers and our sisters and the needs around us. Esther 4.14 says this way And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Now, 2010 [00:32:59] You know, Esther could have said, I'm just a little old me. There's nothing much I can do. I'm a woman. And I could lose my life. But she chose the way of a servant. John Maxwell said, a leader lives with people to know their problems. and a leader who lives with God in order to solve them. [00:33:31] You know, years ago, I used to be in Amway. And I think y'all picked up on it that it's a past tense thing. I'm not condemning anybody that's in Amway. But one of the things that they taught me was, or taught us, is that you need to use the product. You need to be convinced of the product before you can share the product. and I would like to say that with our ministry. We need to be convinced and I don't want to use the word product [00:34:03] but we need to be convinced in our heart that Jesus is the answer to our needs and the need of our people in order for us to share effectively. If you're not convinced of what you're sharing you say well you know my brother my co-pastor Albert he said that Jesus will forgive his sins. So I'm telling you this morning whoever is standing in front of me Jesus can forgive your sins, but it needs to be a personal experience that Jesus forgives sins. [00:34:35] A leader lives with people to know their problems, and a leader lives with God to solve them, in order to solve them. We've heard a saying that says, God is not concerned about your ability as much as your availability. God wants to use us. Yes, He does. Listen to the heart of God. Ezekiel 22.30 says, And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me in the land, [00:35:07] that I should not destroy it, but I found none. And I trust this morning, brothers, that that will not be said of us. That as we look at our people, that we're willing to stand. We're willing to make a hedge by the grace of God to protect our children. and our grandchildren and our grandparents of today. As you look out in this graveyard, you'll see a lot of stones with Mennonite names on them. You'll see Mellor and I forget, the other day when I was driving out, I looked out there, [00:35:41] must be a Mennonite graveyard because of those Mennonite names. Those people's time isn't now. It's your time now. I have looked at life already as a conveyor belt. and my mom and my sister pick up eggs and that conveyor belt goes and the eggs come through and they're gone. Now look at us that way. We're on the conveyor belt now. And it's our time, brothers. Rise up, oh men of God. Seize the moment. [00:36:12] It's your opportunity to serve and in a small way give back to God by serving people, by serving your people. Trust that cannot be said today of us He is still looking for godly people For you are not your own You've been bought with a price Therefore glorify God in your spirits You know, we can glorify God in our bodies pretty good this morning I think we look pretty decent this morning with our mutsas on You know, and our beards [00:36:44] and, yes, we just have a Christian era about us. You know, somebody asks you, are you a Christian? Yes. And inside I could be so full of hate for my brothers and sisters, but it says here, but glorify God in your spirits. In your spirits. Like the brother said this morning, we can look like a Mennonite and talk like a Mennonite, but what's going on in here and here? He's asking us to glorify Him in our spirits. Those things that people don't see. And I know that we have addressed and are addressing the issue of like the internet. [00:37:24] Glorify God in your spirit as you're on the internet. Someone has once told me, says he put on his computer, his laptop or whatever he has, his personal PC. He said this way, says I put on there, as for me and my mouse, we will serve the Lord. There's a lot to be said about that. Ezekiel 34 is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. Jesus said that God was looking and he was looking for shepherds. [00:37:55] And his shepherds were running, doing their own thing, feeding their own souls, going after their own pursuits, their own businesses, being at building sheds or countertops or you name it. And his sheep are going hungry. His sheep are dying, while the shepherds are doing their own thing. Jeremiah 8.22 says this way, Is there no balm in Gilead? Ask three questions. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is the health of the daughter of my people recovered? If the answer is one and two is no, [00:38:27] then there's going to be problems with the health of the daughter's health. But this morning I'd like to give a resounding, Yes, there is balm in Gilead. There is a physician in Gilead. And that physician this morning would like to meet each one of our needs. And may we be just recipients. Be the hammer in his hand. May just to help him, be used of him, to minister to the people around us and have a servant heart. I guess I'm running out of time here. [00:38:59] Last issue I'd like to address with you is, you know, Peter denied Jesus three times. And when he came back, he asked Peter three times, he says, love us, thou me. Yes, I love you. Feed my lambs. But Peter, do you really love me? Yes, I do. Well, feed my sheep. Peter, do you really love me? Feed my sheep. This morning, I'd like to challenge you about the lambs. The ones that we sort of overlook sometimes in our congregations, the lambs, the children. [00:39:31] And I'd like to ask you this morning, do you know them by name? Have they felt your hands, loving hands? Do they know that you are precious, that they are precious in your sight? Do they know that they're important in your home, in your church, in your congregation? You know, sometimes we wait to get to know our children of our congregation until they come into instruction class. And then we go through the 18 articles of faith and instructions for beginners in the Christian life. And then they become, they have issues in their life and it's like, we've heard expressions, says announced prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. [00:40:09] And I think that we need to start when those babies are on the laps of our mothers and confirming our love for our lambs, feed my lambs. And I think we need to teach them from a little up that they're important to us. They're not the church of tomorrow, they're the church of today. Yes, they are. Jesus said, feed my lambs. Put the cookies on the lower shelf, if I may say so. Put it down there where they can reach down there and understand. Sometimes in our sophistication we use words that I don't even understand myself. [00:40:42] I don't do that, but I mean I've heard preachers and other people talking. But we need to get those cookies down there where the children can just munch on them, may I say. When the pastors have children's class and they maybe even get down on their knee and look them eye to eye And they maybe even sing a song and even if they can't carry a song in a barrel I mean a tune in a barrel They know that I am important to my pastor [00:41:13] I will share this and a few other things yet but I'm just Jake Hershberger was the bishop in the very first church I was ever in down at Virginia Beach. And it was a big group. And Jake Hershberger, I can still see him coming down the aisle with his Bible in his arm, going down the aisle. And I love children's class. And I'll tell you how much confidence I had with Jake Hershberger is I would have been comfortable to reach out there and stop Jake and say, [00:41:43] Jake, can we have children's class? Because he spoke to me. And I think that we need, as ministering brothers, do the same. Don't throw in the towel, fight the good fight of faith, Lay hold on eternal life And we can hear those words Well done thou good and faithful servant Enter thou into the joy of my Lord The bread of life, oh may I share it with honor That song they sang last night And may you feed the hungry world through me And may we say with Saul, Paul [00:42:16] Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I said I would sort of put a good word in for this book and I'm not Simon or Elmer but I will tell you this I recommend this book I read it, it's called On Being a Servant of God and if you were to look at it, it's earmarked and marked up because it spoke to me God bless you brothers as you continue serving in His kingdom for His glory [00:42:47] God bless you