SPEAKER_01 0:00

Not today. That's fine. We're gonna have a uh this is a commissioning service. So it's a little different than our normal service. We're gonna have the the short little message, and uh we'll have our Lord's Supper as we do on every every Sunday when we gather, but then that will be followed by a time of commissioning uh from the Lord, and this is uh Jackie and I will come forward and God will commission us and release us to whatever he has in store uh for this next season. Turn with me to Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You repair a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Okay, let's pray. Father, we're so thankful for Jesus. Jesus is not only King David's shepherd, but anyone here who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, we also can say, Jesus is my shepherd. We thank you for the ways in which you've walked with us this past year in this season of Thanksgiving. We give thanksgiving to you. Most importantly, that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life because we we confess the name of Jesus. We've pleaded his blood to forgive us of all of our sins. And we just are preparing ourselves as a bride, readying herself for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and your grace. Surely goodness and mercy has followed us all the days of our life. Jesus, you've pursued us and you've met us, and now you beckon us to follow you. And so, Lord, we want to hear your voice today. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. I heard from somebody uh earlier this week. Uh he shared a verse with Jackie, and Jackie shared it with me. It's from 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. Uh, it is give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And this brother pointed out, it says, give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. So when I look back on the last 15, 14, and then 13 years officially as pastor here, I'm not thankful for everything that happened. There were some difficult moments in those, in that span. But I'm thankful, in spite of everything that happened, that Jesus was my shepherd. And I can be thankful in the circumstance, not for the circumstance. I can be thankful in the circumstance because he was with me. And times uh in the early early days, we almost gave up. Um not many people know that story, but um a couple years in it was getting pretty bad, and we we almost uh gave up. But Jesus, he is the one who pursued us, and he he um miraculously intervened at a time when about to submit the resignation a couple years in. And God has been faithful in the circumstances for these 13 years. I gave him all the praise and glory for that. It says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I was commissioned 14 years ago, Jackie and I, into full-time ministry to plant a church. And I remember what I shared at my ordination as we were being commissioned to this assignment to be a pastor. I said, I I know Jackie way better than I know Jesus, and some of you might have been there, and that's a troubling, troubling thing to say when you're going into the ministry. But I was I was just being honest through various bad examples that I saw. I I lost touch with Jesus. I had some terrible examples of what a Christian leader should be. And understandably, we we just got lost spiritually. And so that was the beginning of Hill Community Church almost giving up. Jesus becoming so unfamiliar, even though I was a Christian for so long. And then I share last Sunday from Mark chapter 8. The man who was born blind, he was touched two times. And Jesus doesn't need two attempts to heal somebody of blindness. He, after all, he raises people from the dead, and yet it took him two times. And if you look carefully, Jesus is communicating to his church that many of us are blind, as the disciples were blind in Mark chapter 8. And if I fast forward to today, 13 years in, I know Jesus a lot better, but still he's a lot fuzzier than I would like him to be. And I need that second touch from Jesus. And so a few weeks ago, we we asked the church, the saints gathered here, Hill Community Church, to release us uh from this assignment, and this um was not planned. It just suddenly, suddenly came. The week, the Sunday where we share that with the congregation, it happened a few days earlier, and it caught us by surprise, but God spoke loud and clear. Ask the church to release you. And I want to know Jesus as my shepherd. The way that King David knew the preincarnate Christ as his shepherd. I don't want to just read about how close David was to Jesus Christ. I want to have that testimony that I see Jesus clearly, I hear from him clearly, and he is my shepherd. And my shepherd, as best that I heard his voice, is inviting me into a season of quiet. And King David confesses, I shall not want. Meaning, I lack nothing. I lack nothing. I want to get there where I can say, in my heart, there is nothing I want more than Jesus. And there are things in my heart I have to just wring out. It's just things there that shouldn't be there. I just I gotta wring it out. So that I can confess honestly. If I have Jesus, I lack nothing. He is my shepherd. That's all that I need is Jesus. And then it says, He makes me lie down in green pastures, and it can seem somewhat punitive, like time out, Ray. I'm sending you away. Go, go, go away because you're not you're stubborn. You can read it that way, but I see it as Jesus so gently inviting Jackie and I. Just lie down, just receive green pastures. I don't know what that means. I don't know what this next season is gonna be, but he's just telling me, just slow down, just slow down, rest in me, take a sabbatical. And I thought, okay, one month is enough. I'm I'm ready to work in 2026, January 1st. But as I pray more, I think it's gonna take a bit longer. And that's okay because who's in more of a rush to save the world? Me or God? God is infinitely more in a rush to save the world. But he says, the workers are few. The harvest field is ripe for harvest, but the workers are few. God is in a rush, but he wants to make sure that I am properly fed. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. I'm expecting a lot of restoration in this next season. Things that I try to get restored while doing ministry, and I just couldn't do it. A passage that I keep revisiting is Luke chapter 10. If you read it, um I think it really sums up the Christian life. If you read Luke chapter 10 very slowly, it's all in that chapter. The greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And that fuels the great commission to go to the ends of the earth and make disciples of all nations. It's all in that chapter. And as a pastor, there's always this pull to ministry and to great commission and to serve, and and that is certainly something we all, as all believers, we should all care about that. It's in God's word and and what. But you have the example of Mary and Martha at the end of that chapter. And if I were to locate myself, who am I more like? Mary or Martha? Definitely it's Martha. And she was distracted by many things. The fact that she's serving, there's not a problem. It's a dinner party. Somebody has to serve. The fact that we serve and we go on missions and we do ministry, it has to be done. But the problem with Martha is she was distracted with many things. And so when I'm reading scripture, I'm distracted. I'm not sure, is this for me or is this for a sermon? I don't know if you you understand that struggle. I really don't know at times. Is this for me? Is this for Sunday? It's a distraction, I think. Because I want to meet Jesus for me. I want him to speak to me. I want to be restored by Jesus for me and for Jackie. Of course, there's a ministry, of course there's a sermon, of course, there's the gathering of the saints and the body of Christ. But I've never had a season of rest. I don't remember the last time I didn't have to lead something or teach something or disciple somebody or counsel somebody. I can't remember the last time I had a stretch. And the Lord is now, He's not forcing me, but He invited me a few weeks ago.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

You want to rest?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And right away my my soul said, Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. I want to rest. Thank you. Such a tender invitation to rest in Jesus. Such a tender, tender invitation. I am thankful that my shepherd knows I tried my best. And I tried to be as faithful as I could. I've gone as far as I can with what I know of Jesus. And for whatever he has in store for this next season, I need to fill up a lot more. I need to be changed a lot more. I need to be fully restored before I can accept his next assignment. So I'm thankful for the last 13, 14, 15 years. It's not been easy at times. Everybody can leave whenever they want, but we're stuck here. We've been stuck here. I think I'm thankful to the boys. They had no choice. They had to follow dad around. They had to do worship, they had to do slide, they had to do sound. They had no choice. So thank you, boys. It's it's uh fitting that you're all here on this on this Sunday. Uh like I said, it wasn't planned, but thank you, thank you, boys.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

And thank you, Jackie. It's not easy to be married to a pastor. A lot of things we couldn't do.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Now I release my boys. Go and find God. You don't have to be stuck to dad. Just go find God. For Timothy, find your wife. Jeremiah and Elijah, go and meet some friends and eventually find your wife. And just pray for us in this next season. We need a lot of prayer. Pray for us. Pray that Psalm 23 can come alive as we meet Jesus our shepherd and he restores our soul. Okay, let's pray. Father, we're so thankful to you because you are a gracious God. You've been with our family for gathering here at the Hill for the last 13 years. During that time you called us to homeschool, and now we are wrapping that assignment up. We're wrapping not only homeschool, but Hill Community Church around the same time. Thank you, Lord. You're clearing away distractions. We could not have planned it this way, but Lord, you had this in mind when you spoke to us a few weeks ago. We see your sovereignty, we see your perfect timing. Thank you that you see the condition that we're in and the heart's cry that we've had over many years. Thank you, Lord, for hearing our our our hearts cry and giving us what we what I failed to admit that I needed. That you're giving me a season of rest. So Lord Jesus, we ask that you meet all of your people here. Not only are you leading out, you're leading each person here, especially those who gathered at Saints at Hill Community Church. I pray that you lead each of them to green pastures and still waters. I pray that they can meet a pastor who can see you clearly and hear you clearly and speak on your behalf so that they can grow and we can have breakthroughs together. In the end, there's only one church, and we are the church. There's only one universal church, not Hill Community Church, not Heavenly Hope Church, there's only one church. Wherever Jesus is lifted up, you draw all men, all women, all children to yourself, and there is the church. Thank you that we close every service the same way, remembering the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us and the blood of Jesus that was shed. This is what birthed the church at Pentecost. Thank you, there's only one church. We are that church. All who confess Jesus as their Lord, who exalt the name of Jesus, we are the church. Thank you that we can be unified under the banner of Jesus Christ. Everything else divides us. But under Jesus Christ we are one. We are the body of Christ universally. Thank you, we celebrate the unity that Jesus brings to all humanity. Jew and Gentile become one person, contending as one person for the gospel. Lord, send us out to make disciples of all nations when we're when we're ready. There's a ripe harvest. But there are so few workers. Prepare us, equip us, train us up to be one of those few workers that you can count to send the most difficult mission fields in this world, and that we would be fearless and bold to proclaim the name of Jesus. People who are not coming to the church, help us to be your hands and feet, to go where people are, to be the church, to gather around people who would never step foot in a church, help us to go to them. Instead of waiting for them to come to us, help us, Lord, to fulfill not only the greatest commandment, but the great commission. We want to get that order right. There is the greatest and the first and the primary commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second greatest commandment to love our neighbor and to make disciples of all nations. May the greatest commandment fuel the great commission. Equip your church to be your hands and feet, to be your missionary army for these end times. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Please minister to us as we close out this service. In Jesus' name we pray.

unknown 21:19

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

And after you've spent some time examining your heart, if the Lord allows you, the Lord's Supper will be here, waiting for you. And let's take it together as a sign of our unity as the universal body of Christ.