Thank you, Steve. It's a great joy for me to be here with you tonight, and I consider it an honor to have been asked to preach at the installation of Ryan Stern and delight with you in what the Lord has been doing with you. I reflect on my knowledge and relationship with Arbor Church. My first knowledge was around about 1980, I believe. I urged two young ladies from the Christian school that our church helped start, to attend Kemp Road Baptist Church, and they did for a while. That was Grace and Julia Hill. I don't know if you remember them. Tom would be the only one who, Tom does remember them. And they did come for at least a while. Then the Mid-America Family Conference, where I met many of the Kempers. from the church at that time, and I remember at one point Kemp Road was delicate financially, and so the Edgewood Baptist Church suggested to our church and several others that we come alongside and support them for a year, which our church helped with that, and the Lord blessed and things stabilized. And I hope that you all appreciate, as I do, Tom, who has been with this church through thick and thin and stayed with it all these years. Appreciate him very, very much. I remember meeting Ryan when he was in college at Cedarville. And we came here at different times. And then as coordinator, as Steve mentioned, as a mission organization, watching him develop and get the burden for missionary service. then became friends with a man who helped him a lot, Leon Blosser, from Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, who was a missionary in an Arab-speaking country as well. Of course, I recall Kemp Road calling Steve Woodman, our son-in-law, to be pastor here, and delight to see what he's done. I think I've known all the pastors that have been here since Don Lindblad, actually, and all the ones that succeeded him up to this point. I'm honored to be a part of this installation service and pray that the God will bless and help us as we look together at the responsibilities. And I really have two sermons to preach, but I've reduced them to one. And the scriptures that I'm using have already been read, but the first passage is from 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 through 4, which has been read to you. There's so many passages that could be used to give a charge to a pastor or to pastors. And even though Ryan has been ordained and he's heard messages, I'm sure, when he was ordained about his responsibilities, I've landed on this particular passage. You'll notice that the Apostle Peter begins his words to a pastor by saying, the elders who are among you, I exhort. I want to land on that word for just a moment. He says, I exhort. Now, what does the word exhort mean to you? It may carry a wrong implication in your minds. You've heard that some churches have exhorters and they're the people who they're the men who get up and they just tell the congregation very well what they must do. But this is not an imperative verb. It's a present tense verb. And it is a verb that is made up of really two Greek terms. It means to call alongside. Well, it means to alongside and then to call. So what Peter is saying is, he's saying, I'm coming right alongside of you, Ryan, and all elders, and I have some things I want to tell you. It's this exhortation that I want to consider with you this evening. And I'm going to talk about it under three terms, three words basically. We're going to talk about the nature of this exhortation. And then secondly, about the content of this exhortation. And then thirdly, about the motivation for this exhortation. Now, the nature. It's a very gentle exhortation because As I said, it's not a command. It's like Peter is sidling up to us as elders and say, now I have something to tell you. And I want you to know that I'm a fellow elder as I tell you this. It's an appeal. It's a very important appeal. And what a blessing it is to have the apostle Peter come alongside of us, as it were, even though he's in heaven now, of course, and make an appeal to us. He doesn't say, now you guys better do what I've did. Well, we'd like to do what he did. Well, most of what he did. But we really want to hear what he has to say to us. So he gently comes to our side. You know, when you were in high school, Ryan, you went to a basketball camp. And at that basketball camp, they didn't teach you very much basketball, I hear. Well, not only hear, I read about it in your testimony. But since there wasn't much time to play basketball, you started reading the Bible. And as you read the Bible, you became, the scriptures came alive to you more and more and more. And then you went back home and you went to a Christian recreation center called The Barn, and a fellow by the name of Larry Powell came up to you and wanted to know if, encouraged you in the Christian faith and actually met with you over a period of time, I guess, and you read devotional books together. Well, like Larry Powell came close to you, Ryan, and helped you. So Peter is coming close to you and saying, I want to help you. This is a gentle exhortation that I'm giving you. But it's a very serious exhortation. It's very, very serious because you notice what we read here. He says, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. This book, talks in the previous chapter and even the previous chapter before that about suffering. And here Peter highlights the sufferings of Jesus Christ. He says, I was a witness of those sufferings. I saw him die for my sins. I saw how much he loved me. I saw that wonderful look of love after I had denied him three times. And yet he came to me after the resurrection. And when he came to me, he restored He says, I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ. And I wonder why Peter mentioned that especially. I don't think it was just for himself, but it's for all elders. He's saying, I saw those sufferings, and we know that Peter, as an apostle, also suffered much at the hands of those who opposed the Christian faith. And so Peter is saying, to his fellow elders, you're gonna be serving Christ, there's going to be suffering. That's just the way it is. He's, I'm a witness of those sufferings, I know what it is to sufferings, and fellow elders, you too will suffer. This is a very serious appeal, an exhortation that I am giving to you. Ah, but it's not only a serious exhortation, it is a very encouraging exhortation because he goes on to say, also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Peter, who failed our Lord when he denied Him, Peter, who had other failures, he says, glory waiting to be. And I'm going to talk about that a little later, so I'll not land on that too much. But he says there's glory for the elders. And so it's an encouraging appeal, an exhortation. So Ryan, I say to you, here's the nature of this exhortation. It is an exhortation that is gentle. It is serious. and it's encouraging for what the Lord has for us. Well, let's look secondly at the content of the exhortation, the content. Now, Peter tells us that shepherds, he says to shepherd the flock. There are three ways that I see from this context as to how elders are to shepherd the flock. The first way is, is serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. In other words, Peter is saying, shepherd the flock with joy, with joy. That is, get excited about shepherding God's flock. Now, that, to all the rest of you who are listening in to what I'm speaking to Ryan, may sound like an easy thing, but it's not. Because there are times when the joy may flee from an elder. Now, I shouldn't have told you that, I know, but it's just, I've been a gospel minister over 50 years and I know something of that as well. But with joy, not because you have to, but because you want to. Because you see, you don't do it because someone says, you've got to do this. No, it comes from within inside of you and say, I want to do this. I want to do this. I want to serve the Lord in this way. Lord, you have called me and I want to serve you. And I found out that pastors don't retire. And I remember when I first became coordinator, I told my fellow elder, I said, I miss the energy and the stress of the pastor. Now, I got over that to a certain point, but never completely and totally. So with joy, without compulsion. And furthermore, shepherd with gentleness. Look at verse three. Not as being lords over those who are entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. Gentleness. There's nothing worse than a dominating, domineering spirit of an elder or someone who is harsh. We must be gentle. Now I grew up on a farm. And when I was younger, we raised sheep. And I know that sheep take a lot of care. I know that you have to be very gentle with them. You don't drive sheep. You lead them. You help them. You have to be gentle with them. For a shepherd of people, that means you spend time in prayer, visiting, studying, carrying the burden of the flock in your own heart for the glory of God. And you have to check on them sometimes in the middle of the night when they're lambing, when the ewes are lambing. You just have to help them wherever this help is needed. And you've got to be gentle to all the flock. Sometimes that's difficult. Down at the South Place, we had a ram. That's a young fella that my dad set aside, thinking he would make a good breeder for the ewes. And he was a stocky little fella, nice looking little ram. He really was. And we traveled down to the South Place every day. And it was my job at the South Place, which is about three miles from the home place, to feed him and to water him, which I did faithfully day by day. And one day, I was feeding this little ram. And I leaned over to give him some feet or water, one or the other. And my back was to him. And all of a sudden, I found myself flat on the ground. It was just too much for him to resist. He hit me in the posterior. And I got up. I turned around. I looked at that little ram. And he just stood there staring at me. I thought, you little rascal. Now, what did I do? Well, I fed him. I went down the next day, I fed him again, and again, and again. But I kept my eye on him when I did that. Well, Ryan, and all of us elders know, now none of you at Arbor will be like that, will you? No, you'll never be like that. But occasionally, there's a little ram that just can't resist taking a swipe add a pastor, but you still love them, still feed them, and still help them. And this exhortation is not only, this content of the exhortation is not only to be done with joy and with gentleness, but also with blamelessness. Notice 3C, but being examples to the flock. What is worse than a hypocritical pastor? He says one thing and he does another. And there have been such men, but let us, by the grace of God, never be like that. Our lives must back up what we say from the pulpit. It's a godly life that carries weight with the help of the Spirit of God. Then finally, let's look at the motivation for the exhortation. And we find that in verse four. And when the chief shepherd appears, you'll receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. And the glory, the glory of the Lord, you know, the Messiah. Wow. The glory of the Lord. And then the Lord has a crown of glory. for his pastors, under shepherds. It's an amazing thing. I can't quite wrap my mind around that. I will think, no, Lord, you receive all the glory. I've failed so often. Ah, but there's a crown of glory. And furthermore, it's not just a crown of glory, but it's a crown of glory that does not fade away. There's nothing on this earth that doesn't fade sooner or later. Ah, but this crown never fades away, is what Peter is telling us. And it's from, at least as implied, and I assume it's directly from the chief shepherd, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, I've spoken to you, Ryan, about the nature of this gentle exhortation that the apostle Peter gives. the shepherding with joy and gentleness and blameless and a motivation for the glory of God. Now I speak to the congregation. I have two sermons tonight, so now I go to the second one, to the congregation. I'm using one basic text, which I'll reveal here in a moment, but two texts actually. I want to address the dear saints at Arbor Church in Dayton, Ohio. You know, there are some churches that have a defective view of pastors. And what I want to do is give you a test tonight to see whether or not you have a defective view or a correct view of pastors. Don't squirm too much. It's a multiple choice. And there's only one question on this test. And here's the question. On what does the success or effectiveness of the ministry of Pastor Ryan rest? A, on Ryan alone as he fulfills the exhortation of Peter. Maybe some of you have been sitting there, go for it, Ryan. What he said is great, now make sure you do it. Or, or B, on the congregation of Arbor Church as the saints respond to the shepherding of Ryan. We'll make or break you, Ryan. It's all up to us. That's B. Or C, on the cooperative effort of Pastor Ryan and all the elders here and the saints at Arbor as they each fulfill their mutual responsibilities. Well, you could probably tell what I think the right answer is. And I hope you answered C. But there are those who will sit back and wait and see whether or not the pastor is going to make a go of it. It's just human nature, isn't it? Please don't be like that. Well, if you answer C, of course, you have a question in your mind. The question is this, so what are we supposed to do? Well, there's a lot, but we can't deal with it all. But we'll talk at least about some of it this evening. I really have two main points. The first point will be quite short, and the second point will be a little longer, but not exceedingly long. And that is, here's what you are to do as a congregation at Arbor Church if Pastor Ryan is to succeed as well as all the elders. First of all, you must have a heart for the Lord. And secondly, you must have a heart for your pastor and pastors. I begin with a heart for the Lord because the Bible says in Proverbs 4.23, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. Everything that we do, everything that we think, everything that a church is comes from the heart. And this is what our Lord taught, isn't it? Our Lord taught that all the possible sin that exists in the human race comes from the heart. If everybody had a new heart, there would be no sin. But not everybody has a new heart. Jesus said, do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart. They defile a man. And then he lists all these sins, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. He says, these are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hand does not defile a man's. The heart is so important. Oh, dear, dear saints at Harbor Church, make sure you have a new heart. Make sure you have a new heart. You know, there's a huge difference between the old covenant Israel and the new covenant Israel of God. What's that difference? The difference is a heart. You remember when the children of Israel heard about what God wanted them to do? They said, we'll do it. We'll just do it. We want to do this. We're going to obey God. And you remember what the response of the Lord was? Deuteronomy 5, 29. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever. They didn't have the heart, but you. Have the heart. And if you don't, oh, seek the Lord until you get that heart. Because if a church is to prosper, all of its members need to have a heart. You must be born again. You must be born again and have a heart. Oh, may God grant it. So I say that your first responsibility is to have a heart for the Lord and cultivate, cultivate the heart religion. Cultivate your heart, cultivate your love and devotion to Jesus Christ, not only by attendance, ah, that's very important, but by your own personal prayer and Bible study. Have a heart for the Lord. But secondly, you need to have a heart for your pastor. 1 Thessalonians 5, which has been read in your hearing tonight, is the second text that I'm going to use. And in that text, the Apostle Paul, we heard from Peter, now we're gonna hear from Paul. And Paul talks to the congregation. He says, and we urge you, brethren. Now, let me pause in the word urge for just a moment. Peter said, I exhort you as a fellow elder. I come alongside and I want to talk to you as a fellow elder in this gentle request and urging that I give to you. Paul uses the word urge. It's a word that means to ask, to request, even to beg and to entreat. So Paul says, and we ask you, we request you, we beg you, we entreat you, we urge you. And we, he says, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, because they are at the beginning of this book of Thessalonians. He says, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work, be at peace among yourselves. And there's only one imperative, only one command in those two verses. And it's the last one, be at peace among yourselves. That's a command, beloved. The first is a request, an entreaty. But the command is, you be at peace among yourselves. In other words, don't go fighting with each other like some of your children probably did when they were growing up in the home. You know what that's like, those of us who are parents. Sometimes that happens. So the first matter of what it means to have a heart for your pastor is to recognize him. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize. Now, King James says, no. We urge you to know your pastor. The New American Standard said, appreciate. The ESV says, respect. And it really takes all these words because it's one of those words that just is full, it's just full of meaning. So to know your pastor, appreciate your pastor, respect your pastor, recognize him. What it means fundamentally is this, congregation, dear saints, be concerned about him. Be concerned about him, about the man, not in just a general way, but be concerned about him. You know, sometimes there are some people who think that God sort of dropped pastors out of heaven and that they have this life all to themselves. and they're to be concerned about me as a member of the congregation, but sometimes people don't realize how much they're to be concerned about their pastor as a man and his family. Know him. Be concerned for him. Yes, he is to pray for you, and he will. Yes, he is to carry the burdens that you have, and he will. That's just the nature. that we have as pastors. Oh, but you need to carry his burdens, too. You need to know him. You need to recognize him, as the Apostle Paul says. And then there's a second word here. He says that you are to esteem him very highly for his work's sake. recognize those who labor among you and are over you and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love. Now, Paul wants the saints to have a keen interest in their leaders, as the previous word indicated, and now he tells them to esteem him. That is to have the kind of respect and esteem that the Philippians had for Paul. They were an unusual church. They were concerned about him. They sent someone to minister to him when he was in prison. with Epaphroditus, with a gift that they sent. And then I think of the lack of esteem that the Corinthian church had. Oh my, when we get to heaven, what church were you a member of? Corinthians, oh yes, we've heard about you. To esteem them, to esteem them. And how do we esteem them? Well, I'm glad you asked that question. I'm gonna give you some ways that you can esteem them. These scriptures have been read. First Timothy 5, 17, you need to pay them. Let the elders who rule be counted worthy of double honor. Don't muzzle the ox that's trotting out the grain. And this is from the Apostle Paul to the church. He's speaking about finances there. according to your ability, pay him. Secondly, it means to protect him. 1 Timothy 5, 19 and 20, do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses, those who are sinning, rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. There are wicked men who will delight in trying to destroy your pastors and your new installed pastor. That's just simply a matter of fact. I know a little bit of that. And the only reason I'm here today is because the Lord protected me and others protected me. In my first pastor, which was in a Calvary Baptist Church in Green, Iowa. As I was leaving that church after being there almost for six years, and it was a rural church and almost everyone in the church was a farmer, which was fine with me since I grew up on a farm. And I went to visit a man who's now in heaven, Paul Butler. And I was talking to Paul Butler and I said, this has been a wonderful time. I mean, the Lord blessed that minister in that little church in a very wonderful, amazing way. And I was telling him how grateful I was. And he leaned back as we were talking in the in the farmyard and rolled back on his feet a little bit. He says, well, Pastor, It wasn't as good as you think it was. And then he named a man who came to him and was complaining about me to him and suggesting that maybe they get rid of me. And you know what this deacon Paul Butler said to this guy? He says, we've never had it so good. He says, you keep quiet. I don't want to hear one more word from you ever. He protected me. I didn't know that until I was leaving, but he protected me. And dear friends, protect your pastor. Protect your pastor. Now, if there's sin, it has to be confronted. Bible makes that very plain. He must be rebuked before all, 1 Timothy 5, verse 20. And then obey him. We read, we heard Hebrews 13, 17 read, obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy, not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. You know your pastors when they stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and he says, now how did it go with sister and brother so-and-so? Well, it could have been better. No, don't let that happen. Rather let them say, oh, they were a delight, they were support, they put their shoulder to the wheel and we labored together for the gospel. As they teach you, let that be the case. Submission is a very difficult word in Western culture, especially in the United States where we pride ourselves on the American Revolution. But it's a submission to the word of God as they teach the word of God. That's what it means. Elders have no right to establish rules for you outside of the Bible, of course not. but elders are responsible to teach you the truth of the word of God. So be in submission that way. So dear flock of Arbor, I plead with you to have a happy relationship with your pastor. Have a heart for the Lord, have a heart for your pastor. And Ryan, I trust that God will grant you a service with joy as now the gentle Peter has come alongside of you. and urged you to serve with joy and thanksgiving this flock. May God bless you and the church as you labor together. Father, we thank you for what you're doing at Arbor Church. We pray your blessing upon this congregation and your blessing upon Brian as he is now officially installed as the second vocational elder here in this church. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.