Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Acts 20:17-24

Theme: 5 Ways A Leader Can Love the Church Well: The Leader’s Motives

Notes:

Four Choices That Motivate Good Leaders

1. Ultimate, eternal joy over temporal happiness
2. Faithfulness over human success
   • “Ministry is not measured in months, it is measured in decades.”
   • Psalm 1
   • Faithful Christian service is a marathon, not a sprint
3. Christ and His people over selfish ambition
   • 2 Corinthians 8:9, “…though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor…”
   • We often think of God as a part of our story
   • We sacrifice the most for what we consider as the most valuable
   • We don’t just give of ourselves to Christ–we give ourselves to Christ
   • Embrace ignorance: serve Christ and His people–
     • not knowing that things are going to be OK
     • not knowing that what I do is appreciated
     • not knowing what the rewards will be
   • Are you willing to serve God and His people
     • knowing your sacrifice may not be seen
     • knowing your motives may be misjudged
     • knowing you may be falsely accused
   • Faithful ministry includes times of pressure and discomfort
     • Yet those not in leadership may be a blessing to their leaders:
       • Romans 1:11-12, “…that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
       • Hebrews 13:17, “…Let them do so with joy and not with grief,…”

Live It Out!

1. Don’t just give of yourself–give yourself
   • 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
2. Let the hard parts of life push you toward Christ and His people
3. Be part of the team

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Acts 20:17-24

Theme: The Leader’s Motives: Good leaders choose ultimate, eternal joy over happiness.

Notes:

“…we settle for a second human best when God and grace offers us so much more.” –Paul Tripp, Dangerous Calling

Does the joy of Christ permeate my life in such a way that others would want it?

1. We serve by joy
2. We serve for joy
3. We serve with joy

Live It Out

1. Remember
2. Repent
3. Renew

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Titus 2:11-15

Theme: Thanksgiving

Notes:

Titus written about 20 years after events in Acts 20.

The New Testament doesn’t glamorize the early churches–they are given to us warts and all.

Epimenides, a Cretan poet: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons”.

Thanksgiving is a right attitude outflow of a spiritually healthy heart.

Past – 2:11, “the grace of God has appeared to all men”

• What is grace?
• Grace is a Person, not a thing
• When the Scripture speaks of “more grace”,  it’s not more of a substance–it is more of the experience of drawing near to Christ
• Grace = God’s goodness given to us through the Person and work of Jesus Christ
• No Christian is given any more grace than any other Christian
  • Those who spend more time in God’s presence experience more of Christ’s goodness

Present – Titus 2:12, “training us to renounce ungodliness….to live…godly lives in this present age”

• “in this present age” – it doesn’t matter what place or time, God’s grace can teach us to live godly
  • 1st century Crete
  • 16th century Europe
  • 21st century America
• Acts 2 – Cretans listed among believers at Pentecost
• We can fall into two opposite errors:
  • Trusting grace apart from means: “Just let go and let God make me holy”
  • Trusting means apart from grace: “If I work hard enough God will make me holy”
• Correct: trusting God to provide grace by use of means that He has given
  • We labor AND trust God to transform
• “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions”
  • saying no to things, so that we might say yes to better things
  • we deny ourselves those things that are against God (ungodliness)

Future – 3:13, “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing  of…God and Savior Jesus Christ”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text:  Acts 20:17-38

Theme: The Leader’s Message

Notes:

Last week: The Leader’s Manner–consistent character & Christ-like humility

The Leader’s Message

1. We teach all of God’s word
   • The leader’s message ought to be Scripture’s message
   • “the whole counsel of God”
   • declaring God’s message with God’s intent
   • Repentance is both a command and a gift
   • Exercising repentance & faith are not a one-time event in the life of the Christian
     • The Christian life is a continuous cycle of repentance & faith
2. To all people
3. All of the time
4. With all of our heart

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text:  Acts 20:17-38

Theme:  Five ways  a leader can love the church well

Notes:

1. The Leader’s Manner
   1. We Lead with consistent character. (v17-18)
   2. We lead with Christ-like humility. (v19-21)
2. The Leader’s Message
3. The Leader’s Motives
4. The Leader’s Mentoring
5. The Leader’s Means

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Acts 20:1-16

Theme: Love the church the way Christ did by investing time, truth, and relationship into people.

Notes:

1. Discipleship takes time
2. Discipleship takes truth

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: 1 Peter 5

Theme: Submission

Thesis: God has called us to willingly yield our will and desires for God’s glory and for other’s good

Notes:

1. The resistance to submission
2. The rules of submission
3. The reasons for submission

Despite being in the midst of a hostile environment, Peter exhorts his audience to submit to God-given authorities.

We can submit to flawed authorities because we trust in God, the ultimate authority

God ordains authority in our–lives for our good, the good of others, and His glory

• Civil
• Ecclesial
• Familial
• Vocational

Resistance

• We cannot be rebellious to our God-given authorities and claim to be in submission to God.

Reasons

1. Submission is for everyone
2. Submission is a vital part of discipleship
3. Submission teaches us humility
4. Submission reveals our heart

What Submission is Not

• Submission is not unquestioning, unqualified obedience and/or loyalty
  • All legitimate authority is derived from and delegated from God–not equal to God
  • Any authority who asks for that–civil, ecclesial, familial–is an authority who plans to abuse you
• Submission does not equal total agreement
  • Christ desires thoughtful, rational obedience

Application

• Spend time in prayer this week and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of resistance to submission
• See Christ as your example
• See Christ as the power to submit

Note on 9/11

• Jeremiah 29:7, “seek the peace and prosperity” of where we live

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Acts 19:23-41

Theme: God guards us through providence

Notes:

Romans 8:28-30

Providence includes God’s care and control

Isaiah 46:9-10

Nothing happens outside the will of God

Frederick Nolan, missionary to North Africa

Tim Challies, son recently passed away suddenly at age 20

God never promises to keep us from pain and difficulty–He promises to walk with us as we experience them

Ephesians 1:4-6

While God orders/ordains/orchestrates all things, He is not the author of sin

The pressure that God allows in our lives is meant to mold us, but not to break us.

Psalm 55:22

Because God is in control of all things, then our suffering is not meaningless or purposeless

1. God uses people providentially
   • God uses people who are for you in your life
   • God uses people who are for themselves in your life
     • Don’t underestimate the things that God can teach you through someone acting selfishly
     • There are sometimes sins we are blind to in our own lives until we see them in others
   • God uses people who are against us in our life
2. God uses governments providentially
   • God used the roads and infrastructure instituted by the Roman government to help spread the gospel
   • God worked through those in Babylon and Persia to return the Jews to Israel, to rebuild the temple, and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
3. God uses circumstances providentially
   • Psalm 34:18
   • God hates sin
   • God cares for His children
4. God grieves with us when we hurt
   • Isaiah 53

Podcast: Play in new window | Download