[Matt's Messages] "The Testimony"

“The Testimony”
Essential Christianity: 1 John
March 10, 2013 :: 1 John 5:6-13

We are in the homestretch now of our study of 1 John which we have been calling “Essential Christianity.”  What is essential to be and to believe to be a real Christian, a true Christian, a biblical Christian.

Last week, we learned that it is essential to have to faith.  That we are victorious world-overcomers if we have faith in Jesus, the Son of God.

That’s essential. Among the other things that we have seen are essential such as loving our brothers and obeying God, we know that it is essential that we have faith in Jesus Christ. Chapter 5, verse 5.

“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

And our passage for today takes off right there explaining Who is this Jesus.

And then it tells us who testifies to this identity of Jesus and how we should believe their testimony.

And then it tells us exactly what the testimony is.  “The Testimony.”

So that’s what we’re going to call this message, “The Testimony.”

(Sounds like a John Grisham novel.)

“The Testimony.”

This testimony is so much more important than any testimony given in any court in our land.

To believe or disbelieve this testimony means the difference between life and death.

Eternal life and eternal death. It’s that important!

This is one of my all time favorite passages of Scripture, especially verses 11-13.

Because those were some of key verses God showed me many years ago that I had essential Christianity, that I was a real Christian.

And more than that, God used this passage as part of my own call into a ministry of preaching.

I’ll tell you more about that when we get down to verses 11-13.

But I have to say right now that I will forever love this passage of scripture.

And it’s all about testimony, isn’t it?

How many times did you hear that word or a form of that word as I read the passage to you? Testimony.

The basic Greek word is martureo.  Testimony.  Or the King James Version has “witness” or “record.” “Going on record” is another way of saying “testimony.”

If you remember, last week was all about faith. Trust. Believing.

The importance of faith.

And question is believing...what...exactly?

Verse 5 said that we are to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. God’s own Son. That’s Whom we put our faith in.

And verse 6 tells us more about Him.  V.6

“This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

Verse 7.

“For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Point #1 of 3 this morning.

#1. BELIEVE THE TESTIFIERS.

That’s a real word, by the way, I looked it up.

But if you don’t like it, put the word “witnesses” in there on the back of you bulletin

Believe the Witnesses.

Now, John talks differently than we do, but his basic message is clear.

Verse 7 says that there are “three that testify,” two things personified and one person. V.8

“The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood.”

And all three of them agree. They literally, “into the one are.” They are in agreement.

The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood.

Now, before we talk about who they are and how they talk and what they say and how they are in agreement, there are few of you who are scratching your heads right now because your copy of the Bible says something different here.

The King James Version actually says in verse 7 and 8, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

Now, as true as that statement is, I do not believe (and neither do most Bible scholars) that the statement about the three witnesses in heaven is actually what John wrote when he wrote 1 John.

It does not appear in any of the Greek manuscripts until many centuries after the New Testament was compiled.

It was probably something that a well-meaning scribe scribbled in his margin as he copied the Latin text, perhaps a devotional thought about the Trinity, and then someone when they copied his copy thought that it belonged in the paragraph itself.

Now, that might be a little unsettling for you to think that something might have crept into the copying process so that the Bibles we have today might have something that God didn’t intend for us.

But opposite is actually true, we have so many copies that scholars can accurately determine what was original and what wasn’t.  And there is widespread agreement about it, as well. And more than that, the places where those kind of determinations need to be made are for the most part insignificant and do not change one major point of biblical teaching.  Isn’t that amazing?!

God has faithfully preserved His word for us.

Even here, though very few Bibles would include these words, they do not change what the Bible teaches because–even though I do not think they are original, and therefore are not scriptural–I believe they teach the truth.

God has faithfully preserved His word for us.

He has faithfully preserved His testimony about His Son.

And here we have 3 testifiers who give testimony about His Son. V.7&8 again.

“For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Now, who are these 3 testifiers?

Verse 6 says, “This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ.”

What does he mean by “water and blood?”

Well, it’s not obvious and a lot of different interpretations have been offered over the years, but I’ll tell you which one makes the most sense to me.

Water here is Jesus’ baptism.  “This is the one who came by baptism.”

And “blood” here is Jesus’ crucifixion.  “This is the one who came by baptism and crucifixion. Death. Sacrifice. Blood.”

I think “water” stands for baptism because that’s the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry when He stands before John the Baptist and says, “I’ve come to be baptized.”

And John says, “You should baptize me!”

But Jesus says, “This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”

And when Jesus went down into the water, He was just as surely identifying with us as when we got down into the water to identify with Him.

In just three weeks, we’re going to have some baptisms up here on Resurrection Sunday.

And those who go down into the water will be publically identifying themselves with Jesus.  When Jesus was baptized, He was publically identifying with us.

And the Spirit showed up?  Remember? Like a dove.

And His Father showed up, too. And He said, “This is my beloved Son. With Him I am well-pleased.”

How’s that for testimony?

That was the beginning. And the Cross was (in some ways) the end.

At the Cross, Jesus’ identification with us reached its climax.

And what was the testimony there?  The centurion said, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”

Water and Blood.

Notice that John says it wasn’t just by water. V.6

“He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.”

The false teachers who had left this church probably put great stock in Jesus’ baptism but didn’t like His blood.  They didn’t want a God in the flesh that bled.

But John would agree with our singing today, “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” and “Jesus’ Precious Blood.”

What stream can sweep away My sins just like a flood, 
Nor lets one guilty blemish stay? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

“He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.”

And there is a third testifier who is even more important. V.6 again.

“And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

The Holy Spirit.

He is the third witness.

This testimony is not something that John made up. It comes from the Holy Spirit Himself. V.9

“We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.”

“This is my beloved Son. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.  He comes by water and by blood.”

So says God the Father through God the Spirit about God the Son.

Believe the Testifiers.

Because God’s testimony is greater. V.10

“Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.”

Do you see how high the stakes are here?

If you believe the testifiers, then you have the testimony in your heart.

But if you don’t believe the testifiers, then you don’t believe God!

And you are calling Him a liar.

That’s what all unbelievers are doing. Those who reject Jesus are calling God a liar.

You don’t want to call God a liar.

God said that Jesus was His Son come by water and blood.

If you don’t believe that, then you are thumbing your nose at the testimony of God.

That’s dangerous.

But if you believe in the Son of God, then you have this testimony in your heart.

#2. BELIEVE THE TESTIMONY.  V.11

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”


Believe the testimony.

1 John 5:11 and 12 were some of the first verses that I had to memorize as a student at Moody Bible Institute.

If you don’t have them memorized already, I can’t recommend it enough.

I remember saying them out loud in my dorm room and stringing the words together.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life!

and this life is in his Son.
and this life is in his Son.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life;

He who has the Son has life;
He who has the Son has life;
He who has the Son has life;

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

If you get that, then that’s everything!

God has given us eternal life. Free gift. No strings attached. Not something we earn.

Eternal life. Starts now and goes forever.
Eternal life. Life to fullest and life with God forever and ever and ever and ever.

Eternal life.

And that life is in Someone.

That life is in God’s Son. He is what all of the fuss is all about!

Because there are only two options, two paths.

He who has the Son has life.  (Because life is in the Son!)

And He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Tragic!

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

That’s everything!

Do you have the Son?

Then you have life. Eternal life.

But if you do not have the Son of God then you do not have eternal life.

It’s that simple.

Believe the Testimony and be saved.

This is essential Christianity.

Essential Christianity says that you either have Jesus or don’t have Jesus and that makes all of the difference.

Again, you can’t sit on the fence.

There is no fence!

You either have the Son or you don’t have the Son of God.

Do you have the Son?

This is my journal from my days at Moody Bible Institute.

On February 4th, 1999, I listened to a message by Pastor Ben Haden on 1 John 5:11-13.  I marked it right here.

And afterwards, I went for a long walk beside Lake Michigan, I just re-preached this message to the air.

It was a fire in my bones, something I couldn’t keep to myself, I had to preach it, to herald it, to say it to the world!

I don’t know that I ever really felt like preaching before that. But I’ve never really wanted to stop ever since.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

That is the testimony.

And we need to not only believe it, but to share it with others.

Because everything is on the line.

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

And if nobody ever tells you that, then you probably won’t have eternal life.

So, we need to get out there and testify like the water, the blood, and the Spirit.

When was the last time you told someone about Jesus?

To whom in your life do you need to explain essential Christianity?

What can wash away my sins?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

That’s not something that we can keep to ourselves!

We’ve got tell others the testimony we believe.

#3. KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

I’m going one more verse than I told Marilynn to put on the back of bulletin. V.13

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

The “these things” are everything he’s been writing in the whole book.

We’ll come back to this verse again next week as it drives us to confidence in prayer.

But the “these things” surely also include the testimony that those who have the Son have eternal life.

And having the Son means having put your faith in the Son of God.

If you have done that, if you are trusting Him, then you can KNOW that you have eternal life.

How’s that for assurance?

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

No worries. No wondering. No wandering.

You may know that you have eternal life because you have the Son of God. You believe in the name (the person, the testimony) of the Son of God.

And that means that you have eternal life.

Draw great assurance from that.

Relish in. Revel in. Make it your heartbeat and your confidence.

Make it your song.

     I Know Whom I Have Believed and Am Persuaded That He Is Able
     To Keep That Which I’ve Committed Unto Him Against that Day

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

That doesn’t mean that your heart won’t sometimes rise up and condemn you.

Our hearts do that sometimes. But remember that God is greater than our hearts.

And we need to listen to God.

And believe His testimony.

And when we do, we know that we have eternal life.


***

Messages about Essential Christianity

1. A Letter Arrived from John
2. The Word of Life
3. God Is Light
4. Talk and Walk
5. If You Love, You Live in the Light
6. I Write To You Because
7. Do Not Love the World
8. This Is the Last Hour
9. Children of God (Part One)
10. Children of God (Part Two)
11. Love Your Brother
12. God Is Greater Than Our Hearts
13. Test the Spirits
14. God Is Love (Part One)
15. God Is Love (Part Two)
16. Overcoming the World
17. The Testimony
18. We Know
19. Listen Again to 1 John

Read More

Matt's Messages - "10 Things I'm Hoping for in the Next 10 Years"

“10 Things I’m Hoping For in the Next 10 Years”
June 22, 2008

Today is our 3rd and last message in our special sermon series celebrating 10 years of ministry partnership between me and you. We’ve called the series, “10 Things.”

The first message was “10 Things I’ve Learned in the First 10 Years.”
The second message was “10 Things I’ve Been Teaching in the First 10 Years.”

And now this week, “10 Things I’m Hoping For in the Next 10 Years.”

We’ve spent two weeks looking backwards on 10 years of ministry together.

Today, I’d like for us to spend some time looking forward to the future.

Now, I don’t have a crystal ball. I may not be here 10 years from now. I may not be here 10 minutes from now.

James says, “You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:14-15).

So, these 10 things are not prophetic pronouncements about what I know will happen in the next 10 years. As Walter Kaiser is famous for saying, “I am not a prophet nor the son of prophet, and I work for a non-profit organization!”

But these are 10 Things that I am hoping for. That I’m dreaming of. That if the Lord gives us 10 more years here as your pastor, I’m praying that God will do these 10 things in and through us together.

Let’s read 2 Timothy 4:1-8 and then I’ll give you this week’s 10 Things. Paul is giving his final instructions to Pastor Timothy.

[scripture reading, prayer]

Last week, I held up the worship bulletin from June 14, 1998–my first official Sunday as your Pastor.

And I thought this week, what if I could hold up the bulletin today from June 17th, 2018? 2018. That sounds like a long way away, but it’s just 10 years!

What might the bulletin say for Sunday June 17th, 2018? That will be not only my 20th anniversary as your Pastor (Lord-willing), it will also be Heather and my 24th wedding anniversary, that weekend.

There would probably be an announcement about that. “Praise the Lord for Pastor Matt and Heather’s 24th Wedding Anniversary.”

What else might the bulletin say?

The sermon title might be, “20 Things I’ve Learned in the First 20 Years.”

That would be a long one! You think I preach long now!

What else might it say?

Well, as I thought about that, I started dreaming about the next 10 years, and what I would love to see happen. And I began to list things I’m hoping for. Here’s #1.

#1. DOING MORE OF THE SAME.

I’m not planning a major overhaul of our ministry direction and focus in the next 10 years. I think that we, as a church, have the set the right general course, and we just need to keep steering towards it.

I think that we continue to try to glorify God by bringing people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

I think that we continue to strive to be a gospel-centered church.

I see myself still defining my pastoral role as “Preaching the Word, Equipping the Saints, and Shepherding the Flock.”

Doing more of the same.

I hope to stay a “broken record” preaching the good news, the evangel, the gospel of Jesus Christ and with it the whole counsel of God, the Bible.

As Paul told Timothy in verse 2, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season (when things are going well, the ups) and out of season (when things are not going well, the downs); correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.”

That’s what I’m hoping for: More of the Same.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t want anything to change. But the central most important things–I’m hoping won’t change at all.

#2. GROWING OLDER, GETTING WISER.

I’m looking forward to watching my family grow up.

In 2018, Robin will be turning 18 in July. Andrew will be turning 17 in December. Peter will be turning 15. And Isaac 14.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do with each of their lives.

And I’m looking forward to seeing Heather blossom even more as a godly mother, and as the kids get older seeing her more free to do more effective ministry with other wives and mothers and their children.

I look forward to seeing the other kids in our church grow up. I think Donovan was just 4 years old when I came. He was like Isaac’s age. He’ll be a young man of 24 in 2018.

I had the privilege of dedicating a number of the little children here today. I can’t wait to see what you grow up to be.

I expect to lose even more hair and see a lot of what’s left turn grey.

And I hope that as I get older I get wiser.

Proverbs 9:9 says, “Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.”

I hope that’s me. A wise and righteous man growing wiser still.

I hope that I grow in my ability to skillfully apply the Scriptures to my life and other people’s lives. To be a sought after counselor because I know God’s wisdom.

To be a life coach for others. To mentor. To pray more intelligently and scripturally for others. To have more wisdom for leading our church.

Frankly, I often don’t know what to do.

And that’s great, in one sense. Because it keeps me dependent on the Lord for guidance and direction.

But I want more for you than muddled thinking and vague wisdom.

I’m praying that your pastor grows in wisdom as he grows older.

I feel like I’ve grown several feet in wisdom in the last decade, but I see how far that I have to go. Would you pray with me for that?

Growing Older, Getting Wiser.

#3. REACHING HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS.

I’m hoping for great evangelistic fruitfulness in our ministry together over the next 10 years.

Not that I, personally, would lead thousands to Jesus Christ, though that would be great. Do it, Lord!

But that we together would reach thousands. As we each individually share the gospel with others and see their lives transformed and then as they turn around and share the gospel with others and see their lives transformed.

It’s multiplying! It’s exponential evangelism!

We have the greatest message in the world. I’m hoping that we don’t grow ashamed of it, but share it with those who need to hear it.

And that God would use our efforts to reach countless people for Jesus Christ.

Not all of those people will go to our church. I doubt that our church will ever be a thousand people large–though stranger things have happened!

But our church can be used to do big things for the Lord.

We heard today about the Outreach Ideas Team’s idea of a Free Oil Change Outreach.

That’s one of 4 outreaches being planned right now. I think that’s awesome!

I don’t have the gift of “evangelist,” but I don’t think that Timothy did, either. In verse 5, Paul tells him to “Do the work of an evangelist.”

And that means, at least, sharing the gospel yourself and equipping others to do it, too.

I pray that we would reach hundreds, maybe thousands for Christ.

I know that we’re already part of a multiplying movement.

It’s so exciting to be a part of the church planting adventure in the Allegheny District.

We pray and give just a little bit each month, but we’re part of planting churches that will reach the lost–people that you and I could never reach on our own. That’s exciting.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a couple hundred healthy new churches in our district in the next 10 years? God could do that.

It starts with our just sharing the gospel.

Can I do that again right here?

Jesus Christ died on the Cross to bring unrighteous people to God.

And He is calling on sinners like you and me to repent and trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of sins and the sure hope of eternal life.

If you are not yet a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, I invite you, I challenge you, to become one today. Receive Jesus Christ as your King and Rescuer. Allow Him to enter and change your life forever.

Believe in Jesus.

Be the first of the hundreds or thousands that will come to Christ in the next 10 years.

I call upon you to believe in Jesus Christ and Him alone.

And become His disciple.

That’s number four.

#4. MAKING DISCIPLES, NOT JUST DECISIONS.

The Lord’s great commission calls upon us to make disciples of people from all nations. Not just to help them to pray a prayer and then go on their merry way.

It’s not enough for our church to just try to get people to give mental assent to Jesus Christ.

They need to entrust themselves and their whole lives to following Him.

Loving God and Loving Others.

I’m hoping that we have scores and scads of men, women, and children who not only claim to love Jesus but live it out as faith-FOLLOWERS of Jesus.

Christianity in the West Branch Area is a mile-wide and an inch deep.

Everybody seems to think they are a Christian. But we need Real Christians to really live it out day by day.

I’m hoping that in the next 10 years our church is full of Real Christ-Followers.

Who ask the Lord, “What do you want me to do?” And then do it!

Who not only say they believe the Bible, but who take it as their marching orders!

Who go against the flow of the culture and live distinct lives.

Who live for Christ!

The culture is probably not going to get a lot better in the next 10 years.

Paul says in verse 3. “[T]he time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Look at California.

Homosexual “marriage” is now legal. Homeschooling is not! And Hollywood rules!

What will keep the culture from continuing to going down hill?

Maybe the Lord will be gracious and grant us a national awakening.

But even if He does not, I pray that we as a church would follow Jesus–no matter what.

Recently, in Canada, a pastor wrote a letter to the editor opposing homosexuality and its political agenda. The pastor was fined $5,000, ordered to apologize, and to not write or speak about homosexuality in public again.

That kind of thing might happen down here in the next 10 years.

I may have to go to prison for speaking the truth. I hope not. But it’s more important to speak the truth than to be popular.

I pray that we will stay faithful and follow Christ as His disciples.

And make disciples that make disciples for Jesus Christ.

#5. RAISING UP THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS.

That’s what Paul was doing with Timothy.

He as passing the baton. Two chapters early in 2 Timothy 2:2 he commands him:

“[T]he things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

That’s leadership development. And we need it here at Lanse Free Church.

We’ve got a great bunch of leaders here.

I know pastors who would envy the line-up of leaders that we have right here at LEFC.

But very few of them are young.

For example. Could I have the Leadership Board stand?

These are 7 great guys who serve with me on the Leadership Board.

Thank you, men, for serving our church and leading us.

Notice something about their ages?

A few of our elders have been on our board for 25 or more years.

Some of the men are younger than others.

But I’m still the youngest board member. I’ve been a board member here for 10 years, but I’m still the youngest man on our board.

We need “younger elders!”

We need to be raising up the next generation of men to lead our church family.

Who will be the Wally Kephart and the Blair Murray types to lead Lanse Free Church in 2018?

You might be sitting here. I want to talk to you about stepping up to leadership.

I want to develop you as disciples and as leaders.

I want to spend a great deal of my time in the next 10 years developing the next generation of leaders.

And number six goes with that.

#6. LAUNCHING MISSIONARIES INTO THE WORLD HARVEST.

I’m hoping that we raise up some international missionaries from the young people here in this room.

We sent off the Forceys.
Then we sent off the Weatherlys.
Then we sent off the Gibboneys from our own number.

Whose going to follow them?

I hope that we not only raise up leaders for our own church, but that we raise up leaders for God’s church elsewhere.

I’m praying for my kids that they would discern if God had an international calling on their lives. And I’m praying it for your kids, too.

One of the greatest things about having missionaries come through and visit is getting a sense of what God is going globally and how we can be a part of it.

Our church has been a great missionary supporting church. I’m praying that we would grow even more as a great missionary sending church.

#7. STRENGTHENING FAMILIES.

I talked last week about this, so I won’t say much now. But I see the family in danger in our culture and in our community–because of not building off of God’s steadfast blueprints.

I hope that in the next 10 years, our church stands firm, built on the Rock of Christ, with families that are distinctly different from the culture. Even from the direction that many in the church are going.

I’m hoping for strong families.

#8. BLESSING OUR COMMUNITY.

This is one that I think we need to grow in a lot more.

I’ve not done a good job of leading us into this one, and I want to do better.

What I mean here is that I hope that if we closed our doors, our community would cry.

That we, as a church, would truly be “salt and light” in our community, real difference-making in our presence (Matthew 5:13-16).

So that our presence is felt.

I’m praying that we find more and more ways to serve our community and care for theirs needs, both spiritual and more tangible.

That our campus is seen as a community asset–an hope-filled place that is known for loving the community and possessing biblical wisdom for life.

We’ve experienced a taste of that from time to time. But I’m hoping that in 2018 it just seems natural.

#9. EXPANDING OUR CAPACITIES.

What I mean by that is growing both numerically and in our usefulness.

Here I’m thinking of things like developing our master plan, upgrading our facilities, re-doing some of our leadership structures, hiring more staff, engaging with new technologies like the Internet, and so forth.

I would love to see our influence grow. Being a resource to other churches. Doing conferences that serve others. Training pastors.

Some day I’d like to write book that helps others.

None of that is very important, on its own. It isn’t the gospel.

But the gospel is important enough on its own for us to improve how we go about building a church on it.

Of course, that will mean undergoing change.

And change is not always fun, is it?

But this church has done a wonderful job in 116 years of navigating change.

Does anybody know how many buildings this church has had?

This is our fourth facility.

Have you ever thought that there might be a fifth?

How many languages have we worshiped in?

English is our SECOND language. Pastor Johansen preached in this church for 11 years in Sweedish. He’s the only one of this church’s pastor that has me beat for longevity.

We haven’t yet hit half of our history in English! In 2012, we will have reached the point where our ministry has been half in English and half in Swedish.

Do you think we might need to change in the future and pick up a third language? Maybe so.

Maybe we’ll need to change the name of our church. I think that we might have been called “Lanse Covenant Church” for a while back in the 60's. Maybe we need to think up a third name for our church in the next decade.

West Branch Community Church?
West Branch Bible Church?

We’ll need to change some things to meet the demands of the next 10 years.

And to expand our capacities to multiply our usefulness in our community.

But this will never change. Number 10.

#10. PLEASING OUR LORD.

I’m hoping that our ministry partnership will stay true to the Lord’s direction and desires for Lanse Free Church.

That what we want is for our Lord to be pleased.

Colossians 1: “[W]e pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. [BECAUSE OF THE GOSPEL!] For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

These 10 Things I’m Hoping FOR.

But this one thing I’m hoping IN: The Lord.

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Matt's Messages "10 Things I've Been Teaching in the First 10 Years"

“10 Things I’ve Been Teaching in the First 10 Years”
June 15, 2008

We’re continuing our mini-series entitled: “10 Things: Celebrating 10 Years of Ministry Together.”

10 years ago yesterday, was my first official Sunday as Pastor of Lanse Evangelical Free Church. June 14, 1998. My first Sunday “in the pulpit.” How many think (or even remember) that they were here that Sunday? Raise your hand.

Do you remember what my text was? Isaiah 40.

Last week, I spoke about 10 Things I’ve Learned in the First 10 Years.

Today, I want to talk about 10 Things that I’ve taught.

“10 Things I’ve Been Teaching in the First 10 Years.”

A lot has changed here in the last decade. There was no Ark Park out there. There were no banners on the walls in here. There were no soft-cushy chairs in the fellowship hall. I was not a father on my first Father’s Day here as your pastor–which was the next Sunday, June 21, 1998.

Back then, when I wasn’t writing out my sermons longhand on a yellow legal-pad, I was typing them on a green-screen laptop in the basement! Yes, green-screen! And I stored them on little plastic diskettes. Remember those?

A lot has changed.

But, I hope that nothing significant has changed in what I’ve been teaching here. I hope that I have been teaching God’s eternal truth applied to our contemporary lives.

I want to sound like a broken record--playing the same songs over and over again.

That’s what I’ve set out to try to faithfully do: to teach God’s eternal truth applied to our contemporary lives.

This week, I reviewed the content of my first 400 sermons or so. I didn’t read each one, in fact, I barely just looked at the titles.

Here is a list of the major sermon series for the last 10 years. Not every series, but most of the major ones over the last decade:

Major Sermon Series 1998-2008

1998
The Awesome God of Isaiah 40
A Letter: The Book of Philippians

1999
The Journey of Jesus: The Gospel of John (Chapters 1-12)
Called Out According to His Purpose: The Purpose of the Church

2000
The Journey of Jesus: The Gospel of John (Chapters 13-21)
“And God Spoke All These Words:” The Ten Commandments for Today
I Love to Tell the Story
Filled to the Measure of All the Fullness of God: Ephesians 1-3

2001
Live a Life Worthy of Your Calling: Ephesians 4-6
A Summer of Psalms
The Book of 1 Peter

2002
“Death Has Been Swallowed Up In Victory!” The Glorious Message of 1 Corinthians 15
The War on Errorism: 1 Timothy
The Book of Jonah
Stick with Christ: Colossians

2003
Genesis: The Introduction of HIStory

2004
Wholly His: The Message of James
The Christian and Prayer
The Book of Philippians (A Second Time)
The Temptations of Christmas

2005
The Book of Exodus
The Local Church
FOREVER: Heaven & Hell

2006
The Gospel According to Mark
The Book of Hosea
Home Improvement: Building Our Families on the Gospel

2007
Numbers: Life in the Wilderness
Real Christians

2008
The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
10 Things: Celebrating 10 Years of Ministry Together

That was a lot of ground to cover in 10 years! And it doesn’t include stand-alone messages or shorter two week kind of series.

What I want to do this morning is to summarize these 10 years in 10 points. I want to point out 10 major themes that we’ve emphasized in the last 10 years in many sermons and other kinds of teaching times. Key points of practical biblical theology.

It was hard to boil this list down to 10 points. I could easily make it 25 points long or 400 points long–there is so much to say! But I think that these 10 are 10 things I have been teaching again and again and again and that I want us to really “get.”

And it starts with #1. THE GLORY OF GOD.

Isaiah 40 was my text on that first Sunday. This is what I wanted to communicate–the starting point and the center of my preaching ministry–the awesome gloriousness of God.

[scripture reading, prayer]

I wish I could take a couple of weeks and preach this whole chapter again. I can’t do it justice in 1 little point of 10.

But you get the flavor just from reading it, don’t you, of the sheer glory of God?!!

God is glorious!

Just a couple of the word-pictures here. V.12 “Who has measured the waters in the palm of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?”

God has. All of the oceans of the Earth fit comfortably in the palm of His hand.

With the breadth of his hand, He’s marked off the heavens.

That’s how GREAT He is!

Verse 26, “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created these?”

You see the Milky Way at night?

“He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.”

He’s got a name for each one! And, “Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

That’s God!

And everything in the universe exists for His glory.

When we re-wrote our church’s purpose statement, we started with this phrase:

“Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God...”

He is the reason for everything!

He is the center of everything!

He is the sun, everything else is just a planet.

My prayer has been that each and every week we would get a glimpse of the glory of God.

A triune God who is all powerful, almighty, all everywhere, omnipresent, all wise, omniscient, all perfect–holy, independent, immutable, unchanging, infinite, eternal, timeless, good, loving, merciful, faithful, righteous, just, jealous, wrathful, joyful, blessed, beautiful, majestic, kingly, glorious in every way!

And that’s just getting started.

God is glorious and worthy to be worshipped.

We are called to magnify Him.

Not like a microscope. But like a telescope.

Remember back when I had a both a microscope and telescope up here on stage with me? If you don’t, don’t feel bad it was the Fall of 1999.

I said then that there are 2 kinds of magnifying. We are called to magnify God, but not like a microscope that takes something small and magnifies it to seem bigger.

The God of Isaiah 40 is not small!

But we are called to magnify Him (that’s another word for worship) like a telescope–taking something that is unimaginably huge and yet separated from us because of a great distance (in our case, because of the curse, because of the Fall) and making it visible to the eye.

That’s what we are supposed to do as Christians and as church, magnify the glory of God!

#2. THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. Why would a glorious God like this have anything to do with rebel sinners like you and me?

We were created to reflect the glory of God, but, in Adam, and in each one of us, we have chosen to sin and fall short of the glory of God.

But God had a plan. It was conceived in eternity past and worked out in history, and it is centered on the person of Jesus Christ, God become Man.

The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.

The fullness of God came to reside in a human. I’ve preached about this wonderful Incarnation for 10 Christmases here.

And then this Jesus lived a perfect life. We’ve watched His life as we’ve studied every verse of both the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Mark, so far.

And what comes at the end of each of the gospels? It takes up at least one third and almost of a half of each one–Jesus’ last week.

Jesus died.

Jesus died on the Cross.

He was crucified.

And as He hung there, He paid the penalty for all of the sins of the world.

We have remembered His death in every baptism and every bite of bread and sip of the cup at the Lord’s Table.

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous [Him!] for the unrighteous [Us!], to bring you to God.”

I hope that I’ve talked about the Cross every single Sunday for the last 10 years.

But Jesus didn’t stay dead!

On the third day, He rose from the grave–victorious!

We have celebrated it together for 10 Resurrection Sundays–and every Sunday!

He was resurrected for our justification. We are declared righteous because He lives!

Not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ and Christ alone has done–we can be saved.

This is the gospel. This is the good news of Jesus Christ–and it’s at the center of our message. We are cross-centered. We are gospel-centered.

This is the Main Thing.

And remember, the Main Thing is the Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!

And it calls for a response.

It calls for a response from everyone here. If you have not yet responded to the gracious gospel of Jesus Christ, I call upon you to do so today.

Repent. Turn from your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what He did for you on that bloody Cross.

It calls for a response from everyone everywhere. That’s why we have emphasized a love for the lost and reaching out to our community. And that’s why we have such an emphases on global missions here.

We believe in the power of the gospel for everyone who believes–that the nations need to know about Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And we need to daily live in the power of the gospel. The gospel is not just how we get saved. It’s how we live day by day in God’s sight.

That’s why we’ve learned to answer the question, “How are you?” with...what?

“Better than I deserve.” Because of the gospel.

If you came to grasp the gospel here in the last 10 years, would you stand? Thank you. And there have been others. Praise God!

“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16).

#3. THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST.

That glorious gospel of grace, when believed, brings us into a love relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let me explain what I mean by that phrase. It’s also part of our purpose statement here.

What we mean by it is that we now know that we are loved by God through Jesus Christ and we now love Him back.

We are loved by Jesus!

Our relationship has changed from enemy to sitting at His table.
We have gone from dead to alive.
We have gone from slaves to sin to God’s own children, joint heirs with Jesus!
We follow Jesus Christ as His disciples–men and women who are fully devoted, fully in love, fully passionate about following Him!

We know as Ephesians 3 calls it, we “know this love that surpasses knowledge,” we grasp “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

And we love Him in return. We are growing in our obedience to the great commandment: love the Lord your God.

Do you know how much Jesus loves you? I hope you are knowing that. I’ve been trying to teach it. I know that I have failed at times.

Sometimes, I have probably made it sound like you need to clean up your act or Jesus won’t love you.

But it’s actually like this. Jesus loves you. And He loves you right where you are. But He loves you too much to let you stay there. He will love you into cleaning up your act. Receive His love.

This is especially true when we go through trials. When the hard times come.

One of the emphases of my preaching ministry has been teach on God’s sovereignty over all things–including the bad things that happen to me. Remember the story of Joseph at the end of Genesis?

“You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Even in the midst of our trials, and I know that some of you are going through trials right now–even in the midst of our trials, we can know the sweet love of Jesus.

And we know this on the authority of God’s Word.

#4. THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE.

All 10 years, all 400 plus sermons have been based on the authority of the Scriptures.

If this isn’t God’s Word, then I’m wasting my time.

I’ve been trying to teach the Big Picture Storyline of the Bible.

In 2003, I began a long term project of preaching through the Old Testament. In odd numbered years, I’m taking a major Old Testament book that carries on the storyline and moving us through it.

In 2003, it was Genesis. And we learned among other things...God always keeps His promises.
In 2005, we did Exodus. God rescues His people and lives among them.
In 2007, we preached through Numbers. God is both holy and gracious in the wilderness.
In 2009, we’ll take up the next big book.

I’m doing that because there is a Grand Story in this Book, centered on Jesus Christ and making sense of everything we are going through in our personal stories.

We’re studying it this way to learn that we aren’t the main actors in our life’s plays!

He is the main character.

I’ve tried to emphasize application in my preaching. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is USEFUL for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” so that we are fully equipped for everything coming our way.

This week is Family BIBLE Week for a reason. It is our ultimate authority.

#5. THE FIGHT AGAINST SIN.

I talked last week about I’ve learned what a big sinner I really am.

God is calling us to repent of our sin and grow in holiness.

Remember when we went through the book of Hosea and I talked about my carpenter ants?

Big little black guys with tool belts on? Well, they’re back this Summer!

They didn’t show up in 2007. But they’re back in 2006.

And if I don’t get around to doing something, we could lose our house!

I think, in the last 10 years, we’ve learned a lot about the exceedingly sinfulness of sin.

We are saved by grace and have a new nature, but the old fleshly nature still hangs around like an insurgent force. And it must be rooted out and taken down.

Peter said, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

I pray that the preaching of God’s Word of grace in season and out of season here from this pulpit would produce holy people–zealous for good works.

#6. THE PRECIOUSNESS OF PRAYER.

That love relationship includes access to God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

We are invited to talk to Him.
To take our burdens to Him.
To ask Him to work in the world and in our lives.

He is the King, but we are invited to boldly approach His throne.

Prayer is precious.

And it’s vital.

We are to live our lives on speaker-phone, staying in touch with God all day long.

#7. THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE FAMILY.

As we’ve studied Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Peter, and 1 Timothy, we’ve learned a lot of biblical principles that relate to the Christian family.

But in the Fall of 2006, I preached an entire Fall series on God’s blueprints for the family.

Husbands and Dads, God has appointed you as servant leaders in your home.

We are reminded of that today as we celebrate Father’s Day.

You are to take the lead.

Wives are called to submit and to support.

Children are called to honor and when still at home obey their parents. We called it “The Family Dance.”

God has a blueprint here in Scripture for us to follow so that our families are built strong–like the house on rock.

Families in our culture are built, for the most part, on the sand.

Which family will get hit with a storm?

Jesus’ story says that both will.

Which one will stand firm? Only the one built on the Solid Rock.

#8. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LOCAL CHURCH.

I’ve preach several messages and at least 2 series on the Local Church.

I’ve emphasized that the local church is important to the heart of God and it should be important to us, as well.

Our purpose statement here says, “Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God by bringing people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.”

We’ve called that doing our purpose through our “WIFES.” WIFES.

The church is the main place where we work out our salvation in community with other people.

The local church is supposed to be Cross-Centered, and purposeful, and joy-fully led by qualified leaders and practice church discipline so that we all enjoy the safety of accountability.

I’ve taught again and again that everyone should be baptized and become members of a local church.

Sometimes, I think that some of you think that I get a signing bonus for each new member! I don’t! I do think that our church gets a bonus when each of you becomes a member.

But I don’t care if you join our church or another of like precious faith.

God is working in the church and wants us to all be a part of it, too.

#9. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

We’ve emphasized that a lot in the last several months, but it should be said again.

God is present and living inside of all Real Christians. And, inside of us, He’s re-working us into the image of Christ, applying the New Covenant to our hearts, producing His fruit in us, and empowering us for bold witness and service in the Body of Christ.

Don’t let the Summer go on and forget about the Spirit.

He’s at work in us.

Don’t grieve Him. Don’t quench Him. Don’t resist Him.

Listen to Him.

What’s He saying to you today in the pages of His inspired Word?

What have you been reminded of today that you need to apply to yourself anew?

Perhaps you have grown tired and weary.

The Christian life seems heavy and un-doable to you.

Maybe you’re complaining that your way seems hidden from the Lord and He’s forgotten you.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint!”

#10. I’ve been teaching and will continue to teach about THE ANTICIPATION OF CHRIST’S RETURN.

Jesus is coming back. And He’s coming back soon.

We need to be ready.

We need to live lives of constant expectancy.

Reaching out to those who have not yet seen the glory of God or responded to the gospel or fallen in love with Jesus.

And living in constant expectancy of His return.

Following His authoritative, fighting against sin, drawing near in prayer, building our families on the Gospel, linking arm and arm with the family of God, the local church, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Peter says “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

I pray that the preaching of God’s word at Lanse Evangelical Free Church would be a part of those efforts now and until we see Him face to face.

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Matt's Messages "10 Things I've Learned in the First 10 Years"

“10 Things I’ve Learned in the First 10 Years”
June 8, 2008

Heather and I have been here now for 10 years. This week, I’m completing my 10th year as your Pastor. My official start date was June 14, 1998.

A whole decade! A lot has changed in those 10 years. Gasoline was $.89 a gallon at the pump at Kwik Fill when we started in 1998!

Here is a pile of all of my monthly planning calendars for the last 10 years. 10 years of appointments, sermons, meetings, events, everything. A LOT has happened in those 10 years!

Since 10 years seemed to me like a big deal, I decided to speak for 3 weeks on “10 Things,” this Sunday, next Sunday, and the next Sunday.

“10 Things: Celebrating 10 Years of Ministry Together.” You and us. Heather was sorry that she couldn’t be here this morning. She is at my Aunt house for a family baby shower for my cousin today. But she wishes that she could be here and will be back next week.

Today: “10 Things I Have Learned in the First 10 Years.”

Now, these are not all of the things that I’ve learned in the first 10 years, and maybe aren’t the 10 most important things that I’ve learned in the first 10 years. But they are the ones that sprang to mind as I prepared to speak to you this morning.

It’s not necessarily that I didn’t know these things before I became you pastor, but being your pastor has given me a deeper awareness and knowledge of them. I’ve experienced them–and that’s the best kind of learning.

Because there are 10, we’ll have to move quickly through each one, though I could talk on and on about each of them.

10 Things I’ve Learned in the First 10 Years.

#1. HOW GOD GIVES US OUR DESIRES AND CHANGES THEM, TOO.

Psalm 37, verse 4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I’m going to start the story in August of 1997. I was beginning my third year as a seminarian at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

I was also a youth pastor at a great little Bible church in Zion, Illinois. I had had no desire to leave that ministry. I think the people there thought of me as a seminary student who also worked in their church. I thought of myself as a youth pastor that also happened to go to seminary.

But through a chain of events that I won’t go into here, Heather and I became what we called “untethered” to the ministry there at Beach Bible Church. We still loved the people, but we began to think that God had a different ministry for us somewhere else–especially a ministry of preaching and solo-pastoring a church. I was increasingly realizing that I wasn’t cut out for specialization and being a youth-pastor. I was a generalist pastor at heart. A G.P.

So, Heather and I went on a camping trip, across country to my favorite place on God’s Green Earth, Cook Forest State Park near Clarion Pennsylvania. While we were there, Heather and I stopped in a little coffee shop on the main drag in Clarion and dreamed about what God would have for us next.

We joked with one another, “Wouldn’t be great if God would plop us down in a little town in the woods of Pennsylvania somewhere like this? Nah. That would never happen! God probably wants us to live in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa or something.”

Fast forward 6 months. We had continued to pray and to seek God’s will for us, and Trinity provided the next step. In January of 1998, they had all of the EFCA district superintendents come onto campus and meet with prospective pastors about job openings in their districts.

That weekend, we met a phenomenal man named LeRoy Glover. And he was district superintendent of a little district that encompassed the eastern half of Ohio (where I’m from) and the western half of Pennsylvania where Cook Forest is.

And he had 7 churches with openings! And LeRoy said that he would give our information to the search committees, including one in a place I’d never heard of Lanse, Pennsylvania. The search committee’s chairman there was a man named Wallace Kephart.

And that started an amazing relationship!

You know, a year later, Heather and I left our home in August and drove to Cook Forest and sat in that same coffee shop–it only took a hour and a half to get there! God had plopped us down in the middle of Penn’s Woods!

He gives us the desires of our hearts. Notice what the verse actually says though.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your hearts.”

If my delight is in the Lord, what will I really want? I’ll want Him and what He wants!

Another gift God gave us was in the character of this church. I had a prayer-list of 7 items that I was looking for in a church to serve.

Listen to this list:

1. A place with potential.

2. A place that can support a full-time pastor and family financially (though not extravagantly).

3. A place that is evangelical (not fundamentalist nor liberal).

4. A place that is somewhat interested in creativity and innovation.

5. A place with a high-view of Scripture. (Central to church life.)

6. A place with a small-town, small suburban, or rural feel.

7. A place that is excited about Heather and I.

God gave us all 7 of those in you! All 7!

Here’s the letter that George Leathers wrote me dated April 28, 1998:

“Dear Mr. Mitchell, On April 26, 1998, the congregation of the Lanse Evangelical Free Church, Lanse Pa. Voted by a 94% margin to call you, Matthew C. Mitchell, to be senior pastor of the church. We praise the Lord for His faithfulness, and look forward with anticipation, having you and Heather ministering with us...We pray that as you come to Lanse that God will be glorified and that we will have a wonderful experience, serving the Lord in Lanse, Pa. Sincerely, George Leathers, Chairman.”

There have been times along the way when I’ve thought about leaving Lanse Free Church. Sometimes things aren’t as exciting as others. And my desires have changed at times.

But I have come back again and again to the sense of call I had when we came to candidate in April of 1998. I remember in the middle of meeting everyone and interviewing and so on going for a long walk in the rain in some State gamelands. And being assured personally by Lord, my Delight, that this is where He had for us to be.

2. HOW SWEET IT IS TO BE LOVED BY A CHURCH FAMILY.

In Psalm 16, David says about his situation, “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

That’s how I feel about being situated here. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places!

I never would have known how sweet it is to be loved by a church family like you if I hadn’t experienced it these last 10 years.

You have been so loving and caring for me and my family.

When we first arrived, there was a group of you who helped us moved in. I remember Bea and Vera there with a basket of food and cleaning supplies provided by the church. You helped us get our first rental house up in Bigler and find things and made us feel right at home.

You have rejoiced with the births of each of our children and taken care of us when we are sick. You’ve done babysitting and watched out for us and appreciated us in October every year.

You’ve paid me a generous salary that has allowed us to do something financially that I didn’t expect to be able to do, including build our own home! You’ve given us big and little gifts like a shed and work-days on our property and our big dining room table!

And you’ve given me time off for vacations, conferences, classes, and last year even a mini-sabbatical that helped me to recharge at a significant point.

I could go on and on and on and on and on about how your have loved me and Heather and our family. If I’m the shepherd, you’ve been very loyal and loving sheep!

1 Timothy 5:17 says, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.’”

You’ve treated me like an Ox! And I mean that as a good thing! You’ve provided me with double honor, and I’m grateful.

Let me tell one story to illustrate this.

We moved into our new house (which is another story of God’s giving us our desires and also changing them along the way) in February of 2002.

On Saturday morning February 9th, we woke up and got dressed and then out of nowhere a SWAT Team of Lanse Free Church people swooped down at our house in Bigler and carried off all of our stuff to Lanse!

There was like 15 pick-up trucks came in and out and took the stuff up to our new house–where a team of ladies started putting the things away!

We moved everything in 3 hours and it was livable by the time I left Bigler and got to Lanse!

One of the last things to go was the piano. Anyone remember this?

We got it into the back of the pickup truck, but we couldn’t get the tailgate up. So, someone had to sit in the bed of the truck to watch over the piano as it went up and down those hills on the Cut-Off. Guess who did it?

Blair Murray. And Heather was all worried about and she still remembers being at our new place in Lanse and hearing the truck pull in with Blair playing away at the keys!

What a sight!

Thank you for loving us. How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You!

We saw this very clearly in another way with #3.

#3. HOW FAITHFUL GOD IS WHEN WE GO THROUGH TRIALS.

We hadn’t been here a whole year when we lost our first child.

Heather was 6 months along when we went to district conference and we realized taht the baby wasn’t moving any more.

I still remember everything from that night, the drive the in rain to the emergency room, the wailing and sobbing, the drive home in the light April snow, going to Centre Community Hospital, giving birth, holding her in our arms.

That is the worst thing that every happened to us...so far.

And you folks loved us through it. You brought meals, you listened, you gave us space, you cared for us, you walked through it with us.

But even more importantly, God loved us through it. We learned the deepest truth of Romans 8:32 (remember that I preached on Romans 8:32 just a week after Charis was born?).

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

He will!

We can count on it. God gave up Jesus. How could He fail to give us everything else for our good? Even the worst things. He won’t fail. He will give us all things.

We have learned that in the hard times. We have, as a whole church, haven’t we?

You all have gone through hard times. If you haven’t, just wait, it’s coming.

But God is faithful in those hard times!

#4. HOW MUCH LOVE A PASTOR CAN REALLY HAVE FOR A CHURCH.

I didn’t know how much I could fall in love with a group of people.

Paul said to the Corinthians, “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you...” He said, “ you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.”

I am learning what that means.

We have thoroughly loved being a part of your lives. Visiting in your homes. As you probably know, I love to visit. If you’d like me to visit you, just let me know. I’ve been in most of your homes, but I’d like to be in all of them at some point.

It’s been a privilege to eat at your tables and have you at ours.

To be present at births and be involved in weddings.

To counsel you in hard times.

I haven’t always loved you like I should. I have failed to love you in specific ways.

I know that I’ve missed opportunities to actively love you, but I’m thankful for all of the ones that I’ve been able to take advantage of.

One of the newest ways that I want to grow in my love for you is in trying my hand at firearms and hunting.

Believe it or not, Heather and I both passed our Hunter’s Safety Course last weekend!

We are now safe! We’ll have to see if we’re effective!

Paul says that he daily feels the pressure of his concern for all of the churches in his care. He says, “Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”

I know a little bit of what he’s talking about. I care when you are hurting. And I care when you are sinning.

One of the hardest things for me is to see some of you make foolish choices and walk away from God’s best for you. It makes me burn inside.

Love can be a painful thing.

I didn’t know how much a pastor can really love a church. And now I do.

And I’m glad I do. I love you.

That brings us to #5.

5. HOW PASTORING IS ABOUT BEING FAITHFUL, NOT “SUCCESSFUL.”

Pastors can get the idea that it’s all about us, and it’s all about building our kingdom.

Now, it is all about His kingdom! And we are supposed to be bear fruit.

But that doesn’t always mean that churches grow and grow and grow numerically.

In a demographic like ours, without that many jobs, just staying the same size church and growing a little bit each year is fruitfulness–especially if people are coming to Christ.

Success in pastoring is being faithful to my calling.

I define my role in pastoring as Preaching the Word, Equipping the Saints, and Shepherding the Flock. Some of you were in that first Sunday School Class that I taught back on April 18, 1998 when I taught about what a pastor does while I was candidating here.

Preach the Word, Equip the Saints, Shepherd the Flock.

I’ll be honest. Sometimes, I envy those who have large churches, large staffs, and other opportunities. That sometimes looks “successful.” But God has called me to be faithful. And leave the “success” up to Him.

He promises this in 1 Peter 5–“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

That’s success! Which goes along with #6.

6. HOW GOOD IT IS TO WORK AS A TEAM IN MINISTRY.

We’ve been learning about how the church is a “Body.” And the body needs to work together as a team.

My favorite story about this is Wild West Day–July 28, 2001.

How many were here for Wild West Day?

How many don’t know what it was?

On July 28, 2001, our little church of about 120 people had a western fair for the community–a FREE western fair for the community and had 1200 people show up!

10 times the size of our church family!

Over 1,000 guests, 1,200 hot-dogs consumed, 416 families contacted, 375 JESUS Videos given out, 156 Gospel-Bracelets, and who knows how many SNO-CONES?

It was awesome.

And I think the most awesome thing about it was that we all worked together for it.

Nobody stayed at home. Nobody said, “I’ll let someone else do it.” Nobody kept their gifts to themselves. Everybody chipped in.

And we did something BIG that touched our community for eternity.

When it was all over, I preached from Psalm 133. Aaron’s Oil Beard.

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon [big mountain] were falling on Mount Zion [little mountain drenched and refreshed]. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

Who Good and Pleasant It is to Work as a Team In Ministry.

I love the fact that this is not Matt Mitchell’s church and Matt Mitchell’s ministry. This is our church and our ministry together.

I am thankful for all that all of you do–especially our board. I’m thankful for the team approach that our board takes in ministry.

It is good and pleasant and holy like Aaron’s oily beard!

Of course, that has a flip side, too. #7

I’ve learned #7. HOW HARD CONFLICT IS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS.

It has not always been easy in these last 10 years. Don’t get me wrong. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, but that doesn’t mean that every step has been easy.

Before I came, I had 2 main worries about full time pastoral ministry.

First, could I really get a sermon done in a week? I had always had more time to prepare sermons before I became a pastor.

Could I do it week in and week out? I have learned that I can do it. I’ve now preached over 400 sermons here, and probably 500 when you add up guest preaching opportunities.

But the other thing I was worried about was whether or not I could handle church conflicts or if it would be too much for me.

I have handled them. We haven’t had very many because we are very focused on unity here. But we have had a number of them.

There is nothing harder in ministry, than when folks leave the church because of a conflict between Christians.

I’ve lost a lot of sleep over folks that have disagreed or gotten mad or gossiped or fought with me or other Christians.

There was a patch of about a year and half when 19 adults left the church. Not together. In my time, we haven’t had a split, but 19 adults for various reasons had a problem with (primarily) me. And that was incredibly difficult.

I’m so thankful for the training that we’ve received from Peacemaker Ministries about how to respond to conflict biblically. I don’t know where I’d be without it.

I do know that I’ve been responsible for some of the conflicts.

There was a patch of about 6 months when I had a list of people that I need to ask forgiveness from. You might have been on my list.

It took me 6 months to reach all of them and ask for forgiveness.

Thank you to those who gave it to me.

I know that I have to keep on working at biblical peace-making and biblical unity so that our church family continues to experience the blessing of God.

That leads me to #8.

I’ve learned #8. HOW BIG A SINNER I REALLY AM.

I think that I’m called to be a pastor because I need more time in the Bible weekly than some of you do. I need pastoring for my sanctification.

I never knew that I could be an angry man until Heather came down with mononucleosis and baby Robin decided she didn’t need to sleep any more.

I found out that I am an anxious man when things in the JESUS Video Project didn’t go the way I thought they should be. Or when there were disagreements with other leaders about the way we should go.

I found out that I am tempted to laziness and to the fear of man so that I haven’t always led you bold and with vision–preferring a safer, more popular route some times.

I’ve learned that I’m a big sinner.

But thankfully, I have a BIG savior!

I am so thankful for the teaching that came to us from a variety of sources, but most notably from CCEF and teachers like David Powlison and Paul Tripp.

They’ve taught me truckloads more about my heart (the control center of my life) and how I need heart change through the gospel.

God doesn’t just save me and then leave me the same.

He wants to change me into the image of Christ.

Jesus died for that!

This August, I’m going to take 2 weeks to study on the doctoral level with the teachers at CCEF. I’m going to learn more about how to minister to people right where they are and right where they live with the truth of the gospel that changes us!

I can’t wait.

I know that means that I’ll find out even more how big a sinner I am.

And I’m sorry for you that you’ve had to live with the consequences of my failings these last 10 years. Thank you for bearing with me. Help me to grow!

#9 was a real surprise. It shouldn’t have been, but it really was.

I’ve learned #9. HOW EVERYONE EVENTUALLY DIES.

I knew that theoretically, but it really comes home when you start leading funerals:

Melvin Fleck.
George Neidrick.
Hilma Nelson.
Raphael Johnson.
Ralph Madden.
June Martin.
Mary Slother.
Violet Shoffner.
Glen Shimel.
Dempsey Kyler.
Squid Coble.
May Smith.
Imilda Shimmel.
Joan Houser.
Mabel Carlson.
Tiny Older.
Della Owens.
Marie Benton.
Alexis Folmar.
Mary Lucas.
Jaden Plisco.
Jean Netterblade.

Everybody eventually dies.

I’m going to do. And so are you.

You might be at my funeral. If so, I want you to sing “In Christ Alone.”

I might be preaching at your funeral. And it may not be long.

It may be a while.

But it is coming.

I’ve been at the hospital and seen suffering.

And I’ve been at the graveside and seen and felt weeping.

Everyone eventually dies.

“[M]an is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Which leads me to #10. I’ve learned #10. HOW BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL IS THE CROSS OF CHRIST.

Again and again we come back to the Cross.

The Lord Jesus Christ died to save sinners like you and me.

He was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.

I’ve said it hundreds of times from this pulpit, and Lord-willing, I’ll say it hundreds of times more.

Turn from your sins and trust in the Savior. Believe the Gospel. Receive Jesus and be saved!

The Cross, which was ugly and terrible is actually beautiful and powerful.

I have learned so much by coming back again and again to Calvary.

You and I can be ready for death by putting our faith in His death and His resurrection life.

If you don’t remember anything else from the last 10 years, I pray that you will remember a focus on the Gospel, on the Cross, where the Prince of Glory Died.

I invite you to believe in Christ and His Cross, and Christ alone.

For 10 years that’s been the center of our partnership–the gospel.

And because of it, I can say, as I have for the last 10 years.

“It’s a joy to be your pastor.”

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