A Charge to Keep | 1 Timothy 4:12-16 | Bro. Patrick Martin's Ordination | FBC Mount Pleasant, TX

brother Patrick come on up brother the reality of ministry in our church is that our ministers have constituencies and they become best known by those constituencies and uh there are those opportunities to move across those lines for them to get outside their silos and I think the vast majority of you have a pretty good idea who Patrick is he preached for me a couple of times as I was out of the pull pit and for some of you who'd never well who had been around him uh you were shocked that he had that many words and good words and he was a blessing to you and so for tonight I wanted him to come and and just share what God put on his heart really and just tell us about what he sees the Lord doing in these days Patrick come on brother I just wanted to share a brief word about just What the Lord Has Done in my life really calling me uh to Ministry being being brief about that and just you know really what took place in my life about 12 13 years ago well I really had no sense of purpose or Direction when I went off to college which is what a lot of college students have that's where a lot of them are at but for me you know I didn't have a sense of purpose in my life and God really did a lot of things and drawing me to himself once I got to school and put a lot of people in my life that Shar Jesus with me and as I came to know the Lord you know if you think I am quiet now you probably have no idea how quiet I used to be okay and there were just thing after thing that God just kept compelling me to do that I never would have thought I would done in a million years once when I was in college serving in Ministry um doing various things being poured into by my college leaders and there was just an overwhelming sense by the time I got to my sophomore junior year in college where I could not see myself doing anything else other than serving out a purpose within the local church and you know going from a place of not having purpose to knowing a clear Direction God just opened up several doors and you know led me um down the path um as far as Ministries I'd been a part of um when I went to Seminary at Baylor uh and then leading all the way up to here and I really want to just testify to What the Lord Has Done and his faithfulness and I wanted to make it all about um just how he's moved and acted did and how I've gotten to be a part of that well I came here in the year of 2020 of course that year is very etched into our minds for a lot of different reasons and well main reason with covid that's when I moved here and that was a very difficult and uncertain time to move to a new place okay uh moved here didn't know anybody it was a hard time to move somewhere where you couldn't really do a lot with other people meet other people moving away from from family it was very exciting um to go off into something new but it was also there's a lot of trepidation there well you know the thing that gave me just an overwhelming sense of peace and a direction and push towards it is just really the impression that I got from the the health that was here at First Baptist through um just our staff that had been here through brother Clint who had been here just seen a lot of Health um through our staff and that's proven to be true you know but this for many other situations could have been you know at the time that I moved for many other places I could have gone could have been very very difficult and could have sifted out many people depending on the situation they went into and I was just so blessed to see the Lord's faithfulness in drawing me here and um putting me under those that are experienced and could speak into my life and we're you you know and just under brother Clint's leadership where I could speak to him um and allow him to you know hold me accountable in my life but also speak words of wisdom into my life that and just to help me grow along the way and you know there's a lot that's happened in four years um hadn't been that long of a time but it feels like a lot has taking place in that amount of time and I can say just by the Lord's faithfulness and seeing what he's done that he has really worked out the giftedness in me in ways that I would have never again never would have thought he would have done and doing the things I'm able to do now that I never would have been able to do um even years ago and so that's that's really all the Lord's doing in that and just a just a just a little piece of that you know when I got here and we can you know talk about numbers and I want the number that we throw out tonight to be a representation of What the Lord Has Done and the the spiritual fruit that comes from that but when I when I just moved here four years ago whenever we were able to gather with our students you know praise the Lord for the number of kids that we had involved at the time but you know to go from as I'm thinking about this and kind of reminiscing you know on a wednesday9 having maybe 20 kids involved in what we were doing um to you know over these years years as God has encouraged me to be continue to be faithful to be persistent to just stay where I'm at and to do the work that he's called me to do to be just a part and to see what has taken place to go from kind of that picture where we praise the Lord for those that were involved and everybody that was there at the time but to have this picture of hey we had maybe 20 kids back just four years ago to just this past Wednesday having o almost a hundred kids in that room on Wednesday night and just yeah you know and we only get to see that and I only get to see that through living out the calling through living out where God has me not you know abandoning you know the the tough difficulties but rather sitting in it being encouraged by those who are surrounding me and then all of us together seeing what the Lord is doing and what he is has at work and so that's that's the testimony that I've Got Tonight is just to share uh just how I've seen God bring me to this point and I'm thankful to y'all um this body this community that's here because I read stories all the time and hear about stories all the time about church congregations that just don't don't seem to take their youth ministers very seriously and that is is not true here and to see that you have uh invested in and pray for and take you know our student Ministry very seriously has spoken wonders to me and has made me being here just a joy and so I'm thankful for this body that has helped affirm the calling in my life as I've walked with you I do want to just thank of course my my parents that are here um my mom Cheryl and my stepfather Wes are back there and they're here tonight and I just want to thank them for you know joining us tonight and being able to be here and witness what's going on thank you if you have been to participated in or yourself been ordained in an ordination service you know they're all different and I I've put this one together the order together together for our purposes back in the old days uh when we had an ordination service there would be two sermons and if we left one out I'm sure one of these preacher types could whip one up in a hurry here tonight to interject but typically there would have been a charge to the candidate and then a charge to the church but for our purposes tonight I thought we could meld those two into one and so unless you're going to be really unhappy we're going to do with one message tonight is that okay okay good I thought I didn't think there would be any any disagreement about that this is a a special time of worship it's an important time of worship because it reminds us as a church of of what we are about and how God chooses to work Among Us and as we set Patrick aside tonight for this ministry that God has given him and Contin continues to give him we're also reminded of our responsibility as a church as we work with him as we encourage him as we pray for him and the rest of our staff and our volunteers who serve so Faithfully there is a a very clear passage to me that that we can spend a few minutes in together tonight in 1 Timothy chapter 4 beginning in verse 12 it was a personal word that Paul spoke to Young Timothy having taken him under his arm having mentored him coached him taught him he then writes this word down that becomes a permanent part of the letter that was circulated among the churches an important word for us tonight and and in many situations but beginning in verse 12 Paul wrote this to Timothy let no one look down on your youthfulness but rather in speech conduct love Faith and Purity show yourself an example of those who believe until I come give attention to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and to teaching do not neglect the spiritual gift within you which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with a laying on of Hands by the presbyter take pains with these things be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching persevere in these things for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you a charge to keep a charge to Patrick tonight but through him and Beyond him to all of us as we gathered together to worship and recognize what God is doing Among Us the first word is this encouragement be faithful to your calling that was a clear word a clear directive he said to Timothy let no one look down on your youthfulness perhaps younger than many in the congregation perhaps intimidated somewhat by established leadership those who might have been around for a longer time feeling incapable of providing the kind of leadership that was necessary let no one look down on your youthfulness don't cower because of your age don't become a spiritual Wallflower and withdraw because there are those around you who are older than you let no one look down on your youthfulness Patrick alluded to this earlier there are times when Ministers of Youth family ministers are looked down on as big kids who uh yeah they're on the staff but all they know how to do is to color and blow up balloons and have water parties and and eat pizza and uh we want them to keep those things up and and to keep the babies and to keep the children to keep the youth satisfied so the the adults can get on to the more important spiritual matters I'm glad that that never has been the perception nor has it been the expectation in this congregation now without a doubt there's no question that youth ministry in Baptist life and in church life generally has gone through some transformational changes and not all of them have been bad uh we went through an era in my era and a little bit beyond of youth ministry where it it was the the job of the youth ministry it was the role of the church to entertain youth we wanted to take them and we wanted to have fun times and we want to have parties and we wanted to have contests and we wanted to have trips to to keep them entertained and happy because the only way we felt like they would continue to come is if we did all of this for them and we didn't place a great deal of emphasis unfortunately for an extended period of time on spiritual development and so we had a lot of kids who came through and they participated in the life of our church they enjoyed the Ministries that we provided gladly provided for them but their spiritual growth was rather stunted and then we began to ring our hands and were a gast at the fact that these kids whom we had fed copious amounts of pizza and taken on thousands of miles of trips when they left home and went to school dropped out of church oh how could this happen surely that Sanctified Pizza should have kept them close to the Lord surely all those miles they logged in a charter bus should have kept them close no no it it didn't and so during that period of time we began to see a different opportunity and a different responsibility and as Paul continued to write to Timothy he challenged him verse 14 do not neglect the spiritual gift within you which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of Hands by the presbyter take pains with these things and be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident Paul reminded Timothy of that time in his life and no doubt Paul had observed it and was aware of it that that God had set him aside God had called him out for a particular purpose now let's be clear every believer is called out a calling is not unique to somebody on a church staff every person who has been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ has been called you have a calling every one of you in this room have a calling a calling to Ministry yes a calling to service absolutely calling is not relegated to the vocational ministers alone but I will tell you there is a clear call to vocational Ministry it isn't something that your mama or daddy or grandma or grand Paul can convince you that you ought to do and it be God's calling it is not something that the old ladies in the church I've seen this oh you talk so well surely God must be calling you to Ministry because that's the only prerequisite you can put together a complete sentence with no dangling modifiers or split infinitives oh you you have such a way with people and all those things are important but the fact is God is the one who calls people out to Ministry God is the one who calls one out for a particular place of service and as pacor talked tonight you heard that in his testimony he knew there was that time that God laid his hand on him and called him out for for Ministry for service God uses a variety of influences to clarify our call and Rick war in in in his book The purpose-driven Life reminded us of those and and these are not in the Bible specifically but they certainly are referred to they are mentioned he uses the acronym shape to talk about the the things that God uses to help us find our purpose in life spiritual gifts and God does invest in us spiritual gifts uh we don't get all of them at one time I believe God continues to bless with spiritual gifts as we go down the road I think some spiritual gifts come and go they they may not last forever but God is the one because they're Grace gifts God gives us our spiritual gifts to use in his service he gives us a heart he gives us a passion uh I've heard some of the stupidest things said by ministerial types like this I don't like people but I feel called to Ministry really really I've heard a few student ministers say teenagers wear me out but I feel God calling me to student Ministry no he's not I believe if God is calling you to a particular Ministry he will have already given you a heart for a passion for that Ministry not that and I don't believe that you ought to do what you do because you enjoy it you know and that that's the prerequisite well if if I can't enjoy what I'm doing it must not be God's calling I enjoy what I do most of the time but if my 100% enjoyment of my Ministry were the criteria for me staying I would have left a long time ago it's not not just enjoying what you do but feeling that sense of being driven having a heart for what God has placed before you the abilities that he pours into us there are spiritual gifts and there are abilities and and there are those things that that God has endowed us with that are natural abilities that come into play and that fit with our our calling there's personality and it's amazing what God can do in and through our personalities I'm telling you God is growing this young man up before our very eyes not in the sense that he was an immature brat when he got here but man God is giving him uh gifts and abilities and and a a a personality for Ministry and it's exciting experiences that have been in our past that equip us for what we're going to do in the future our calling our calling is what God places on us to give us a sense of direction to let us know what we are about and what we are to do but it not only gives us a sense of direction y'all it sustains us there are those times in Ministry that are trying that are challenging that are difficult and sometimes the only thing you have that keeps you going the only thing that that gets you up up in the morning and sustains you through the day is the knowledge that I am doing what God has called me to do and I'm not going to quit until he stops that calling until he doesn't call me any longer and so we need to be faithful to our calling second word that is here we need to be a good Steward of both our calling and giftedness it's a trust it's something that God has has placed in our care and and we need to be a good Steward of this calling Paul chall Timothy to be that good Steward saying to him in verse 13 until I come you give attention to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and to teaching and again do not neglect the spiritual gift within you which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of Hands by the presbyter take pains these things be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all to be a good Steward of your calling and your giftedness includes number one first and foremost a commitment to God's Living Word it is impossible to It is incomprehensible that we would even consider that we can do the work of ministry and do the work that God has given us in the church if we neglect the word of God we have to remain focused on God's word not just the perfunctory reading of the word not just to be able to say I got the schedule and I read every day's reading for 366 days last year well that's wonderful praise the Lord but there's got to be more than you just giving a perfunctory reading to the word of God that word that living word has got to somehow or another get off of that page and into your heart and life somehow or another it's got to get into your understanding and then beyond that Beyond being able to give an explanation of it live it practice that Living Word that God has given to you in your life and that's exactly what what Paul was challenging challenging Timothy to do but for Timothy that that giving yourself to the word that commitment to God's Living Word involved at least three things one paying attention to the public reading of scripture give attention to the reading of scripture and as they would gather together for worship no doubt there would have been an Old Testament passage and then some of the writings of the Apostles already that were being circulated and they they were to listen to give an ear to the reading of the word of God and then he was challenged to to give time to exhortation or preaching to share again what had been given to him to reproduce that trust that God had poured into his life and then to teach which for me means that we go beyond standing up and talking to people for 30 40 minutes ever how long it is but then we talk together about how this word of God works in everyday life it's the discipl making process and our students need somebody in their life who will consistently teach the word and explain the word to them preaching it and teaching it and on Wednesday night Patrick talked about 100 kids being here on Wednesday night you know what there are a lot of those kids that you will never see on Sunday morning or Sunday night you don't know who they are because the only time they come to us is on Wednesday night at 6 o'clock and that is their their worship time and and if our attitude is well we're just taking care of them to try to get them into real Church no they're in real Church they're hearing the real word of God and they're being challenged with that word and and we're going to continue to see students come to Faith in Jesus Christ as a result of the preaching and teaching of the word of God we're going to continue to see lives changed and families reached because of the priority placed on the word of God among them every Minister needs to continually spend time in the word not just because they need to be good teachers and good preachers but all of us need to realize that we too are in the process of becoming we are not who we used to be and we're not who we're going to come we are on the way any preacher type any Minister who feels like they've arrived and they stop spending time in the word and stop growing in the Lord they stop becoming effective in their Ministries they become more of a problem to the church than they are a help to the church we ought to be setting the example of growing up in the Lord all the way to the end of the road wherever that might be growing in our faith the simple word of encouragement Patrick that I've given over and over to preacher types is to always spend time in the word to preach it and teach it Faithfully you never fail when you Faithfully teach and preach the Living Word of God but going along with that love the people because a great teacher a great orator who has no love for his people never earns the right to be heard and people know and I guess students know better than a lot of folks whether you're the real deal or whether you were faking it they know whether you mean what you say and they can sense your genuiness and I encourage you to continue that pattern of knowing the word and loving the people there's a final word and this one almost sounds like a father figure speaking to his young son in verse 16 he concluded by saying close attention to yourself and to your teaching persevere in these things for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you we can back up to Paul's initial instructions and directions when he said don't let anybody look down on your youthfulness but rather in and then he gave a list in these things show yourself an example to those who believe watch yourself watch yourself in your conversation you Patrick with your generation have a whole new challenge with that back in the day we just had to worry about what we said back in the day we just had to tell people to mind your manners and be nice when you talk to other people today one post on social media one wrong post on social media can destroy a Ministry because the entire world can hear what you had to say in a blink of an eye and so you have to watch what you say watch your words not not only as you speak them but also as you write them down as you share them with others need to be an example in your behavior because there is a a vital link between what we believe and how we live and and so our Behavior ought to be above reproach and we ought to show those around us what Christ looks like as we live day in and day out he said be an example in Your Love Again showing demonstrating the fact that you care that you're concerned that you're willing to sacrifice in order for others to know the truth of who God is in their life be an example in your faith as we worship together as we strive together in life as we share life together let people see how Christ Works in you and in Us in Purity keeping ourselves pure so that God will continue to use us and to bless us maintaining that healthy tension between what we believe and how we live is critically important there are a lot of ways that you can support support and encourage this young man and the ministry here in our church I know there there's a group of ladies and I don't know how many of them are in it but periodically they buy pizza now you heard me say some snarky things about pizza early on but a kid's got to eat right and uh once a month is it Patrick that your beneficiaries provide pizza for our students to eat that's an encouragement ladies to the student Ministry thank you all for doing it it's the dark corner l back there who help out with that you can pray pray for Patrick and our students that God will continue to show himself and work through them pray that God will protect him pray that God will give him the strength that he needs for the tasks that are before him and you always do this you have financially supported our student ministry as long as I can remember it blows my mind that on the first Sunday night in December some of you well me people will show up and pay $5,000 for a cake not because you well you do like cake that much but because because you love our kids and you want them to be able to go to camp and you want them to be able to be a part of a mission trip you make it possible for our kids to do some things that they might not have been able to do otherwise thank you for that and I encourage you to continue to do just that we're going to segue into that time of the service that is the laying on of hands and it is symbolic in a sense it is representative of the fact that we are blessing Patrick acknowledging what God has already done and as these men and I've invited our staff I've invited our Deacon leadership and I've invited Jeremy to represent our church family our Deacon body and our association in doing this so they represent you as they will be coming by tonight to lay hands on him and to speak words of prayer and encouragement to him Richard if you will go ahead and bring that chair and you'll put it in in its place while they are coming by if you would just uh pray you don't have to close your eyes but if you would pray while they are moving along pray for Patrick and pray for this student Ministry that God will continue to do what he wants to do and when we are finished then brother Jeremy is going to come and lead us in our closing prayer that ordination prayer so Patrick if you wouldn't mind if you would come and take your seat gentlemen those whose names I've called our staff our Deacon leadership brother Jeremy all right you want to go first so you can you can go first okay I will do that e e e e e e e e e e you two Patrick you can stay there God we thank you for this celebration tonight we thank you for preparing calling and anointing our friend and our brother Patrick God we ask that you would always keep the fire in his heart that burns for you continually give him a hunger for your word Lord give him wisdom give him guidance give him discernment as he molds forms and shapes the hearts of our teenagers give him wisdom as he counsels give him passion as he preaches keep him clean and close in Jesus name we pray amen e