Pastor Appreciation Day - Sermon - Pastor Ty

if you would remain standing on today is a special day and if you would what a big round of applause that's on our pastors this morning you may be seated if you have your Bibles if you would just go ahead and flip to Ephesians 4:11 yes and I'll be using the screen this morning I'm so honored and privileged to have this opportunity this is just an incredible opportunity I won't be speaking long paths of being increased my stress level it started out at the beginning of the week that he and a couple of other pastors we were going to tag-team then he called me last night about nine something and said it was going to be he and I so then when I walked in this morning he says it's gonna be you so did anybody here can check my blood pressure I'm usually okay but I'm pretty nervous this morning but what a privilege and an honor to to share on pastor appreciation you know you know we really are blessed if you can say that you have a pastor that loves God and loves you you are a blessed individual and all you have to do is turn on the TV and look in the news and read the headlines and things that are being said about pastors and you are blessed to have a pastor so this morning I'm going to share really quickly because I know that I'm going to leave time for you too I know you guys are brought cards and gifts and things of that nature and so we'll give you time to have that time to show him that appreciation but Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 says this I hate turning around because I see what happened back here it says and his gifts were varied he himself appointed and gave men to us and some to be apostles special messengers some prophets inspired preachers and expound errs some evangelists preachers of the gospel traveling missionaries some pastor shepherds of the flock and teachers somebody say some go to the next verse verse 12 his intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints his consecrated people that they should do the work of ministering toward the building up of Christ's body the church next verse that it might develop until we all attain the oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God that we might arrive at really mature manhood somebody say mature manhood the completeness of the personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness found in him somebody say maturity you know this morning I want to talk to you about two gifts that whether you are visiting here or whether you are belong today's star Family Church I want to talk to you about the two greatest gifts that you can give your pastor for pastor appreciation I'm convinced that the office of the pastor is probably one of the most misunderstood offices and gifts in the body of Christ because so many assume the position because they have great preaching abilities or great leadership skills and neither of these are validating factors that would determine if you are a pastor or not there are two things that you will see it to recognize it whether wherever you go there are two things that you will always see in a true pastor the first thing that a pastor has to be as a pastor has to be called an anointed of God to assume the role of pastor see so many take on this role without having the grace of God to finish the task and what we fail to understand is that the grace of God on someone's life makes difficult things look really easy let me show you an exam full of this turn to Acts chapter 19 the grace of God someone can look at the grace of God on your life and they make the assumption that because he can do it or because she can do it I can do it and many go out and become pastors without the grace of God to actually do it this happened to Apostle Paul he said now God worked unusual miracles by the hand of Paul next verse so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the disease's left them and the evil spirits went out of them so Paul is ministering and these amazing things are happening then it says then some of the itinerant Jewish Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying we exorcise you by the the Jesus whom Paul preaches so these guys they were looking at what Paul was doing and they took it upon themselves and said hey I can do that too all I have to do is say Jesus the same way Paul does but watch what happened to them also there was seven sons of sceva a Jewish chief priests who did some and the evil spirit answered and said Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on and overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded so many assume that position without the grace of God having no idea the the demonic opposition that they're going to come against and the results are nakedness and woundedness and they don't complete the task if you're going to be a pastor the first thing is that you have to be anointed and called of God the second thing that you'll see in a pastor is you must have a real heart for people with a desire to see them healed set free and walking and deliverance look at Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 then Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and disease among the people but when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no Shepherd see a real pastor is moved by wandering people and his heart is to gather them he wants them to come together and see them healed and set free and delivered churches that don't have real pastors leading them are stifled and they suffer tremendously see a pastor knows how to gather and Corral people and let them know who they are in God and call out the destiny in the dreams that God has given them he knows how to speak to them and mature them and speak to something on the inside of them many people choose churches because they have good preaching or because they have a slamming choir or things of that nature but when you go to choose a church you have to choose a church where the Word of God is coming forth in such a way that is speaking to something on the inside of you and bringing to life those things that God has put inside of you and it causes a great connection between you and the passionate see a pastor is unable to pass by wounded people if you if you look at up Luke chapter 10 you don't have to turn there but in Luke chapter 10 is the story of the Good Samaritan and if you read that story there were two people who pass by the man that was wounded on side of the road both of them served in ministry one was a priest and the other was a Levite was people who served in ministry then the third guy comes along and binds up his wounds see this is the heart of a passionate that when he sees people broken and discouraged and down it discourages him to a point but what he does is he speaks life into that individual and restores them and bring then back to life this is how you recognize the gift of the passion if you look at Ephesians chapter 4 11 again it says that if you look at the first verse it says and his gifts were varied and he himself appointed and gave men to us number one the first thing that you have to realize is that pack your pastor our pastor is a gift he's a gift from God and in order to fully understand this we really don't understand this you know Christmas is right around the corner and most of the time at Christmas one of the things that I told my wife I said you know we need to tell we just need to call out of our family and say hey this year we're not going to give gifts we're just going to meet and just be together the reason why is because you know after so many Christmases you end up getting the same gift over and over again and essentially if people end up giving you things that you don't need and it ends up in your garage or somewhere like that but when God gives a gift it is always something that you need look at the person next to you say you need a pastor you have to have a pastor a pastor is necessary for your destiny so when God gives a gift is something that you absolutely have to have and is it doesn't matter what background you come from what your educational background is it doesn't matter how much money you have or how high your intellect is you need a pastor if you're going to grow in God see many of our own experiences along with news headlines and stories of greed and divorces and godless living that we see in the media has caused us to devalue the role of the pastor and we no longer see it as necessary I can't tell you the number of people that I run into that are trying to walk the Christian walk and say that they don't have to be a part of a church and they don't need a pastor and and I don't need a man to tell me this or that but if the Word of God says that we need a pastor we absolutely need a passionate C to reject the to reject the pastor is to reject someone who God has assigned to pray for you to reject the pastor is to reject someone God uses to bring healing to many broken areas of your life to reject the pastor is to reject someone God uses to bring correction when you veer off to the wrong path to reject the pastors to reject someone God uses to teach you the Word of God to reject the pastors to reject the call to discipleship see if we neglect the gift of God then we suffer unnecessarily because God is giving us a pastor giving us a pastor so that we can benefit from the second thing that we need to know is that when God gives a gift he gives it with instructions when we don't know the purpose of something and you've heard this or the purpose of someone then abuse is inevitable look at Jeremiah chapter 3 Jeremiah chapter 3 when you don't know the purpose of someone in your life this is one of the reasons why I say that the office of the pastor is one of the most misunderstood offices because traditionally in traditional churches we have a tendency to think that the gift that has been given to us belongs to us essentially and I'll help you understand in just a second it says and I will give you Shepherds according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding I will give you Shepherds after my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding so a legitimate expectation of your pastors that you will be fed the Word of God that you will receive teaching from the Word of God so that you can grow by it but this is what often happens in churches I use this for an example how many of you guys love to cook not many people I like to cook and eat I like to cook and eat and and and one of the things is because of our schedule I happen to do most of the cooking at our house so y'all pray for me please I do most of the cooking and and sometimes I'll have this idea and I'll prepare something and I put a lot of time in it I put a lot of spices in it and I'll get it all ready and everything and area will come in the house and I'll say uh baby have you eaten yet and she'll say no I'm I'm still full from lunch I don't think I want anything and so that's when I have to pray because I put a lot of time into it one of the worst things that you can do for someone who prepares a meal for you and who loves to cook and put their heart into it is to show up and not be hungry that's one of the worst things that you can do because the hunger her hunger affects what I do the next day see I didn't decide that tomorrow we're going to have microwave dinners because when I put a lot of work into it she that she didn't honor it she didn't she didn't show up with any hunger so she's not going to be hungry then what I'm going to serve her is going to be at a low level something that I'm not going to put much time into see this happened to the Apostle Paul he said look I was wanting to give you milk meat but what I ended up having to give you was milk because you were not ready for it and so the level of hunger from the people it determines the level of word that comes forward you have to understand that see the worst thing you can do is show up and not be hungry and not honor and respect the word of God I have discovered though that people are hungry but what people are most of the time hungry for is not the Word of God people are hungry for attention people want one-on-one ministry most of so the first gift that you can give your pastor is a hunger for the word of God showing up and listening and being discipled by the Word of God see I remember when when I was growing up and everything one of the things that I wanted to do is I I really wanted to be responsible and I wanted to show my parents that I was going to be responsible and my dad but before he passed man what he was so proud of me he was you should have seen his face when I brought Ariel home he just knew I scored B he was so happy for me but one of the things that I believe made my daddy really proud of me is that you know and please don't tell my brothers and sisters this but unlike them I didn't have to keep going home for stuff that when I left home I wanted to be my own man I wanted to grow up and I wanted to mature and I didn't need his attention so much because he had already trained me and taught me things that I needed and because I listen and I heeded what he said I was able to grow up into my own manhood and I didn't need it I didn't have to be in front of him all the time even now that he's dead and gone sometimes I hear boys speaking to me telling me this or that or saying this or or different sayings that he had and say this is the way it is in church that when we come in as children and as babes initially we need a lot of attention if you're a baby babies have to be fed every two to three hours and they need their diaper change but if you've been awhile around for a while then you the one way to show that you're maturing is that you begin to change diapers and take care of those who are wounded and take care of those who are hurting and you don't need the attention that you want Sneed it so in order to appreciate your pastor you have to appreciate and have honor and respect for the Word of God be discipled through the Word of God sit and listen to the Word of God so when you receive the word the next thing that you need to do and I'm almost done the word first of all I want to say this before I move on the word of God really does contain the answer to every problem that you have it really does and what it does is when you go through difficult situations which is arises and instead of calling pastor and if you get in the Word of God and sit in the counseling appointment it builds stamina and you begin to you begin to build strength and it's much like what happened to David you know when David came up against the Giant he said look I've already been practicing because I saw a lion and I saw a bear and I slew them and because I slew them I understand that this this Philistine is nothing to me it builds strength in life for you so that you can take care of others but because we undermine the preaching of the word when crisis comes we have nothing to draw from it's important to me the Word of God is the most important thing to me now I love I love pastor he knows that but it's not it's not so much important to me that I sit down and have dinner with him I really don't I mean I that's nice and that's great but that's not important that's not as important to me it doesn't even matter if he speaks to me on Sunday I really don't that doesn't bother me the only time I will have a problem if the word of god stops because it's the word that's that's what makes the connection I don't have to adopted get a text message from him I don't have to hear from him but the word is what I care about it's the word that will strengthen you and cause you to grow see many many pastors are abused by the people because they have no love for the Word of God and I've discovered this a few years ago they're one of the quickest ways to destroy yourself is to begin to play the role of God in the lives of people that is one of the quickest ways I had this problem early on in our marriage and it frustrated my wife to know in that when everybody called or when anybody called whether family or friend I felt like I had to be there and I had to this and I had to do that and I was always running here and there and I remember one of the things that set a change in my life was we were in a service over there and Bishop Frank Harvey he spoke the word over me that was absolutely true he said son the enemy is trying to scatter you in all places he said you're all over the place and he said you have people pull up pulling on you from every direction he said but God is going to set your focus so that you are no longer stretched in many different directions so that's why it's so important to have a focus in life to know what you are called to do and to know what you are about and it keeps you from being abused unfortunately this happens to many pastors so if you want to show your pastor appreciation love the Word of God love the Word of God the next thing if you want to show your pastor appreciation is shown in first Peter chapter 2 first Peter chapter 2 see God has set up order for ministry it's actually wrong for a pastor to put the congregation before his family because first Peter chapter 3 verse 5 says if a man cannot rule his house well then how can he take how can he take care of the house of God I'm so thankful that we have a pastor that puts his family first because every time I love it when he says I'm not going to lose my family over ministry because when he says that I'm thinking me I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to go to a church where the pastor put ministry in front of his family because I'm looking at his relationship with his wife and his children as an example for myself and if he if he's a workaholic for the ministry then I turn out to be a workaholic for the ministry and I can't do that Ariel Carlita won't let that happen look at the first Peter chapter 2 it says as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby the next thing that you can the bet next greatest gift that you can give your pastor is to grow in the things of God see when you respect the Word of God you receive the Word of God the seed of the word and the word begins to grow on the inside of you uh one of the things in I work at an elementary school and one of the things that our research has shown us and all the educators in here can agree with this research has shown that it is a it's not beneficial to retain students in the integrate or to flunk as we used to say it's not beneficial to do that because what they found out is that when you retain these students what happens is they do two things number one they become discipline problems they become problems for the school the second thing is they end up dropping out of school when they reach up the age where they can drop out so so it is in education is the same in the kingdom of God when people refuse to go to the next level and grow they end up causing problems and they end up with a end up stirring things up when you refuse to grow you become a troublemaker when you when you refuse to go to the next level and you refuse to grow up in God you end up dropping out of the race see see see growing up is not an option I told my wife yesterday God spoke this to me he said many people pursue a high call trying to take a low road to get there if you if you're going to pursue a high call and God sometimes you have to take the high road that means you got to learn how to forgive that means you have to learn how to look over some folks that means you have to learn how to love with intensity and move on and move past things because if you don't you end up dropping out of the race and quitting because you refuse to grow I'm going to close with that the last thing that you need to do to the greatest gift that you can give you a pastor is to mature in the things of God today is pastor appreciation and initially I told pastor be honest I don't want to I don't want to do this I said because I'm gonna be quite honest with you I don't I mean all I've been as a lay pastor and I've worked I don't understand what it means to be a pastor and I said I don't feel qualified to speak on this and he told me he said well you know I feel like you you really are qualified because of your life having to balance work and ministry and so forth but one of the things that if you want to give those things to your pastor today I want you to just lift your hands with me and just we're just going to pray and I want you to repeat after me say father right now in Jesus name give me a hunger for your word like never before I pray that it will become my substance that I eat from daily father help me to grow up in you strengthen me that I may grow into mature manhood and be everything that you want me to be in Jesus name Amen somebody give God a praise

Channel: discoverDFC

Views: 44,159

Rating: 4.6041665 out of 5

Keywords: Daystar Family Church, DFC, Tuscaloosa Church, Scott Schatzline

Id: A8bNH_v8jso

Length: 25min 47sec (1547 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 04 2013