Introduction:
5 Reasons Pastors Should Be Paid: (1 Corinthians 9:1-14)
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It's COMMON Sense. (1 Cor 9:7)
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It's a CONCERN in the Law. (1 Cor 9:8-11)
1 Timothy 5:17-18 - Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
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It's CLAIMED By Others. (1 Cor 9:12)
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It's a CUSTOM from the Old Testament. (1 Cor 9:13)
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It's COMMANDED By Jesus. (1 Cor 9:14)
Luke 10:7 – for the laborer deserves his wages.
Matthew 10:10 - the laborer deserves his food.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:36-00:40
Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9.
00:44-00:52
The title of today's message is, "Should Pastors Be Paid?" Yeah.
00:54-00:57
I'd like to invite the worship team to come back up as we close.
00:58-01:00
If you want to worship through giving, the offering.
01:04-01:09
You're like, "You better earn that pay." Fair, fair.
01:09-01:12
You know, I was associate pastor for 11 years.
01:12-01:16
And one of the things that I did was run the Wednesday night program.
01:16-01:18
It was pioneer clubs like Awana's.
01:18-01:26
But I'll never forget one girl who was lifelong member of the church from forever.
01:26-01:27
She the one little girl came up.
01:28-01:39
She goes, "Pastor Jeff, where do you work?" And I'm not gonna say her name 'cause she's an adult now and might be watching this, but I said, "Well, you know where I work.
01:40-01:42
"I'm one of the pastors here at the church." She just rolled her eyes.
01:42-01:46
She goes, "I know that, but I mean, where do you work?
01:46-01:49
"Like, what's your job?
01:49-02:02
"Like, what do you do to get paid?" I'm like, "You know, just when you start "to feel pretty good about yourself." Along comes some kid to bring you right back down to earth, right?
02:03-02:03
Where do you work?
02:07-02:09
Many people hold that opinion, right?
02:10-02:12
I mean, being a pastor isn't really work.
02:15-02:19
You know, my favorite, you only work for one hour a week.
02:23-02:24
And you know what?
02:24-02:25
I've heard that so many times.
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I'm quick to correct people on that.
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I'm like, "No.
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I don't work the whole hour.
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My part's only like 35 minutes.
02:37-02:43
I work 35 minutes a week." So should pastors be paid?
02:44-02:47
When you bring it up, people get weird.
02:48-02:49
People get weird.
02:49-02:51
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's car.
02:53-02:55
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's house.
02:55-02:58
Everybody's evaluating the pastor's clothes.
02:59-03:00
How much is he making?
03:03-03:05
You know nobody does that for other professions, right?
03:08-03:18
Like for example, if somebody here is a nurse and you pull up to church driving a Boxter, what are people gonna say?
03:18-03:20
"Good for her, good for her.
03:21-03:23
Wow, I am so happy for her.
03:26-03:31
If I drove up driving a Porsche, what are people gonna say?
03:35-03:36
How much is he making?
03:40-03:49
I've heard a lot of things over the years, statements people have made, their little evaluations on how pastors should be paid.
03:49-03:51
I just want to share a couple with you.
03:51-03:53
Just this is, these amuse me.
03:54-03:57
But one person told me this regarding how a pastor should be paid.
03:58-04:10
He said, "A pastor shouldn't make more "than the lowest paid congregant." So we should find out who in the church makes the least and that should determine the pastor's salary.
04:13-04:17
Because after all, the pastor shouldn't make more than anybody else in the church.
04:19-04:20
I had one guy tell me this.
04:21-04:31
He goes, "I have a real problem "with preachers getting paid by the church." And I said, "What's the issue with that?" He goes, "Think about it this way.
04:33-04:35
"You teach tithing, right?
04:35-04:55
"10%." I'm like, "I'm following you." He goes, "Okay, so if 10 people give 10%, "now automatically the pastor's making "more than everybody in the church." And I'm like, you're gonna have to back up here 'cause you lost me somewhere on that math.
04:57-04:58
I mean, does that math work out?
05:01-05:02
Should pastors be paid?
05:04-05:05
Awkward.
05:05-05:07
Right, it's an awkward subject.
05:07-05:10
Can we just get that under, it's an awkward subject to stand up and preach about.
05:10-05:11
You're like, well then why are you?
05:12-05:17
Because we're going through the book of 1 Corinthians and guess what the subject is of this next section that we are going in?
05:18-05:24
"Should pastors be paid?" Yeah, it's going to be awkward to talk about, but you don't be more awkward than that, skipping it.
05:26-05:26
Right?
05:26-05:29
Because didn't God put it in His Word for a reason?
05:30-05:31
And we don't skip anything here.
05:32-05:33
So we're going after it.
05:34-05:35
We're just going to go after it.
05:35-05:36
Should pastors be paid?
05:37-05:39
The Bible is clear, yes.
05:41-05:50
But some ministers, you know, they live lavishly, and they demand that the church pay for the their extravagant lifestyle, and that is wrong.
05:52-05:59
But we can't just disregard what the Bible says just because some people have abused the privilege.
06:02-06:06
This section here, we're in 1 Corinthians, it's about liberty.
06:08-06:21
You're like, "Well, what is liberty?" It's this, you know, to be saved means that you have to turn from your sin and receive Jesus Christ.
06:21-06:34
And when you receive Him, you believe that Jesus died for your sin, when you believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead, when you believe that, the Bible says you are adopted as a child of God.
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And nothing can change that.
06:37-06:40
Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
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Nothing.
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When you are saved, you are saved as a gift of God's grace.
06:47-06:48
Nothing can change that.
06:51-06:54
So understand your salvation is not performance-based.
06:56-06:58
So that means there's nothing you can do.
06:58-07:01
If you're saved, there's nothing you can do that would disqualify you from being a child of God.
07:01-07:02
It's not performance-based.
07:04-07:12
So the extreme view of that is, well, if it's not performance-based, I'm free to do whatever I want.
07:15-07:16
And that's what we're looking at in this section.
07:17-07:19
Am I free to do whatever I want?
07:19-07:38
Their particular issue, we talked about this last week, was they were, some of the more mature Christians were eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, and they were like, "A burger's a burger." But it bothered some of the weaker Christians who came out of the pagan background and said, You don't want to touch meat that was used in pagan worship.
07:39-07:46
And Paul says, "Love says, 'I will give up my rights if it keeps a brother from stumbling.'" I'll give up my rights.
07:49-08:02
So understand here in this section that we're looking at today, Paul is saying, "Corinthians, I'm not asking you to do anything that I'm not willing to do.
08:05-08:10
Paul is saying here in this section we're looking at, I am laying down a freedom that I have.
08:10-08:13
I have the freedom to get paid by the church.
08:13-08:15
And Paul says, I laid that freedom down.
08:17-08:23
We're going to talk more about that part of it next week, but why would Paul lay that freedom down?
08:23-08:25
He knew it would bring offense.
08:27-08:31
You see, he knew that there were going to be some people that thought, "Oh, look at this guy.
08:31-08:35
There's this new religion and he's using it to cash in.
08:35-08:36
He's using it just to make money.
08:37-08:40
He's trying to rip you off." So Paul got a job making tents.
08:40-09:03
So he's like, "I'm not going to be a financial burden to anybody because I don't want anybody to think that I have an ulterior motive in preaching the gospel." So chapter 9, the section we're looking at today illustrates this whole giving up my liberty issue. I have the freedom to not use my freedom.
09:05-09:18
All right, let's bow. I'm going to ask you to pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive it, and then we'll go right after it. Let's just take a moment and pray.
09:22-09:23
by your name and your word, Father.
09:26-09:30
We ask you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior forever.
09:31-09:35
And all of God's people said, amen.
09:36-09:42
All right, so the Corinthians are like, hey, we are free in Christ to do what we want.
09:42-09:44
Look at chapter nine, verse one.
09:45-09:46
Paul says, am I not free?
09:48-09:49
Am I not an apostle?
09:51-09:52
Paul's like, "I'm free.
09:53-09:55
"I'm free to, you know about your freedom?
09:55-10:08
"I'm free too." And Paul says, "By the way, I'm not just a pew sitter." Okay, he's like, "I'm an apostle." And as always, when the issue comes up, you're going to have a group of people that were like, "Are you, Paul?
10:08-10:09
"Are you really an apostle?
10:09-10:13
"Are you really?" Oh, look at what he says.
10:15-10:18
"Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
10:18-10:25
"Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?" Paul was always defending himself.
10:25-10:27
And right here he goes, "Yeah, I am an apostle.
10:27-10:28
"I'll give you two proofs.
10:28-10:30
"One is the big one.
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"To be an apostle, you had to have seen "the resurrected Jesus Christ." And Paul's like, "I've seen him." Like, did Paul see Jesus?
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Yeah, at least three times.
10:39-10:42
Oh, by the way, one of those times was actually in Corinth.
10:42-10:43
What's that, Acts chapter 18?
10:46-10:56
Paul says, "I have another proof." He goes, "You want another proof of my apostleship?" He goes, "You, you are my proof." What do you mean by that?
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Look at verses two and three.
10:58-11:07
He says, "If to others I am not an apostle, "at least I am to you, "for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
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"This is my defense to those who would examine me." Paul says, "Some might not believe that I'm apostle, but you cannot deny the way that the Lord has worked through me to you." He says, "You're my seal." See, in those days, if somebody wanted to authenticate a letter, they would put a wax seal with the signet ring.
11:31-11:32
That was to say, "This is genuine.
11:32-11:35
This is real." Paul goes, "You want to know that I'm real?
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Do you want to know that I'm authentic?" He goes, "You're my proof, because God has ministered the gospel through me to you." These are the evidences that I'm an apostle.
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So, verse 4, do we not have the right to eat and drink?
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That's obviously sarcasm.
11:58-12:03
I was like, "Yeah, I'm an apostle and God has used me, so I'm not allowed to eat?" Is that what you're saying?
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I've been faithful to your souls, I've been faithful to the Lord, but I don't get to eat?
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He's saying, "I don't get to… are you saying that I don't get to earn a living from the work that I do in the Lord?" Look at verse 5.
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He says, "Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
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Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
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Paul's like, "Other ministers are supported." So much so that other ministers actually take their wives along with them.
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So you support them.
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What about me?
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Do I have the right to be supported by the church?
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See what Paul's doing here.
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in this little introduction, he's setting this all up.
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He goes, "This freedom that I am laying down, is it actually a freedom that I have?" As we look at verses 7-14, Paul here is establishing that this is a right.
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This is legitimate.
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Ministers have the right to be supported by the church.
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He's proving that in this section.
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And in Paul's day, as in ours, there are people that are going to doubt the premise.
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Like, really, should ministers be paid?
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Really?
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Not sure about that.
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Should they, is it really work?
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35 minutes, rather, 35 minutes a week, is that really work?
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Should we be paying you for that?
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Well, Paul gives five reasons why you should pay the pastor.
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All right?
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"Jot these down.
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By the way, you're paying me overtime this week 'cause I spent some extra time making sure these were alliterated.
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I don't always do that, but when I do, I charge extra.
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And I charge by the word, that's why the sermons are so long." So five reasons a pastor should be paid.
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Number one, I love this.
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He just knocks this one right out.
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It's common sense.
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It's common sense.
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Look at verse 7.
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Paul says, "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?
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Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit?
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Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?" Obvious point, right?
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A man earns his living by his work.
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And he gives three examples.
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A soldier, a farmer, and a shepherd.
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Imagine as Paul calls us to here, imagine doing those jobs at your own expense.
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Imagine that.
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That's ludicrous, right?
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Like what do you do?
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I work at Target.
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Why do you work at Target?
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"Well, just trying to pay the bills so in my free time I can be in the army." Like what?
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Paul's like, "Who does that?
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That's called a hobby if you're doing it without being compensated.
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Their families are fed from the work that they do." So it should be true for pastors.
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It's common sense.
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should earn from the work that they do.
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And I have to add, church, that this is also extremely practical when you think about it.
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The church benefits from a focused pastor.
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You're going to get your best work from the pastor if he's not distracted.
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I mean, think about it.
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If the pastor has to provide for his family by working another job, how much gas is left tank to be a pastor. And you're like, "Eh, doesn't look that hard." Well, I want you to think about your job, whatever you do. You're nine to five, whether you work in a bank, work in HVAC, community, you know, some kind of like social service function, think Think of what you do.
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When your shift ends, do you feel like you would be able to effectively pastor a church on top of that?
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Again, I don't care if you're with the police, a computer programmer.
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Imagine working all day doing that, and then you get home and now you've got to write a sermon.
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Oh, and you have two counseling appointments.
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And make sure you squeeze time in.
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you've got to follow up with these new people at church, oh, and then you have a ministry team meeting on top of that.
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Are you really going to do all of that on top of your nine to five?
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It's common sense.
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You see, if a pastor has to work another job, it's easy for him to phone it in when it comes to the church work, right?
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Well, I've got to work at Target so that I can pay my bills.
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the church stuff is just going to have to wait.
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I sure hope they're not expecting a decent sermon this week.
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It's just common sense.
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People should get wages.
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People should benefit from their workplace.
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That's where he starts.
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It's common sense.
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Number two, five reasons pastors should be paid.
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Five reasons Paul says this is a right for pastors to be paid.
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Number two is it's a concern in the law.
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It's a concern in the law.
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Like, what do you mean?
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Well, look at verse eight.
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Paul says, "Do I say these things on human authority?" Like, you think I'm making this up?
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He says, "Does not the law say the same?
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"For it is written in the law of Moses, "you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." That's Deuteronomy 25 verse 4.
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Like, what do you mean an ox treading out the grain?
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It was actually an Egyptian trick that Israel adopted.
18:49-19:01
They would tie a big round flat stone to an ox, and they would have the ox drag the stone over the wheat to crush it to remove the husk.
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Okay, so you have this ox helping you prepare food, doing this hard work of dragging a stone.
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Now how cruel would it be to put a muzzle on the ox while he's doing that?
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Like you have to drag the stone, but you're not allowed to eat.
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Oh, you're going to stand on top of food all day, but you're not allowed to take a bite.
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That's inhumane.
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That's the point.
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Look at verse 9, second part.
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He says, "Is it for oxen that God is concerned?" Does He not speak entirely for our sake?
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It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop." See Paul's point, you know, the whole don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain.
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Paul's like, "You think God's concerned about the ox?" Look, I don't think God has anything against ox, oxen, oxes, oxen, oxen.
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Thank you, Randy.
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Oxen.
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I don't think God's against oxen.
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He created them.
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I think God loves oxen.
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Paul's like, "Do you think he wrote that in the law for the oxen who are going to be reading the law?" Like, "Hey, wait a second.
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You're not supposed to muzzle me while I'm working." I think he didn't write that for the oxen.
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But don't do it now.
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You can do it later.
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You get some time, turn back to that reference in Deuteronomy.
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And you're going to see that section of Deuteronomy has nothing to do with animals.
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Nothing to do with how to treat the livestock.
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It has nothing to do with that.
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It has everything to do with people.
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And how you treat people.
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You see, it's a figure of speech.
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We use animals in figures of speech all the time, don't we?
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Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, two birds with one stone, all of that.
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It was a figure of speech.
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And Paul reminds us here, look, when God wrote that through Moses, He wasn't really concerned about the oxen, He was concerned about man.
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And the point of that expression is the worker deserves to benefit from his work, obviously, right?
21:45-22:02
Luke 11, he says, "If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?" Sown spiritual things.
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That's all I'm trying to do for this church.
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There are many people in this church that I have led to Christ.
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There's many people in this church that I've not only taught the Bible, but I've taught how to teach the Bible.
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There are people in this church that I have counseled out of disaster, comforted you and your family at funerals.
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I married a lot of people here.
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I've come along leaders to try to encourage them in their particular ministries.
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None of this is meant to be boastful or "Hey, look at me." I'm just saying objectively, this is what I'm striving to do among you.
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So is it out of line to support me in doing those things?
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Am I asking too much?
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Or do you see no value in anything that I do?
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Now look, I am so thankful.
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This church has always supported me and my family.
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And I am so thankful to God for you and your support.
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It would absolutely grieve me though if you thought that I wasn't worth it.
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Like, yeah, we'll support him, but I mean, does he really bring something to the table?
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Some churches, well, they do justify no pay or meager pay for the pastors.
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Some churches justify that.
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You can't pay the pastor very much.
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Why?
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Gotta keep 'em humble, right Pastor Taylor?
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Gotta keep 'em humble.
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Pastor Taylor gets paid two Kit Kats a week, that's all he gets from the church.
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Because we're gonna keep 'em humble.
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We don't want 'em to get swollen head.
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So we gotta keep 'em humble.
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Listen, that is an unbiblical mindset, completely backwards to what the Bible says about the way you treat your pastor.
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Right?
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1 Timothy 5, look what Paul told Timothy.
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He says, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching." You know what he means by double honor?
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He doesn't mean like, thank you, thank you.
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Great job, great job.
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That's not what he means at all.
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You look at the context, he's talking about pay.
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He's saying you should double my pay.
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You get the point there, right?
25:12-25:14
Not keep them humble.
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He's like, those who preach the word of God deserve double honor.
25:18-25:24
He says, for the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.
25:25-25:29
and the laborer deserves his wages.
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And right now some Bible scholar is like, oh, okay, don't muzzle the ox.
25:38-25:40
Okay, Pastor Jeff, that's Old Testament.
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We don't live under the Old Testament.
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Well, we abide under the principles of the law, especially when they're repeated in the New Testament.
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All right?
25:54-25:55
The five reasons pastors should be paid.
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Paul says it's common sense.
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It's a concern in the law.
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Number three, write this down, it's claimed by others.
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It's claimed by others.
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Verse 12, he says, "If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?" Paul's like, "Oh, by the way, it's not weird or unusual.
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In fact, there's precedent for it.
26:27-26:27
Right?
26:28-26:30
Many of you do support others.
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And you should, but there's many people here that you're like, I support certain missionaries or I support world vision, or I support Samaritan's Purse.
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I support all these people.
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And Paul here is just simply saying, hey, what about the shepherd who has devoted his life to caring for you?
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What about that guy?
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Should he be paid?
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Should he be supported?
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And my whole life revolves around caring for you, praying for you, discipling you.
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And some people are like, "Well, you know, I listen to such and such preacher on the Facebooks or the YouTubes or whatever.
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I listen to Jack Hibbs, so my tithe goes to Jack Hibbs." Okay.
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But when you need counseling, do you think Jack Hibbs is going to come and counsel you?
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You know, if you have a tragedy, do you think Jack Hibbs is going to be at your house to pray for you, pray with you?
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Does Jack Hibbs even know who you are?
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That's Paul's point here.
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Paul's like, "Others share the rightful claim.
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"You support others." Paul's like, "How can you not support the one who loves you?" He goes on in verse 12, he goes, "Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, "but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle "in the way of the gospel of Christ." That's the whole point of broaching the subject.
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We have the freedom to get paid, but Paul says, "I laid that freedom down." Just as I'm telling you to do about eating the meat sacrifice to the idols, it's okay.
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It's okay to lay your freedom down sometimes.
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We're going to get into that more next week.
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This week though, he's giving us five reasons a preacher should be paid.
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And here's number four, it's a custom from the Old Testament.
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It's common sense, it's a concern in the law, it's claimed by others, and it's a custom from the Old Testament.
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Look at verse 13.
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He says, "Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.
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Do a little study sometime, Old Testament law.
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In the Old Testament, priests were supported for their work by their work.
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All of the sacrifices that were given under Old Testament law realized the priest received a portion of what was offered in some way, shape, or form.
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That's what Paul's talking about here.
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And I was studying this this week, and I'm like, why did he sort of, he kind of said that in verse seven, right?
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The same thing.
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So why did he bring this up again?
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And then it hit me.
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Verse seven, he gave secular examples.
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You know, the soldier, the farmer, the shepherd.
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He gave secular examples.
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And there are some in the church that would say, "Okay, Paul, you're using secular reasoning and you're trying to apply it to the spiritual realm." And I think what Paul's doing here is saying, "Look, yes, this principle, you should be supported for the work that you do, by your work." It's true in the secular world and it's true in the sacred world too.
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So Paul's like, "Don't act like this is a new thing.
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supporting the spiritual leaders, because it's a custom that goes way back to the Old Testament.
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Number five, five reasons pastors should be paid.
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It's common sense, it's a concern in the law, it's claimed by others, it's a custom from the Old Testament.
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Last and probably most important, I would say, I think that's why it's last, it's commanded by Jesus.
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It's commanded by Jesus.
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Look at verse 14, "In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." Wait a minute, when did Jesus say that?
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Well, He said that a couple of times.
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In Luke chapter 10, Jesus was sending out the 72 and He was talking about, you can look this up later, the people that believe you should be the ones that feed you.
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So Jesus in sending them out said, "For the laborer deserves his wages." What's the context of that?
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And again in Matthew 10, verse 10, Jesus was sending out the twelve, and He says, "The people that believe you should be the people who support you." And that's why He said, "The laborer deserves his food." In both cases, Jesus was saying those who preach the gospel must be supported by those who believe the gospel.
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In other words, believers, we could say church members, should financially support their leaders.
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If you're a guest here today, I want you to understand you're under no obligation to give.
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Don't feel guilty or like, "Well, I probably should." If you're a guest, be our guest.
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There's zero obligation.
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is something that we are to share as a church family.
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All right?
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But nevertheless, the Lord commanded it.
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Those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
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So Paul, in this whole section, is saying as a minister of the gospel, I have every right to expect you to support me, but I laid that right down.
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I thought it might be an obstacle to the work, so because I love you, I didn't take financial support from you." Paul's like, "I'm trying to show you something, that when you love, you're willing to lay down your rights.
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When you love, you're willing to lay down your freedoms." Paul is just simply saying, as we'll see next week, "Follow my example." Right now you're like, "Okay, pay the pastor, fine." Well my hope is not that you reluctantly get on board with giving, but I want you to see the bigger picture of why you give.
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Yes, giving primarily is an act of worship.
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We've had a whole sermon series about that.
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Giving is an act of worship.
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But also I want you to think about the tangible effects of giving.
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When you give, my family is supported.
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And that frees me from trying to do ministry on top of a nine to five job.
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It lets me stay focused on caring for you.
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Understand that when you give, look at the big picture, you're freeing me up so that I can care for everybody in this church to the best of my ability.
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Everyone benefits.
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When you give, other staff are paid.
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That allows us to worship in excellent music.
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It helps us disciple your children and young adults to minister on a personal level through the oversight of our entire small group ministry and so many more things that are able to happen that couldn't happen if you weren't financially supporting the leadership of the church.
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Oh, oh, oh, and when you give, understand that you're supporting a whole network of ministers in Thailand.
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Do you know in northern Thailand and beyond, we have 23 churches, we have four children's homes, we have a Bible institute, and do you know how many people stateside support them?
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Just this church.
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You, when you give, you are allowing the work of evangelism happen all over that area of the world through our network of churches.
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Disciples are made all over Northern Thailand and beyond.
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When you give, that is your way of actively partnering with me in advancing the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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I'd like you to bow your heads as the worship team makes their way up.
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Father in heaven, it felt awkward to have to give a message like this, but God, it's your word.
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We don't skip anything.
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We just want to go after what you said.
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Father, I thank you for the way that this church has always sought to support me and my family.
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Financially sure, but so many other ways this church has sought to bless and protect my family.
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God, I thank you so much for these people.
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This is from you, God, and I thank you for that.
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I just pray, Father, that looking at a passage like this, you would give us sort of a bigger picture of the way your economy works and why you have called us to certain things that you've called us to.
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God, we believe that all things are yours, and we believe, God, that you have called us to be faithful stewards with everything that you give us.
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We thank you for the privilege and all the ways that you've called us to partner with you in the work of the ministry.
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Thank You, Father, for the spirit of generosity that You have stirred among Your people here.
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And as King David prayed in preparation for the temple, might that spirit always be found in Your people.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-14
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain why Paul broaches the subject of paying the pastor in the first place. What does that have to do with their question about Christian liberty?
What are some practical benefits that come when a pastor doesn't have to work outside the church?
How would you respond to someone who says, “Pastors should have a job like everyone else! It's not fair that the pastor has money when some people in the congregation are struggling financially.”
Breakout
Pray for one another.