Sermon for 8/15/2010
Resignation
Introduction:
Conflicts are not uncommon, but when the preacher and song leader get into it, stand aside. One week, the preacher preached on commitment, and how we should move forward into doing service for others. After this sermon, the song leader led the congregation in singing, I Shall Not Be Moved. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on giving and how we should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The song leader then led the song, Jesus Paid It All. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on gossiping and how we should watch our tongues. The hymn was I Love To Tell The Story. The preacher became disgusted over the situation and, the next Sunday, he told the congregation he was considering resigning. The congregation then sang Oh, Why Not Tonight. When the preacher resigned the next week, he told the church that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was taking him away. The song leader then sang What a Friend We Have in Jesus.
WBTU:
A. A church in Indiana, Pleasant Ridge Church of Christ, near Cincinnati, has offered me the position of being their preacher. As of Tuesday night, I accepted their offer.
B. My family and I have been praying for God’s direction and we want to do His will for our lives. We have sensed the need for a change in our lives and in the ministry of the church here. This church in Indiana is where the Lord has led us. We will be leaving in 2 weeks, my last Sunday being August 29.
C. This church in Indiana is an answer to our prayers. This new position in Indiana will get us much closer to my family. My dad will be 2 hours away. My grandmother will be 4 hours away. The plan for my mother is for her husband Lou to retire in 2 years and they will move back to Indiana. Crystal’s parents are from Kentucky and they still have family there. They love to travel and so they can visit their brothers and sisters and then come a couple hours farther north and visit us. We have the desire to be closer to family. Difficult to be 16 hours away.
D. Another answer to prayer is that this church in Indiana has agreed to pay for my schooling to get a Master’s Degree. I was trained to be a youth minister and so I didn’t take all the courses that I now know would have been good for me. Also, I have done some volunteer hospice work while I have been here and this additional schooling would help if the Lord leads me into chaplaincy with hospice in the far future.
E. I know there are many concerns when a change like this happens.
Thesis: Let me answer some of those concerns from 1 Corinthians 2.
For instances:
1. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
A. Lot here but I want us to focus on vs. 3.
B. From Acts we know that when the Lord led Paul and his companions to Macedonia and Greece, they first spent some time in Philippi. There, the first convert in Europe, Lydia, was baptized. A short time after this, Paul and Silas were in prison for helping a slave girl, and they were praying and singing to God and there was an earthquake. The jailor came in and thinking everyone had escaped, he was going to kill himself. Paul and Silas talked with him about the Lord Jesus Christ and he and his family were baptized. A short time after this, Paul and his companions went to Thessalonica and had a fruitful but short ministry there. It was so successful that it stirred up the Jews to riot. Because of this disturbance, Paul and Silas went to Berea and started to minister there. When the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul and Silas were in Berea, they went there and caused a lot of problems. Because of this we read,
C. Read Acts 17:14-16. This seems to be a difficult time for the apostle Paul. 2 reasons:
1. Athens was a difficult place to be a preacher of the gospel. Much discussion and debate but not a lot of converts. They made fun of him and his ideas.
2. He was alone. We think of the apostle Paul going to foreign lands to spread the gospel but he wasn’t alone. He always had fellow laborers with him. During this time, those companions are in the towns where he had to leave because of problems.
D. Pick up in Acts 18:1. Remember he is still alone.
E. Acts 18:2-3. He is starting to get back to his normal self. He was out of money and had to make tents. But now he has some fellow laborers, Aquila and Priscilla, and not just in Christ but also in tent making.
F. Acts 18:4-5. Now Paul is back at full strength. More companions have come and now he is able to preach and teach full time.
G. Acts 18:9-11. Paul stayed in Corinth longer than most of his ministries.
H. Go back to 1 Corinthians 2:3. He is talking about this time.
1. weakness- This is not to a bodily weakness, but to a state of mind. Paul had a good sense of his weakness and insufficiency.
2. fear- fears of failure because what is at stake are human souls.
3. much trembling- Paul had infirmities and his “thorn” in the flesh. He had human difficulties and stresses common to man.
I. This verse describes me when I came to Monterey. Give some background. In May 2008 I was fired from a ministry of 6 years in North Carolina. It was a very hurtful situation to me and my family. We felt like that was the place where we would spend many years. After being asked to resign and I did, I sank into a depression. I was not able to provide for my family even though I got a few part time jobs. We tried out for many preaching positions but didn’t get any of them. I seriously began questioning my calling to the ministry. Then we sent a resume to Monterey. It was a long shot.
J. Paul Avery called me up and we began to talk about my situation. I thought he would not like our current situation and pass us by. However, we set up a trial sermon date. Then came a response I was not expecting. “Do you need any help until the trial sermon? We want to help you. We don’t want to see another man leave the ministry.”
K. On average 1,500 preachers walk out of the pulpit every month. Of those who remain, 50% are so discouraged that if they could afford to, would leave the ministry now.
L. Why did the Lord lead us here to only stay such a short time? For nothing else than to stop a preacher from leaving the ministry. Many of you have stated that for us to effectively minister, we must heal from our past. You have helped us to do that. Warm place in my heart because of this.
2. 1 Corinthians 2:16a
A. When the preacher resigned the next week, he told the church that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was taking him away. I believe this is the case here.
C. I believe in the Lord’s direction and guidance. Look at the section in Acts discussed earlier. Before Paul and his companions went to Macedonia, we find this. Look up and read Acts 16:6-9. We want to be in the center of God’s will.
D. Why would the Lord have us here for such a short time? I don’t know but I trust that the Lord knows what he is doing. This question from 1 Corinthians 2:16 comes from.
E. (Isa 40:13 NIV) Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? (Isa 40:14 NIV) Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?
F. (Eccl 3:11 NIV) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
G. Who knows the beginning from the end and everything in between?
H. (1 Cor 15:58 NIV) Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
3. 1 Corinthians 2:9
A. We often apply this verse to heaven.
B. In the context here it is referring to the plans of God. More specifically Paul is talking about the gospel from vs. 8.
C. The preacher is leaving and things will just get worse. Things might get better. I don’t know the plans of God.
D. I know Billy Wallace was here for several years and had a productive ministry. I know many still have heavy hearts because he left. Maybe I was here to help you heal as well. After this, we can go on and do even greater things for the Lord.
E. (John 14:12 NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
F. I know that in the past couple of months some upsetting things have happened. The elders have resigned. From that, however, we now have ministry teams. We need them now more than ever. We have some people who have come back and are now serving. We have some others who came once in a while but now are coming most Sundays and willing to serve. Still need to work on getting some elders but in the meantime, this is good. The music is back to where it once was. Brother Paul is able to fill in and preach and so the preaching of the gospel will continue in the short term and long term.
G. I believe some good days are ahead for the Monterey Church of Christ. Seeds have been planted and a harvest is going to be gathered. (Gal 6:9 NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
