We Are With You (Dr. West Anniversary)

greetings

Give honor to God, and respect to Pastor Emeritus Horton, Pastor Camell, the assistant pastor at WMBC, all the other pastors,preachers, and ministers. To the members of Good Hope, members of WMBC, to the friends and family of the West. it is good to be here for this occassion

And of course much love and respect to my brother and sister. Dr. Hoszel West and 1st Lady Yolanda West. My wife used to remark, “We love the West so much, I don’t think the Wests know how much we love them”

There is a word this afternoon.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 KJV 1900

4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

Let me tell you why, we are with you!

Intro

Paul and Silas started this church . . . good church, strong church, a church that had persevered despite much persecution

and there was a close and strong relationship between Paul and Silas and this church at Thessaloniaca.

Paul and Silas were humble servants, and the members of the church humbly followed their leadership

This was the scripture from the letter written to them was chosen by the Anniversary committee and it is a good scripture. And God charged me with telling the West why we are with them. And maybe to explain to others who don’t understand, why we are making such a big deal.

I will share 4 reasons from this scripture and we will be through

first Thessalonians two, verse four starts off

But as we were allowed by God

this simply means approved by God, chosen by Go by . . . Paul and Silas were chosen by God to preach to them

Pastor West and his wife are here because they have been chosen by God to be here

Yes, Dr. West was raised in this church

Yes, he has a long family history in this church

Yes, he and his wife put years of faithful service in this church (serving in many and various capacities)

Yes, he went to seminary and worked hard and earned degrees

Yes, they also served faithfully at WMBC for many years in various capacities

I don’t think there is any part of church life, church work, church service, church ups, church downs, church joy, or church hurt that they have not experienced

Their resume is impressive

Yes, Pastor Horton graciously made the opportunity available

Yes, the members voted him in

All of that happened, all of that is true, but the scriptures says that it was God who allowed it, who chose them

promotion does not come from the east or the west, nor the north or the south, but it comes from God the Bible says.

Dr. and 1st Lady West, the first reason we are with you, and celebrate you is due to the fact that God PUT you here

we at WMBC were sad to see you go, yet were excited for you because we believe the Lord called you here

This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes

then the scripture says, “to be put in trust with the gospel”

which means that God has entrusted them with the gospel:

Paul and Silas were entrusted with the gospel for the people of Thessalonica.

The Wests have been entrusted with the Gospel for Good Hope

Dr. West with his pastoring, preaching, teaching, and leadership

Sis. West with her teaching, leading, service to the church, and support of her husband

God has entrusted them with the gospel message that flows at Good Hope Baptist Church

It’s a big thing to be entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ: God is trusting them with the salvation and care of souls

This is a big responsibility for a pastor, a pastor says

I have to make sure they know it

I have to make sure they understand it

I have to make sure they know how to apply it

I have to make sure they grow in it

I have to make sure that they are able to share it

we have to make sure to BE an example of the gospel by our lifestyle

no, that’s not easy, that is a heavy burden and a serious responsibility

So we say to the West, “we are with you” because God has put you here

We say to the west “we are with you” because we know you can be entrusted with the gospel

we have heard you preach and teach the gospel

we have seen you live put the scripture by your daily walk

“even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God

in other words, Paul says that their goal is to please God, and not men

So though Dr. West preaches to you, he is not preaching for you . . . he is preaching for God, and preaching at God’s direction

Though Sis. West does acts of service for you, she is not serving you . . . she is serving the Lord

What does that mean for you?

One thing, it means that every sermon will not be what YOU want to hear

we live in an age of itching ears

people want super positive words every week

people want to be inspired to start a business every week

people want to hear that it’s all good every week

people want to be affirmed every week

that’s why some pastor’s start twisting scripture

because every week they’re under pressure to say something to make the people feel good.

But the true preaching of the gospel is more than feel good sermons

2 Timothy 4:2 NASB95

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

when the word is preached, sometimes you will hear

“ya’ll need to stop doing that”

“that is wrong”

God is not pleased, you gotta do better

thing are tough and it will probably get tougher, so don’t give up

instructions on how to live holy

and so sometimes it won’t feel good to us even though it will be good for us.

but that’s what happens when you have a pastor like Dr. West who is trying to please God instead of people

Let me give you another thing that happens when it is your goal to please God first: you can’t do what everybody wants you to do

someone from the left, “What the church ought to be doing is this

Someone from the right, “What Passa needs to fix is that

someone from the center, “If first lady would just do so and so

Pastors can and should take input and advice, but in the end, they have to do what they believe will please God . . . and that often means that someone will not get their way

So we say to the West, “we are with you” because we believe God has put you here

We say to the west “we are with you” because we know you can be entrusted with the gospel

We say to the west, we are with you, because even though you love us, you ain’t gonna get caught up in trying to please us

we have seen that your focus is on hearing God say, “Well Done!”

which trieth our hearts

God examines the motives of their hearts

when you lead a church, you can have the best of intentions, but when dealing with people, things can go the wrong way

simple miscommunication

someone could have bad understanding one day

some people take out their personal issues on you

some people are no good and they are wolves in sheep clothing

and then sometimes leaders could have done things or handled things in a better way

but whatever the reason, when you are given a hard time, or rejected, or talked about, or put down . . . despite the fact that you know you had nothing but good intentions: it can be hurtful and frustrating

people you loved on saying you never loved me

people you treated well saying that you treated them bad

people you want nothing but the best for, thinking that you are out to get them

in those times, just remember God sees your heart

he knows you intentions were good

he knows your motives were noble

he knows you acted in good faith

and sometimes all you can say is, “God knows”

God knows I meant well”

God knows I wasn’t trying to harm anybody

So today we say to the West, “we are with you” because we believe God has put you here

We say to the west “we are with you” because we know you can be entrusted with the gospel

We say to the west, we are with you, because even though you love us, you ain’t gonna get caught up in trying to please us . . . much respect for that

And we are with you, we have gathered together because we see that you have a heart for the people

You didn’t take this work on because you wanted the title of Pastor or 1st Lady

You didn’t take this work on because you didn’t have anything to do

No, you all have a heart for people

and we want to encourage you that when your best intentions are not received as such, remember that God knows your heart

WE ARE WITH YOU - Deacon Alston story

Mother of Church passed away, funeral this past Tuesday

Right before she had to go to the hospital, her husband, a long time deacon was diagnosed with altimesr (there had already been signs and he was becoming a danger to himself)

When his wife passed away, we were not and are still not sure if understood what had happened (I wondered if God was sparing him the grief of losing his wife of over 40 years)

Last sundy, the Sunday before her funeral, he had a seizure and had to be admitted to the hospital. He could not attend his wife’s funeral. And now has been addmitted to a medical facility for 24/7 care

I visited with him yesterday. I wondered if he would recognize me

he had been so supportive over the years with this time, work, resources . . . it was at the beginning of just this year when he galvanized our church to raise money for the new A/C by personally giving $1,000

So I came in with “hey deacon, I just wanted to check on you!”

he said, “Hey pastor!”

So we talked, I say talked, but I mostly just sat and listened as he rambled on about various things that did not connect or make sense. He kept bringing up some ticket in Alaska (he was army man, an Army Ranger in his youth, so he probably did get a ticket in Alaska)

One time in the conversation he mistook me for someone else. He did mention that there was a death, but he did not seem to comprehend that it was the death of his wife.

Then he finally said, “pastor I know you have to go” . . . and he got quiet and looked me straight in the eye . . “I just want you to know, that I am with you!”

“Whatever you need just call me, I told you when you first became pastor that I would be with you”

in reality, unless God steps in and does a miracle, he will never do anything for me again, yet in that moment he encouraged my soul. . . . he let me know that he was with me

And I believe in this house, at Good Hope Baptist Church, we’ve got some people that will say to this wonderful pastor and wife, “ I am with you”

God has put you here and I am with you

you have a heavy responsibility, yet be encouraged, I am with you

I understand that you must please God above everyone else, and that’s what we need, that’s why I am with you

I know you heart and I am with you, even when things don’t go perfectly

Le me close with this encouragement for every Christian

God is with you, the Bible says

never leave you nor foraske you

nothing can seperate us from his love