Where is?
One in a moment.
Spiritual gifts interesting that we spoke a little bit about those morning before I get going.
What I'd like to say is that we're very happy to be here with you.
It's been a little while since we had a visit, and when Fred invited me to come along and share, I was very happy to be able to do that in spite of the fact that in 14 days now, in 19 days we'll be leaving for Columbia to visit some of the assemblies
That we planted back in the seventies and eightys now booming and going along really well, and the second and third generations, and they are involved in the assemblies that we started down there, but in the time when John Duck one was down there as well, he used to live just around the corner
From us. And yeah, great time to fellowship with him, and with all of the other missionaries down there as well.
If I would. Wouldn't mind just sharing a little bit about a myas worldwide.
Maybe I don't know how much you know about that.
It used to be cold and Mys Correspondent School and I was invited onto the board some 13, not 14 years ago, and after many years, that's 5 or 6 years ago.
They asked me to be the chairman of the board, which was a strange thing to happen, but anyway, I've been there since then, and it's been just fantastic to see the work that's going on through the mys correspondence courses.
The courses that we have that are going around the world a lot of people don't understand that.
This is a tremendous ministry. It's worldwide, and that's why we call it now mass worldwide, because we are going into about a 120 different countries with the printed courses in 90 different languages and the U.S.A.
Is one of the minor leagues when it comes to the distribution and use of the courses over the years we were distributing about 1.4 million courses every year with a a a 78% completion rate which means 78%, of all of the courses that were distributed were sent in to be marked
And and that is incredible when you think about it. Many people will take your course, and then they'll get started and forget about it.
And never look at it again. But it's been going on so very, very well here in the United States.
We have something like 300,000 courses in the prisons alone, and we have coordinators in many of the different cities around the country, and they go into the prisons.
They take the courses with them, they're able to do Bible classes.
We hear some very interesting stories from some of those who are involved about how, in one particular high security prison, nobody's supposed to get out of there at all.
They're there for life, and many go to the electric chair or to the get an injection, or whatever.
It's not Covid, it's just as bad, but it's that's not Covid.
Anyway, they talk about how many of these prisoners get saved, and and they they I've done the courses about 3 or 4 times.
So they and and they love the word, and they go out, and they are then in the prison directing Bible.
Classes with the other prisoners, and not only that, but in the in Potosi prison, south of St.
Louis, which is one of those high security presence. We now have an office in the prison.
Myas! Worldwide has an office in the prison. Can you believe it?
And the prisoners are there with computers. No Internet, and they are marking courses from many of the other prisons.
They send the courses there to be marked by these prisoners who have been saved for many years, and just 3 years ago they began breaking bread.
In that assembly, as a as a local church, and you believe it, and interesting.
The interesting thing is, they're not only to have elders, you know why can't have gang leaders in prisons so but that's a fantastic work, and we also have many courses online.
And internationally Zam in Germany. That's Ms.
Worldwide's titled Z. A. M. They they handle courses, a lot of them in Africa and places like that.
But they are way ahead of us. They're going to more than 180 different countries with the online courses, including China and some of those areas that are totally closed.
And marking courses in the Lord is blessing tremendously.
Jim blaming is our international director. He is constantly traveling.
He comes home for a rest of a month, perhaps, but he goes, and then off to some other 2 or 3 countries.
He organizes the country, so that there is a center that the many different coordinators in that country can come together, and he can meet with the whole group of coordinators and then help them with many problems that they may have.
And and he's promoting this work and building up the work around the work around the world.
So it's a. It's absolutely something fantastic.
So, the latest thing that we're into is homeschool ministry, as you know, there's been a lot of upset by the the mothers who are now beers, or what do they call it, to they're getting a little angry with some of the things that are going on and
Home school work is booming, and I was able to call under the board.
Stephanie Lambert, who lives in that in Texas, and she is the director of all of the homeschool groups in Texas, is something like a 1,000 groups in Texas.
Alone, and she oversees those. They have conventions we're we're getting the college people to bring along some people to talk about the cost so that the kids who are studying the Bible on the courses, and one of the things I've been trying to organize and that's
Sort of coming to fruition. Is it kids who in 9, 1011, twelfth grade have done so many courses?
We'll give them some sort of what is it?
Scholarship. Thank you. Keep thinking of the Spanish word scholarship, and and they are able to go to the college, and that the college will give them a a a likewise scholarship, so that it helps helps the college to be built up as well, and I'm on the college board as well
So you know, I'm working both sides of the story here, but the Lord is good, and the work is growing it's tremendous, and I'm sure you pray for it regularly.
I trust you do, and if not, well as the time, stop.
What I'd like to talk to today is about spiritual gifts.
I've been doing the course of this with the folk in Kenosha, and I believe it's one of the things that we don't hear.
A lot about. It was much about what we should, but the fact that is that every believer receives a spiritual gift when they are saved.
The Lord comes in when they are saved, their lives are changed, and then they are automatically baptized into the body of Christ.
So they automatically end up by the Holy Spirit. And it's the Holy Spirit.
Then who's beginning to do works in the lens of the believers, new or old?
And he's able to direct and open up different ministries and things that you can do.
So there's a whole slew of courses that I've been doing.
But we what I'd like to deal today is 2 very simple sounding courses serving and administration.
We don't hear a lot about serving as a gift, do we? And so that's what I would like to discuss.
So service Romans, 12 verses 6 and 7, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
If prophecy, in proportion to our faith?
If service in our serving. So some people might say, Well, how do I know what my gift is, and how how?
How can I do something to serve the Lord when we may not know what our gift is?
But the main thing is to be ready to do something. There are all sorts of jobs that can be done in a local assembly.
There are all sorts of needs that can be met by different people, and you don't have to be a scholar, or you don't have to be a a theologian to be able to be a helper.
Those are some of the things that everybody can get involved in.
And so it's if the gift is in serving, then we need to get get on with spiritual gifts.
Service is a good one. The words are serving. Greek is the icona, the iconia, and from this word we get the word deacon, and you know people in churches have deacons, and they have all sorts of different functions.
In some depending on the church. But what really means is somebody who's ready to to minister and do some work?
This word can also be translated to weight on tables and it was transferred that way in x, chapter 6, verse 2, it's not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables that the apostles were working and and they were they were doing everything and they
had the ministry of the the words of the people.
But then they had this job of widows from those who were with the with a Greek background, and then noticed from the Israel background, and they were beginning to have some problems about some not getting enough.
I said we shouldn't be doing this. Let's find people who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and are ready to serve.
Let them be ready to do the work there. So Diaconia is generally translated in the Bible as minimum.
In other words, acts of service done in genuine love for the edification of the local church community there's a similar word in the Greek which is and and dilemmas and ellipses and ellipsis has a thought of helping or aiding others in love in the local
Church, in other words, people who are looking around and seeing some of the needs that are going on, widows that may have needs and there's so many different things that can be done to help, and they're ready to ready to take up the the the work and and help, others first quarantines 1228 God has
Appointed in the Church. First apostles, second profits, third, teachers and miracles, then gifts of healing.
These are all of some of the things that a lot of people think about.
Most and right there in the middle of all of this is helping, it's so important that we all can be ready to help when there's a need to around us.
Everybody can help in some way or another.
The Holy Spirit gives this gift of helping the many diverse areas that we have as we work and live in an assembly, this gives everybody a chance of serving and filling the the gaps in the areas.
Then not even mentioned in the in the Scripture lists.
There are lists, inscription, Ryman's 12 and first screen things, 12 and Ephesians 4, and so on.
There. There are all sorts of gifts that are mentioned.
There are many that are not mentioned, but the Holy Spirit is able to use different people in different capacities in different ways, for the building up of the local church.
Many times these helps energize the believers in the local church and meet the needs in many ways, and they're often not seen.
Sometimes it's sort of an a, an invisible gift.
It's not somebody who's prominent. It's not somebody who's preaching or leading the singing or playing the piano, and they're up front.
That's being upfront is nothing. It's just a gift being used.
Everybody who is involved in the local church activity needs to be so thinking I don't have to be saying, I just want to help, and I don't care if anybody knows what I'm doing or not.
So we everybody can do something. For example, let's get back a bit.
Sorry.
Cleaning the church building. How many people here know the ones who come around here and do a lot of cleaning in the chapel?
It could be. There's somebody who does it regularly, and you might have a a group of people who take turns, but what do we know about them?
It's an invisible ministry in some sense, isn't it?
And then there's getting the coffee that for me.
That's a very important ministry in church, having lived in Columbia for all those years.
Coffee is A is a major, and then you get bringing some snacks.
That's that's that's good, too. Hamming the sound equipment you know, we had a bit of a problem here just getting started.
I did, anyway, and there are people who are able to help in those things, and they go and sit in the back, and nobody thanks them for what they're doing sometimes. That's that's a pity recording messages handing a collection financial matters preparing and printing the monthly or the
Weekly calendar, and churches, prayer list, and so on.
Does somebody cut the loan? Maybe not much lawn out here, I see, but there's a little bit somebody's got to do it.
And trimming the hedges, snowballing. That's important.
We don't have a parking lot here. I notice it's the street, but can I should we have a big parking light, and we got one brother and most people don't even know who does it, but he comes every time there's now at 60'clock, or earlier in the morning to clear
the snow off the parking lot for the brother. No, they're coming for the meeting on Sunday, and he's a he's a wonderful brother, and so they're just.
There's all sorts of things that we don't think about.
But these are invisible people who are using their gift for the Lord and it's helping the Church.
The church? Yeah. The church is not a cruise ship where we have a handful of people serving everyone else who is just sitting back and relaxing but isn't that what happens in the church sometimes you have a few people who are doing all the work and me all the others are coming that's great you know we had a nice
Meeting, we had a nice supper. We had nice lunch the other day, and so much was provided for us and the kids.
They're having a wonderful time, that, you know. Are we just watching everybody else do the work?
Why are we ready to get involved ourselves? You see, this is a this is a cruise ship, and you can see there's nobody there who's working.
They're all sitting around a pool, or they're looking over the side of the ocean, and they have the they have the crew from the ship and stewards, and so on.
There. And they're actually bringing around food and drinks and all these sorts of things.
And people just sitting there gazing off into nowhere.
Their minds are. Just. How many people have you seen in church like that?
They come along, and they're sitting down, and they they're looking at the preacher at this sort of gazing off into eternity, or something I don't know what it is, but that's not the way it should be.
See, we are not on one of those ships. The church is a battleship where it's all hands on deck, and everybody serves a position.
I'm in the mission, you know, in the church it's the same thing on a on a battleship.
My son's in the navy, and he's he's been in special forces, and all these things, and everybody is involved and when he was on the ship, like everybody was involved when he was on the ground with the seal teams and waste things, everybody in that team worked together and help one another and the people
Back in the in the base. They they help them with their provisions and the things they need for the battle, but on a show everybody has a job.
Starting with the Admiral down to the lowest seaman.
That is on the ship they all have a job, and when there's a battle going on they all say battle stations, and everybody has to be at the place where they are supposed to be it's hard.
When we've got a nice dinner going on downstairs, or snacks to get back up here for the meeting, isn't it?
I know that we have the same problem in Kunosia, too, but you know we should think outside of that box and think, what can we be doing?
There's a war going on, a spiritual war going on.
What is my place? What is my job? What gift do I have to be able to reach out to the last one gift?
Do I have to invite people to come to hear the good news?
If I can't do it myself with them I can bring them to a meeting where they will hear something of the Word of God.
So by helping and serving you will be edifying the Church in all of the small things in the big things, the gift of helps and service contributes significantly to the growth identification of the local church because they go beyond personal needs and reach out to others.
With needs. The Ministry of Helps, while many times done selflessly and unseen by the majority, noted by the Lord and treasures in heaven, are being mounted up.
Just just think about that. It's not a matter of coming along and doing it, because somebody's looking at you, and you feel the obliged to do something.
No, I want to help. What can I do to help progress in this assembly?
How can I build up this assembly? What can I do to help those who are doing all the work?
And they need a bit of a break. You know. There are all these sorts of things to consider.
How can I be of some service? First, Grin since 1031?
Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. So it's not for people.
It's not for show. It's not to be up front.
That's not to be getting accolades. So you're such a good person, you help such that's not what we're looking for.
We're looking to do something to add to this ministry of what this Church is doing, and whatever we do they're a treasure to being mounted up in heaven.
Way hard is there? Will your treasure be also
X 6, 22 to 4. It's not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God and serve tables.
As I mentioned before. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you 7 men of good repute, so, no matter what gift you have, even if it's a gift of helps, you need to have a testimony.
You need to be living for the Lord and seeking the on a Him by your life and your words and your actions.
Yeah, you you what you can't help people, in the Assembly.
If you're down at the local bar getting drunk every other night, I'm not saying anybody here does that?
But you know, that's that's an extreme case.
But we need to be living what we believe, and we believe we can work together as a local assembly to build this assembly up, and to grow this assembly, and to reach out to the lost, who are around us.
So there were men, 7 men and good, reputeful of the spirit and wisdom whom we will appoint to this duty.
But we will devote ourselves to prayer in the ministry of the word.
First guaranteeing 16 versus 15 and 16.
Now I urge you, brothers, you know that the household of Stephanie were the first converts in the Kayan.
That's the Greek side of the things, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.
Now, what did they do? Doesn't say they were serving the saints in the local church be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.
We need to be aware of the people who are working and serving not to just tell them how wonderful they are.
But to say, How can I help? We? We appreciate your work.
We appreciate your service, and the Lord will bless you for it.
Your your time, Bob. We we say every every January, every year.
I wonder what we will be doing this year, and already the calendars I've got dates right through in November for things that the Lord wants us to do.
And we're gonna be away for 6 weeks in Columbia and that's one of the brothers down there, said, I'm we're going to X pretty near you.
And it's the same word that we used to squeeze out a lemon to get every drop of juice out of the lemon so, and when we come home the saints back home, we'll say did you have a nice holiday we didn't have a holiday.
We were flat out working the whole time we were away. And so these are the things you know, that we we think about mark 1022 to 45, and Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the gentiles Lorded over them and
they're great ones. Exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you so the word saying, you know, and in these groups you find people who just want to be the leader they want to tell everyone else what to do but we don't work that way, but whoever would be great among you must be
your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be a slight of all, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.
And give his life as a ransom for many. So you see, helping is a major gift.
We sometimes think well, helping us, not like being a preacher or a teacher, or a Sunday school leader, or whatever help helping.
Is a tremendous gift to have from the Lord true servants do not seek, the spotlight or public position.
I have a joy in serving and making an important contribution, as they show out the love of Christ by their actions, not by.
Their words, and they're not doing it for show. They're doing it because they're working and serving all we met.
First Timothy. 4, 12, said, Let no one despise you for your use.
But set the believe as an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith and purity.
Now that's somebody. Just don't let anybody be worried about you because you're a young person, and you want to serve the law.
Do what you can to serve the Lord, and just make sure that you.
Life is in the in, in a cord with with what you're doing that you're showing out a good testimony for the Lord Revelation 2, 9 inches.
I know your works, you will love, and faith and service, and patient, and germs, and that the latter works exceed the first.
In other words, you're getting better at it. You're getting better.
Being a helper. You're getting better at being a servant.
You're getting better at serving others and helping others.
These are fantastic things to think about now in the Old Testament we have a couple of men here.
There's a little and a holy hub, and it says they were gifted by the Holy Spirit.
Now it doesn't talk about this type of a gift in the in the New Testament, and some people say, Well, they're the only gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit.
No, the Holy Spirit is able to give people in many different ways, and He gives us abilities that can be gifts that He's given us to do.
And these 2 men were gifted by the Holy Spirit with craftsmanship to be able to make the articles of the Tabernacle.
Now the tabernacle was a fantastic construction, and we can read there the verses related to them.
Then Moses said to the people of Israel, See, the Lord has named by name Bezell, the son of Yuri, and son of her, and of the tribe of Jew and is filled him with a spirit of God, with skill with intelligence, with knowledge, and with craftsmanship.
Look at those words! How many people here have got intelligence? I think you've all got some intelligence, and the Lord has given you some abilities.
What are we doing with those abilities? And he did gave them that to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones, for setting and in carving wood.
Further work of every still skill craft, and he's inspired him to teach with him in the Holyab, the son of a Hissomach, the tribe of Dan.
He's filled them with the skill to do the sort of work done by an engraver or a designer, or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twine linen, or by a weaver by any sort of workman, or skill design now this guy has been given a
Gift that is absolutely incredible when you think about it, and and God gave him that gift so that he could do something like this.
Now this is a model of the tabernacle.
By a watchmaker, and is in Switzerland one of the assembly men there, and whenever mentioned, gold or silver, or whatever material he, he made this model of that particular way, and he invented a few designs that were in the 4 colors of the mentioned as well and and this man used all
of these things, putting them all together for the glory of God.
Now he's got that little verse mentioned there in the Bible, but the people from then on were worshiping God, and seeing this wonderful work, he set it all up so that they could worship the way God wanted them to work, and so there's a lot of administration involved in these things.
And helps, and so on, and so admiration is also mentioned there in First Corinthians, 1228, and God is appointed in the church, first, apostle, second, profits, third, teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing helping and administration what is administration well, let's have a look
At it the gift of administration. Really that word in in the Greek has the idea of being a pilot or a helmet.
Somebody who sits at the wheel or stands at the wheel to guide a ship.
And I had to do that one time when I was a teenager and a ship, and I didn't know what I was doing.
It was a 4 4,000 ton cargo ship, and they left me on the bridge with this whole ship in my hands, and I started going from side to side because I turn it a little bit to keep a month on its course, and then it kept going.
I'd have to turn it back the other way before long.
I was spinning a wheel in both directions and sweating bullets.
As they say in Columbia, and and finally the chief officer came up and said, I'll show you how to do it, and that then after that everything worked out well, the helmsman is someone who guides the ship, and these are very important people who have gifts of administration
Kubernetes the word comes from the idea of steering, as in piling a ship and being at the health and that's the idea.
That's that's in those words that's used in Scripture x.
2711, at the centurion, paid more attention to the pilot.
There's that word! And to the owner of the ship, he listened to the pilot.
He didn't listen to the words of a apostle Paul, who, by the Lord, had been told and do this.
It's going to be many people, but the centurion was persuaded.
This is another translation, Centering was persuaded more by the ship's pilot and captain than by Paul's advice.
And so you see, a pilot is somebody who's very, very important, and I remember coming into a port sometimes, and a pilot would come on board a big ship, and you would guide it in knowing exactly the way with all the rocks were the shallow water was you can't afford to run a
Ship of ground in the in the harbor
Words used by some translation for Kubernetes.
It guidance, pilot, administration, government, and managing so they're they're all words connected to people who are able to give advice and help and guidance and and instruction.
Jack Hunter says men with administrative skills work for the unity, health, and spiritual prosperity, and the well being of the Church and we have elders, and they do that type of work.
That's for sure, and they do have that but there are other people who are not elders, who also have administrative ability, abilities, and gifts, and they are able to organize other things.
Sunday school and things like that, camps, and so on.
The Holy Spirit uses men with this gift to help organize, direct and implement plans to lead others in the various ministries of the Church.
A person with this gift would have goals and be task oriented and concerned with details in the organization of the ministries.
Being a the person who is task oriented and detailed person.
I I can't say I'm really in that category.
I'm likely to get the bull by the homes and run with it, and that's not always a good thing it's always good to stop and listen to people who may not be leaders, but they have people who've got business experience leading people in the in their jobs in their employment and all these types of
things and they can say, well, you know, from a financial point of view that would be better to do things this way.
And so we listen to people who have these gifts of administration, and they they can help us in the building up of the local assembly.
Yeah, Joseph's a good example and a model for this.
Joseph was a good organizer as evidenced by his becoming an overseer as a slave in part of his house.
You can just imagine he's he's been declared dead to his father.
As you remember, the story, his brothers tossed him out, sold him to the Midianites, to as a slave, to go to Egypt, and then these borders a slave in my podifer, and not before long you see me he he he's working in part of his house in
Genesis, 39, 5, says, from the time he made him oversee in his house, and overall, that he had the Lord bless the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake, the blessing of the load was on all that he had in the house, and field, and so he was an organizer
he could organize the people. He could organize the servants, he could organize the workers out on the field, and the Podifer had left everything in his hands, and God blessed because he was a man who was a detailed man and knew exactly what to do.
At the right time. There are people like that, and that they're very important to have, even though they they may not be in a top position.
If you want to call elders, for example, man who are seen by all as the leaders in the local Assembly, and have many decisions to make for the Assembly, maybe could be somebody else who just has an insight in the things and he's a detailed person who knows and then he
was, wrongly accused, and he's in prison, and he was there for some years, and even the prison he knew how to organize and carry the burden of administration.
Jenesis, 39, 22, the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison.
Whatever was done, he was the one who did it. Here's a guy in prison, and this reminds me a little of worldwide.
These men in the Potosi prison, who now are directing the ministry of the minus worldwide the Bible courses and working on it in prison as prisoners who will never get out of prison but they're able to mark the courses and help other other prisoners who are riding and
Doing the courses to learn more about the Lord Jesus. So you know, it's it's one of those interesting things it says.
There, Genesis 39, 22, and the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisons in the prison.
Whatever there was to be done. He was the one who did it, he said.
Look, I'll leave it to you. I know this you know what you're doing.
Just take over and do what what is best. When he was called.
I'm sorry.
Too far.
When he was called before Pharaoh, and you remember that the the 2 men in the prison, the biker and the wine man, he that they were both thrown into prison.
They both had dreams the same night, and and Joseph prayed and told the people the answer to what the prayer, what these dreams meant, and then he said to the wine man, the cup bearer, when you go back just tell fare I'm here unjustly I I haven't done
anything wrong, and the other man was hung, because whatever he did was bad enough of that.
But what happened? Yeah. A. You go by another. You goes by.
Another year goes by, and sometimes in ministry. You know we have to wait on the Lord, and there are many verses that say to us, Wait on the Lord, and I'm a very.
I have always been a very impatient sort of a person.
I want to get things done now. But there been times when the lotus is white, and he's had to bring tragedy into my life to make sure I understood what White meant, and because of things that happen tragedies like the death of my wife after 26 years of marriage in Columbia.
He he wanted to change the direction of my ministry.
I wanted to stay there, that I couldn't handle. I overseeing the 4 assemblies there, as well as having a bookshop, and having the printing operation with 13 people, and I had a monthly magazine that had to be published, and I was writing articles for it and
Editing it, and then, because my wife was not there, I couldn't have a lady in the house because of testimony, washing and whining, cooking, and sewing up a him with a little bill dress for school next morning.
I burned out in the year, said, Lord, what are you doing?
Pieces. You waited. Okay. Now I'm gonna turn things around.
And he did, and I want to go into the story. You can just buy the book, and it's all in there.
So says he went when call before Pharaoh.
Joseph witnessed about God's power, so right from the start, he maintained a testimony.
And that's what we see in his life, and that's what should be seen in our lives, even as help us.
And he convinced, Pharaoh that he, Joseph, had a good management strategies for the organization.
The collection and distribution of food for the 7 years of plenty, and the 7 years of famine, and he explained that when he went to this is what happened, and this is what the dream meant and and this is what you should do.
Now you should plan ahead these first 7 years, and get these big storehouses ready, and then the following 7 years.
You need somebody who can distribute it can organize it.
And he said, Hey, by the end of the day he was second in in command of of all of Egypt, under Pharaoh.
See. He waited. He didn't want. I'm sure he didn't like those couple of years that he had to wait after that cup barrel went went out of the prison, but God had a plan and we can't run ahead of these plans and in all of the service that we would seek to do for
The what we need to wait on him. What is your desire?
How should I do this? What have I? What am I not doing?
How can I make changes? These are things that are very, very important for us.
Administration. This is the organization side of things. Let's have a look at some of the important ministry, objectives, finances.
There are people who need that to be involved in the finances of a local assembly.
They need to know about missionary support and so many other things that are involved in in the the offerings that come every Sunday, and so on, and that right get the gifts to the right people at the right time. Why?
Because they're waiting on the Lord. They know what's needed, and they're able to to help in those areas.
And then there's postal work. Pastor work is something that is one of the main objectives of the elders.
But by the same token others can be doing the work of though with a pastoral word, by visits to the sick, and helping those who have needs, and so on, and of course, under that direction of the elders.
Say, look, I'm going to visit with some, and that they've got a bit of a problem, and of course you have to.
Then be sure that you maintain confidentiality in these visits with, as a with the pastoral visit.
So if something is, you do, and go around and spread to everybody, that she I was talking with so and so, and she she did this, and he did that, and so on.
Now these are things that you pray about, and you give godly counsel.
That's what posturing is all about. That's the difference between wisdom and knowledge.
A lot of people have knowledge, description. They have no idea how to apply it.
You know in a problem problem. That's so, we we need the wisdom that comes from God, the fear of God is the beginning.
Of wisdom, as a word tells us, and as we wait on him He will teach us, and show us how we can help people in this position, for the eldest as well as others who may have a gift in pastoral work, they're not elders.
They're not teachers, and they're not involved in many other things.
But they do have a way of helping people with a good word, with sharing some Scriptures with them at a time when they're down.
All of these types of things, making sure that Bible teaching is adequate for all ages of Christian growth along with youth groups a dynamic Sunday school to teach children and even adults.
At their age or spiritual growth level. So you see, yeah, the San Francisco work is is a very important work.
Whether it be an adult class, or whether it be a children's class, you can't expect children to be in a class where way you're discussing prophecy and revelation.
For example, you have 6 year olds. I have no idea what you're talking about.
You have to have the graded lessons so that you can teach them at their level.
Help them to understand the Scriptures, help them to know what it is to be saved in the way that they at their age can understand.
I I put my trust in the Lord when I was just nearly 5 years old, and it was because of a Sunday school teacher, who spoke about the coming of the Lord, and I went home and saw my father I said look I want to go to heaven when you go so I'm just going to grab your feet when
you're leaving, and I'll go with you, he said.
Nope doesn't work like that. And then he explained it more fully.
You need to realize that in in our lives we do bad things we need to ask us forgiveness.
We need to ask Him to come into our lives to give us a new life, but we have to ask Him to come in, and so, right there we help down by the couch, and I commit them all after the Lord because that didn't make a lot of difference when I was growing up.
I was just a normal boy, full of life, mischief, and Providence.
But when I was 15 I reached the point where I said, I've gotta make a decision.
Yeah, honey, I can't go on 2 roads.
There's one ride that's gonna wait the wrong way.
I know all about that, because I've grown up in an assembly where this has been taught.
I want to serve the Lord. I asked the oldest of baptism, and to be accepted in the fellowship at the local Assembly, and that was the beginning of a change, a total change in my life, so you know, it all goes back to the Sunday school As well, interesting thing.
Is I. I read that book in 2,016, and I was 4 years old when that Sunday school teacher told me that I had an email from a lady on the Western side of Australia in Perth, and she said I just read your book I just want you to know I was just Sunday school teacher at that
Time she's 95, so you know you're working with children.
Don't know what impact you're having. That's a very, very important work training younger people to be able to come to a good sense school teachers and having good teachers is so very important for any assembly.
And so it's good to have classes in Columbia.
We had to do something like that. You can imagine you're just starting a brand new assembly, and everybody's a new believer.
Background, and so on, and what are we gonna do? We've got 220 children coming to Sunday school, that's what happened in book at Amonga.
Then back in 1972 73, and we had all of these hundreds of kids coming to Sunday school.
So I remember one brother. Mario. He he was one of the first to be baptized, because what we did is we had children's programs so that the kids were doing something.
Reciting a verse, or seeing a song, or whatever, and the parents would come to see little Johnny, a little Mary, or whatever, and they they came on, and then I started coming along, and then I got sighted.
So about 6 months later, they're the first people who are being saved, and they come from a life of being drunks and being wife, beaters, and all of these sorts of things.
And now we have all of these kids coming because we started to work with children and 200 over 200 kids came to the first.
Day of Sunday school
So I said the Mario. After he got baptized, I said, Okay, next Sunday you're a Summit school teacher now. He didn't have a difference between Samson and Solomon.
And with his background. But he said, Well, how are we gonna do a couple of them? Wasn't he?
Wasn't the only one we said this to a number of them, so with my wife we started classes to teach them how to teach children, and on the Mondays we had a class, and we had a little courses like you can get and that was adapted to the different ages.
And we go over the the Bible reading and tell them what the story is.
How do you apply this story? How can you draw stick figures, or something to illustrate something we had all of those types of things going on every Monday night so that they'd be ready to study and prepare for the following Sunday and I remember the next Sunday when he was standing in front
Of 30, little, 4 or 5 year olds, telling them a very basic Bible story and he's a rather rotten tone, but Red Tongue, brother, we call him our own brother, and he was.
It was hot in book out of Mega, and he was standing there at the door, and there was a small room about 10 by 10, and and then about 35 kids in this room sitting on the floor.
Sitting on a couple of benches around the walls, and he's telling the story, and he was perspiring profusely.
So it was a hollow at his feet, and this sweat dripping off his face.
Yeah, what? He's one of the leading brothers down here today, and his sons and his family are all in the assemblies, and then we're down to the third generation.
Now with that particular family, and others like him, not just him, but I was like him.
Because we've prepared to take a little time to help and try and and you've guidance.
So the purpose of my talk today is the importance of everybody.
Realizing that you are a part of a local assembly, no matter how new you are to the things of God and Christianity, and so on, doesn't matter how long you've been in the Assembly, you have something you can do.
There's a battle going on, a spiritual battle going on around us.
The world isn't getting better, and at one, but we have a light to shine.
This little light of mind. So here we are. Well hands on deck.
This is the challenge for you today, reasons for 15 and 16 grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped.
When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
That's the challenge today. My dear friends, you brother! Lord bless you and help you to be able to find that niche.
Where you can do something that will be part of the edifying of the local body of price.
How God and Father, we thank you this morning for your word.
We thank you that we are able to read the Scriptures and see how you prepared things so minutely, and yet in such a perfect way, that everybody can have a part in what the Church is doing, and how the Church can grow not only the leaders, and those who are the Speakers and the teachers, and so on but those
Who are perhaps unseen and the things that they are doing.
But we know that they're just as important and sometimes more important.
Then the public positions of others, and so we pray that you'll help everybody in this room today.
They have a real desire to follow you, to give the lives over completely to you, and allow you to work out your purposes in their lives.
Just as you're able to give those men of all the gift to the spirit to be able to work with their hands.
Craftsmanship and things like that, and it became the wonderful construction of the Tapmannacle.
We know that you can do wonderful things with the With. Every person here today, and so we pray that you'll help each one of us to be able to realize our lives are in your hands.
We want you to take us and use us and bless us bless the assembly where we live and work!
Is it my grow and prosper under your good hand?
We ask these things as we commend ourselves to you in the name of Lord Jesus. Amen.