A message from our Brother Mike
Pastor has a very difficult time talking about certain things – the first is money. He struggles when he has to remind us about tithing or offerings, etc. The second is when he is talking about something that is related to himself. So the timing of me giving this message as opposed to Pastor is appropriate as this message concerns Pastor directly.
Let me first say that I do not want anyone to think that I am preaching today. I am not a preacher. I am not replacing Pastor in anyway whatsoever, I am simply giving a message Pastor received on Pastor’s behalf. That is all.
In order for our Church to move forward in the proper way, there are a few things we must all know, understand, and not forget.
Firstly, we must have the utmost respect for God’s house. Right now we do not have a physical Church, but with God’s will we will soon. So to respect God’s house now means for each of us to be on time for service and Bible study and not only be present physically but also present mentally and spiritually. We need to give service and Bible study the utmost attention and be as respectful in that time as we would be as if we were physically in a Church building.
Next, just as we must respect God’s house, we must respect God’s man. In our Church, God’s man is Pastor. Pastor is chosen by God, not by man. We should all see something different in Pastor than we do with most people in this world. It should be our goal for others to see that difference in all of us as well. As we know, through Pastor, the Lord has, and can continue to, bring us many blessings. Now what does respect mean in this context when it comes Pastor?
As most of us know and have seen, for Pastor to manage all the things he must manage it is very difficult and we must do all we can to lessen his load by showing him our cooperation and understanding. Helping Pastor in the things he goes through will not only strengthen our relationship with Pastor but most importantly will strengthen our relationship with God.
We must understand that the Lord holds Pastor accountable for our actions as well. Pastor is trying to guide us on that narrow path we so often talk about and when we stray off that path not only does the Lord hold us accountable but he holds Pastor accountable as well. So by us acting in a manner consistent with God’s will and God’s Word is a huge help to Pastor.
We should think of Pastor, in his role as God’s man, as an ambassador from God. An ambassador from Heaven. Just as ambassadors from different nations in this world are treated with the utmost respect how much more respect should we show to an ambassador from Heaven.
Many times people look at Pastor as just a simple man, which he is, but we must never forget that he is chosen by God, and must be treated in a manner and with the respect deserved by someone who is chosen by God. Thankfully Pastor does not require much help but we can always help him by treating with the utmost respect, love, and care, and like I referenced earlier, by us acting in accordance with God’s instruction.
We have heard countless times through Pastor’s experiences how the Lord has used Pastor in bringing blessings to people, healing people, removing unclean spirits, etc; however, we have also heard how the Lord has come against those who come against Pastor. We have seen these people punished by God. These people have paid severely and in a few instances even with their lives. No one, especially Pastor, likes for these things to happen, as they have even happened to two of Pastor’s family members in his brother and nephew, but they have happened. Let us all treat Pastor in the correct way, in addition to all the other things we must do consistent with the Lord’s Word, to ensure that we are on the side of people who receive God’s blessing and not God’s punishment.
We all have issues in our lives, whatever they may be, and all of us, I am not excluding myself or even Pastor from this, like to blame other people for these issues. However, what we should be doing is looking at ourselves. We are probably the cause of a lot of these problems. What are we doing that the Lord does not want to give us a particular blessing? We can pray and pray but if we are doing something wrong still the Lord may choose to not give the blessing.
An example of this in the Bible is with Moses. Moses had a sister who did not agree with what Moses was preaching and spoke out against him. The Lord punished her by giving her leprosy for speaking against His chosen man. Moses prayed and prayed to the Lord to cure her, but because of the words she spoke, the Lord refused to.
With regret we must say that something similar happened in Pastor’s life. Two of Pastor’s brothers continued to speak against Pastor and even tried to destroy the Church. They paid a very severe price for these actions.
There are also a few other examples in the Bible, which again, I will not preach about but I will just read. Firstly, Hebrews 13:17. Also, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. Also, Romans 12:13. Also, 1 Timothy 5 :17-18. And Lastly, Acts 20:28.
Thank you all and Amen.