Church Elders Kevin

If we are shepherding in the way that Christ asks us to shepherd, and we are conducting ourselves in character and growing in virtue, we won't have to be concerned whether people trust us or not. If they're not trusting us, then I think we're probably living in a way that's not worthy to be trusted. So if you have to ask the question or demand or, you know, insist that people trust you, um, I think it's a—I think we really need to look at ourselves.

And it's why I think that elders, the scripture talks about that we need to be constantly looking at ourselves, that we're the example that Christ calls us to be. And it's critical.

Well, I'd just like to say, uh, good morning to everyone, and, uh, welcome to the visitors. I see faces back there I do not recognize. Uh, met a few of them, heard their names, but, uh, welcome to our service this morning.

Uh, we are having an ordination this morning, so feel free to, uh, learn what you can from that. Linford asked me what my, uh, message was going to be, and, uh, it's probably going to come as a big surprise for you guys, church elders.

So the title is just simply Church Elders, and when I—in studying Church Elders, I actually realized there's a lot more information, uh, to cover than I—than I realized. So I kind of had to consolidate it down, and I consolidated that—so consolidated it down to three points that I want to talk about this morning that I think are important. And this is going to be a message for Daniel and for everyone. So I think there's a lot—a lot we can learn because I—I do think it's something that we all need to—need to, um, to—to aspire to and to, um, you know, develop in our life.

So the purpose of elders is where I would like to start, and I want to talk about three things that I—I believe to be very fundamental to being an elder.

The first one is elders are shepherds. I want to talk about what a shepherd looks like, how to guard and maturity to mature the flock. And that's the three—the three things I'm going to talk about this morning.

So when we think about shepherds and we think about elders being shepherds, there's this imagery that we get in the scriptures that we think about elders' leadership. The imagery always goes back to being what a—what a shepherd is, what it looks like, how to communicate, how to—how to conduct ourselves. It's always in the imagery of shepherds, and I think that's really critical for us to understand and to start to imitate that. The first point I want to start with is, so character comes before competence, and I think this is really, really critical. There's this temptation when we—like in the world or in society, character is not the—not the thing that the primary goal. You're going to go with gifts, talents, you know, you know, whatever roles, position.

That's what's going to get you there. In the kingdom of God, leadership, eldership, and I think this is why the imagery of shepherd is a part of it, is—is why the scriptures focus around this, is because character comes before competence, and character is born out of virtue.

So let's look at this thing of virtue as a true measure of a shepherd. Elders exist to shepherd, to teach, to guide, and to be an example, and they guard and mature the flock of Christ. So there's a lot here. And by the way, Daniel, the more I studied it, I thought, man, poor guy's going to get overwhelmed. So it's okay. You'll be all right. None of us are—are there. But the language of how to be elders in scriptures is always considering shepherding.

When we think of character over gifts, the heart of shepherding, elders are chosen for character, not talent, gifts, or personality. The call to eldership centers on being, not just doing. It's both. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:9 list the qualifications like integrity, self-control, gentleness, hospitality, and faithfulness, apt to teach, but that's the only spiritual gift is apt to teach. All the other ones are character-based.

It's very fascinating.

So virtue is the true measure of a shepherd. A shepherd's first responsibility is to embody Christ's character. 1 Corinthians 13, faith, hope, love, humility, patience, courage, and wisdom. That's the five important virtues that elders need to develop and focus on.

I got this quote, and I can't remember where I got it from. It says, "Let the elders be temperate, not lovers of money, showing themselves patterns of good works." Philippians 3 or 2, 1, 3 to 5. It says, "Do nothing from self-ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves." We here at this brotherhood have spent a lot of time in communication what that looks like and tried to develop that among us. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.

If this concept isn't a quality character of an elder, the chance of the church being that is like slim to none. Like we have to be examples of that. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. This is one of the most important assets that we are to build among ourselves.

Our gifts need to serve virtue, not the other way around. It says the Spirit gives diverse gifts in Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians, but character directs their use. Without virtue, gifts distort. When we look at the life of the apostles, you see varied gifts among them, but one character. Peter led boldly. It was one of the reasons why he was chosen to be the lead apostle.

John loved deeply. Paul reasoned powerfully. You see these different, different gifts. Yet they all shared in humility, repentance, and perseverance. Character drives their gifts.

Their unity in virtue outweighed differences in gifting or personality. Peter is an example of this when Paul confronted him. How did Peter respond to Paul?

I think the word is perfect.

He listened to him, acknowledged it, and did what he needed to do. That's an example that Peter gave, and I think it's actually one of the biggest reasons everyone says it's because he was bold. His character might have been a step above Paul's and the other ones as to why he was lead, uh, lead apostle. Can't necessarily prove that.

True maturity produces gentleness and humility.

Mature elders are unoffendable, slow to speak, quick to listen, and honest about their own weaknesses. They don't try to expose others' flaws, but model confession and grace. We see this in Philippians and James, what calls us to these concepts.

Character builds a foundation for shepherding.

An elder's spiritual character is the foundation of his ministry. And then there's teaching, guarding, and maturing flow from that character and integrity. A gifted man without virtue misleads. A virtuous man with modest gifts shepherds well. 1 Peter 5:2-4 says this, "Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion." I don't think we got Daniel up here with a stick every minute, at least I'm pretty sure. This is voluntary. But willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful great gain, but eagerly, not dominating 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 if we elders are an example of that. The early church, you'll listen to a lot of their writings, and they talk about elders were watchmen of souls, and I kind of like that word, tasked to guide, and they always say this, "Correct gently."

I think Christians need to be—it's one of their—one of our strengths that we are gentle. The world is not gentle. It's a brutal world out there, guided by violence. If you don't listen, they resort to violence. The kingdom of God is completely the opposite.

Gifts serve virtue, not the other way around. I think that's important that we understand that. And I said this before, but character directs their use. Without virtue, gifts distort. All right. I want to talk next about the—as we think about character, the next—the next understanding is maturity and reputation. So we talked about shepherding and how to shepherd and the character that goes along with that. And then as we move into, like, like character's number one, following that is maturity and reputation.

Maturity comes through virtue. Reputation comes through character. You know, something that I hear among, um, church leaders is there's sometimes a frustration that people don't trust them. And, you know, I think it's a—probably a—I don't know, a human—a human problem. But when they're—they're in leadership and, you know, they're—they complain—they complain that—that their people don't trust them.

I would like to put out this idea that if people don't trust us, it's because our reputation has already went before us. Like—like you can't really—if you demand—if you have children, for example, and you demand that your—especially older children—that they trust you. When they're—when they're young, they think you're amazing. When they get older, then they have to grow into maturity, and they have to decide if they're going to trust you or if you're worthy of that trust. And I really think this is where character leads the way.

If we are shepherding in the way that Christ asks us to shepherd, and we are conducting ourselves in character and growing in virtue, we won't have to be concerned whether people trust us or not. If they're not trusting us, then I think we're probably living in a way that's not worthy to be trusted. So if you have to ask the question or demand or, you know, insist that people trust you, um, I think it's—I think we really need to look at ourselves.

And it's why I think that elders, the scripture talks about that we need to be constantly looking at ourselves, that we're the example that Christ calls us to be. And it's—it's critical. It does talk about that to be an elder, it says elders should not be new converts. They're to be seasoned believers.

And that's really critical that we don't—and I've seen this happen in one particular case in my—in my life that someone came into a church and they were very, very gifted, very passionate, um, could speak well, and they put him into leadership very, very quickly of influence. And I don't know, it seemed to go to his head. He's not at a good place today.

Timothy tells us this: that he must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Like that's a terrible thing that we're—we're responsible to guard. Elders are responsible to guard that those kinds of things don't happen.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders. That's a bit terrifying. Everyone has to like us. I don't think that's quite the right—right—right wording. But, um, there definitely needs to not be honest accusation against us from the outside. Um, I think—I think—I think that's the right way to understand it.

Elders are chosen for proven integrity and humility. Something that the scriptures teach us, and definitely reading in the early Christians, there's this very, uh, secondary thing that elders—um, how do I say this?

How you lead your home is a proving ground as to the quality of elder you'll be. Um, and I think—I think, you know, it goes along with your integrity, your character, um, how your children grow up, whether they—they trust you or they don't trust you. Um, it's all a part of that proving ground.

And I think it's important that we, you know, we look at that honestly. At the same time, I think we need to be generous with that. Um, I've seen people get really, really critical and unnecessarily judgmental in that whole thing. I think that's a—we need to warn against that. That's where I think elders need to, you know, give a good example of that, how to look at others' imperfections and all the things that surround that.

Um, Timothy said he must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his household, how will he care for God's church? That's a big—that's a big statement.

That's a—that's a big charge. The second thing that I think is really important is elders must—elders must be men tested by life and faithfulness. The combination is what creates, um, character and develops maturity.

In Titus, it tells—it calls us that he must hold firm to be trustworthy. I'm sorry. He must hold firm to be trustworthy, word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

This sounds like a lot of work to me. It says, "Appoint such men only after long trial and knowledge of their conversation." I got that from a quote.

Or to shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, as I said before, but willingly, as God would have you.

The second thing I want to talk about is guarding. And you may say, "Why is that shepherding, guarding, and maturity? Why is guarding a part of that?" So I think guarding has a twofold concept. So not only are elders to guard against, like, um, you know, false ideas or wrong ideas and all those things, but I think we need to guard against ourselves. So I think we set—elders are to set the stage of what guarding looks like. We're to discipline ourselves and guard against. And in the same way, there is the—the thing that we're to guard against heresies and those kinds of things, um, things that lead people astray. So there's a lot surrounding this that is why I chose, um, I think it's important.

Guard against spiritual drift. Guard yourself and guard the flock. Stay rooted in the gospel. Why does this matter? I believe that before a shepherd can guard others, he must remain anchored in truth.

The danger of drift is always slow. Always remember that. Drift is slow. It seldom happens quickly. And it's just losing focus on Christ and godly activity. Like that's all it takes. Timothy says, "Keep close watch on yourself and on the teaching." That's the two things we're to do. Watch yourself and on the teaching.

Persist in this. For by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Guard against these things. Guard against neglect of prayer, shallow faith, or replacing grace, gentleness with performance. Like it's all these things that we have to be aware of. Acts says, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock." It always goes hand in hand. I find that interesting.

In which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. So Christ died for the church. We need to be vigilant in how we conduct ourselves. Guard against pride and self-reliance.

Why does this matter? Leadership easily breeds pride. Humility is the shepherd's shield. Humility is our shield. And I think that's critical to understand. Pride blinds the elder to correction and weakness. No, I'm sorry. Pride blinds the elder to correction and weakness, his care for the flock.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble in James. And he says, "So I exhort the elders among you, shepherd the flock of God, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock." Like that's the—that's the shepherding tonality that comes through. Guard against arrogance, comparison, self-promotion, and harshness. We should always be gentle with that.

Guard against false doctrine and deception. Why does this matter? You know, in the scriptures, we read this idea that wolves enter the flock. And do we still think that way today? That there's—that the wolves are real? I don't know if it's worse today than it was in the—in early Christianity, but they spent a lot of time defending the truth.

I think wolves are real. They enter the flock through false teaching and half-truths. Elders must be discerning and courageous defenders of sound doctrine.

In Acts, it tells us to pay careful attention to ourselves and to all the flock. Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. They devour. They don't—I mean, I think it's fair that we understand that Satan does not want us to win. He wants us to lose.

In Titus, we must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught. Guard against false teachers, worldly ideologies, and compromise on biblical truth. Guard against moral failure and compromise.

I have a sneaky suspicion that compromise comes before moral failure. I think. I think anytime any of us have failed, I feel like the—the thing that goes ahead of us is compromise, and then we fall. Like I don't—it doesn't seem like it's the other way around.

At least that would—I feel like that would be my experience.

Why does this matter? Sin in the shepherd destroys confidence in the message and wounds the flock. Holiness must begin in the shepherd's private life. Now, what's interesting about this is no one sees this. People don't see whether you're praying in the closet or not. People don't see whether you're giving alms or not. People don't see those kinds of things that actually build character. It's the unseen what you do. However, we don't see the details of that, but we do see the response. We do see the character. And it can be hidden. Um, I used to think—I used to have this naive idea that I could smell out someone who lies.

I could smell a liar. I thought it was pretty perceptive. I've learned over the years. Um, I probably figured it out fairly young, but I went to Fresh Start. And out there, I met my match. Man, people can lie with a straight face. They do. They're really good. It's amazing.

People can hide, lie, cheat right in front of you. They'll say amazing things to your face and be just. Proverbs 4 says this: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

In Timothy, let the overseer be above reproach, self-controlled, and respectable. So guard against hidden sin, unconfessed temptation, fatigue that leads to moral failure. Guard the flock from division and discord. We see this in our day at many levels. Um, division and discord. Like, I don't know. It just seems like it's—it's sucking the life out of us. Like from a community standpoint, like from—or how do I say this? Just from the world standpoint, nations rise against nations, people against people, churches against churches, religion against religion. It's just like it just—there's division everywhere.

We can't change anyone else. So we can—don't complain about governments. Don't complain about other people groups. Don't complain about other churches. Let's start with ourselves and in our own community. If we want to change the world, we have to be an example, starting with ourselves, and then that—because that goes into our families, and that builds into our church and into our broader communities. If we want to attract people into the kingdom, we have to have a place that there's not division and discord among us.

Why does this matter? I think division and discord—disunity weakens the witness of the church. I think shepherds, elders must maintain unity and peace by teaching humility and forgiveness. It all starts with your own hearts. Like, there's going to be a thousand things happen to you that shouldn't happen. From good people, nevertheless bad. And if you don't know how to deal with the good people, you're not going to do well with the bad.

It needs to be who we are. We need to build our character. And that's why every time the scriptures talk about elders, shepherds, anything, and they talk about the flock, it always says, "Guard yourself. Look out for yourself. Pay attention. Pay attention." Because the scriptures know that's where it all rises and falls is your character.

Ephesians says, "Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace." It's kind of our mission. That should be our mission in life. Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught and avoid them, Romans says.

One of the things we've worked at hard in our church here, we're to guard against gossip, favoritism, and unforgiveness. If we work on those three things, we will be a witness for God's kingdom. We're to lead one another to maturity. It's the one of the—it's one of the main purposes of the church is to lead people from immaturity to maturity.

Why this matters? Without continued growth, and I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about growth spiritually. Like we should always be growing spiritually. Without growth in our lives, the church gets stagnant. Shepherds must guard against complacency by teaching, exhorting, and modeling spiritual zeal.

Like not just passion, but zeal to become mature. Like there's so much passion for things, but it's short-lived. It falls down, kind of gets what?

Caution says, "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ." So that's our goal here as a church, that when we meet God, that you can meet him in maturity.

That's an amazing thing.

Romans says, "Don't be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord." So we have to guard against indifference, comfort-seeking, fear of change, and neglect of discipleship. Moving on to maturity and reputation. Elders must first mature themselves in Christ. Elders are called to be examples of maturity before they can lead others toward it.

Their growth in humility, self-control, love, and integrity forms a foundation of their ministry. I've said this before. Timothy says, "Practice these things. Immerse yourselves in them so that all may see your progress." What's one of the most motivating things to see in another person? Progress. An example of that that we have among us, and I didn't ask Jason this, but I'm going to use him as an example. When he came, I don't know, four and a half, maybe five years ago, time gets away.

He had a lot to learn. I don't know if I've ever seen someone double down and decide to be the best Christian he could and reputation in four years. And I tell people, I've told people that come among us different times. If someone chooses to do right, and they can have a pretty complicated, bumpy history behind them, I mean, pretty, pretty bad. If someone chooses in two years, they can be a completely different person. They can go from disrespect to respected. I'm not saying put that person in eldership in two years, but I am saying he will start to develop the trust of those around him. Because you see the progress. There's nothing more motivating than to see progress in one another.

And that's a culture that we've tried to develop among ourselves that we have to grow in maturity. We can't become complacent. "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this. For by doing so, you will save both yourself and your hearers." That's an amazing verse in Timothy.

Now, here's one I love. In Peter, it says, "Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge." Self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. It takes focus to do that. Discipline, discipleship. Elders mature through virtue and discipline.

Spiritual maturity comes through cultivating virtue, the fruits of the Spirit, and daily disciplines of prayer, scripture, repentance, and service. Virtue is not an optional trial. It is the visible mark of maturity.

Galatians says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there's no law." And what that means is there's no end. You can grow and grow and grow. Like, where does maturity stop? At what level can you say someone's mature? I think we know what immaturity looks like. But maturity? Like, there's levels of maturity. You can just keep going. And that's what he's saying here.

Corinthians, it says, "But I discipline my body and keep to keep it under control. Lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." You can be mature and godly and win at so many things and still lose in the end, end up being a failure.

We don't want that. One of a specific, I think, call of elders is to lead the flock towards spiritual maturity.

The mature elders' aim is to see believers conform to the image of Christ, to grow from immaturity to steadfast faith, love, and discernment. Shepherds guide by teaching, modeling, and patiently nurturing. And he's equipped us. God has equipped us, the church. In Ephesians, it says he gave the apostles first, the prophets, the evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

All the gifts among us is what brings us all towards maturity.

None of us, including the elders, have that full capacity. That all happens in a church level. That's my personal belief. Maturity multiplies. Mature elders produce mature leaders. And I want you to really be inspired by this. I think this is so critical. I think it's something we've actually lost in our current kind of, I don't know, trend in churches.

True maturity reproduces. A spiritual mature elder forms disciples who become shepherds themselves, ensuring the ongoing health and multiplication of the church. So we need to focus on maturity, which leads to develops leaders, which develops church multiplication. In Timothy, it says, "What have you heard from me in the presence of my witnesses? Entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

So right there it is.

In Hebrews, it says, "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way and imitate their faith." We have a host of witnesses before us. Let's imitate them. The mature elder lives as a shepherd after God's heart, guarding his soul, guiding his flock, and growing both toward Christ-like virtue. His leadership is not built on giftedness, but on holy maturity that multiplies maturity in others.

Maturity enables humble teamwork and plurality of elders. Some of you may be used to plural leadership. Some of you may not. There's all kinds of different, you know, ideas out there. One thing we have really embraced here was the plurality of leaders. Well, I can't say that this morning. My mouth is dry for some reason.

And it's been a blessing to me. I would not want to be without it. I actually think the early church represents that at a high level. Like everywhere you read the scriptures, it talks about its elders. It's always in the plurality. Unless it's referring to someone like specifically.

A mature elder leads with open hands, valuing the wisdom and perspective of others. In Philippians, it says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." Like we have to imitate that. Humility is not weakness. It is the strength to lead with others, not over them.

I think plurality reflects God's wisdom and unity.

Shared leadership mirrors the diversity and the unity of the body of Christ. In Corinthians, it says, "Now there are various gifts, but the same Spirit. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." We need to embrace that.

No single elder possesses all wisdom, and plurality displays the completeness of Christ through many voices.

Plurality guards against pride, burnout, and control. When elders serve together, accountability replaces isolation, and humility replaces pride. In Proverbs, it says, "Where there is no guidance, a people fall, but in abundance of counselors, there is safety." And there's an amazing amount of truth to that.

I believe that shared shepherding protects the flock and the shepherds from drift, domination, and discouragement. I think it's actually a protection among us. And we need to understand it as that. Mature plurality multiplies healthy leadership. Spiritual mature elders model collaboration, reproducing more humble leaders for the future. I don't think we grab our heads around that. It's hard to get lost in that. In Timothy, it says, "What you have heard from me, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Any thoughts? Anyone would like to share? Any correction?

Any bad ideas? New ideas? Thank you. I think that's really important. I think it's a great inspiration is that, you know, people that can listen and hear, it's a protection against them as well. And I think that's what I think that's the root of humility. I mean, I think that's what humility is. It's the ability to, you know, hear and understand. And if we need to change, change.

Anybody else?

Yeah, I think that's a good point. So when you were talking, it kind of helped me process a little bit. So maturity is this thing that you the heart of maturity is you recognize your own weaknesses and inabilities. There isn't this place for pride and to look down on anyone. As I was studying it, the thing that came to my mind is how many of the things that, like, I have to grow it. Like, it's not like that's what maturity does. And then maturity is also you recognize you're not there. And so that it eliminates this too process. At the same time, I do think we want mature. So I'll give an example.

A six-year-old can be mature for his age. An 18-year-old can be mature for their age. Now, when you get up into the, you know, 40s and 50s and 60s, you better start kind of getting a little closer. But my point is, there's different, like, you can be mature, and then there's always place to grow beyond that. So I think that's at the root of that is where, you know, that we have to understand. Yeah, Daniel. Absolutely.

No, I actually agree with that. When we develop a culture of humility and growth and maturity, that is what happens. Everyone grows, and everyone can grow from where they're at. When they come in new, they've been here a long time. There's always these constant opportunities to grow and to develop. And that's what we want. That's a healthy congregation. And we don't want to lose that. You know, we really want to, and I would argue that all of us have to guard against that. Like, not let that happen in any way in our own hearts. Like, it can't start in our own hearts.

So anyways, any more thoughts? Sounds exciting. We got a lot of work to do. At least I do. So feel free. I'm just going to go, I was going to open it up afterward. I feel like it kind of, whatever. So I'm going to open it up. If anyone has anything to say specifically to Daniel, feel free to share that now instead of afterward. And it's because it's kind of evolved into that. So we'll switch gears.

Yeah, I always tell people, Daniel misled us. When he came here, he said he was going to go back to China really soon. And so we took him in as a member the fastest we've ever taken anybody in. And he's still here.

That's kind of a funny thing. It's a joke. But I remember Daniel talking about this brother of his, and he was talking and talking and having all these long conversations. And one time, Daniel told me, "Man, I don't know. I'm like getting to move here." And I was like, "Daniel, if you get your brother to move here, that's pretty amazing."

Sure enough, this guy shared up.

So that's amazing. Then his parents shared up, and that's even more amazing. So. I actually agree with that, Daniel. I think I always say Daniel can say things that I can't.

I don't know what that is. I can't put it into words, but it's actually a blessing. So I appreciate that. Anybody else? Okay, so what I'm what we're going to do, I had him sitting here and I realized it's going to be awkward for me to stand about six inches in front of him. So I had them switch over to there. So I'm going to go down here, stand in front of him, and there's a couple of vows that I'm going to go across. Daniel's going to answer, and then I'll give the charge to Daniel. And after that, when I'm done, I ask, I think it's Radford and Judd, if we can move this to the side, and then Daniel's going to come up here, kneel down facing the crowd.

And then I'm going to ask the brothers from our church to come forward, and we'll pray over him. And then that'll be, I'll close the service after that. So you can just, if you want to stand, sure. We can just go ahead and stand. Yeah, that's fine.

All right, so, all right, the vows. Are you willing to accept this calling and by God's grace and the aid of the Holy Spirit, give yourself up to the work which this office requires of you as a faithful servant of the Church of Christ? I am.

Do you promise to obey Christ, who is the Word of God, to accept him as the rolling God of your life, to maintain and teach his Word, and to faithfully abide in him unto the end? I will. Are you willing to lead this congregation of which you are a part, to abide by the counsels of the Lord and the Church, and seeking not the honor of men, humbly submit yourself to the authority of Christ? I am.

Are you willing to shepherd the flock in love, not lording it over the flock, and to listen to the counsel of the brotherhood? I am. All right, the charge. Upon this confession and these promises you made before God and these witnesses, we ordain you to assist in the responsibilities of this ministry to which you were called. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Preach your word, be in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and doctrine. Watch in every situation, endure hardship, do the work of evangelists, carry out fully the duties of your calling.

Keep watch over yourself, feed the flock, the Church of God which is among you. Take the responsibility willingly and with a ready mind. Do not be as a lord over God's heritage, but be an example to the flock. When the good shepherd appears, you shall receive a crown of glory that does not fade away.

Give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. Meditate on these things and give yourself wholly to them. Make sure that you continue in these things because in doing this, you shall not only save yourself, but also those that hear you.

Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life. When your course of life is finished, the Lord, the righteous judge, will give you a crown of righteousness at that day. So I'm going to ask Brother David to lead out, and then some of you brothers, feel free. Obviously, we can't all pray. So maybe some of the older ones, Dale, Jason, Deacons, whoever wants to, and then I will close in the end. So let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for the ministry of Daniel in our church up to this point, and we just do believe that you'll be using him in the future in so many ways to shepherd your flock. And I pray your guidance, that your anointing be upon him and your guidance be upon him in his teaching, in his everyday conduct, in his interaction with the members of the church and visitors and just the public in general.

And help him in all things to set a good example. And we appreciate the humility we've seen in him. We just pray, Father, that you strengthen all of these virtues that we've seen in Daniel. And again, be with him that your Spirit would guide him in all he does as an elder. In Jesus' name.

Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the church, the great gift that you've given to your children as our protection and blessing through this life. We thank you for church leadership that you so wisely instituted, and we thank you for Daniel and pray for him. And we just pray that all of us could exercise the gift of love both toward him and toward each other, that it would make his calling an easier one and a blessing to all of us. Just be with him in Jesus' name.

We love you so much, and we're just so grateful. I've just been so grateful for my brother. Keep her grabbing a hold of him and his youth, and I pray that you keep building him in his humility. Thank you, Father, for the gifts that you've given your church so that we can grow and not be tossed about, but can grow up to be a complete image of Christ as a body. And I thank you especially for giving us Daniel.

We pray for an extra portion of your Spirit on him, that you would give him inspiration as he takes on the responsibility of an elder. Also, fill his mind with warnings and guard him from the snares that come with it, whether it's from the work and the challenges or just whatever it is. I pray that you would bless his family as well as they, in a way, take on this new dimension of life as a family, having a father as an elder, and bless them. Bless Casey as she supports him. And I pray that we, as a church, can also grow together and make this a blessing to Daniel as well. And that it can be a new helper in growing your kingdom here.

I pray for Daniel. Really help him to grow, see his grow into the strength and help him to be a part of the congregation, the ability to.

Father, we just thank you for Brother Daniel, and we thank you for the example that he's been thus far. We just pray that you would pour your Spirit upon him and that he would be able to just continue to be that example in humility.

Just pray that you would bless him with courage and consistency and gentleness that he's already demonstrated. Lord, we pray for Casey that she would just be able to support him. We just pray for a young family. Lord, I would pray that, Lord, sometimes when elders become elders, that there's unnecessary expectation that gets put on their family or the children feel weird. Just pray that you would help them to walk through that and guide through that. And that we, as a congregation, would be generous and supportive in all that they do.

Just pray that you would bless Daniel and that you would raise him up to continue to be an example for us. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Blessings, brother.

Blessings.