afternoon I'm going to read something, I'm going to read this short article to you, and then I'm going to read, we're going to read together a bunch of passages about God's sovereignty. So back in roughly the early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s, it pains me even to say this, at the church we were involved in, our pastor there got involved with the whole Rick Warren purpose-driven church trash. And I was kind of blindsided by it. I taught a Sunday school class, and he brought it to us, and I didn't know anything about it. And so at first I went along with it. The first meeting that we had, because I wasn't familiar, And then I started reading it, and the first thing that stood out to me was the 37 or 41 or whatever that it was, different so-called translations of the Bible that it used. And when you went through and looked and seen why in the world wouldn't somebody stick with a good translation and just use it, why is there all these different translations, and some of them weren't even translations, they were just paraphrases. But why did he do that in this book? Well, you could see that he would use these translations or paraphrases because they would fit into the agenda that he was trying to push through all this. And it was somewhat covert. Some of the scriptures the so-called translation, by the time he read it, or he wrote about it, and then he used it, it was nothing close to what the meaning of the verse was in the Scripture. And there was a lot of things disguised in there. It was somewhat blatant, but there was a lot of things were, I would say, schizophrenic. On one hand, you would have something that really seemed honoring to God, a statement. And then in the next one, it would exalt man right up beside God. And it was shocking. I spent months, a few months, in a room with a card table, and this was my first experience computer and I started printing off all kinds of stuff and reading and it was a whirlwind of a time in my life personally but he came familiar with the whole church growth movement and and the seeker sensitive stuff and all this man-centered this man-centered theology if you will it's man-centered doctrine And a few years, we spent fighting against that and all, and then we wound up leaving and we wound up coming here. And so that was in 2000. We've been here for 17 years, I guess. And so I haven't paid much attention to any of that in a long time. I can see the results. I can talk to people in my life, in my daily life, and I'm talking to people when there are things come up. I can see some of the influence of that, how it's come out, and I've run into it with people that claim to be Christians. But, so as I was studying, I came across this article here. It's an interview. I read I read it and I was kind of shocked at how There's no trying to hide it in here like I remember the church growth stuff back then was veiled it was It was veiled. It was veiled in Scripture and in Scripture twisting. And in that, there would be some things that were, they would use things like in the right context and that, and they would use things. And that went across the board to all those guys back then. That whole vineyard movement and Warren and all his ding-a-lings. I don't even remember all of them anyway. Thankfully I've forgotten most of that and I'm actually, I'm not being flippant when I say thank God for that. I'm glad that stuff is, but I read this article and I'm gonna read this to you. So, and I want you to think of it in light of what we've talked about so far today. So this morning for Sunday school, I talked about our duty to the pastor. and what a blessing that it is to have our pastor, and to have a pastor that is, we come in here, so we celebrated his five year anniversary, and then we come in here the next week, and I'm a little worried that I, and maybe some of you, certainly I, Count some of that as a common thing don't think as much about it certainly don't think as much about as I did five years ago For sure and So anyway, I want I'm gonna read this to you and then we're gonna we're gonna read some passages I Just want you to see the contrast here. I want you to read this article. Now. This article is entire. I don't know It's episode number 35 it's entitled how a pastor's duties and the responsibilities change as the church grows now admittedly I read this because I was kind of following a bunny trail I'll admit that I got off on my but I read it and I just I think it's worthwhile for us to listen to what appears to be a two pastors, and they might be father and son. I'm not exactly sure. They have the same last name. One of them looks older than the other one, and so I'm assuming it's father and son. But the title of this is, How Pastors' Duties Change and Responsibilities Change as the Church Grows. Leading Staff, and then underneath it is, in the series, Leading Staff, Personal Growth, Staff Relations. And it says, what's in this episode? Here at Church Tips, we like order. A place for everything and everything in its place. And when we find something that works, we stick with it. But have you ever tried that in ministry? You see, as the ministry grows, things here change. And that includes the roles and responsibilities of pastors. So the pastor's role, it changes. It changes, okay? And so in today's episode, we are going to talk about how these roles and responsibilities change as a church changes and grows. The fact is, pastoral duties change as the church grows. Now this begins, apparently this must be his, this is Jonathan Hardy. So when we launched Summit Park Church, you know, we're a church plant, you know, from a ground zero, and we're starting this thing. And so we had a leadership team in place, all volunteer people in place to help start the church and lead various areas that we are going to be doing throughout the ministry of launching the church. And fortunately, the church began to grow as we started getting some traction. And so great things were happening. And then as a result of growth, It caused us to have to change the way we were doing the leadership roles. And so, we actually brought a couple of people on. We shifted some responsibilities. The part I had increased, I had more things added to my plate. And the reality is, whenever churches start to grow, start to face growth like that, they're going to have to make these shifts in duties and responsibilities, not just of the pastor necessarily, but also the entire leadership team. Leadership team. it's a good phrase, that you have in place, whether they're staff or volunteers or whatever. You have to constantly be at the point where you're looking to maybe change things. So today we want to talk about how a pastor and his leader's duties and responsibilities change as the church grows. And so Dick, why don't you kick us off right here. says, tip number one, recognize the seasons in the life of the church. This is Dick Hardy. He replies, you bet. The first thing you need to do is recognize the seasons in life of the church. Very few churches are just going to start from scratch, some of them did, and just go out on a rocket ride upward forever and ever. I did talk to a church one time that he had, oh my goodness, it was like 25 years of incremental growth every year. And then he hit a year where it flattened out. And he went into a tizzy. Now he got the thing. Now he got the thing, but that's an anomaly. You're going to go through seasons because you plant. We know the biblical principle, you plant, you water, you harvest. You've got to be doing this all the time. And as a leader, you've got to respond to the various seasons you're in. So you're not expecting in the planting season, just go out the next day and see a full harvest. You know, when you're in the watering season, you have to know the season. And you do that by being attuned in prayer. Now, you hear us frequently on this broadcast talk about the importance for you as a leader, being deeply entrenched with the Lord in prayer, because in this case, He'll help you respond to the season of the church. You've got to be listening to the Lord all the time. all the time for the new things, right? I'm interjecting this, right? For all the new things the Lord is going to tell you, apparently. I mean, that's what's being said, right? You gotta be listening to the Lord all the time. When you do, you'll be able to respond what's best to the season. Jonathan Hardy, yeah, and I wanna mention too, as you're thinking through this season, you're looking at, that it's also helping you identify what's coming down the pipeline. We're going to talk a little bit more about that, but you know, in order for us to be prepared for that next week, there might be some things we have to do, some changes in the roles in this season now, to prepare for that, so yeah, that's good. Tip number two, new roles equals new church growth. Jonathan Hardy. Second thing is that new roles require new growth. That new roles equals new growth, sorry. Growing pastors take on new roles, and when they do that, that helps. That's a mechanism that can help the church grow. On the flip side, an unwillingness, so this is a very important An unwillingness to do a new role basically will solidify a church or a pastor's or a leader's stagnation. So in other words, if you don't do it, you're really going to be shooting yourself in the foot. It's hard, though, because that means you have to change some things that you're doing. It means that you have to do things differently. But we have to be creative and new roles and thinking through how this new season, how this new season, as you're talking about, what that's going to look like in the future. And what do we need to do different in our leadership structure? What role responsibilities? Maybe I need to do the passing it off because there's new things coming. or you know what to do other people need to be doing. So we got to be thinking through that, and then you want to really do that quickly. Don't drag it out. Don't make this a long, year-long committee decision. It's like just look at it, maybe solicit some counsel, and then say, okay, this is where we need to head and we need to go and implement. And so that's very, very important that we recognize the new roles equals new growth. Tip three, you're redistributing the roles and responsibilities of your team members. Jonathan Hardy. And the next thing is you want to make sure that as you start to enter into having new leaders, you want to make sure you're equipping the new leaders. Now, actually, in the previous episode, 34, we talked about enlisting new leaders. Very important thing that you have to do if you did not listen to that episode, make sure you listen to that one. But once you've got these new leaders in place or you've got people that have said, yes, I'm going to help, You, you're redistributing the roles and responsibilities of your team members. And again, we're talking about volunteer people here. I'm not necessarily talking about a bunch of staff roles and job descriptions. Now there are job descriptions for volunteers, which I would encourage you and sidebar here to have. You have to have that in writing. So it's very clear for the person who's volunteering their time to lead a ministry And it's very clear for you to make sure you're on the same page. And the best way to do that is in writing. And honestly, that's part of the equipping process. To be equipping them, you got to make sure they understand what they're doing. You get the tools and the resources and the things they need in place so they can lead most efficiently to help that ministry be what it is. Okay, Dick Hardy. Okay, number four, change from new to new. Now, you've got to listen to this one. Frequently, we'll think, okay, we're going to change from old to new, and you need to do that. But you've got to change from new to new, and this is where I've seen many pastors get stuck, because they find something new that works, and they say, I'm going to stick with this. The problem is something that was new last year and worked last year won't work this year. And I'm telling you, as fast as life and ministry and culture is changing, you've got to change from new to new to new. Jonathan Hardy, what got you here won't get you there. Dick Hardy, exactly right. That is exactly right. Don't settle in. So you think, oh wow, this new thing is really cool. Don't settle in on it, because it's going to get old. And it's going to get old way faster than you think. And you've got to change the new thing. Larger growing churches change from new to new to new all the time. You've got to shift from success to success. If you don't make that shift, your success will stop and stagnate. And so you've got to make this change and you've got to help your team members understand the need to make those changes. Dick Hardy. Okay, so let's do a summary here. These four things we talked about. Number one, recognize the season in the life of church. Number two, understand that new roles equal new growth. Number three, equip new leaders. And number four, change from new to new. If you do these things, you'll see your church position for the growth, exactly the growth you're asking for. So we really appreciate you taking the time hanging out with us today. And I will say that if you're going to see these four things happen, it starts with you. And one of those things we really want to encourage is that you take advantage of the four secrets masterclass that Jonathan put together here recently. He did a great job with it. We're getting a lot of feedback on it. I would really encourage you as a leader to go through, and here's where you go. And there's the link. And sign up. It's less than one hour master class to help you get a better leader. Because when you get better, then these four things we talked about are going to become easier and easier. And the church is going to get better and better. That's right, Jonathan Hardy. So really, we want to thank you, blah, blah, blah. All right, press that just to sign off. OK, so that's not valid at all. They didn't even bother throwing any scripture in there. I mean, we didn't even worry about finding some scripture to test that. We didn't even bother. We just show you this is how you do it. This could have been for the new car lot going in down the road. It could have been for any business. Leadership teams. All these things, these other jobs, all these things. Did you notice the one thing that was missing in there? Not even a single reference to a twisted scripture. Nada. Didn't even bother. Now, I'm gonna call it out. These two fools are from Springfield, and they're right in the middle of it down there and all that. phony baloney stuff that goes on down there, you can't even begin to imagine. Those churches down there, actually, and I say those, I don't mean to say every one of them, but several of those big churches down there, I knew a guy that come and did some IT work for a company that I knew, and he was from one of those churches. This guy wasn't not even, didn't even remotely claim to be a Christian, They literally, them big churches, I'm not knocking a big church, I'm not saying, but I'm saying those churches down there, I could name the names of them off, there was three of them, they were all in a bidding war to get this guy because he was there, what did they call him, some kind of a don't remember they had a name for him and I and I found out that is like a big deal down there and this guy they like these churches was fighting over him for like a hundred and eighty two hundred thousand dollars a year so anyway so these guys are from down there I didn't spend any much more time looking from that but I'm just not surprised I guess because I know what the culture is so I read that to you that godlessness And to point out the great blessing that we have in a pastor that is here to preach and teach God's Word and to do it as faithfully as he can and to not be mixed up in any of that whatsoever. I've never seen one of anything even remotely close to that come from our pastor. So I want to read, open your Bibles, I want to read a few things. Now, again, I know this is a little disjointed. I didn't, you know, I haven't developed a bunch of things here or anything like that, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time, but I would like to just read a few passages I'd like for you to follow, I'd like for you to turn in your Bible and follow along these passages. I'm trying a new app here so hopefully I can see it. And all right, there's three points that I'm going to try to solidify through looking at scripture, and that is God's purposes are unstoppable. They cannot be thwarted, and God can do whatever He pleases. And how does this relate to... God's Word is, in my estimation, and in my own personal studies, we have some pretty clear prescriptions that would give us our precepts and principles that would give us how we conduct ourselves as a church, the way the church is structured and that. So that's the relationship here. So God's purposes are unstoppable. They cannot be thwarted and God can do whatever He pleases. Turn to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 verse 1, Bell boweth down, nebow stoopeth, and their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy loading. They are a burden to the weary beast. Here they're carrying the false idols, and they're saying what a burden they are to the beasts. They stoop, they bow down together, they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone to captivity. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried in the womb, and even to your old age I am he, and even to whore hares will I carry you. I have made and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you. To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me that we may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and they set him in his place, and he standeth. From this place shall he not remove. Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men, bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me. Now here we go. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, I will do all of my pleasure. Turn over to Isaiah 43. A couple pages over. Remember this is God is purposes are unstoppable. They cannot be changed Isaiah 43 verse 13 Yay before the day was I am he and there is none that can deliver out of my hand I will work and who shall let it and then Isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 and verse 11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Then turn to Romans 9. Romans chapter 9, verse 19, Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doeth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Then Hebrews chapter 6, in verse 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise of the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. Next, God is in complete control of everything. Turn to Acts chapter 1 verse 7. Acts chapter 1 verse 7. And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father hath put in his own power. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 16. We'll read 15. As it is written, we'll read 15 and 16. As it is written, he that hath gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack. But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care in the heart of Titus for you. Then Daniel, chapter 1. Actually, turn to Daniel 4 and verse 17. Daniel 4 and verse 17. Daniel 4 and verse 17. This matter is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent that the living may know that is the most high ruleth in the kingdom of man and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men. Jeremiah 10. in verse 13. Jeremiah 10, verse 13. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. God is in complete control of everything. He's in control of everything in heaven and on earth with men. He's even here we see in control of everything that happens in the natural realm. We see this interesting time being in the tornado season as we are. Next, the third one. God determines whatsoever comes to pass. Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs 16, verse 1, the preparations of the heart in man and the answers of the tongue is from the Lord. Then verse 4, the Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil. Verse 7, when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Verse 9, a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. And verse 33, The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." Then turn to Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20 verse 24. Man's goings are of the Lord. How can a man then understand his own ways? Proverbs 21 and verse 1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever he will. Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17 verses 26 and 27. and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times therefore appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, happily they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us." In Romans chapter 11, Romans 11 verse 36. Start in verse 33. Oh, the depth, the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways pass by and out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counselor, or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Lastly, fourth thing, God is sovereign over or controls everything, calamity, evil, and even over sin without being guilty of wrongdoing. Job chapter 1. Job 1 verse 11. and twelve. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord." Verses 21. Verses 20. Then Job arose, and ran his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." Genesis chapter 45. Hmm. Genesis chapter 45 verses 5 through 8. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither for God did not send me before you to preserve life. I'm sorry, God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two things hath the famine been the land. For these two years hath the famine been the land. And yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earning nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither but God and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all of his house and a ruler throughout all of the land of Egypt. And then Genesis 50. Genesis 50 verse 20, But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Then turn to John chapter 13. John 13, verse 27. And after this slept, Satan entered unto him. Then Jesus said unto him, that thou doest do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spoke this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag that Jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. Then he having received the stuff went immediately out, and it was night. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. John chapter 19 John chapter 19 and verse 11 Jesus answered thou couldest have no power over at all against me except it were given thee from above therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin In our topic or subject matter today of being God's sovereignty And bringing it back to what I spoke of earlier The Bible has a prescription clear prescription for the way that we joined together as a church, that we gather together as an assembly before God, our fellowship and our calling of a pastor and a church and meeting together and those things. And we trust in God's sovereignty. We appreciate God's work that He's done here in bringing to us a pastor to be faithful to preach the word. And we trust in the Lord to go to do His ways and not the new to new to new or whatever the thing is that the wisdom of the world would say that we need. Let's close with a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, today for the great blessing it is to be called your people to be here gathered together. We thank you, Lord, for the great blessing that it has been to be a part of this church. We thank you, Father, that you have been faithful to us. Lord, when we were in the dry season of the two years and a few months without a pastor, that you sustained us here. We thank you, Father, for the work that has been done in the time. We thank you for bringing us through that and bringing the pastor here. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to support him, Lord, and to encourage him to watch over and to help and to be all that he needs from us as a church and that you would, in turn, would use him to shepherd your flock here. I pray, Lord, as we make the next moves that we make here as a church, that you would help us, that we would seek out what would be the best for the furtherance of the gospel and for the exaltation of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. for the pastor and his family as they travel, that you give them a great time of rest and comfort and time to enjoy one another and to enjoy the great blessing that it is to have a family, Lord, a family and a father and a mother who provide a home, a Christian home, Lord, to raise their family in, and that Christ would be exalted in all that we do. We pray for those of us here as we go to keep us safe. I pray, Father, for those here today sitting here in this auditorium that are not Christians. I pray that you would, Father, you'd break them to their knees, that you would bring them to the end of themselves, and that you would call them out of the world, out of the dark world, into your marvelous light, And I pray that we would all go out and give us opportunities to be a witness, to tell of your great glory, not to be hindered by men and their ways, Father, but to be spurned on by the love of our Savior, the Lord Christ Jesus. In his name, for his sake I pray, amen.