"I Will Pray For My Church Leaders" Rev. Reginald W. Sharpe Jr. Wednesday July 6, 2022

0:20 God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. We're back for another night of Refuel, and I'm so excited to be in your homes tonight. I thank you for tuning in and I'm excited about it. Hey, the seven ways to give are popping up. I want to give you an opportunity to give now because I know that sometimes we don't make it all the way to the end of worship. So let's go ahead and give to the God that's given us everything. I want to, whatever the Lord leads you to give tonight, do that. And I want to say, thank you. I love y'all so, so much. And I appreciate you so, so much for tuning in and listening to this series. What a powerful little book this is. I mean, it's a little book with a big message. I'm grateful for Tom Rayner. If you are really listening to these lessons, it teaches us what all of us are supposed to be doing since we are church members. I am a church member. First lesson, I'm a functioning church member. Second lesson, I'm a unifying church member.

1:15 Third lesson, I am not at my church basically to get my way. It's not all about my preferences and my desires. I'm here to be a servant and I'm here to help the ministry grow. And so I'm excited because we're jumping in chapter four. Thank you band. Thank you media team. And to each of you, wherever you're watching tonight, drop your city, drop your city, wherever you are tonight, drop your city, drop an anchor so we'll know where you're watching tonight. That's special to us and we appreciate you for tuning in wherever you are. This chapter says, I will pray for my leaders. I will pray for my church leaders. I want you to know that it's so imperative to pray for your leaders because your leaders are carrying more than you see. They're going through more than you know. And so a part of you being a church member is a commitment to pray for your leaders. I thank God for our prayer team at this church every morning.

2:09 They're praying for our founders family every morning. They're praying for our pastor Meredith every morning. They're praying for me and my wife and my family. So I'm grateful for a church that believes in the power of prayer. And I'm excited that I can attest to you almost every morning over 500 people on their prayer call praying. And so I'm grateful for a powerful praying church. Gideon only had 300 men that fought with him. And so to have 500 folks, over 500 people committed to prayer every day is unbelievable. And we've been going strong Monday through Friday and at noon on Saturdays. So I just want to say thank you to our prayer team for praying for me. But I want to challenge those of you who maybe not be that who are not that committed to prayer and don't understand this lesson. I really want you to get it by the end of this lesson today. I want to do something different.

3:03 I want to just read a piece of this chapter, because as you listen to this story, it's going to help you understand why it's so important to pray for your leaders. Listen in. This is how Tom Rainer opens up this chapter. It's Thursday morning. Pastor Mike has a clear calendar. he has a break from his busy schedule actually the calendar is not really clear he has set aside time to finish his sermon for sunday his bible is open study aids are nearby he begins to study then the phone rings his assistant tells him about a car accident involving a family in the church The ambulances are already on the way to the hospital. Mike leaves all his study material on the desk and jumps into the car. On the way to the hospital, his assistant calls him again. The entire Godsey family of five were in the car.

4:00 None are seriously hurt except Gary, the father and husband of the family. His condition is grave. Pastor Mike walks into the emergency room. The family has just been told that their husband and father did not make it. They see their pastor and run to him sobbing in total shock. Mike is there for them. He stays with the entire family for three hours until he is certain enough people are around to care for them. He stops by his home to see his wife and grab a quick sandwich. It is now afternoon. He's not sure if he can return to his sermon preparation, but he knows he must. He must fight the emotional exhaustion of the morning and finish the message. But as he walks back to the church, his assistant apologetically tells him that two people need to speak with him. They consider it urgent. They consider it urgent. Pastor Mike meets with the two men. One of them is a worship leader of the church. He is struggling with his ministry and is considering giving up.

4:59 For two hours, Mike listens, consoles and attempts to encourage the staff member. The next visitor then catches Mike off guard. George is one of the key lay leaders in the church. Mike considers him a friend and an incredibly vital person in the overall leadership of the congregation. George struggles to speak. My wife is having an affair. There are no more words for five minutes, just tears and sobs. Mike stays with George for over two hours. They pray together and talk about next steps. It's nearly five o'clock in the afternoon. Mike is too drained to attempt to get back to his sermon. Instead, he begins to look at his crowded email inbox. He cringes when he sees one of the senders of an email, but he cannot stop himself from opening the message. It is from one of Mike's most frequent critics in the church. She has two complaints. The first irritation was something he said in last Sunday's sermon.

5:58 The second complaint addressed Mike's failure to visit her sister-in-law who had minor outpatient surgery yesterday. The woman is not a member of the church and Mike knew nothing about the surgery. Pastor Mike shuts the laptop cover. I hope y'all are listening to this. Pastor Mike shuts the laptop cover and moves to his car slowly. He'll stop by the house to grab a quick bite to eat. Then he needs to go check on the Godsey family. He will stay with them for a while, but he must leave prior to 730 when he is to give the invocation for a local high school basketball team. Several people corner him at the game, so he doesn't get home until after 9 p.m. He goes to a small study in his home, shuts the door, and begins to cry. Gary Godsey, the father and husband who was killed in the car accident, was Mike's best friend. this was his first chance to have a moment to grieve the title of this chapter is i will pray for my church leaders i know that's uncommon to sit here and read a book to you this is in the kid's corner but i needed you to hear this because truthfully more frequent than you would believe this is exactly what pastors deal with on a day-to-day basis sudden interruptions sudden things that happen you don't get to tell people when to die you don't get to determine when life is going to happen to your pastor or to leaders in your church and so being committed to praying for your pastor means that you won't do the opposite add stress to your pastor be a faithful and consistent critic of the pastor but give some grace to the pastor no pastor is perfect no pastor is going to get it right. Reverend Evans was the founder pastor of this church. He didn't get everything right. Pastor Jenkins was serving for over 25 over 20 years almost 25 years in all of this church. He didn't get everything right and I'm your third pastor and I can tell you right now

8:04 going into my third year as the pastor I'm not going to get everything right but when you have a church that's committed to praying for your pastor you have a church full of love a church full of compassion and you are able to strengthen your pastor because those prayers add fuel to our spiritual tank you're familiar with that story about Aaron and and her when Moses's arms were up the people won but when the arms dropped they started losing listen that's what prayer does for a pastor prayer lifts our arms because when the pastor is strong and vibrant and and seeking God and able to hear from God everybody wins when the messages are strong and clear and rhema and you everybody's you've been in that seat hopefully you know what it's like to have an experience where you heard the preacher start preaching and you sitting there wondering now is he did somebody tell him or her what I'm going through because that was just spot on I needed that word that was rhema a right now word so when you're praying for your pastor they're able to have a clear connection with god so strength can come so a fresh word can come so revelation can come so their leadership blesses the whole church and nevermore i love this that tom rainer says nevermore are you like jesus than when you're praying for others i want to add you don't just need to pray for your leaders you need to pray for your whole church you need to keep the whole church in prayer you ought to pray for everybody ask god to bless your church ask god to fill God's church with love and healing and breakthroughs and and promotions and meeting the needs of the people but pastors particularly senior pastors executive pastors those who are officers deacons and trustees we need people committed to praying because this is heavy y'all quickly let me give you three things you ought to be praying for you ought to pray for your pastor's biological family first timothy three through five says if someone does not know how to manage his own

10:12 household how can they take care of god's church so you ought to ask god god bless uh the pastor's wife or spouse or husband because some pastors are women god bless the pastor's parents and siblings and family because when the family is out of order it's hard to think clearly i've had certain deaths in my family i'm so glad somebody was praying for me because i'm telling you when you feel that grief and you especially when you live out of town from your family you can't get to them i need you praying not just for me but pray for my family but also pray prayers of protection the bible says in john 10 10 that the thief cometh to steal kill and destroy but i have come jesus says that you might have life and have it more abundantly first timothy three through seven says moreover that a pastor must be able must be well thought of by outsiders so that he or she may not fall into disgrace or the snare of the devil there's always a trap somewhere there's always some temptation somewhere there's always satan lurking trying to kill the reputation of the pastor so that it can kill the influence of that pastor because if i can kill your reputation i kill your influence which means i also kill your impact so you ought to be god shield my pastor keep things away from the pastor the man or woman of god that are unlike you all the time i hear elder monica asking god to expose that which needs to be exposed to shield uh to keep a hedge of protection around the pastor because you don't know the kind of fights that you have when you're on the first line of defense oh yeah oh yeah people rushing to the front just just just nonsensical just rushing to the front. I want to be in the front. I'm ready to be. I want the microphone.

11:59 I want to preach. I want a pastor. I want to be in the front. When you are on the front line of defense, you are often the first to get hit. So you need people to pray that what the psalmist writes, that the angels would encamp around them that fear him. Reverend Evans used to sing a song all night and all day. Angels are watching over. You need to ask God, protect my pastor, protect my pastor from the snares of the fowler from the snares of the enemy from the traps that the enemy would seek to set protect my pastor as he's traveling protect my pastor as he's working through uh issues in the church protect the pastor's family guard pray for the pastor's family pray for the pastor's protection but also pray for the pastor's physical and mental health service and leadership exhausts our energy but because the demands are so great leaders often neglect their own health and well-being sickness is inevitable prayers of covering and grace and mercy are necessary god protect my pastor's physical and mental health in a few days in a few weeks i'm going to be taking a sabbatical in the month of august and there's going to be a lot of people that are not going to like it they're not going to like it they're going to stay home because i'm not i'm not here and i don't want to hear nobody else preach i don't want to hear pastor sharp preach there's some virtual members and y'all know you're guilty because soon as you tune in and realize i'm not preaching you turn off and you don't give the giving drops when the pastor's away and the support drops and the attendance drops when the pastor's away listen that is not why you have been called to be a member of this church i'm not the only one that can feed your soul i'm not the only one that can speak life into you anybody that stands in this pulpit i assure you god and i have talked about it before they get to this pulpit and so when you don't support a pastor's sabbatical a chance for the pastor to rest and then people say stuff like this well enjoy your vacation pastor that's not what it's for it's not just a vacation me vacating it's a sabbatical a time for me to rest and unplug and to do what i want to do so if i want to preach

14:07 in the sabbatical that's my business if i want to uh find something to do that's my business if i want to go to a retreat that's my business whatever helps me to a sabbatical says i'm resting from this work i'm resting from the demands of this work and it's holy take a sabbath is even biblical it's one of the ten commandments remember the sabbath day and keep it holy even god rested after creating the world if god had to rest you don't think your pastor needs to rest You don't think you need to rest. And so what I'm asking you, not just to pray for me, but some of your prayers show up in your support for me taking care of myself. Whenever I'm not preaching, you still supporting is prayer. I'm praying for my pastor, Lord, wherever he is. If he's in the bed or if he's on another assignment, take care of my pastor and I'm going to show up to church.

15:04 why because i'm a unified member i'm a functioning member and it ain't all about my preferences i may prefer to hear pastor sharp i may desire to hear pastor sharp but because i am a church member it means i'm not just a fan or or or or i'm not just a groupie of pastor sharp now if you my groupie if you my fan then that means when i'm not here you don't show up but if you are a follower of jesus if you are a child of god if you are committed to the church then i need your commitment to grow that when i'm not in this pulpit you're still here are y'all understanding what i'm saying so so write in the chat right now write in the chat right now i support my pastor i support my pastor said i lot i support my pastor and i support his wellness i support uh him taking time i support a sabbath if he needs it i support him sitting down and shutting up if he needs to i support him when god gives him a vision that i may not fully understand i support the pastor and even when i don't understand everything i'm going to pray that god will continue to lead him because paul says follow me as i follow christ so the prayer ought to be god lead my pastor because i'm following my pastor but i need my pastor to be following god so that i don't mess this thing up so that he doesn't lead us somewhere we don't need to be so that she doesn't lead us somewhere that we don't need to be so i'm praying for my pastor's protection i'm praying for my pastor's family i'm praying for my pastor's physical and mental health because listen here it's a real thing now the story i just read to you about pastor mike oh i've lived that i know what that feels like to have all of that on you and you got to get up on sunday morning and make sense and the word has to make sense but the truth is you need to be sitting down being fed instead of being the one feeding so whenever you're praying for those of you say well i don't know how to pray i don't know how to pray x is a good acronym

17:10 for prayer a c t s a adoration c confess t thanksgiving s supplication so i need to show adoration and then i confess my sins and i thank the lord that's t x so all of our prayers ought to have the x acronym working in our prayers and then supplication s i i can request and ask god to do something for me because god has uh i've already shown adoration i've already admitted hey God I don't deserve none of this I've shown gratitude for what you've already done and now I'm making my request so when you're praying for me for yourself for healing for somebody else the acts acronym is fully at work and Oswald Chambers says this uh he says that um intercession is putting yourself in God's place it is having God's mind and God's perspective so when I'm interceding for somebody else I'm literally putting myself in God's place to say hey God I am asking you to do for your child What you want done for your child I want them to have you in their lives I'm literally an intercessor And I pray that you understand deacon That you are not here just to sit on the front row And have a title But you ought to be praying for the pastor Supporting the pastor I pray members that you understand You're not just here to take a seat And to sit down and pray they sing your song And pray that you enjoy the service But you ought to be saying, Lord, give my pastor strength.

18:43 Cover my pastor. Keep my pastor. Because when you are a member, it means you are committed to praying and asking God to bless your pastor. Because when your pastor is blessed, so are you. When your pastor is strong, so is the church. When your pastor has a clear head, so is the word that is preached to you week in and week out. strong pastor strong church tired pastor tired church tired sermons listen listen a pastor who's been in the presence of god with fresh dew from eternity on his brow or her brow is a church that has the water of the word flowing weekend and week out as our music comes on in let's say our pledge together is popping up on the screen come on each week we have a pledge this is our fourth pledge let's read it together one two three let's read i am a church member i will pray for my pastor every day i understand that the pastor's work is never ending his days or her days are filled with numerous demands that bring emotional highs and lows he or she must deal with critics he must be a good husband or wife father or mother because my pastor cannot do all things in his or her power own power. I will pray for his or her strength and wisdom daily. Let the church say amen. I pray that these words are blessing you. I am a church member. I'm a functioning member.

20:14 I'm a unifying member. I'm a member that's a servant and I'm a member that's going to commit to pray and support the pastor. I'm telling y'all, I'm about to go on this sabbatical in August. This is the first sabbatical I've taken that we've not been on the virtual ship only. So this is different. Those other sabbaticals, if you didn't feel like tuning in, you just didn't tune in. But will you be faithful in August for four Sundays while the pastor's away trying to get his life and get his life together? How selfish would it be that I've served for six or seven months in 2022 buried my auntie, buried my grandfather and kept on preaching how selfish would it be a student in a phd program and you don't even feel that when i preach you don't you don't you don't get half baked messages i'm not giving half baked service to this church no no no i come with all i got even when i'm tired even when i'm grieving even when i'm not feeling my best how selfish would it be that you can't give me four Sundays out of 52.

21:33 I'm asking you to please support your church. Please support me. I need you. I need you. I need you to help me survive. I'm over here trying to help you survive. Now help me survive. Let the church say amen. If you don't know Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, your expiator, your emancipator, and your educator. Expiator means he atones our sins. Emancipator means he sets us free. Educator, he teaches us how to have eternal life. If you need Jesus Christ, he's an expiator. He's an emancipator and he is our educator. Come to Jesus today. It's on the bottom of the screen. You can email us. You can QR code right where you are and join this church and we pray that your walk with Christ will illuminate life into your life. God be praised. Thank you so much. If you want to give, less so tonight, less so tonight.

22:24 look at those seven ways to give thank you for being a faithful consistent giver you keep this church selling i couldn't do it without you and i don't