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Living Waters of Grace 12.29.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
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  Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
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  County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  You never want to see anybody in here walking up to you asking
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  you for money or pushing money. That's just not something we do,
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  and ministry shouldn't be about that.
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  That's like having a covetous pastors who are always looking
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  to make more money. There's some pastors who are
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  involved in schemes outside of the church to try to make more
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  and more money for themselves. Well, if you're focused on that,
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  it's very hard to be focused on shepherding the flock.
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  As we continue considering the qualifications for an elder in
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  the 3rd chapter of First Timothy, we learned that money
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  can't be a focal point for an elder.
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  Now, this doesn't mean that an elder is called to live a
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  destitute life and not be responsible.
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  It just means that an elder is not someone who is fixated on
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  wealth. Money and the pursuit of money
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  can't be the focus of a biblical elder's life.
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  Maybe you're listening and you sense God is calling you to be
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  an elder in the church. How is your relationship with
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  money now? Here's Pastor Lewis in the Book
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  of First Timothy, chapter 3, with today's edition of Living
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  Waters of Grace. He says that a pastor is a man
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  of he's, he's a man. He's the, he's the husband of
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  one wife. Every husband I know is a man
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  and every wife that I know is a woman.
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  So it's not a position that's opened up for a woman.
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  Now, there's other ministries in the church where women are
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  definitely able to feel and function in, but the pastor or
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  the elder position is not one of them.
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  And here in Calvary Chapel, we don't have women pastors and
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  women elders. We don't have them.
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  We have women teachers who teach other women, who teach children,
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  but we don't have pastors and elders who are women.
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  So he goes on and he says not given to wine.
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  I'm sorry, before we get to not to the wine part.
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  I don't know why I ran there first.
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  But anyway, he said he must also be temperate, OK, temperate.
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  So that means that he must be vigilant or have self-control.
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  He must be a sober someone who is sober.
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  He's his mind is not clouded. He's not someone who is given to
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  extremes. You know, he's not someone who
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  has these drastic mood swings, quick tempered person, but he's
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  under control. He can control himself, his
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  temper and also his passions. He's a temperate man.
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  He's reliable, trustworthy. He keeps his head in all
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  situations and then he goes on. He says he must be sober minded,
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  which is very similar to being temperate.
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  But he approaches the work of the ministry with a seriousness.
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  This is someone who understands the value of ministry.
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  He understands the value of being a leader of a
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  congregation, the leader of sheep.
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  He understands what that means. Now, that doesn't mean that
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  he's, you know, always, you know, a stern and ever laughs or
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  you can't hold a regular conversation with them.
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  That's not what this is. What he's saying here.
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  What he's saying here is that he understands that the ministry
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  that he is called to is a ministry of seriousness about
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  souls. It's about winning souls and
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  teaching people who have given their lives to Christ the way of
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  the way, the way of Christianity, to give
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  instruction on instructional teaching on how to walk and live
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  as a Christian. And that's serious.
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  That's serious. So he understands the validity
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  of that. So he upholds the gospel message
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  with seriousness. And again, doesn't mean that he
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  has to lack a sense of humor. You know, some of the funniest
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  men that I know are pastors. You know, they're your sense of
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  humor. Sometimes it could be a little
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  dry, but it's still funny. You know, it's they're they're
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  very pleasant to be around. Very pleasant to be around.
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  Let's see the next one goes into now we're able to talk about the
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  the good behavior. And this is really important
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  because Paul almost talks about the person being a person of
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  good behavior, almost the way that he talks about the women
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  and the way that they dressed over in first Timothy 29 over
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  first Timothy 29. If you just turn back there just
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  for a second here, it says in like manner also that the women
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  adorn themselves in modest apparel with a propriety and
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  moderation, not with braided hair or gold pearls or costly
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  clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness
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  and good works. Paul's also is almost making
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  that same distinction with the behavior of a pastor, and he is
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  saying that just as a woman has to be modest in her dress, she
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  has to be a woman who dresses in good taste.
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  That it doesn't draw attention to her and doesn't deflect
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  attention away from God. Neither should the man of God
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  behave behave himself in a way that distracts or deflects the
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  attention from God or the gospel and keeps his attention on him.
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  He shouldn't be boisterous. He shouldn't be loud and
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  obnoxious. He shouldn't be someone who is
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  rude. He shouldn't be someone who is
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  disgraceful or does disgraceful things.
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  So he should do nothing to deflect the glory of God,
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  reflect off the glory of God for people who are looking at him,
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  but they should see Christ in him and in his behavior.
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  He should be a person of good behavior.
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  Then he goes on into hospital. He should be hospitable.
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  And I remember when I was younger and always refer back to
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  that because the church was just so was kind of different than
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  the way it is now. And I'm sure a lot of you can
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  relate to that. But when I was younger, when it
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  came to hospital, you know, hospitality, there would be
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  times when other churches would come into the area to attend
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  services at our church and they would bring in, you know, bus
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  loads of people. And a lot of those people didn't
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  have anywhere to stay. So the Christians in that town
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  that was going to the church, they would open up their homes
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  for these people to stay. They would open up their homes.
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  They are being hospitable. I know here when people come
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  here to visit to, whether it's the teach here or the
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  missionaries come to give their reports and to share with us
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  there, we always accommodate them.
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  We accommodate them. We set them up in a place to, to
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  be either rather it's in someone's house or we pay for
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  the accommodations at a, at an inn.
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  We pay for their meals, we take care of it, make sure that
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  they're fed and that they have what they need.
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  You know, we're hospitable toward people who come and
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  visit. And that's really important
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  because we have to be willing. A pastor should be willing to
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  open up their home. Now, that term hospital
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  literally means loving the stranger.
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  That's what literally means loving the stranger.
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  So it's loving somebody that you don't really know anything
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  about. Now, these people are
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  Christians. We're talking about Christians,
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  other Christians, but they may be coming from other areas and
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  you are hospitable to them. But we're also hospital to
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  people who have need, who have not given their lives to Christ.
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  We have helped people in that way as well.
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  We've helped people have find housing or or help people
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  accommodate them for a couple nights in a inn for a couple
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  nights if they're homeless. So we have been hospitable
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  towards both those that are inside the church and those who
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  have been outside of the church. Romans 12 and 13 says it talks
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  about the distributing to the needs of the Saints and being
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  given to hospitality. Hebrews 13 and two says that you
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  we're not to forget to entertain strangers for by so or for by
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  doing so we unknowingly entertain angels.
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  So we need to also look at being hospitable.
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  How important that is. Now there was a case in 3rd John
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  where the atrophis was a man who was not hospitable.
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  In fact, he refused to receive the missionaries and actually
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  denied or did not permit anyone else in his church to receive
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  them. So Paul said that this person
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  would be dealt with. That is not the way of the Lord.
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  That is not the Christian way is to deny hospitality to a brother
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  or a sister. So we should be hospitable.
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  And then of course #7 says we got to be able to teach.
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  We got to be able to teach. Now, that able to teach is not
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  just to be skilled in teaching, for there's a lot of people who
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  are able to stand up here and project words with clarity or
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  communicate in a way that's eloquent.
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  There's a lot of people were able to do that.
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  But when he's talking about being able to teach, he's
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  talking about being able to teach the word of God, to study,
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  to show yourself approved someone who is a student, a
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  careful student in the Word of God, but not in their own
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  strength. Again, it has to be someone who
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  is willing and who knows that the teaching power does not come
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  from themselves, but it comes from the Holy Spirit.
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  You have to be someone that's given to prayer, someone that is
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  always calling on the help of the Holy Spirit to help you to
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  teach the Word of God. That's where the power is.
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  That's where the power is. It's not the words that come out
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  of my mouth by myself, but it's when the words that come out of
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  my mouth is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
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  That's what touches hearts. That's what touches hearts.
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  So we have to be able to teach. And you know what, every pastor,
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  you know, everyone who teaches does not necessarily have to be
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  a pastor there. You know, we have teachers in
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  the church that are not pastors. They're teachers.
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  They're teachers, good teachers, qualified teachers, able
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  teachers, but every teacher is not a pastor, but every pastor
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  has to be a teacher. Every pastor has to be able to
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  teach the word of God. And we go on here and it says
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  that I also a pastor, must not be given to wine.
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  Now we get to the wine part. Pastor has to be not given to
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  wine. And what that means is not under
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  the control of wine. The Bible actually does not
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  teach that we should be abstinent, Total, total
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  abstinence from wine. The Bible does not teach that.
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  But what the Bible does teach on is that it teaches against
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  drunkenness. It teaches against the excess
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  use of wine. It teaches against that.
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  So a man of God is not prohibited from drinking wine.
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  Wine was a big part of the culture back in the Jewish
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  culture. It's a big part of that.
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  And part, and the reason, well, the main reason was actually is
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  because the water was so bad. The water was so bad.
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  I mean, it was, it had microorganisms in it that would
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  cause people to get sick. And it had all kind of things in
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  it. And, and actually, they would
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  put a little wine in the water to purify the water.
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  Wine actually helped to purify the water.
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  So that's what they would drink wine.
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  Now, it wouldn't be strong. It would be, you know, just a, a
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  weak amount of wine in the water just to be able to purify so
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  that they can drink it. So it wasn't always used for
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  ceremonial celebrations and things of that nature.
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  But we are clearly taught that we are not to use wine to access
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  or we're not to use it to the point where we're becoming
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  drunk. And in fact, some versions of
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  this may actually say, you know, that we're not to be drunkard.
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  So we don't use that term a whole lot, but that's exactly
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  what some of the term, maybe someone has that version where
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  it says that, you know, we're not to be drunkards, not to be
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  drunkards. We also know that wine could be
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  used for medicinal purposes. First Timothy 5 and 23, Paul
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  tells Timothy, look, take a little bit of wine for your
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  stomach. You having issues with your
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  stomach, Drink a little wine for that stomach, you know, so it
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  can be used for medicinal purposes.
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  But we've also seen wine used in a way that could cause damage,
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  like if you go back into the day of Noah, for example, Noah, the
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  excess use of wine caused his his son to sin, his son to sin,
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  his son Ham that caused the sin Lot drank too much wine and he
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  became the father of two very Pagan nations, Moab and Ammon.
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  And it was after he had gotten drunk.
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  It was actually incest. And I know we talked about that
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  here before, but it was incest. He fathered two children to his
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  two daughters while he was on the influence of wine.
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  So like I said, the Bible does not teach that you have to
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  totally abstain from drinking, but it doesn't encourage that
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  you drink either. Doesn't encourage it as well.
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  A pastor should be aware of the type of message that he is
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  sending when he's drinking. Got to be aware of the fact that
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  he is. An example could cause someone
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  to stumble. Romans 1421 says it's good to
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  neither eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your
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  brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
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  And then he also says that we shouldn't be strikers or
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  nonviolent. We should be nonviolent.
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  We shouldn't be people who are easily pushed into a physical
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  fight. You know, it's probably not a
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  good look if you walk out the door one saying I'm on the
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  corner beating somebody up, you know, I mean, you know, getting
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  into an argument with somebody and I just start throwing
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  punches, you know, because I'm, you know, because I get that
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  that's probably not a good look. Probably not.
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  You probably wouldn't want to hear from me again up here.
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  So we really should not be easily provoked into fighting.
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  We shouldn't be fighting. All right.
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  So this is what Paul is saying and the reason why he said this.
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  You know, I mean, it might sound like it's kind of wild, but, you
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  know, back in the day, you know, some of those prophets and some
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  of those teachers back in the days, they would get physical
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  with the posers. They would pull out patches of
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  hair from the beards and strike them and hit them with sticks
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  and things of that nature because they weren't in
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  agreement with what they were teaching or that they were
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  sinning. They would actually strike
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  people. So it wasn't, you know, far off
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  that Paul talks about this. But we should not be verbally or
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  physically contentious. We shouldn't be contentious with
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  anybody and always looking for a fight, shouldn't be quick
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  tempered in that way at all, shouldn't be prone to that type
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  of violence. And then ten, he says, not
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  greedy for money, not greedy for money.
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  And you would think that this is something that you shouldn't
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  have to talk about. But you know, the desire to
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  obtain more and more money can happen before you know it.
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  You know, when money starts to be an object for you, before you
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  know it, almost everything that you do is geared around you
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  getting money is geared around you getting money.
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  You know, people talk about is it unlawful to gamble or to do
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  things of that nature? But when you think about it,
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  when someone is given to that to the point where they're losing
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  control, it's because the money has become almost, it's come
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  like an idol and they're constantly seeking more and more
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  and more of it. We also understand that the, you
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  know, the people who are in the ministry for money, you know,
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  are, are, are in it for the wrong reason.
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  I mean, if a person goes in to be a pastor because they're
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  trying to be rich, then they're going into it for the wrong
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  reason. We shouldn't run our churches
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  like corporations where we care more about revenue than we do
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  about souls. We can't do that.
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  It's about sharing the gospel and getting the gospel message
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  out for to win souls. And once those souls are one, to
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  teach them in the ways of the Lord to disciple those souls,
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  not to make money, not to make money.
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  We don't even like pass around plates and things of that
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  nature, you know, trying to get, you know, money or push people
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  to get money. I have been in churches where
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  people have taken multiple offerings because they didn't
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  get what they wanted the first time.
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  So they take multiple offerings to get what they want.
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  I've seen that happen, but in this church I've never seen
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  money be the main issue. Won't teach about money as being
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  the main issue. If we feel like the week before,
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  well the offering was a little low.
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  So this week I'm a teach on money.
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  I've seen churches to do it so thank God we don't do that.
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  We don't even have offerings in here.
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  You never want to see anybody in here walking up to you asking
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  you for money or pushing money. That's just not something we do,
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  and ministry shouldn't be about that.
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  That's like having a covetous pastors who are always looking
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  to make more money. There's some pastors who are
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  involved in schemes outside of the church to try to make more
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  and more money for themselves. Well, if you're focused on that,
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  it's very hard to be focused on shepherding the flock.
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  It's going to be hard to take time to study and to be in
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  prayer. If you're always thinking about
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  your next scheme to make money, it takes over.
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  It takes over. And the more you get, the more
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  you want. That's just the trap of the
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  devil. That's the trap of the devil.
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  And that's something that we have to try to avoid so that we
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  don't get in that trap. And we it's, it's circular.
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  It just keeps you moving and going and going and going.
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  And first Peter, in first Peter chapter 5, chapter 5, it says
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  the elders who are among you. I exhort I am a fellow elder and
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  a witness of the suffering of Christ, and also a partaker of
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  the glory that will be revealed. He says, shepherd the flock of
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  God, which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion,
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  but willingly, not by dishonest gain.
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  That means trying to do things to bring money in so that I can
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  gain more money, but eagerly, nor as being Lords over those
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  entrusted to you. So we should not be always given
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  to looking for and trying to accumulate more and more money.
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  Calvin had an interesting quote. He says, I repeat, that the man
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  who will not bear poverty patiently.
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  And willingly will inevitably, inevitably become the victim of
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  mean and sordid covetousness. So we become victims to
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  covetousness when we do not allow ourselves to just trust in
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  the Lord, to make him our Jehovah Jireh.
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  And I can tell you by doing that here that Lord has been
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  faithful. He has been faithful.
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  He's taking care of this house, He's taking care of the house
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  and the needs of the house. As long as we, I've heard, you
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  know, years ago, I was always taught that when we take care of
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  God's business, he'll take care of ours.
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  And I found that to be true. I found out to be true.
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  So we go on. He says 1.
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  He says not dumb, he said not greedy for money, but gentle.
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  He should be gentle. You know, not someone who is
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  impatient or someone who is not approachable, but he should be
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  gentle. It should not be a problem to
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  approach a pastor. He should be able to listen to
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  others and listen to others opinions, listen to criticisms,
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  opposing views without overreacting or reacting in a
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  defensive or an aggressive manner.
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  But to be gentle with people, be gentle with each other, be
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  gentle with the flock. He also says that you have to
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  allow others to serve in the church.
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  And this is one of the things that I really love about here at
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  Calvary Chapel that we give those who we see that God is
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  putting a passion on your heart for ministry.
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  We give you the room to be able to go and to serve in that
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  ministry. And not only do we not interfere
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  with your serving, but we are a covering and not a lid.
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  We support you and encourage you in that ministry, but we don't
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  stunt your growth in that ministry.
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  We don't stunt how big that ministry can grow to or the
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  things that you can do in that ministry.
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  We don't stunt the growth of your ministry.
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  We encourage you long as it's a blessing.
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  It lines up with the Word of God.
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  People are being blessed by it. Souls are being touched by it.
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  People are getting into the Word of God through it.
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  We have no issue. Only want to know what can we do
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  to help, how can we assist you? What resources can we give you?
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  But we're not going to be a lid and try to stop your
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  progression. And then in #12 says that he's
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  not quarrelsome. The man of God shouldn't be
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  caution. We talked about that a little
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  bit, and that's talking about fighting.
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  But this is more verbally fighting, always being
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  contentious with someone, verbally getting into arguments
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  and things of that nature. And that, that's, that that's,
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  that's kind of prideful. You know, when, when, when a man
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  of God is always being defensive and getting into arguments with
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  people, whether it's about the word or about something that's
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  happening here, you know, like we can't listen to hear.
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  If you feel like you have an idea about how to do something a
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  little better than what we're doing it, you know, absolutely,
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  of course, through prayer, through much prayer and
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  supplication, that's when we actually move on doing things.
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  But absolutely, we listen and hear what people want to share,
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  what people want to share. We want to do that so we're not
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  being argumentative, but the people who are being
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  argumentative always getting into disputes that nature, that
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  can be a problem. Wheresby says this, he says
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  short tempers do not make for long ministries.
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  You know, you got a short temper, you'll probably have a
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  short ministry as well. In verse three, he says do not
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  be covetous. And we talked about that.
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  And that has to do with someone who was a lover of money.
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  This has been another encouraging edition of Living
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  Waters of Grace. Pastor Lewis Harrell has shared
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  some good reminders for us to learn and walk in today as he's
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  teaching through the books of First and Second Timothy.
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  There are useful practices and advice that the Apostle Paul
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  offers to Timothy in these books.
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  From a fellow pastor, Paul imparts some wisdom to Timothy
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  about solid leadership and what some of the criteria should be
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  for leadership. There are specific passages
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  directed towards men and women, respectively.
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  And All in all, there's much to gain in coming to an awareness
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  of God's heart for each person and God's purposes for each one.
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  We're happy that you've taken the time today to listen.
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  We invite you to come here the next edition.
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  In the meantime, when you have some time to spare today, go
• 24:51
  check out our website, calvarychapelonline.com.
• 24:56
  There you'll find additional messages as well as a variety of
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  resources and information about how to meet with us in person.
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  We're also on Facebook, so you can be a part of what we share
• 25:07
  there as well. You can stay plugged in with
• 25:10
  this ministry via YouTube to watch previous teachings or tune
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  into our live stream. Living Waters of Grace is a
• 25:18
  ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
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  Before we go today, we ask that you share this program with
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  others and invite them to listen on Grace FM at 91.7.
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  That's all we have for today, but we're so glad that you've
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  been with us. There's more to dig into here in
• 25:37
  First and Second Timothy, so let's gear up for some more
• 25:42
  great teachings from Pastor Lewis next time here on Living
• 25:46
  Waters of Grace.