Our Leaders, Methods, Design and Purposes
1 Corinthians 14:40
I. Introduction (1Cor 14:40)
A. Our world is out of control – not submitted to God’s order of things
1. Like a highway system with almost not rules, no speed limits, no Garda
2. Like a factory without instructions, and managers, on off switches, and controls to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely
3. Look at how people act, and think! Not decently, and out of control!!!
B. Churches are out of control – also not submitted to God’s order of things
1. Don’t like rules and limits on their lives
2. Church has become, “Do what you want” not Do as Jesus Says
3. Look at how “Christians” act – not decently, and out of control!
C. The Apostle Paul commands that everything in a person’s life should be done unto God decently and in order (especially our worship)
1. Decently – clean
2. In Order – orderly, according to rules
D. Examples of Confusion and Disorder in churches
1. Strange worship and do as you please kind of performances in churches
2. Divisions between Christians – anger, bitterness, cliques
3. Women standing up and preaching, instead of the man of God
4. Making the Lord’s Supper into a feast and excluding people who are poor
5. Christians coming to church to show off new cars, or fashionable clothes, or new boyfriends
6. Christians only coming to church when it is convenient and profitable for them – not faithful, nor prayerful
E. You cannot play a game of football without rules; the rules make the game possible. You cannot play a game of chess without rules; you cannot drive through traffic without rules. So certain fundamental rules are necessary to the well-being of a church.
F. God is a God of order
1. In Creation – step by step, in an orderly fashion He created, and it continues orderly, not chaotic
2. In the Tabernacle worship – specific items, in specific places, with everyone coming together to worship at specific times, in a specific place
3. In the New Testament (Tit 1:5) – Church is not about “Doing It Yourself”
G. This morning I want to continue to look at the Orderliness that needs to be in our Church, and in every Bible Believing Church
H. Last week we learned that a NT Churches needs to have:
1. One Bible
2. One Purpose
3. One Praise
4. One Problem
5. One Programme
I. This morning, we are going to focus on having:
1. One Pastor
2. One Goal
II. Message – Order in the Church – Part 2
A. One Pastor (1Cor 4:15; Eph 4:11)
1. The Work of the Pastor – absolutely awesome! Not easy, but the greatest calling in the world
a. The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.
b. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone's feelings.
c. He works from 8 AM until midnight and is also the church janitor.
d. The perfect pastor makes €40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates €30 a week to the church.
e. He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience.
f. Above all, he is handsome.
g. The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.
h. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church.
i. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
j. He has a burning desire to work with the youth, and spends all his time with the senior citizens.
k. He smiles all the time while keeping a straight face, because he has a keen sense of humor that allows him to be seriously dedicated.
l. He makes fifteen calls a day on church members, spends all his time evangelizing non-members, and is always found in his study if he is needed.
2. Some children in Sunday School were invited to write their pastor anything they wanted – here is a small list of the things that they wrote
a. Dear Pastor, I know God is supposed to loves everybody but He never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8.
b. Dear Pastor, Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete. Age 9
c. Dear Pastor, My father should be a minister. Every day he gives us a sermon about something. Robert Anderson, age 11
d. Dear Pastor, I'm sorry I can't leave more money in the plate, but my Dad didn't give me a raise in my allowance. Could you give a sermon about a raise in my allowance? Love, Patty. Age 10
e. Dear Pastor, My mother is very religious. She goes to play bingo at church every week even if she has a cold. Yours truly Annette. Age 9
f. Dear Pastor, I think a lot more people would come to your church if you moved it to Disneyland. Loreen. Age 9
g. Dear Pastor, My father says I should learn the Ten Commandments. But I don't think I want to because we have enough rules already in my house. Joshua. Age 10
h. Dear Pastor, Are there any devils on earth? I think there may be one in my class. Carla. Age 10,
i. Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished. Ralph, Age 11
j. Dear Pastor, How does God know the good people from the bad people? Do you tell Him or does He just know it? Sincerely, Marie.
3. Enough humour.
4. There are too many “wanna-be’s” – people who want to lead, and be in charge, and make decisions – run the world, and even run their lives. God has given to the church pastors to keep order in a church!
5. The Calling of a Pastor.
a. God has ordained pastors to lead His people – one head of every church, just like one head over every home, and one head over every government – God’s way
b. God always works through “a line of authority” – get this line!
1) Starting with His word (Ps 138:2) not with His Spirit!
2) The Father keeps His word (1Cor 11:1-3) – cannot do what He wants
3) The Son – does the will of the Father
4) The Man – is to obey God, not his wife, or his boss, or his friends
5) The Woman – is to obey her husband, not Oprah, or her heart, or her children
6) When we have a problem with that line, we enter the realm of Satanic dominion (Ps 12:1-4; 2Thes 2:4) and a spiritual battle develops
c. In a Bible believing Church, the structure is as follows:
1) Mt 23:8 - All of us are “brethren with a Bible” - family! Obeying what the Bible says. That’s how we start! As disciples, learners, followers of Jesus Christ according to His word! Born again, Bible believers!
2) Acts 11:28-30 - Some have grown and matured and are looked up to as “elders,” who take on responsibilities and become leaders in the Church – natural progression. Called “growing up”
3) Acts 14:23 - A few become “ordained,” or authorised to pastor or lead churches full-time, building up the people of a church
4) There is NO higher authority like arch-bishops, cardinals, popes
5) A real Church is simply a group of believers who follow their pastor as he follows Jesus Christ (see again 1Cor 11:1).
6. The Following of a Pastor.
a. God tells His people to obey those who keep order in the church (Heb 13:7,8,17) – who oversee it and make sure it stays right and pure
b. Who are these spiritual rulers? They are known as:
1) Pastors – teachers – have a vision of where to go, and how to get there
2) Bishops – overseers, shepherds – help everybody fulfil that vision
3) Elders – leaders – are a mature example to everyone of living and walking by faith
4) These are different words describing the same person
7. The Instructions for a Pastor – Not doing as he pleases! Listen to the Apostle Paul’s instructions to pastors in Acts 20:17-32:
a. He met with the elders, leaders of the Church of Ephesus (20:17) – not everybody because there would have been too many
b. He reminded them of work with them in the past (20:18-20)
1) How he had personally lived with them – not above them
2) Suffered with them
3) Trained them (Cf 20:27,31)
4) And Evangelised everyone he met (20:20b,21) – that was his joy
c. He told them his life was surrendered to the will of God (20:22-24). All he wanted was to finish his life and ministry with JOY!
d. He had no regrets – he had done his best (20:25-27) there would be no second chances for him to do better
e. But he had some warnings for them
1) Take heed – be very careful, vigilant, thoughtful and attentive
2) Care about “the flock” – what a way to talk about Christians – gentle, defenceless, weak sheep
3) Oversee the flock – keep your eyes on - manage it – don’t let it go its own way, and do its own thing, and get out of the way – supervise or coach it
4) Feed “the church of God” – it’s HIS church – feed from the WORD, not from entertainment, and the world, but from THIS BOOK
5) Protect the church of God
a) Grievous wolves will try to get in – unsaved – to devour
b) Traitors will rise up from among us, trying to make a name for themselves
f. And then he commended them (20:32) – gave them over to God and His word – THAT IS ALL WE NEED! That is all ANY church needs!
8. So, what’s the point?
a. Ephesus is no different than Ballincollig, or Mallow, or Dublin
b. Every place, every city needs a church full of people who are following their pastor as he follows Christ.
c. Sounds simple, yet the devil would love for people to reject the man of God’s authority, argue with his vision, and hinder his zeal for God
d. Without a pastor, a church will struggle like a family without a father, or a business without a boss, or a government without a leader
e. How should we work together?
1) Obey the Scriptures being taught – doesn’t matter if no one else is, YOU should because it is the Bible! I’m supposed to “preach the word” and you are supposed to live it!
2) Follow the pastor’s example
3) Seek your pastor’s advise and listen carefully to it – it may save your life
4) Pray for your pastor
5) Bless your pastor – be a blessing to him and his family. He serves you
B. One Goal – a Pure Church (2Cor 11:2,3; Eph 5:25-27)
1. That was the whole reason for the writing of 1 Corinthians – to clean-up the Church in Corinth – it had 14 major problems
2. Jesus wrote to the seven churches of Asia Minor (now modern Turkey) to get a majority of them to repent and get their act together
3. Jesus died for His Church, and lives to purify and iron-out all the wrinkles of us all
4. What is a pure church?
a. Saved Membership – not full of unbelievers, and people just filling chairs
b. Simple in faith – uncluttered, and uncomplicated (simplicity in Christ)
c. Sanctified – growing in the beauty of holiness
d. Sowing – witnessing to this world of the Gospel, planting and watering
e. Separated – breaking free from sins and the world’s dominance
f. Sharp – Discerning and careful about what we do, what we believe, and how we live – again, not an “anything goes” kind of church
g. Steadfast – consistent in our personal, and intimate walk with God
h. Passionate in everything – hot hearts (Rev 2:4; 3:15)
III. Conclusion
A. These things make for an orderly church – a place that God is pleased with
B. The Apostle Paul commands that everything in a person’s life should be done decently and in order (especially our worship)
1. Decently – clean
2. In Order – orderly, according to rules
C. You cannot play a game of football without rules; the rules make the game possible. You cannot play a game of chess without rules; you cannot drive through traffic without rules. So certain fundamental rules are necessary to the well-being of a church.
D. God is a God of order
E. This morning we have looked at the Orderliness that needs to be in our Church, and in every Bible Believing Church (this is all we need):
1. One Bible
2. One Purpose
3. One Praise
4. One Problem
5. One Programme
6. One Pastor
7. One Goal – let’s make sure we all have that same goal!
F. Next Week – Dealing With Problems in the Church
Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland