All right, 1 Timothy chapter 3 says this, "I write to you that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth." That's 1 Timothy 3:15, and we should want to know how to conduct ourselves in what God calls his household, his church, and the pillar and support of the truth.

Knowing how to conduct ourselves in the church includes an examination of how Christ expects his church, his household, to be led. I got to grow up here at Grace Church. From my earliest memory, an emphasis in my training was always spiritual leadership. Since junior high all the way back a few years ago in the 1970s, men have poured into my life instilling in me the desire not to be an elder, but to be as faithful and effective as I can be, as I exercise my gifts and serve in the church for the strengthening of the church and for the building up of the body of Christ.

I was given a copy of Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders in junior high. I don't even remember the man who took me through that book the first time. I still have it. I still have my notes in the margins of that book. It left a mark on me, and that is a book that I've read many, many times since then.

And I've shared with our pastor how many places I wrote as a junior higher, J. Mack. My pastor was an example to me in seventh or eighth grade whenever the first time was that I went through that book. The one verse was emphasized over and over and over in that training as just another kid at Grace Community Church, and that verse was 2 Timothy 2.2, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." It's a very profound verse.

In the presence of many witnesses, that happens at the church. It's what's happening right now. It's what happens on Sundays. The things that you've heard, entrust to faithful men so that those faithful men will be able to teach others also. The cornerstone of a strong church is faithful men.

Be a faithful man. Follow faithful men. Lead faithful men. That is condensed here in 2 Timothy 2.2, the essence of church leadership. The study for tonight reminded me to be grateful for those men that gave me so much. The faithful men who in spite of my thick-headedness at times were so faithful to teach me the word, to show me the truth of Scripture by the example of their life.

This is the gift of the church. This is the gift to the church. Men like that. Ephesians tells us that God gives gifts to men, and one of those gifts is all around us. It's the church. And it's our responsibility as faithful men to pass it on through what we say and how we act.

That in essence again is the definition of church leadership. Preparation for tonight has also caused me to be reminded of how grateful I am for all of you. I know I'm preaching to the choir tonight. You're here. Many of you make tremendous sacrifices to be here on a Wednesday night.

Your willingness to carve out time on a Wednesday night away from family and overcome the challenges of work and traffic and everything else to be here. Some of you have a wife and kids at home that make a sacrifice for you to be here. You get it. And I'm so grateful to God for you, and that God is raising up the next generation of male leadership at Grace Community Church.

You are a trophy of God's grace in that regard, and you're also the fruit of enormous effort by Brad, Klaassen, and your small group leaders. You know, some of us might think sitting around a campfire with a bunch of good friends after a day of hunting or fishing or hiking or whatever is the ultimate male experience.

It's fun, isn't it? I've been there. I've done that. But I think this group here knows it pales in comparison to a Wednesday night or any other time, gathering around the word of God, talking about what really matters. Enjoy these days. Make the most of these days. Make the most of the time you have together in men of the word.

It is something special. The Lord is doing something special in our church through men of the word, and you're part of that. The next generation of leadership in the church is being raised up all around you, and I hope that tonight will challenge you, yes, but also encourage you to stay with it and to excel still more.

Be that faithful man who hears the teaching in the presence of many witnesses who then determines I am going to be that faithful man, and I am going to pass it along to others who will then pass it on to others. That's leadership. So tonight, I want to start our time with an overview of the church.

If you're to be a leader in the church, you must understand what the church is. What is it that you're going to lead? The church is one of three institutions established by God, the state or government, family, and the church. However, the nature of the church is understated if we leave it with just the description as an institution.

The church is also and maybe better described as an organism. Why do I say that? Matthew chapter 16, maybe the foundational verse for understanding the church. Jesus says in verse 15, "To his disciples, 'Who do you say that I am?'" And in verse 16, "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' and Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.'" And then one of the most packed, profound verses in all the Bible about the church, "I say to you," verse 18, "that you are Peter." And then it begins a series of words that lays out the foundation of the church.

Upon this rock, what is the rock? It's not Peter and it's not the Pope. It is the proclamation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is the foundation of the church. On that rock, I, there's ownership, will, there's a promise, build, that's a process, my, that's ownership, church, that's the purpose, and then there's permanence, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it ever.

That phrase, "On this rock, I will build," there's a process, it's ongoing, that's why we say the church is an organism. It is not done being built until Jesus Christ says it's done. It is ongoing, continuous, active, it's His church. And He's talking about the local church, ecclesia, that's the word He uses, the local gathering of believers.

So in Matthew 16, Jesus Christ lays out so much profound truth about the coming church, and in Acts 2, the church is born, and what I want to do now is to review what we teach about the church, and the reference is in your handout. This comes from our doctrinal statement.

This is just a quick summary. It goes on for pages, and I highly recommend it to your reading and to your thought, and to follow through all the passages that are referenced there. First, we teach that Christ is the head of the church. I just read that to you.

He's the architect, He's the builder, He's the owner, He created it, it is His, He makes the rules. It is by Him, and it is for Him, which leads us to the second point. The purpose of the church is to glorify God. Preaching Christ and Him crucified, glorifies God, the gospel.

Guarding and protecting His people inside the leadership of the church, glorifies God. Facilitating fellowship, glorifies God. God is glorified through communion, baptism, weddings, fellowship, stimulating one another to love and good deeds through service and use of spiritual gifts. All of that happens uniquely and only in the church, and the purpose of it all is to glorify God.

Third, church is for Christians. If you're saved, you're part of the body of Christ. That phrase is used throughout the Bible, and it indicates a deep tissue connection to the head of the church, Christ, and to each other as fellow believers. Church is for Christians. The body of Christ belongs to and consists of those who have confessed with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that He rose from the dead and they are what?

Saved. Those who are called by God. We are connected to Christ and other Christians. And the church discipline process, which Christ laid out in Matthew 18, two chapters later in our Bible, highlights the exclusivity of the church, that it is for believers. And it's starkly clarified in 1 Corinthians 15, 13, those who are outside God judges, remove their wicked man from among yourselves.

Church is for Christians. And by the way, if you are here tonight and you don't know Christ, you are welcome here. When we say church is for Christians, it takes us to our next point, which is church membership is in the Bible. Christians identify with the local church. Christians are members of the local church.

Those who don't know Christ are welcome to visit the church, to enjoy events like this at the church. But to identify with the church requires that you are saved. The church is the vehicle for service and the exercise of spiritual gifts. Number five, church membership is active, it is not passive.

It's the exclusive form for service for the building up of the body of Christ and the advancement of the kingdom of God here on this earth. Service and the exercise of spiritual gifts of the individual believer takes place in the church for the benefit of the church exclusively. Number six, you saw this in Matthew 16, the church has endured and will survive all attempts to kill it.

And implicit in the statement that I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it is that Satan will try. He has tried, he is trying, he will continue to try and he will always fail. That's the church. Not only will the church survive, it will thrive because Christ is building his church.

And then number seven, Christ has delegated specific leadership authority of the church to elders. And this brings us to our topic tonight. The practice, the polity, and the doctrine of the church is immune from interference by anyone outside the church. Elders and pastors are tasked by the head of the church with guarding, protecting, and overseeing doctrine, the practice of the church, when we meet, if we meet, and the polity or the leadership of the church.

The primary focus of elders is the ministry of the word and prayer as they shepherd the flock of God. Everything else that happens in the church can be delegated while under the oversight of the elders. And by the way, the word for elder in the Bible is the same word that is translated shepherd, bishop, pastor, overseer.

Depending on the version of the Bible that you have, those words are all speaking of the same person, the same office. So how does a man become an elder? Well, if you have your Bible, turn to Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1, and I want to walk through pretty quickly the process of how does a man become an elder.

And we have an example in Titus 1, Paul writes to Titus, and he's obviously reviewing with Titus what he has already told him because he says in verse 5, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.

Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe not accused of dissipation or rebellion, for the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." Let me walk back through that very quickly because therein the process of becoming an elder is laid out very clearly.

How does a man become an elder in the church? First of all, he's appointed. Did you see that? In verse 5, he sent him to set in order what remains and appoint elders. Elders are appointed by elders. And then in verse 6, he talks about the qualification, that you appoint men who are qualified morally in their character and their integrity.

And you heard me read that. And then in verse 7, it talks about how he understands authority. It says, "For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed." It's not his own agenda, but this is a man who's wholly devoted to the purposes of God in his design for his church.

Not self-willed, not with an agenda, but as God's steward. And then he's an example to the church. It continues, "He's not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid game, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled." That should be a description of the life of an elder.

And then there's doctrinal purity. Verse 9, "He holds fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching." And not only does he know it and hold fast to it, but he's able to teach it. "To exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." That's how a man becomes an elder.

What about a deacon? The other office in the Bible that is given, there's two offices, elders and deacons. And if you turn to Acts chapter 6, we see a description of how you become a deacon. How does a man become a deacon? Acts chapter 6, the first two verses of Acts 6 lays out the problem.

There's a problem in the church, and the apostles are focused on the ministry of the word and prayer. They need help. Verse 3, "Therefore, brethren, select among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom." There's character. Just like Titus 1, appointing elders, you find men of good character, good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.

You find men with ability. It says in verse 3, "Find men who we can give this task to." And then you appoint men who are satisfied and even joyous in service because their role is to free up the elders. It says, "We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And then in verse 5, you see that the statement found approval from the whole congregation and they chose seven men.

And then you see that deacons are appointed by elders because it says in verse 6, "These they brought before the apostles and after praying, they laid their hands on them." There's a pattern. You probably picked up on the pattern, formal leadership, and by that I mean in the offices of elder and deacon.

It requires recognition and appointment by existing godly and biblical leadership. And that leadership is to look for maturity, proven character in the church and in the home, proven leadership, knowledge of doctrine and the ability to communicate it. And then a giftedness or an ability that matches the need of the church.

If you aspire to the role of elder or deacon, the qualifications and the process are not complicated, it's not mysterious, and it's not a secret. In short, your life should be an example and you should already be doing the work. And as you do the work, you trust the Lord that if you are to be recognized as an elder or a deacon in that role, it will be seen and affirmed by the existing leadership in the right time as there is need in the church.

That's elders and deacons. And that's a big picture of the church. And now the rest of the time tonight, I want to address the vast majority of men, maybe even in this room, who do not aspire to the office of elder or deacon. Is leadership in the church only for elders, only for pastors?

The resounding answer to that question is no. The elders have a role, the deacons have a role, but leadership in the church cannot possibly be the exclusive domain of elders and deacons. It's not practical and it's not biblical. In a healthy, functioning church, there is significant leadership by men who are not elders or deacons, and here's why.

Every Christian man in the church is to lead. A strong church is full of strong men. And to understand the broader concept of spiritual leadership in the church, we need to start at a common point of understanding. We need to step back now and consider the role of imitation in the church.

We are all followers. This is somewhat of a paradox in teaching on leadership that I'm saying to a room full of leaders that you and I are all followers. We're all imitators. And if you aren't, you don't get church. And maybe you don't understand the realities of the Christian life, and I want to examine imitation very quickly and look at it from a couple different perspectives, and I'm going to go very quickly here.

Your salvation involved a decision to follow. In Matthew 16, 24, Jesus says to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must take up his cross, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and what? Follow me." Take up his cross, imitate, follow. What about your sanctification?

As a believer, as you're striving to become more like Christ, it is over and over and over in the Bible, the principle of the way you do that is to imitate. Ephesians 5, 1 says, "Therefore, be imitators of God." Imitate God. Philippians 3, 17, "Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us." How do you follow Christ?

You imitate men. You follow men. First Corinthians 11, 1, Paul says to the church at Corinth, "Be imitators of me, just as I am also of Christ." So imitation and following is a necessary ingredient of a leader's life. And there's a warning all the way through the Bible, and I just picked out a few examples.

There is a warning about don't follow bad examples, follow good examples. 3 John 11, pretty clear, "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good." The implication there is you're going to be an imitator. Imitate what is good. 1 Corinthians 15, 33, you know this verse, "Don't be deceived.

Bad company corrupts good morals." Biblical imitation is looking for godly examples and imitating them. It is not a call to blend in wherever you are by imitating everyone you're with. That's dangerous. We're called to be salt and light, which means actually we're going to stand out. Don't be a chameleon.

I provided you a picture of one just to help you out. Chameleons are distinctive and highly specialized lizards. They are capable of shifting degrees of brightness and color and fitting in with whatever background they're in to fade away. That's not what we're called to be. We are called, biblical imitation is actively and carefully choosing men and then following them as they follow Christ.

It is a decision. All of us are followers and imitators. Who and what we follow and what we imitate bears itself out in our thinking and our life for better or worse. God created us. He built us into us. He knows us. Throughout the Bible, there's a dual commentary on imitation.

Imitate godly people, do not imitate ungodly people because we're all imitators. What does this have to do with leadership in the church, you might be asking? Simply put, church leadership is defined as those men whom others imitate and follow. Is it only the elders? It's not biblical. It is the elders and it's many, many more in a healthy church.

The gift to the church, to you and me, is men like some of you who consistently model truth, strength, and courage and if that's you, you are a leader in the church. The role of men who lead in the church is to be that man who can say, "Follow me as I follow Christ." He can say, "Imitate me." All of us must be that example that can be imitated, followed, and watched.

That's biblical leadership in the church. The measure of your leadership in the church at the end of days is not the title you had or the office you held. The measure of your leadership impact is whether you are that man who made it easy for others in the church and those under your care to understand who is Christ and how does he want me to live.

And by following your example are drawn towards greater sanctification to the glory of God. You've heard me talk about this before. Just drive it home one more time. 1 Corinthians 16, 13, "Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong." This verse is best understood under the dynamic of imitation that we've been talking about.

The explicit command in this verse is to the church, the whole church, "Act like men." Do you see it? The implicit command in this verse is to the men and it's profound and it is that you men, you and me, we are to be on the alert. We must stand firm in the faith.

We must be strong and courageous. We need to be the man so that the church can obey the command to act like you and to act like me. Imitation. It doesn't say act like elders, doesn't say act like seminary graduates, it doesn't say act like deacons. They should be able to do all of that.

What it says is act like men. This is you. It's nothing flashy. There's no titles other than man. If you're a man in the church, you must be prepared and equipped to lead by example and to follow. Let's look at a passage, Hebrews 13, 7, and observe what it says to those who lead and to follow.

And I am looking at a room full of men who are called to lead and to follow. Both perspectives are relevant. Both apply to all of us here tonight. All of us are followers regardless of our role in the church and a healthy church is full of men who lead.

And so in this simple verse, if you look at it from the standpoint of a follower, which is who it looks like it's written to, there's obvious commands. Remember what does that mean, identify, acknowledge, appreciate. Remember those who led you. Implicit command there to the followers is there are leaders and we must what, follow.

And then it goes on to explain that. They speak the word of God, the command to you and I as followers is we need to sit under that speaking. We need to hear that. We need to submit ourselves to the preaching and teaching of the word of God. Second Timothy 2.2, you remember it, the things you have heard among many witnesses.

There are those who speak the word of God and we are to sit under that. And then the direct command here is to imitate, to watch, observe, take note and imitate. That's for all of us. What are the commands in that verse to the leader? And by the way, the word led is not a direct reference to elders or deacons.

It includes elders and deacons but it's not exclusive to them. It's a reference to anyone who leads in the church and I hope you're understanding. You're picking up what I'm putting down here. That's you. What are the instructions to the leader? First of all, lead. Lead. Don't shy away.

Be strong and courageous. Be faithful. Just do it. Lead. The church is being told to follow your lead. Speak the word of God. Not your personal opinions, not your philosophies. Speak the word of God. That is what the people of the church need. That's why we're here. Speak the word of God and then pay close attention to your life because it says, considering the result of your conduct, if you're not paying close attention to your conduct, other people are and it matters.

Be an example. A couple of verses later in Hebrews 13, verse 17, a verse you've heard before, I'm sure. Again, the word leaders here includes you. It's not a reference to pastors and elders exclusively. This verse says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you." What are the instructions for the followers? Looks like that verse is written to the followers. You and me as followers. It says we are to obey our leaders and submit to them. Some of you get really excited about that.

But if the leader is speaking the word of God, what are the followers really obeying? The word of God. That's why it's so important that we speak the word of God. And it says in verse 17 that the leaders keep watch. As a follower, the command there is that you and I are called to be transparent, to allow our leaders to watch over our soul.

And again, I feel like I'm preaching to the choir tonight. This is what you do in small groups. It says let them do this with joy and not with grief. That is a command to all of us as followers, as members of the church, to not be divisive, slandering, undisciplined.

We shouldn't cause grief and heartache, sorrow, and angst by our lack of obedience, our lack of submission to God's word. That is the message of Hebrews 13, 17 to all of us as followers. What about the leaders? Hebrews 13, 17 has some things to say to the leader. If the people are called to obey, that means we need to be very, very careful that we are calling people to obedience and submission to Christ.

We need to speak the word of God. It says here that leaders watch over souls. We need to remember that we are to be on guard. We are to be watchful over the souls of the people that are under our care. We're looking out for their spiritual welfare. It talks about those who will give an account.

As a leader, you can never forget in the church, don't ever forget your accountability. You answer to the great shepherd, Jesus Christ, the head of the church. It says let them do this with joy. Men, as you lead in the church, remember to do it with joy. It is a pleasure, it's a delight, there's happiness and gladness in that service.

There are hard days, no doubt, but overall, the leader serves with joy. So let's review what we've seen tonight and make specific application to you as we wrap this up. Before you go to small groups, I'm going to go through what I call a layman's guide to leading in the church.

And this is just a review in case you tuned out through part of what we said. First of all, we need to imitate and follow. The world or secular leadership gurus would never say that an effective leader should always be a follower, that he should be known as someone who imitates others, yet that is exactly what the Bible says.

In fact, the church leader is exemplary in that. He works hard at that. Development of leadership in the church is exactly that. Again, no mystery. You want to develop in your leadership in the church, follow a man or men as they follow Christ. Hebrews 6, 11 and 12 says, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise." This verse contrasts sluggishness with imitation.

Imitation takes purposeful effort and diligent work. It produces a sharpening. Pick your friends, don't let them pick you. Pick your influence. Pick those men who are going to walk you down the path towards Christlikeness and pick carefully. Look wisely. Work hard at it. Lay leaders in the church are an example of the humility and the curiosity of being a follower and an imitator.

You get this. You're doing it. You're here. Bear down. Work it. Look around you. It does not matter who you are. There are men in this room and in our church who can show you, who can explain it to you, and who can help you. Remember them, it said in Hebrews 13, 7.

That means to identify, note who they are, appreciate them, and follow them. Imitate them as they follow Christ. The second, in the layman's guide to leading in the church, you want to be a follower, an imitator. You want to be known for that, but you also want to be biblical.

Be biblical. A leader in the church, the true church, is not conflicted about the authority and the application of the Bible. He understands Psalm 19. Men who lead in the church of Christ know their Bible. They are convinced beyond any ability to challenge or change that the Bible is true, it is complete, it is adequate, it is sufficient, and it is entirely authoritative.

They are beyond any doubt about the truth or the authorship of the Bible, the Word of God. The man who leads in the church knows from Psalm 19 that the Bible is perfect, it is sure, it is right, it is pure, it is clean, it is true, it is righteous, it is more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey and the drippings of a honeycomb.

A leader in the church also knows what the Bible does, and Psalm 19 lays this out. The Bible, it says, restores the soul, it makes wise the simple, it rejoices the heart, it enlightens the eyes, and it endures forever. That's the Bible. May the Lord grant the church men who believe this to their core and manifest this belief in their life.

A church with men like this does not lack for leaders. You and I don't have the luxury to let the trained Bible scholars or the appointed elders or deacons or seminary graduates carry this leadership responsibility. This is what all biblical men do. This is what a healthy church sees in her men.

This is what you can do and what makes you a leader in the church. Church leadership development is the pursuit of knowing how to apply the Bible to real life and how to take real life circumstances back to the Bible for answers. I'm not telling you you have to get a seminary degree.

I will tell you that the Bible is within reach. It can be read, it can be understood, and it can be applied. It's amazing, but you have to be committed and able to do that work. You know, for the last 18 years or so, every Friday morning I have the privilege of having met with men.

I think I've had a couple hundred men come through that group. The whole premise of my Friday morning meetings is there's questions about life and how do we answer the issues of life with the Bible or what there's an issue in the Bible and what does that mean and how does it apply to real life.

Some men really struggle with that premise. They come Friday morning and they hear a question presented and they want to talk about their wisdom, their experience, and maybe even the wisdom of somebody else. The standard question in response to all of that, and some of you here have been in my Friday morning meetings occasionally, you know that the question is, "Is that in the Bible?" There's a discipline to that thinking.

Is it in the Bible? I deeply respect the men who have come and struggled with that and yet remain under. They work through that propensity to give non-biblical answers and I've seen them transform their mindset to respond to difficulties and confusion with answers from the Bible. By the way, some have come and they haven't really liked it.

They don't really like having their opinions shut down with some smart aleck guy saying, "Wait, is that in the Bible?" And they go away. So over 18 years of Friday morning coffee meetings, I've watched the Word of God over and over transform how a man thinks, what he thinks, and where he goes for his answers.

Oh, the Word of God is powerful. It's sharper than a two-edged sword, Hebrews 4 says. It's able to cut to the bone. It has power and authority that you and I will never have. The Bible explains God, it exposes the soul, and it gives us hope. Man, you and I bring nothing to leadership in the church that is any better or more effective than an open Bible.

We need to be imitators and we need to be biblical. Third, we need to pay close attention to our life. We need to pay close attention to our life. We need to be an example. You can be given titles, responsibility, visibility, exposure in the church, and that can all go away and what ultimately and always remains is your character and your integrity.

That is the currency of a true leader in the church. First Timothy 4 says take pains with these things. What things? Well, it refers back to what goes before that verse. One verse that you know well, First Timothy 4.12 says, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself as a," what, "example of those who believe." Take pains with these things.

Be absorbed in them. This is Paul writing to a young pastor. 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.

Efforts, sweats, perseverance, it doesn't just happen. Moral character, your integrity, maturity, and refining comes from work and the promise is that your progress will be evident to all. That is the example that the church needs. That's leadership. Pay close attention to your life and to your doctrine. Persevere. There's a desperate need in the church for men who can show the way.

I think I can promise you that you have no idea who's watching you. There are men watching you. There might even be young men watching you that you don't even know. You might find out years from now. That's a strange experience. Be someone they can and they should imitate.

Those are the people you don't know about. What about the people that you do know about? Does your wife imitate you? Do your children imitate you? Can they? Should they? Pay close attention to your life. By the way, you can't go home tonight and declare to your home that everyone must imitate you.

Imitation is earned. Some of you have some work to do in that regard. Maybe you've destroyed any ability to follow you because of your behavior. The long road back on that can start tonight. Nobody must follow you, but I pray you live in such a way that it would be foolish not to.

Fourth, and finally, love the church. You need to be an imitator and a follower. You need to be biblical. You need to be an example, and you need to love the church. I love the church, I think it's safe to say that we need to love what Christ loves, and he loves the church.

Prioritize what Christ says is important. If you're going to lead in the church and you don't love the church, you can't lead in the church. Love the church. Be dependent on the church. Hebrews 10 says that your confession is at risk, your steadfastness is at risk, your courage is at risk.

You need the church. I need the church. We learned this experientially in the last few years, but Hebrews 10.23 has always said what it says. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another in all the more as you see the day drawing near.

That word stimulate sounds wonderful, but what that actually means is to provoke and imitate, or excuse me, irritate. May you have a great time in your small groups of being provoked and irritated. May you enjoy the opportunity to provoke and irritate towards love and good deeds. That's what men do.

That's what the church is. You will come to depend on that. You must come to depend on that. There's also that word encouraging one another. You need to excel still more. You need that encouragement. Others around you need that encouragement. That is the dependence on the church that I'm talking about.

Lay leadership in the church needs to be a group of men who imitate others as they follow Christ that are biblical, men who are biblical, men who are an example, who pay close attention to their life and their doctrine, and they love the church, and they develop a dependence on the church.

Lord, give us more men who want to lead in the church. A strong church needs strong men, and a strong church is full of strong men. Let me pray to close. Lord, thank you for your church. Thank you for the truth of your word. Lord, we've covered a lot of ground tonight.

Lord, I pray that you would prompt in the hearts of each man here what their role might be in the church, whether it's as an elder or a deacon, as a small group leader, or just as a faithful man who wants to live for you in front of his family and his friends at church.

Lord, I pray that all of this is done not for self-promotion or for the glory of man, but for the great glory of Jesus Christ and the advancement of the church, the building up of the church as you build your kingdom. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.