We appoint two new elders for our OC Church family - Ron Richmond and Kinney Barbour!

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OC Church of Christ

I want to say thank you, Steve Staten, wherever you

2

are for all the hard work you've

put to get this process rolling.

3

I also want to say thank

you to the LA church.

4

We have a number of elders from the

Los Angeles, please stand up so we

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can reckon and deacons and deacons.

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I see deacons.

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Thank you very much.

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Multiple regions here to

support and to share in this

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historic moment with you today.

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Two men, Ron Richman and Kenny

Barber are being appointed

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shepherds in God's kingdom.

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But wait, there will be more, but not yet.

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Two for today, shepherds in God's flock.

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This is a role that has

been incredibly significant.

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Among God's people for thousands of

years, for thousands of years, God has

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worked through shepherds, through elders

to protect his people, to heal his

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people, to train and teach and prepare

his people for the challenges they would

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face in this life so that they could

be with the father in the next life.

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And God used shepherds.

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They provided wisdom and spiritual

direction for the community of God.

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They were charged with

protecting the community of God.

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They were charged with caring

for the needs of the people

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in the community of God.

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Because they have such a significant

role in His plan for humankind.

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That he was very cautious about who

would be a shepherd in God's people.

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Who would be, who can be, an

elder in the community of God.

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Paul told Timothy, when it was time

to appoint elders in the church,

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which was something entirely new.

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Because previously, they had all been,

the community was Jews, and they knew God.

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But now all of a sudden the church

had started spread and it was full of

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Gentiles and full of people with different

cultures from different languages.

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And there were many more needs.

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And so there was a great need for

shepherds of that new community.

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And it was incredibly important

that they would be men who could

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deal with a diversity of issues

and challenges for all people from

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all backgrounds in all languages.

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from all nations.

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And so Paul told Timothy that they are to

be above reproach, faithful to his wife,

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temperate, self controlled, respectable,

hospitable, able to teach, not given to

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drunkenness, not violent, but gentle,

not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

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He must manage his own family well

and see that his children obey him.

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And he must do so in a manner worthy.

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of full respect.

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Anyone does not, anyone who does not

know how to manage his own family,

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how can he take care of God's church?

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He must not be a recent convert,

or he may become conceited and fall

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into the same judgment as the devil.

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He must also have a good reputation

with outsiders so that he will not fall

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into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

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And he told Titus, an elder must

be blameless, faithful to his wife

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and a man whose children believe

and who are not open to the charge

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of being wild and disobedient.

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Since an overseer manages God's household,

he must be blameless, not overbearing, not

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quick tempered, not given to drunkenness,

not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

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Rather, he must be hospitable.

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One who loves what is good, who

is self-controlled, upright,

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wholly, and disciplined.

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He must hold firmly to the trustworthy

message as it has been taught so

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that he can encourage others by sound

doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

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God was preparing a community that

would have to deal with all the

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challenges of the Greco-Roman world.

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Yes, a world in major transition, a world

is shifting culturally and socially,

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but not just that world for the next 20

centuries and who knows how many more

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centuries to deal with all the world

would dish out in the shifts and the

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pools and the tides and the ups and

the downs and the challenges and the

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influences that the world would try to

exert on God's community to protect them.

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To guide them through the many,

many challenges they would face.

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And therefore, he sent Timothy

and Titus to finish the work.

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Meaning he had already sent out

evangelists to preach the gospel

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and to advance the kingdom.

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But now you have a church and

it has to be taken care of.

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And it has to grow and be healthy

and thrive and shine so that

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it can be a light to the world.

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And that's not an easy thing.

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Because we are constantly

in this spiritual battle.

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We are constantly under attack by Satan.

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And we are, we are hurt by those outside.

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We are hurt by ourselves.

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We hurt ourselves sometimes.

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And there is a great need for godly

shepherds to take care of this church.

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And so, these instructions that

we were given are the instructions

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we used to choose these men.

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These are the men that you have called

on, that you have recognized and

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approved to be appointed as shepherds.

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Now a shepherd and elder is a man, but

we know that there's no righteous man

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or ever going to be righteous without

a righteous woman helping him along.

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And part of the wisdom of elders is

they know that they're not getting

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anywhere without their wives saying,

honey, don't you think we should pray?

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Don't you think we should ask

directions on how to get there?

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Don't you think we should get some advice

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in their loving, humble,

but powerful ways?

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Guiding their husbands, as

somebody once said, he may be

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the head, but she's the neck.

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So I would like to ask We're going to

recognize the wives of these men first.

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I would like to ask Becky and Karina and

Lisa and Julie to come on up on the stage.

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Speaker 2: She's learning.

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What a great day.

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Thank you everyone for coming.

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Um, all the elders and their wives

that drove so far, I'm so grateful.

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We feel so supported.

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We feel so encouraged by your prayers.

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And you, you were in the

battle with us as we searched.

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For God to reveal who would

these, who this couple would be.

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So I'm here to share about Lisa Richmond.

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And

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Thank you.

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Yeah.

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I don't know if many of you know our

story, but it didn't start off great.

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But it has ended great, right?

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Yes.

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Lisa is a noble woman.

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And I'm so proud of her.

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If you have an opportunity to be her

friend, she will love you forever.

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She calls you when you least expect.

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She cries with you.

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She prays with you.

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She encourages her husband.

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She encourages her

children, her grandchildren.

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She served her father until his last day.

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She's a great example of

what a noble woman is.

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I'm so proud of you.

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I am grateful to have you by my side.

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With their arms up in

prayer for our congregation.

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I know you and Ron will do amazing things.

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I know Ron can't do this without you.

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And I love you a lot.

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Speaker 6: In 1 Timothy 3, 11, it's

talking about the elders and the

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deacons and it says, In the same way

the women are to be worthy of respect,

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not malicious talkers, but temperate,

and trustworthy in everything.

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Oh, I'm getting emotional.

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Sorry.

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Um,

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worthy of respect.

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I feel like that's Julie.

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From the moment we've been here, I have

seen young children, preteens, teens,

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older women, men, men of all ages.

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Respect Julie.

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She is wise.

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She is hardworking.

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She is kind and gentle.

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Temperate or self controlled.

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I've never talked to Julie.

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She has this gentle, soothing voice.

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She asks all the right

questions in all the right ways.

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She tilts her head a little

bit, makes it a little softer.

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She is a woman of deep convictions.

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It's not just how she

communicates, but it's her life.

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Her life communicates

a life of self control.

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You live righteously, you're devoted

to God, and following all of His ways.

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Trustworthy in everything,

and I mean everything.

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Julie does everything.

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She helps with the children's ministry.

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She just volunteered to serve as

a children's ministry coordinator.

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Um, she serves in just about every

rotation of children's ministry already.

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She helps with the shepherding classes.

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She helps with mental health classes.

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She helps with grief recovery.

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Um, Julie, you have been So helpful

to me personally and to the church.

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It's a little gift for you, but

you are definitely worthy of this.

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And I know that together with

Kenny, I know he, I know you

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will be of great support to him.

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Speaker: Elders are a

sacred role in the church.

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In God's community.

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There's three different words

that we run into in scripture that

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describe them in Greek Presbyteros,

which is the presbyter, the elder,

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simply put, they're the old guys.

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This isn't their first rodeo.

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They've been around the block a few times.

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It's not just the years, it's the miles.

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And they're the ones that can

just nod their head and go,

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yeah, I know why you're mad.

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I get it.

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You know, they're the ones who are

able to rise above the angst and

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the fear and the frustration and

the anger and the emotionalism that

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we all wrestle with as a community.

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They are the Episcopal, the overseers.

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They oversee things, they just

make sure everything's going well.

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It's funny how in, in my family

this weekend with everybody there,

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grandkids, kids and Michelle's parents,

automatically, we all look to her dad,

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what did, when we have to decide what

movie to watch, . And he just makes sure

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he is taking us all out for lunch and.

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And we know him, he's not going

to let anybody pay, he's just

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going to pull out the card.

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He's just oversees the family.

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And it's wonderful, and the minute he

steps out of the room, everybody looks

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at me, and it falls on my shoulders.

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And it's just the way it is, there's

just the Presbyters, the elders, the

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Episcopoi, they're the dads in the church.

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To make sure everybody's taken care of.

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To make sure we don't forget somebody.

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We don't forget a ministry.

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We don't, we don't forget to think

about this group and to keep us ministry

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evangelists thinking of everybody

and remembering that the church is

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not just the army of God, but it's

the family of God and complete with

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grandparents, children, and grandchildren.

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And we want to get everybody

to be with God forever.

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That's the mission.

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Amen.

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Church.

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They are the Poyman, the shepherds, the

ones who watch over the flock and deal

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with false doctrines and divisive people

and errant leaders and errant members.

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And they're the ones that have, that love

to take care of the ministry staff, but

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also the courage to challenge ministry

staff, to take care of the whole flock.

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They're the caretakers.

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They're the shepherds.

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They watch over the flock

and everybody's in it.

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They embody so much of Psalm 23.

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The Lord is my shepherd.

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I lack nothing.

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He makes me lie down in green pastures.

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You ever wonder why it

says he makes me lie down?

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He leads me by quiet waters.

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He refreshes my soul and shows me the

paths of righteousness for his namesake.

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And even though I walk through the valley

of shadow and uncertainty, and I don't

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know where we're meeting next week or

what's going on, I fear no evil for you

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are with me and your rod and your staff.

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They protect me.

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You even appoint a table in

the presence of my enemies and

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you anoint my head with oils

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and my cup overflows.

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Surely goodness and love will follow

me all the days of my life and I

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even I Will dwell in the house of

the Lord forever and ever and ever.

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That's the mission.

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Amen.

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That's what shepherds, that's

what elders make sure we do.

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Make sure the church does.

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Make sure that we stay on point.

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It was a very, very important

role in the early church.

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Working with the evangelists, working

with the teachers, working with the

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prophets, working with all the different

roles that were advancing and spreading

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the gospel and building up the church

and baptizing people to make sure we

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stayed on point and stayed on the path.

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In Ephesians 4 he says, So Christ himself

gave the apostles, the prophets, the

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evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to

equip his people for works of service so

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that the body of Christ may be built up.

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So we can be strong in

every one of those roles.

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The apostles, which today are like

evangelists who plant churches.

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They're the ones that started new

things that spread the gospel out there.

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And there's a whole lot more

people in Orange County that

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need to hear the gospel.

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They desperately need it.

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And the prophets Who was

willing to preach God's word.

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They're not out trying to figure out

what is the world want or what do people

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want or even what is the church want?

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They're in charge with what does God want.

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Because they know better than anybody that

the best way to do anything is God's way.

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Always seek the Lord first.

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And everything else will fall in place.

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And the evangelist who spread the good

news, not the bad news, the good news.

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Amen.

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Of Jesus Christ, the good news that

we can all be forgiven of our sins.

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That doesn't matter how much you blew it.

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You can be forgiven

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and you too can make it.

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And spread that good news and the

teachers who helped to train and equip

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and help us understand how do we grow?

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How do we grow in being formed in Christ?

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How do we place the

scriptures in our hearts?

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How do we live that out?

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The rest of that Matthew 28, go and make

disciples, baptize them in the name of the

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Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and teach them

to practice everything he taught us to do.

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And he would be with us

forever and ever and ever.

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And lastly, the pastors, that's the

elders, the shepherds that would watch

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over us, take care of us and make sure.

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And we know, we know from

experience, the church will not

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be healthy without this whole team

in play, without the evangelists

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and the elders working together.

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And even some teachers is good for us.

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Keeping us on point and the

deacons all doing their part and

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he tells us why we need all this.

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We, so that we all reach unity in the

faith and in the knowledge of the son of

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God and become mature, attaining to the

whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

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Boy, that's a mouthful.

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What does that mean?

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Attain the whole measure

of the fullness of Christ.

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It's that promise Jesus made.

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Life to the full.

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Even though he knew this

world would be all messed up.

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But you could still have life to the full.

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Not just in the life to

come, but in this life.

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And no matter what Satan deals out to us.

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No matter what happens

to us in this world.

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And horrible things happen in this world.

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We could still have life to the full.

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And that's why he gave us this team to

help us and to train us so that why,

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and that's not even the end of the goal

so that we can do works of service for

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the Lord so that we can be the light

of the world that sits in darkness so

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that we Can be the pioneer spreading the

gospel so that we can help our Children

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and our families and our neighbors and

our co workers and our co students so

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that we even with all our faults and

weaknesses could bring God's good news

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to everybody and to help everybody.

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And the results, he says, then we

will no longer be infants tossed back

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and forth by the waves blown here

and there by every wind of teaching

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and by the cunning and craftiness of

people and their deceitful scheming.

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We live in a time where there's

a lot of tossing back and forth.

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There's a lot of forces out there

trying to influence our minds

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and our hearts to divide us, to

separate us, to fill us with fear.

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To protect us, he said.

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Instead, speaking the truth in love,

we will grow to become in every respect

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the mature body of him who is the head.

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That is Christ.

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From him, the whole body, joined and

held together by every supporting

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ligament, grows and builds itself up

in love as each part does its work.

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That's us, guys.

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That's us.

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And shepherds, that's you.

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That's you.

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That's you.

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To help us.

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That's you.

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To help us get there.

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And we need your help.

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We need help as a people.

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What a fantastic vision for the church.

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And yet, today, is a significant

step in that direction.

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And the truth is, we need more men and

we will have more men who rise up and

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take that charge to lead and to serve.

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And that's coming, but not just men.

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We need more women to rise up and take the

charge to serve and to help this church

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be healthy and be a light to the world.

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We need that.

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And God is moving forward and praise God.

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For doing so because he loves us.

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And I know we've, we've struggled with a

vision for who and what is Orange County.

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God hasn't struggled.

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He knows exactly who you are and he loves

you and cherishes you and can't wait

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for your light to shine brighter still.

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And today's a big step in that process.

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I would like Ron and Kenny

to come on up and Marcel.

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Let's appoint these men.

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Come up here, Ron.

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First Ron, then we'll do Kenny.

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Let me tell you about Ron.

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Here's his bio.

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Born in New York City.

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1961.

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He's a Presbyterian.

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He's old.

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One of three children.

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Children.

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His older sister, Betsy Edmonds, is

probably here somewhere this morning.

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There she is over there.

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Went to Duke University,

where he graduated with a

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BA in biochemistry in 1983.

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I almost said 63, but that

would have made him two.

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He then graduated from the University of

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He decided to specialize

in family practice.

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and went to Akron, Ohio for residency,

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God was serving and opened a door for

him to work as a traveling physician

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for two years, working in six to

eight week stints across the country.

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It was during this time

that the Lord moved.

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It was during this time that

he was invited to church

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in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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For He studied the Bible there,

but God had further plans.

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And so his next assignment was

here in Los Angeles, where he

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was baptized by Mike Stefan.

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I think Mike's around here

somewhere right over there.

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And Henry Kramer in November 1st, 1992.

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The following summer, Ron was asked

to move to orange County to help form

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a medical professionals ministry.

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Here in O.

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C.

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Coincidentally, Lisa, then

Gardner, moved to Orange County

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as well from the East region.

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Lisa was baptized in 1982 in the

Plantation Church in Florida by none

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other than Bruce and Robin Williams.

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One year after her mother, Joyce

Dilley, was baptized in the same church.

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Ron and Lisa were soon married in 1994.

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And raised up Evelyn and

Andrew here in this church.

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Evelyn married a wonderful

disciple, Christian Bolaños, who

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grew up in the San Diego church.

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And they just had their second child.

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First Finn and Mavis, Mavis, Mavis

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Speaker 7: Roe.

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She's back there.

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She is a

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Speaker: man.

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I know Ron actually met Ron when

I was leading hope worldwide and

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I was so impressed by Ron's heart.

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Because as much as God blessed him, he

was so concerned about the poor and he

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was so concerned about helping people.

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And he was concerned that hope

worldwide be run righteously

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and be done the right way.

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And I was very, very impressed by Ron and

I felt so blessed later to be able to come

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and work with you here in Orange County.

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And us to be coworkers

in God's kingdom here.

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And I'm super proud.

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I know.

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And I hear from so many disciples,

how you've impacted them, how you have

390

been a rock in the midst of many storms

here, and you have been rock solid.

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You are a shepherd of God's people.

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And today we have the privilege to

recognize that and appoint you an elder.

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So I have some gifts here.

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First of all, a shepherd's rod.

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So we don't show up.

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A shepherd's rod is to protect

and defend God's people.

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As a good shepherd does.

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You are to fight the lion,

the wolf, and the bear.

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And they do show up.

400

You are to keep the church

protected from false doctrines.

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From sin and Satan's attacks

from without and from within.

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You are given that charge.

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I also have

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oil from Jerusalem scented with

frankincense and myrrh and oil.

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Is representative of the Holy spirit

and representative of healing.

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As we just heard in Psalm 23, the

Lord anoints us with perfumed oils,

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and I give you this oil to heal and

to anoint the Orange County Church.

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And I have another gift.

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This is the shofar.

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This is a shofar.

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We'll have to get Malcolm

to come up here and play it.

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The shofar has two

major symbolic gestures.

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One, it was used to call

God's people into battle.

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And you are to call us

to fight the good fight.

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Help us in this battle.

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Number two, it was also used

to call God's people to prayer.

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To the times of prayer.

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To get on their knees, to

humble themselves before the

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Lord, and to pray to him.

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And you are to call us to prayer, that the

church be a house of prayer for the Lord.

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I give you, I give you this charge.

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It's the charge of Peter.

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He wrote, Be a shepherd of God's

flock that is under your care.

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And watch over them, not because you must,

but because you are willing as God wants

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you to be not pursuing dishonest gain,

but eager to serve, not lording it over

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those entrusted to you, but being examples

to the flock so that when the chief

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shepherd appears, you will receive the

crown of glory that will never fade away.

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I give you these gifts,

and I give you this charge.

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Do you accept?

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I do.

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Speaker 4: I want to

introduce to you Kenny Barber.

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Kenny has been married 29 years to Julie.

433

They have two daughters,

Courtney and Kelsey.

434

Kenny was born and raised

in the Washington D.

435

C.

436

metropolitan area, also DMV.

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He did want me to mention

that he is younger than Ron.

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Kenny received, Kenny received his

bachelor's degree from Townsend

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State University, has been working

at, and has a career in the

440

informational technology management.

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Kenny has been a Christian for 30 years

this month and has spent the last 28

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years here in Southern California.

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Kenny was converted as a

Christian in the Baltimore church.

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He has been part of the Baltimore.

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The Metro L.

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A.

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Region and Orange County

Ministries in our fellowship.

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Kenny is a staple here in the O.

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C.

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Church.

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And has been a part of our North OC core

group leadership group for over, uh,

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for over a decade and currently leads a

small group here in North Orange County.

453

He has led the chemical recovery and

disciples in motion classes and recently

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our shepherding classes as well.

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He enjoys spending time with his

family and watching his Washington

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Commanders football team.

457

That shows you what kind of man he is.

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To stay loyal to the

Washington Commanders.

459

That's hard living right there.

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That's a man of faith and

perseverance right there.

461

Kenny admits that his weakness

in kryptonite is his affinity

462

for white chocolate raspberry

truffle Haagen Dazs ice cream.

463

Kenny, you are a man of God.

464

That is the very first thing that

comes to mind when I think of you.

465

That you are a man of God.

466

You had, you have a deep faith in God.

467

You have a deep faith in the power of

Jesus and his ability to change lives

468

and the power of Jesus and his word.

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You care for God's people with

the sincere love that is seen,

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heard, felt, and experienced by

those who come in contact with you.

471

You work hard, and you have been

faithful to God's people, and

472

you are worthy of imitation.

473

We are grateful to have you here in

Orange County and I am personally

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grateful for our friendship and service

together over the last several years.

475

Corinne and I respect you and your

wife and we have learned so much from

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you and we love and adore your family.

477

I am confident that you will

serve God, and you will serve his

478

church with integrity as an elder.

479

I too will give you these three gifts.

480

I give you the Shepherd's Rod

to protect and defend God's

481

people as a good Shepherd does.

482

You are to fight the lion,

the wolf, and the bear.

483

As a shepherd of the family of

God, you must protect the church

484

from false doctrine and Satan's

attacks from within and without.

485

I give to you also a vial of

olive oil from Jerusalem to anoint

486

and to heal the Lord's people.

487

The oil also represents the

presence of the Holy Spirit, which

488

you are to listen to closely.

489

I also give to you the shofar of Israel.

490

The shofar, as was mentioned earlier,

491

was blown to call God's people to battle.

492

You are to call God's people to

fight the good fight and to wage

493

the war in the spiritual battle.

494

A shofar was also used to

call God's people to prayer.

495

You are to make sure that the OC Church

is a house of prayer for the Lord.

496

I give you now this charge

in 1 Peter 5, verse 2.

497

Amen.

498

Be a shepherd of God's flock

that is under your care and watch

499

over them, not because you must.

500

But because you are willing as God

wants you to be not pursuing dishonest

501

game, but eager to serve not lording,

not lording it over those entrusted to

502

you, but being examples to the flock.

503

So that when the chief shepherd appears,

you will receive the clown of Crown

504

of glory that will never fade away.

505

Do you accept these gifts and

thereby doing so accept this charge?

506

Yeah, I do accept

507

Speaker 5: this charge.

508

Speaker: We have presented these

two men, men that you've chosen, men

509

that you have approved of men that

you have selected to be shepherds

510

over this flock, to watch over the

Orange County region to be shepherds.

511

In the body of elders for the

Los Angeles Church of Christ.

512

Now, I have a charge for you.

513

In Hebrews 12, 17, He tells us,

Obey them that have oversight

514

over you, and submit yourselves,

for they watch over your souls.

515

As they that must give account,

516

they watch over you.

517

that they may do it with

joy and not with grief.

518

For that would be no advantage for you.

519

Do you Orange County region accept

this charge to follow these men

520

as your overseers and elders?

521

And if it is yes, then let the church say

522

With God as your witness,

523

you have recognized

these men as your elders.

524

I would like all the evangelists and

elders in the room to come up here, come

525

up here to lay hands on these men so that

we may pray and the wives too, please.

526

As we know, it's a team.

527

I'm going to do a blessing and then

James Willis is going to come up and pray

528

over them as we all lay hands on them.

529

We didn't get this from Avatar.

530

They got it from us.

531

Go ahead and put your hands

on these fellows here.

532

May the God, may God,

533

how many elders does it

take to organize a group?

534

Let us bless these men,

bless them with your hearts.

535

And with agreement in these words, may

God, the father prepare your journey.

536

Jesus, the son guide your footsteps, the

spirit of life, strengthen your body.

537

The three in one watch over you

on every road that you may follow.

538

May the love of Christ be active in

your heart, be heard in your words, be

539

seen in your actions and inform your

choices today and all the days to come.

540

Amen.

541

May the Lord protect and bless all

that you set your hands to accomplish.

542

Watch over your families and

guard your heart, mind, soul,

543

and body in the name of Jesus.

544

Amen.

545

Go ahead, James.

546

Speaker 8: Amen.

547

Speaker: Hands on.

548

Speaker 8: I will pray.

549

But before I do that, I want to thank

all of you for your prayers and support.

550

For this region, I don't want

to thank the men and women up

551

on the stage and support the L.

552

A.

553

Church and the M.

554

L.

555

C.

556

And the service team have provided for us.

557

Steve Staten.

558

Thank Robert and Michelle for

their willingness to serve and to

559

minister and shepherd us as well.

560

So, I just want to encourage all of

you to continue to pray, continue

561

to call on each other to encourage

one another because we are family

562

and one part of the body suffer.

563

We all suffer and I'm grateful

for all of you and your faith

564

and your commitment to God.

565

Let us pray.

566

Dear Heavenly Father, we are in

awe of you and your many blessings

567

that you constantly bestow upon us.

568

We're grateful for this day.

569

God, we're grateful for all that

you have done to help us to see

570

what an amazing God you are.

571

And Father, we lift you up right now.

572

God, as we lift up Ron and Lisa

Kenny and Julie to you, Father, we

573

thank you so much for the Holy Spirit

that called upon them to serve in

574

this role as elders, as overseer of

your flock here in Orange County.

575

God, we pray that you will be with

them, strengthen them in their faith,

576

strengthen them in their weaknesses,

help them, God, to turn to you.

577

Like your word says, Jesus, to

come to you, all who are weary and

578

burdened, for you will give them rest.

579

Take your yoke upon them because

you are gentle and humble in heart.

580

God, I pray that they will be a

safe place for the flock to come to.

581

God, to shepherd, to encourage, to

inspire, to cry, to lift them up to you.

582

Because they are yours, God.

583

And we are only overseers.

584

And we thank you so much.

585

For your faithfulness to us, we ask

you to please be with us, protect all

586

of our hearts, protect their hearts

because we know who the real enemy is,

587

God, and we cannot lose sight of that.

588

God, we have to continue to rely

on you and your Holy spirit and

589

put on the full armor every day.

590

God encouraging one lifting each other up.

591

Father, we love you, God.

592

And we thank you, Jesus, for

this calling that you have given

593

these men, not because they must.

594

Because they are willing and I

pray that you will be with them.

595

Be with their wives.

596

Please watch over and

protect their families, their

597

children and grandchildren.

598

God, we love you so much.

599

We lift all these things up to you, Jesus.

600

Please be with us in a powerful way.

601

God, we love you.

602

It's your name.

603

We pray.

604

Amen.

605

Speaker 7: Amen.

606

Speaker: Orange County, I give you your

two new elders, Ron Richman, Kenny Barber,

607

Speaker 3: Ron Kenny, you see this?

608

Have you seen the crowd?

609

Look at your people.

610

Speaker: And we're going to

close out with a few words.

611

from their hearts, beginning with Kenny.

612

Speaker 5: Amen.

613

God is good, right?

614

Um, I'm full of emotion.

615

I'm here.

616

Um, first of all, um, My wife

being by my side, I'm seeing the

617

wonderful things said about her.

618

Seeing my father here, who traveled from

Maryland, Washington DC area, the DMV.

619

And my uncle, Jimmy as well, my two

girls, and it's quite a journey.

620

My wife, Just to know

that God chose her for me.

621

Uh, I knew that from the beginning,

uh, in bringing this journey together.

622

Uh, she shaped me.

623

Um, every argument we've

had, every Um, joyful moment.

624

Uh, I think God shaped me for this.

625

Um, I, I see that, uh, with my,

my kids, uh, seeing them growing

626

up from child to an adult.

627

Um, every argument we may have

had or every conflict we've had.

628

Just seeing how they've always

given me the space to come

629

back and change and repent.

630

They've always given me that space,

uh, so I appreciate them for that.

631

Um, you know, uh, just seeing their

journeys move me, uh, shape me.

632

My daughter here singing,

um, moves me as well.

633

Um, my father.

634

Uh, he's always been my role model.

635

Um, his gentleness, uh, his humility,

his strength, he's well respected.

636

Um, I've always wanted to

imitate him and still do.

637

Uh, I appreciate him

coming here to support me.

638

Uh, he, even being humble enough

to ask for my Um, scripturally, um,

639

um, spiritually as well recently.

640

Um, my, my, my uncle has always challenged

me in character ever since I was young.

641

You know, I grew up pretty, pretty fast.

642

Uh, I mean, physically I was,

I think in the seventh grade

643

I was maybe six foot two.

644

And he would challenge me.

645

He says, you're, you're, you're tall.

646

And I'd slump over.

647

He said, you need to act like

it and be tall and know you're

648

tall and stop slumping over.

649

He'd always challenge me on my character.

650

I respect them so much, them both,

in their walk with God as well.

651

Uh, Also, um, seven years ago, uh, Kevin

Maynes, he used to lead the church here.

652

Um, he, he passed away deceased.

653

Uh, he'd always, um, toss it

around eldership to me, uh, a lot.

654

And it's something I was, didn't

want to grasp, you know, I was, I

655

was never willing, you know, to that,

it was such a high esteem and, uh,

656

we had a men's retreat and, uh, he

was rushing out the door for lunch.

657

And he sees me and he says,

Kenny, Eldership, it's yours.

658

Literally an hour later,

he had a heart attack.

659

Uh, and I never saw Kevin again.

660

He died.

661

His last words to me.

662

It's been seven years.

663

It was 2017 in January.

664

Uh, seven years.

665

Uh, seven years.

666

Scripturally, it talks about, it's a,

it's a magical number for some reason.

667

Like it says, how many

times do you forgive?

668

It says seven, 77.

669

So seven years, it's been a journey

from that point to a noun, really, um,

670

becoming closer to God.

671

Uh, I've had kind of, not because of those

words, but things that happen in a way,

672

just really seeing God and, um, Wanting

to, um, have a relationship with him.

673

Um, Curiosity set in.

674

I wanted to find out more about Jesus.

675

More about how he thinks.

676

More about what he wants from me.

677

What is he telling me.

678

Uh, really moved me.

679

And it caused me to want to love him more.

680

Uh, it talks about, you

know, like loving God.

681

And, you know, with all your

heart and soul and strength.

682

And loving your neighbors.

683

I really caught on to that.

684

Um, and then with curiosity.

685

People, I started falling in

love with God's people more.

686

Uh, and um, and just in love, just

getting time with people and finding out,

687

um, interesting things about someone.

688

I realized it was hard for me to love

someone unless I really knew them.

689

You know, talk to them and do

something about them and love.

690

So that's my quest, just

to get to know and connect.

691

Uh, and I started thriving for that.

692

Um, really understanding and

I love hearing brokenness.

693

You know, too, because

there's always opportunity.

694

So many men here has shaped my

life, and women have shaped my life.

695

Just hearing their stories, and so

many have so many great stories.

696

And that's so important to me.

697

Uh, Through the time, grace, seven years

and understanding God's grace and just

698

how broken I am and how many challenges

I've had the whole time spiritually, uh,

699

and just how God has Really understand

how he healed me, uh, through this.

700

Uh, and it does say you have to, you know,

we have this, um, I realized that you have

701

these, we all have these unlovable parts

of us, you know, we can push it away.

702

Don't want to, I don't want to

address it, but it's like loving

703

those unlovable parts of you.

704

And when you can do that, as you

understand God's grace, and then

705

you can love other people fully.

706

And you can love the evils you see

in them, too, you know, so like it's

707

magic to that and this christian

this christian walk is fairly simple

708

It's not we can make it so complex.

709

It's just love god, you know, um, which

you love god You start loving yourself

710

and love other people and I started really

Grasping that it's like i'm gonna love

711

god's people You know regard and this and

and just my my time together with god.

712

I had this quiet time And then,

uh, it really hit me with God and

713

I'm like, you know what, I like,

I feel like I really touching God.

714

I love you.

715

And it's like, I think this

was maybe four years ago.

716

I was like, I think you've got

me for the rest of my life.

717

I mean, really, I think you've got me.

718

I think you've got me here.

719

I mean, that's, and I, you got me

no matter what, because I really,

720

and I, and so I think this,

this statement here, and I do.

721

Um, I do think this appointment

is by the Holy Spirit.

722

I accept it, um, to protect his people,

um, to continue my curiosity with God.

723

Uh, it's going to always be in prayer

as well, so, you know, I look forward

724

to doing this and pray for me.

725

I look forward to what God's going to

do for us in the church, so thank you.

726

Speaker 7: Um, good morning family, uh,

you know, Lisa and I are very honored.

727

Uh, to be taking on this role of

elder and elder's wife, uh, alongside.

728

with some great people, Kenny

and Julie and James and Vicky.

729

So there are some spiritual people on

this team, and that's a good thing.

730

Um, I was convicted the other day

I was talking with James and Vicky.

731

I mean, with James and Kenny about

something, and we were You know, it was

732

a planning thing and whatever, and both

of them were like, Well, I was up this

733

morning and I was praying about this.

734

And I was like, Oh, wow, there's an idea.

735

That's a good idea.

736

Because I was just thinking about it.

737

I was,

738

so I was like, I'm in,

I'm in good company here.

739

This is good for me.

740

But family, we've been through a lot.

741

And, you know, I was thinking coming

here of, of 30 plus years of, of

742

meeting Anaheim Hilton, Red Lion,

Hyatt, Teller Building, uh, the Freeman

743

Forum, uh, we've been everywhere.

744

We've been in parks, you

know, we've been everywhere.

745

And God is not done with us.

746

I mean, that's the temptation sometimes is

to feel like, oh, well, it was a good run.

747

Yeah.

748

All right.

749

Yeah.

750

They found us out.

751

We're not really that, that good,

you know, but you know, I'm always

752

encouraged by the scripture of outwardly

though we are wasting away inside,

753

we are being renewed day by day.

754

And I feel that.

755

How about you?

756

I mean, I feel like I'm wasting away

and yet sometimes we get renewed.

757

We get refreshed.

758

We get filled up.

759

And I feel like this is that time

that God has set aside for us.

760

This year was brutal.

761

Right?

762

I mean, we all feel beaten up,

tired, like, Oh my gosh, I can't

763

handle another controversy.

764

Right?

765

And yet God's like, no, no, no, no, no.

766

See, I am doing something new.

767

Do you not perceive it?

768

And it's, you know, it's hard to hope.

769

It's hard.

770

Right?

771

It's hard to give your heart to, uh,

well, maybe, and, and to have a hope.

772

And yeah, I feel like that's

what God's been saying.

773

You know, it's like, forget the

past, forget the former things.

774

We're moving in a new direction.

775

We're not abandoning everything.

776

We haven't done everything wrong.

777

We did a few things right.

778

We have a great family of believers

here, brothers and sisters.

779

That didn't, that didn't

happen by accident.

780

We were, we were loving each other all

along, you know, sometimes good, sometimes

781

bad, but there's some relationships.

782

Just walking around the room.

783

I mean, seeing John Varghese and like,

I remember when he and I were like

784

the two most arrogant guys on the

basketball team here in Orange County,

785

like talking trash to each other.

786

I didn't like him.

787

He didn't like me, you know, but you

know, he could shoot better than me,

788

but anyway, I'll give him that much,

but he didn't know how to play defense.

789

But, uh, and, and, and,

790

and Ramon and Maureen moving

back and just countless people.

791

I mean, one of the things that

I don't know about you, but.

792

I look forward to heaven, because I

feel like finally there will be enough

793

time to hang out with everybody.

794

Right?

795

I mean, at times Lisa and I sit down

and we're trying to plan out the week,

796

and it's like, there's like 15 people

that we want to, or should, or need

797

to, or just would love to hang out with

and it's like, well, we've only got

798

three evenings free and you know, and

you're constantly feeling that pressure.

799

And I'm sure all of you feel that as well.

800

And so heaven's going

to be great in that way.

801

But along the way, we still have this.

802

And I appreciate what was said

before life to the full, right?

803

I mean, I remember a day when

there was nobody I could think

804

of to talk to about my life.

805

Now, I can't, I feel stressed

out because there's too many

806

people to talk to about my life.

807

And also there's a lot of people that

want to talk to me about their lives, you

808

know, so that gets overwhelming at times.

809

But we need to revel in that, in the

fullness that we share as God's people.

810

And I was thinking about the

scripture that said you are a

811

royal priesthood, a holy nation.

812

And, uh, so, you know, Kenny and

James and I, we may be elders,

813

but you are royal priests.

814

You're the people of God.

815

And, uh, you know, so I think as

we move forward, it's important

816

for all of us to be thinking

where, what's God calling me to?

817

What's my ministry?

818

Who am I ministering to?

819

And not just what am I getting?

820

So anyway, Lisa and I

are excited to serve.

821

We're willing to serve, you know,

this job does not come with, uh,

822

without, you know, some forbearance.

823

You know, I know that it's a hard job.

824

But we're willing because we love you.

825

I mean, we've been doing and many,

many of you have been doing the job.

826

You've been shepherding.

827

We've all been shepherding

in our own ways.

828

And so we are happy to

take part with the team.

829

And I just pray that we can all

throw our hearts back in the circle

830

and, and just see where God's going

to take us in the coming days.

831

I like to think of life as chapters.

832

Um, you know, Kenny was talking about

growing up and everything and, you know,

833

as many of you know, I grew up in New

York City with a dad who was abusive

834

and alcoholic and a mom who was awesome

and loving and, and made us all feel

835

special, and Betsy and I didn't have a

great family start, you know, and yet,

836

you know, we hung in there together, my

sister Evelyn and Betsy and I, close.

837

We love each other.

838

We've been there for each other and

even brought our parents back where

839

we were able to, you know, they were,

Oh, my dad opened up about everything.

840

We all had forgiveness and we wrote a

great last chapter of their lives where

841

they were able to be in the family and

wrote great chapters with Joyce and, uh,

842

with Lisa's dad, Jerry, uh, moving out.

843

And even though he was sick in our

house for five years, In a hospital

844

bed got baptized, you know, that, uh,

you know, family, it takes work, you

845

know, there's time we don't all get

along all the time, but we work at it.

846

And so, you know, there's just

different chapters as we move along.

847

And, um, you know, so I pray that this

next chapter for Orange County is just a

848

chapter that we are all super proud of.

849

Excited by that we can look back

and go, Oh, that's where God poured

850

out his Holy Spirit among us.

851

And we felt refreshed because that's

what being close with God is all about.

852

It's about having life to the

full, feeling the freshness of

853

the Holy Spirit in and around us.

854

So I pray to be walking that walk with

all of us as we write the next chapter

855

in Orange County's long history.

856

So