Elder Installation (1 Peter 5:1-4)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
All right so had a big weekend we had a training weekend this Friday which is on marriage but that is not the only thing that makes this weekend really special for us uh today is a little bit different uh we're taking a break from the book of Philippians uh and we're going to uh spend some time today uh acknowledging celebrating and actually ordaining Isaac Hill as a pastor and installing him as an elder here at this Church so yes absolutely uh Isaac has been in the Elder and training process.
For the last four years and it's been a joy to watch him really grow and develop over the last few years um when he came on staff in 2020 and then entered into the Elder entering process uh I knew Isaac the least out of the four Elders uh Raz knew him the most and was gung-ho and will tell anyone who will listen that he is the one that made sure that we had Isaac on staff and to give him credit that is true and he advocated.
For it and uh and we quickly got to see uh the gift that he's been to our Church and the capacities in which he's served and kit City facilities and a whole list of other things he also entered into the Elder and training process which is a process that we take uh slowly and him starting out a little bit younger we took it even a little bit more slowly and we got to watch over the last four years so many things happen we got to watch character really show up in a lot of different ways we got to.
See him work in a lot of different capacities we got to see him serve and really step into uh shepherding and pastoring and today gets to be a celebration of that as we officially install him as an elder here in this Church now today functions a little bit like a wedding uh where I'm going to be uh preaching to Isaac directly so some of this just like I have a couple in front of me who's getting married I'm I'm preaching really to them about marriage.
But I'm also talking to the congregation as a whole about marriage I'm going to be talking to you a little bit about what it means to Shepherd here in this Church and also to the rest of our Church really giving you a window into what it means to Pastor what it means to be an elder what it means to to to Shepherd the flock as we're going to see in this passage in First Peter today so if you have a Bible you can go there.
Now it's on page 590 in the blue Bibles we're going to be in 1 Peter chapter 5 veres 1 through 4 I will read it and then we'll walk through this verse by verse to get a picture of what God is doing in his Church verse one so I exhort the elders among you as a fellow Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed shepher the flock of.
God that is among you exercising oversight not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you not for shameful gain but eagerly not domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock and when the chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading Crown of Glory let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we have this passage that is a picture of who you are to your people and what you expect of Elders and pastors God I pray that you'd help us.
See that so beautifully today that that would give us another picture of the Gospel that you would help us sit in awe of you as we get ready to install our dear brother as an elder in this Church so Lord we love you we pray that you would do this in Jesus name amen all right so that first verse says so I exhort the elders among you as a fellow Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
Now out the gate you see those words that word twice Elder Elder some of you may be less familiar with this phrasing you may think know like a presbyterian thing or a Mormon thing it's not one of them gets it more right than the other but it's not we have Elders in this Church and what I appreciate about this passage is that Peter is an apostle I mean you read through the gospels and see how near to Christ Peter was he's an apostle and he really could Flex his apostleship here.
But he doesn't he is also a local Church Elder and he speaks about himself as a fellow Elder now this word Elder shows up in the New Testament and what it is is it's an office it's a position of leadership in the Church and we see that word really interchangeably with another word in the New Testament called overseer so Elder comes from the Greek word presbyteros uh overseer comes from the Greek word episcopos which is where you get the word uh a bishop from.
But you see these two words and then right alongside it in passages you see the word for shepherding which is where we get uh the word pastor Pastor in Latin is shepherding and we see all three of these that really kind of describe who this person is and what they are doing and you see all three In this passage as well so he exhorts uh the the elders here which is teaching not Just One Elder but a plurality of Elders that it's a team of Elders at these churches that Peter is writing to and that's clear throughout the New Testament.
When you get to the book of Acts when uh when Paul is giving a speech to the Ephesian Elders he says in verse 1 it says in verse 17 now uh from Myas he sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church to come to him there was multiple Elders in the Ephesian Church then when he's instructing Titus who's a Church planner in crate he says this is why I left you in crate so that you might put what remained into order and appoint Elders in every town as I directed you that you.
See that there's there's a plurality there's multiple Elders that are overseeing these churches the Scriptures teach this that it's not just one that it's a team of Elders which I appreciate I appreciate that on on a very practical level the the team approach to to pastoral Ministry uh that exists in our own Church I in uh May and June I'm going to take a sabatical I'm going to take uh two months to really step away from Ministry which I'm excited about and the good news is is that the wheels are not going to fall off.
When I'm gone it's just it's it's going to keep going and if I get hit by a bus which hopefully not if I get hit by a bus it'd be sad there be a season of of grieving hopefully a lot of mourning and grieving the the the the the sting being of loss would be so felt but you'd move on because it's not built on me I love that there's a team approach to how we preach here on Sundays that sh and I both share the load in preaching I love the fact that this Church is not built around one personality.
But it's built upon Christ and the team that he has raised up to lead this Church I appreciate the safeguards that are within that as we hold each other and check and hold each other accountable so when Isaac gets installed today he's going to be a part of the team he's going to be a fellow Elder and not an associate Elder not a junior Elder we don't have one lead Elder here we don't have one lead Pastor here we do have a lead pastor and a lead Shepherd and that is Christ.
But he's going to be an equal Authority with us leading together so that's why we're an elder Le Church and that's why we take the process of of really vetting eldership very seriously uh Isaac has gone through this elder and training process uh for four years and he's got to get some training and equipping on what it means to be a pastor but one of the main reasons the primary reason that it took so long it takes so long for anyone to be installed as an elder in this Church is.
Because the number one qualification for an elder is character it's character that that's the most important part of what it means to be an elder what it means to be an overy what it means to be a pastor you see this in a few passages I'm just going to mention one in 1 Timothy 3 it says this saying is trustworthy if anyone aspires to the office of overseer again this is overseer Elder he desires a noble task therefore an elder must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober minded self-control respectable hospitable able to teach not a drunker not violent mag gentle not corome not a lover of money and I'm cutting off there.
For the sake of time but the list keeps going you see this also in the book of Titus and what do you see in the majority of those qualifications each one is character-based right able to teach us some competency some ability but the rest of that's character and there's a reason for that there's a reason why we took this slowly is because we don't want to see character in just a few months or even a year we want to see it in a sustained stretch.
When you go through the highs and lows of life we want to see Isaac respond to difficult situations and the character that would come out of him we want to see that because Character Matters the problem is the problem is is that some churches will weigh competency and your abilities over character so you can preach get them up in front you got a good voice let a rip and the problem with that is that you've you've overly weighted someone's abilities over their character and a lot of stories of churches that have just gone up in Flames is.
Because someone's uh uh talents were apparent and they were elevated before the character was actually tested and in the economy of God's churches he doesn't let that go unshift if the character isn't there it will show up and that's why it's important for us to evaluate character so all of that is built into this word Elder okay as so as as he's saying Elders that's the the the theology that's built into this understanding of this office and leadership in the Church.
So when he says so I exhort the elders among you all that's imported as a fellow Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed verse two Shepherd the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you not for shameful gain but eagerly not domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock now in this passage there's one Central Command there's one imp erative it's Shepherd the flock that is among you and everything else is built upon that command.
So all those phrases that follow exercising oversight not under compulsion but willingly these are all participles these are all these are all phrases that help really picture what it means to Shepherd so first we got to understand this command Shepherd the flock and then we got to go step by step and I'm and really explaining what the shepherding looks like so let's first understand what he means by Shepherd in this command Shepherd the flock that is among you or the primary jobs of an elder is shepherding and that's a metaphor isn't literal I'm not going to bring much a sheep out here at the end of this this is a metaphor that they would have.
Understood more so than we would and I mean we I don't I don't I don't know any Shepherds I don't think many of you know any Shepherds I mean some of you might live in pan and you might know some sheep herds which I can make that joke because my family's from pan we go way back there but I chances are you don't know any Shepherds we're not familiar with this we're not keeping sheep so this isn't this is less familiar.
For us so it's helpful to actually understand where they're coming from when they said when he says Shepherd the flock that is among you because they would have known what that is that was a common trade at the time this was uh something that you would have known a Shepherd who had a flock of sheep whether that he oversaw himself or he overa oversaw on behalf of someone else and he loved his sheep that's what they're known for they it's their livelihood they they they love them they care.
For them they tend to them they they take care of them one of the tools that's that's most common in shepherding is a shepherd's crook would look something like this and I appreciate this uh and how they would use this and really what it means to Shepherd because if you have a sheep that would go astray the reason it's got a hook at the end is because that you would kind of gently pull them back into the fold because you didn't want them going astray.
If they went astray they could get into trouble they could get hurt they could get devoured by a wolf now this one doesn't have a club at the end but there were some shepher Crooks that had clubs at the end and the reason why is because you needed to absolutely take out a wolf right this is also a protective so that you could protect your sheep from any uh enemies that might come in so this was something they use in order to help Shepherd their sheep and this metaphor would have been Vivid as soon as they would have heard Shepherd the flock that is among you they would have pictured a Shepherd they would have.
Pictured that tool tool and they would have known what it meant for a Shepherd to lead his sheep into Green Pastures what it meant to guide his sheep towards uh good Waters they they would have known what this is for someone to care deeply for their sheep would have meant to protect them from uh War wolves I mean because I mean look throughout the Scriptures Jacob was a Shepherd Moses was a Shepherd David was a Shepherd it's just something that was.
So familiar to them now why I use the shepherding word as a metaphor because in the Old Testament shepherding is a metaphor for two things first God as a Shepherd to his people and then second leaders who are UND Shepherds of God leading the people that's why in Psalm 23 you get this imagery of God as a Shepherd to his people in Psalm 23 when it says the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down and Green Pastures he leads me beside Still Waters.
God cares deeply about his people like a Shepherd who tends to his sheep they're his and he'll lead them towards good pastures he'll lead them towards good Waters he'll protect them from Evil and this metaphor is developed throughout the Scriptures of God as a Shepherd to his people and then it's also applied to his unders sheeper the leaders of Israel David is referred to as a Shepherd in 2 Samuel 52 it says the Lord said to you you shall be Shepherd Of My People Israel and you shall be Prince over Israel not just a king.
But a Shepherd who would take care of his people in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 34 the leaders of Israel being called out for how bad they've been leading and in Ezekiel 34 it says the word of the Lord came to me son of man prophesy against the Shepherds of Israel this leaders the Shepherds of Israel prophesy and say to them even to the Shepherds thus says the Lord a Shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves should not Shepherds feed the sheep he says y'all been fattening yourselves you've been taking care of yourselves you haven't been taking care of the ones that I've entrusted you to verse four the weak you have not strength.
Strengthen the sick you have not healed the injured you have not bound up the Stray you have not brought back the lost you have not sought and with the and with force and harshness you have ruled them says you're not leading your people like you're supposed to you're not caring for them like a Shepherd who loves his sheep and the Shepherds the leaders are called out in the Book of Ezekiel now when you get into the New Testament this metaphor continues and in Mark 6 as.
Jesus is getting ready to feed the five th000 it says when he saw when he went ashore and saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and they began to teach them many things that when he saw the crowds he saw a bunch of sheep that had no one to lead them and he had compassion on them and he taught them and he's getting ready to to begin his Church where he's going to have new unders sheeper they're going to take care of his people he develops this in John 10 which is what we read earlier I am the.
Good Shepherd Jesus says the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep verse 15 it says just as the father knows me and I know the father I lay down my life for the sheep and I have other sheep that are not of this fold which that's us you guys that's the Gentiles it's The Outsiders I'm assuming most of you don't have non-jewish background I may not know that but we are the Sheep not of his fault I must bring them also and they will.
Listen to my voice so there will be one flock one Shepherd Jesus there says two things beautifully one he is the Good Shepherd he is God he is whom Psalm 23 is prophesying about he's the he's the Good Shepherd second he lays down his life for the sheep and we see that beautifully when he goes to the cross and he lays down his life which we're going to celebrate so wonderfully Good Friday and when he rises from the grave which we'll celebrate on Easter.
When Jesus completes his work for his sheep for those who are harassed and helpless for those who didn't have a Shepherd when he lays down his life for us which pause for a moment just see how wonderful that is I mean goodness I mean sometimes we start to believe lies like God doesn't care about me God doesn't love me if you cared about my situation he'd do this if he cared about me he would do this and it's like no God does care he sees you in C.
If you belong to Christ you are a sheep you belong to him he loves you he cares for you he absolutely does but he says that he goes to the cross and then at the very end of the book of John when he's talking to Peter and he's instructing him one last time he tells Peter feed my Lambs feed my Lambs feed my sheep and that has to Echo so so deeply in his soul that when he writes this letter to these churches and he says Shepherd the flock of.
God that is among you all of that history all of that understanding is brought into this Shepherd the flock that is among you now that's the that's the main command now he's going to give some qualifications for what this command is supposed to be like how you're supposed to Shepherd the flock so Isaac this is going to be very much directed at you brother first one exercising oversight this comes from the same Greek word for overseer that we see in 1 Timothy 3 Elders are Shepherds and overseers the word.
For overseeing just means to give attention to to look at to take care of to keep watch over so overseeing really is is organizational leadership and Care kind of combined into one a few years a go uh well I'm going to tell this story and give the caveat three of us have a very similar version of this story so as I'm telling this just know it's kind of Mell it together that somehow we got to the bottom of how this story came up there was some controversy this weekend trying to figure out how this all went about.
But none of that's really important I just don't want to say this so confident like I'm telling you exactly how it happen just to give some caveats all right so a couple of years ago we are uh in the building right over here and walking by this door and the door is open and we look into the basement which that has a basement down there and we see a shimmer and it's not gold you guys it's sewer water that the sewer system in Casey just backed up and just flooded our basement with like four Ines deep of sewer water just wonderful I mean just you know you come in on a morning all excited ready.
To tackle the day and then boom day just completely altered kind of for one of us because Isaac immediately jumps into action steps into the nasty sewer water begins to try to Source it walks out the door finds where the where the drain is clogged gets his hands in get all the stuff out in the sewer water Waters Reed we actually got a new basement out it it was pretty pretty dope but that's the kind of stuff Isaac has been doing here he's just he's been doing that kind of stuff.
For years now as he Serv saw facilities um if you've been here long enough you remember our bathroom problems as we had the construction problems it was like once every like few months it's like out the toilets are backing up it's like all right Isaac's morning just got derailed moves from kids moves over starts fixing that we y'all we have literally we as a Church has been we he's he has saved us thousands of dollars by not having our contractors because we've just Isaac jump on in there and I've appreciated about that.
For years his problem solving ability the way he tackles things the way he uh his work ethic and really the organizational leadership not just in the tasks like that but also like in our organization as a whole one of the things that you if you know Isaac you know he has wisdom Beyond his years and it's shown up we're not super old but we're all mid-30s Isaac is in his 20s and as he's coming alongside of us every now and then he just would speak and be like we just man that's helpful speaking into how we organize speaking into how we do things it's been helpful to.
See that in Isaac you get to use that the same giftings that you have and being able to tackle issues and Tackle problems and caring for people but the difference is that people are not like a plumbing crisis they're not like a flight of stairs I love what Eugene Peterson says about pastoral Ministry says my job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy but to help them see the grace operating in their lives and it's true people aren't problems to solve they require love and they require patience kindness insight wisdom Direction and we get to be vessels.
For that of God's grace working in their lives and the reality is is just as you were like gungho ready to jump into the sewer Waters and to figure out what was happening there there can be situations where you jump into the sewer Waters of sin and you're just in in a situation that is very difficult and it takes a different set of skills that you've been growing and developing over these last few years of just carefully caring for people and shepherding them through anything that they might face.
So overseeing Souls is part of shepherding which is also what Paul articulates in his speech to the Ephesian Elders when he says in verse 28 of Acts 20 be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers to Shepherd the flock of God which he purchased with his own blood I know that after my departure Savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock that that see how overseeing and shepherding are are part the same cloth and it's caring.
For people it's making sure wolves false teachers don't come in this is what you're called to do what in a few moments you're going to be installed as an elder as an overseer of souls in this Church which for the rest of our Church family if you're a member of this Church family this is something that you you should see in a few moments he's going to be installed as an elder which means that you're going to be submitting to his leadership as an elder and the book of Hebrews chapter 13 says oh obey your leaders and submit to them.
For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will give an account let them do this with joy and not groaning for that would be of no advantage to you that we install him as an elder in a few months a leader in this Church you get to submit to him as a pastor here as he cares for your soul and that also means that Matt I'm not Matt Matt May Spencer Chad Raz who I saw in this room somewhere no all right there he is Raz back there four Elders here that we're also going to be submitting to Isaac.
Because again we we mutually submit to one another as well even as Elders so that's part of overseeing all right this next next aspect of shepherding he says not under compulsion but willingly as God would would have you not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you I appreciate how you've taken this process seriously these last few years as you've discerned the calling and really the aspiration uh uh to becoming an overseers as 1 Timothy 3 articulates you have to want this you have to desire this and and and and that's necessary.
Because you've been near to us these last four years and you've got to see how Jo ful it is to Shepherd God's people and how hard it is to Shepherd God's people how hard it is to see people that you love so deeply we love our Church I love this Church so much it is so painful when you Shepherd someone you love so deeply and you watch them reject Jesus and chase after sin it is it is it is hard when you are lovingly trying to help someone Point them to Christ and they lash out at you or they're harsh with you or they take shots at you it is hard.
When you're trying to navigate conflict between two people and and When sin is present people can be so hateful and so hurtful and to be in the middle of that and try to point them both to Christ when they both just hate each other is so difficult there's a reason why recent polling says that 38% of American pastors are ready to walk away they're ready to walk away from the ministry altogether and the stats on their physical health emotional health overall health is just poor it's hard you have to want to do this you have to really Aspire and say I want to do this I want to own this calling you do that all.
With a Target on your back because the enemy would love nothing more to take you out one of the easiest ways to disperse the flock is to District the shepherd and we've seen that practically if you've ever seen a Church where the pastor fell into moral failure or they LED in a domineering way you've seen what happens afterwards as people begin to question their faith all together so you have to want this it's a calling and if you are called into this by the power of the Holy Spirit as you oversee you have you grow thick skin and you keep a soft heart and you stay by the power of the Holy Spirit resilient through.
It all there are much easier callings that won't take the spiritual weight and stress that comes with all of it but you have to want it and that's what I've appreciated so much even the last year in walking with you and Discerning do you actually want this is God calling you to this and it's been clear these last six months this is what God wants you to do so we do it we own it not under compulsion and then Peter continues he says not.
For shameful game but eagerly so not for shameful game but eagerly now you know this there ain't a lot of money in this gig it's just not you you don't do this for the money you locked yourself into you Isaac you're gifted you could have gone and done construction you could go and on a construction business and make buus and money not here there going to be times where you're going have to scrape to get by where you're look at that budget and you.
See that grocery budget right now it's just that's a part of it that's what you are stepping into now here's the good news I know you well enough to know that really out of four of us I I I have been very encouraged by your contentment like Isaac owns Five t-shirts four of them four of them I think Ras gave to him someone someone this morning someone this morning complimented that he's the only Pastor wearing green and it's like like he meant to do that that's one of two shirts he has that are nice we've had to tell him hey bud you need to get tennis shoes that aren't like he come up on stage.
And he's got a tennis shoe that's like a toes popping out of it's like no like dude so I I this is not I'm I know you well enough at this point to know that this is probably not going to be an area where you're going to be tempted but there have been a lot of pastors who have been tempted by greed who who have seen other people's lives and coveted other things and have been and have just been frustrated have made bad decisions in their frustrations.
Because they worship other things other than God now I don't think that shameful gain for money is going to be the thing that tempts you but there may be a shameful gain for other things be it honor or approval or control or power but we are on guarded and watching the things in our souls that we might want shamefully the next description of good shepherding that he lays out in verse three is not domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock.
So not domineering but being examples there's a great deal of trust that is given to us as pastors and we're telling our Church family in a moment to submit to you as a pastor and that trust it can be abused I mean you you can take people's trust and and use it for your own interest you can use it to steamroll someone to get what you want to make something happen that is something that can happen and listen in pastoral Ministry you can get short-term games you can grow a Church real quickly by just getting people to do what you want.
But it never works because that's not how God has designed pastors to lead we don't domineer other people we don't steamroll people we don't get them and force them to do what we want no the model of shepherding that we are called to in leadership is servant leadership that is what Christ did it is servant leadership it is the example of saying come follow me as I follow Christ just follow me as I follow Christ this is where we're going we're chasing after our chief Shepherd we're going after Christ follow me as you follow Christ Isaac the reason on a busy week.
Because you are a busy man and you ever see quite a few things the reason that you'll carve out of your busy schedule a day to go help your dad at bethl is not because your dad is going to be disappointed if you don't come it's not because he's gonna be mad or he's gonna he's going to show frustration or he's gonna he he's not the reason that you're willing to carve out a day to go help your dad at bethl is.
Because you love your dad and you know your dad loves you and you know your dad would run through a wall for you and you'd run through a wall for him that's shepherding it is loving people so well and running through a wall for them be it sin be it Brokenness be it the the condemnation of the enemy and saying follow me as I follow Christ follow me as I follow Christ we we're going after him I love you come that is what shepherding is.
God willing if you get to spend the next 10 20 30 40 50 years of doing just that faith f with your hand to the plow not looking back there will be a day when that will be rewarded and that's what we see in verse four and when the chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading Crown of Glory when the chief Shepherd appears when our chief Shepherd Christ appears you as an Under Shepherd who has Faithfully undertaken the task of shepherding God's people will receive the unfading Crown of Glory it is a blessing and a gift to be able to Shepherd God's people it is a blessing to be able to lead God's people.
It is a blessing to be able to to teach them to care for them to point them towards our chief Shepherd but when our chief Shepherd appears when Christ appears and comes back or if when we die and we see him face to face whenever that is that expectation of his coming and that expectation of seeing him all along the way we stay diligent we don't stop we stay after it we commit ourselves to this I love the phrasing what I read earlier in Hebrews uh chapter 13.
When it says obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your soul that word for keeping watch is the night watch it's the person who stays up through the night to make sure that if any enemies are coming to make sure they're caring for those who they're overseeing that's what we get to do God will for 10 20 30 40 50 years or the night watch and we labor we should be tired I'm tired after this week I'm that's.
Okay at the end of 30 or 40 or 50 years this should be a little bit tired because it's worth it because of the calling that God calls us to and if you do that and you do it Faithfully there's an unfading Crown of Glory and I don't know what that is it's a I don't I don't know I don't know what it is but if our God says it's unfading and it's a crown it must be good so brother we have this tiny portion of the greater flock of.
God flock of God that those are birds fold of God we have this tiny P portion that we get to oversee and we get to Shepherd and we get to love and we get to lead and if we do that Faithfully there is a reward that is coming the crown is there and if you are ready to own that we are ready to have you so I'm going to invite you to come up along with our elders all right you guys get a little bit you guys get a little bit closer all right this is G be on the screen as.
Well Isaac Do You Believe by God's grace in your life that you meet the qualifications laid out in Scripture for an elder and have not hidden sin in order to serve in this capacity Isaac do you commit yourself to God's word to study it meditate on it and cherish it striving to mold your life to its instruction and actively seeking to to train others to do the same Isaac do you commit yourself to keep a close watch on yourself and your sin being quick to repent.
When an erir Isaac do you commit to keep a close watch over M City Church sacrificially loving serving and leading those to whom God's Holy Spirit has seen fit to make you an overseer and Isaac have you committed your life to Jesus Above All Else believing only in the Gospel and not your good works efforts or success and Ministry for your salvation I all right so this is for our committed members Church family I'm going to ask you a question and you can respond by God's grace we do Church family do we commit under the authority of the word of.
God to submit ourselves to Isaac's Direction and seek to make his time serving here one of Joy by God God's grace we do Isaac by God's grace and through Jesus Christ we commission you to serve alongside us as an elder of mil City Church as God's Steward over his beloved Church sacrificially loving serving and leading those to whom he has assigned us for as long as God and His grace allows us so Matt we got uh a gift for you Isaac this is a little bit special uh this was given to your grandfather uh and recognition of his years of shepherding and we have personalized it.
For you as a reminder of the calling that you were stepping into so brother we are we're this is a joyful moment for us I'm going have Chad pray over you I mean for our whole Church too just recognizing us Jesus we love you you and we love your Church and we love the the portion of your Church that we get to call our Church family and we love Isaac and we're thankful for him and Isaac we commission you in the name of.
Jesus by his kingdom and by his appearing that you might join and shepherding our Church family that you might submit yourself to the will of God and Lord we pray that your Holy Spirit would Empower and bless and work through Isaac to love and to serve and to care for your Church that you might use him for your glory and for your good and for the good of your people that he might be spent for those who belong to you and that you might guard him.
Lord we entrust him to you that you would guard his heart and his steps that you would help him to lead his family and Lead this Church and that you would help him to serve and that he would wear himself out for your name and your kingdom and your glory and your people may you bless Isaac may you bless his household may you bless this Church Lord we are your people and we need your help so may you care well for us may we serve.
Well for your name and your glory and we hand Isaac and this Church to you in Jesus name amen amen that's.