Workers Meeting - Public Testimony

There are going to be three sections to today’s meeting. There is going to be a devotional over a specific topic, then there is going to be a review and update on expectations that there are for all ministry workers, and then after that, there will be the homework check.

Public Testimony

Today I want to talk to you briefly about your Public Testimony. Though this is something that I plan on being brief on, it does not take away the significance or the importance of the topic. In fact, for those in the ministry (that’s all of you present), this is a very crucial thing.

When I say ‘public testimony,’ what comes to mind? It is your reputation. It is the way you present yourself to the world. The way the world sees you. I want you to know that our public testimony is of utmost importance as a Christian, because it is what is going to be the determining factor of how much your words create an impact in people’s lives.

I want you to notice how crucial our testimony is before the world, and how high of an importance God places on our testimonies.

First, I want you to notice Proverbs 22:1

Proverbs 22:1 (KJV 1900)

1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving favour rather than silver and gold.

A good name here is talking about your reputation, about your testimony before the world. The word testimony means your witness to the world. It is the evidence or the proof of the existence of something. That something, for the Christian, is our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Our testimony is the evidence of that relationship. Do you have a good testimony of salvation, of a public relationship with God before the church and the world?

We do not have time to read it all, but please read 2 Samuel chapters 11-12 so you can see the whole story. Many of you may know the story of what some people refer to as King David’s greatest failure - the story of David and Bathsheba. For those that do not know, I will give you a rundown of it.

David has been king of Israel now for a little while, and he is fighting the Philistines and the Ammonites and the other nations that are still occupying Israels land or are trying to encroach upon it. In a time when he was supposed to be out with his army fighting, David sends his army, but stays back. He has a sleepless night so he goes up to the roof of the palace. As he’s walking around, he spots a woman bathing. He is very attracted to her so he goes and asks his servants to find out who she is. They bring back the report that she is a married woman named Bathsheba, and that her husband is Uriah the Hittite. This is a name that David knows well. Uriah the Hittite has been counted among David’s Mighty Men, think the special forces of the day, for many years. Uriah, of course, is out with the rest of the army, fighting the Ammonites. This should have been enough for David to leave things alone, but he did not. He sends for Bathsheba, has relations with her, and sends her home. After some time, Bathsheba comes back to the palace to let David know that she is pregnant.

David tries to think of a solution, and he comes up with this: He sends for Uriah to come back home for a little R&R. Surely, with him being back home, Uriah will spend some time with Bathsheba and then the whole thing will be covered up. Everyone will think that the child is Uriah’s. David did not count on Uriah’s noble spirit, however. Yes, he had been brought back from the front lines of a fierce war, but because his men were sleeping in tents, he felt bad to go home and sleep in his bed, so instead, he sleeps that night at the palace stairs. Try as he may, David cannot get Uriah to go home.

So now David devises another plan. He writes a letter to Joab, the general in charge of the armies, and sends it by Uriah’s hand. Uriah delivers his own death warrant, because the letter that he gives Joab from the king says this: “Place Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle.” Now this would not have been odd at all, Uriah was a mighty warrior. But the letter continues, “Give everyone a special signal that when they hear it, they know to retreat, but don’t let Uriah know what is going on. Uriah will then be surrounded by the enemy and killed.”

This is David’s cover up plan - murdering his friend so he could have his wife and no one would know his sin.

It happens according to plan and Uriah dies. Bathsheba takes her mourning period, but as soon as that is over, David marries her and the child is born, and in David’s mind, all worked out perfectly. But he gets a visit one day from the prophet Nathan. Long story short, Nathan calls David out for committing adultery with Bathsheba and attempting to cover it up by murdering her husband. David knows that the punishment for both of these sins is death, and repents and confesses his sin. I want you to read with me exactly what happens next.

2 Samuel 12:13–15 (KJV 1900)

13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Before this verse, there are consequences pronounced on David because of his sin, but the rightful punishment of death is taken away. But notice that there is a special punishment for a third sin - David caused the name of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord to be damaged.

What David had done was nothing new in the eyes of any other king, but Israel had a testimony- that they were different, that they served a holy God who hated sin. That they were controlled and led by Jehovah God, and not by their own desires. David had ruined that testimony. With his actions, he had given the enemies occasion to blaspheme God.

David’s testimony was tarnished, Israel’s reputation was ruined, but more importantly, God’s name was dragged through the mud. Because of this, the punishment dealt to David was severe- the son that he had with Bathsheba would die. Seven days later, that came true.

I want you to notice that though David thought he had hidden his sin, God knew about it, but Israel’s enemies also knew about it. David had not been as smooth as he thought he had been.

Do you see the importance of our testimony? It’s not about us, it’s about God. “Well, I just don’t care how people see me or how they think of me.” Good for you, but you should care very much how people think of God because of you, because God cares.

There is not enough time to talk about every aspect of our public testimonies, so today we are going to focus on one particular area- our attitudes. Out of our heart proceeds everything we say and do, and attitudes are a reflection of the heart.

This is probably the most area that affects our testimony, our reputation, the most. Attitudes drive how we talk and interact with others. Attitudes affect the way you do things, even if you participate in things or not. For example: “I can’t believe we have to do homework and listen to a sermon and take notes! I’m not doing it!” I guarantee that if you did the homework and how you did the homework was driven primarily by an attitude, whether good or bad.

Attitudes are not as easily concealed as we may think they are, especially when they manifest against other people. Two Wednesdays ago I showed a picture of what it looks like when Christians pursue anger and frustrations with other Christians. I had ChatGPT illustrate Galatians 5:15 “15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” and this is what it came up with:

Pretty scary. There is no subtlety in that picture. And there is no subtlety when we have bad attitudes toward each other either or toward anything. Everyone sees it, even the world, and it drags your name through the mud, it drags the church’s name through the mud, but most importantly, it drags God’s name through the mud.

So what should I do when I have a bad attitude?

Understand that my attitudes are controlled by myself. So, I need to find the source of my bad attitude. The source is not my parents, my teachers, my friends, enemies, or frien-emies; it’s not your spouse and its not your kids, and if you have ever told anyone that they are the reason that you have a bad attitude, you owe them an apology. The source of your bad attitude is not the car breaking down, your debt, or your sickness. The source of any bad attitude that I have will always be the distance I have from God. 100%. I cannot have joy and have a bad attitude, I cannot help but have joy when I am walking with the Lord. The Beatitudes do not have exceptions - when we allow God to move in us, He produces these Beatitudes in us, and we in turn experience the deepest sense of happiness and joy possible. When I take over my life, when I put my trust in anything other than Jesus, when I start prioritizing my own comfort, my own plans, and my own desires over God’s plans, desires, and sovereignty, I end up with a bad attitude. Fleshly, sinful attitudes are in direct opposition to the fruit that the Spirit produces in us, and I’ll give you a little homework for you to do this week - If you were not in the service two Wednesdays ago when we introduced the series on the spiritual gifts, go back and listen to the service.

You can find it on our website.

a. So, Understand that my attitudes are controlled by me.

b. When I realize I have a bad attitude, repair my walk with God and my fellowship with others (if that has been affected). This is going to take confession. To God, always, and to others whom we have affected. “That’s asking a lot, Mike.” Not according to the Bible, it isn’t. Matthew 5:23-24 tells us that even before we offer our worship or service to God, if we know that we have treated somebody badly, we are to go and try to reconcile with them first. If I know I have done something wrong to someone else, I am to seek them out and make it right. It stinks to humble yourself in that manner, but I’m not asking anyone to do anything contrary to the Bible, nor am I asking you to do anything that I haven’t done countless times myself.

Our attitudes are a prime determining factor of our effectiveness in ministry. I will finish up with this portion with this verse: Proverbs 4:23-26

Proverbs 4:23–26(KJV 1900)

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.

24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee.

25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.

Bad attitudes happen when we are not intentionally walking with the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is never accidental; it only manifests when we are intentionally walking with God.

Expectations

That being said, we move onto the next portion - Expectations.

Almost every other workers meeting we have had I have spoken on unity. Though today I did not speak on unity, unity and the fight for unity is still an expectation that I hold high of each of us.

Unity

Good Attitudes driven by the Fruit of the Spirit- not fake good attitudes, not forced good attitudes

Church attendance - it is important that you be at the church services. I understand we get sick, some people have drill weekends, and sometimes shifts get moved around and you have to work, and sometimes we have vacations, but those should be the exception, not the rule. Whether you like it or not, you are a leader in the church, you are giving an example to those around you. That example needs to be that you believe that the church is important to you. I’m sorry, but, “I’ve had a long day at work and I don’t feel like it,” is not a good reason to miss.

So be here, and not just on the days when you are scheduled to serve. If you are not faithful to your church, then you may not have a leadership role in the church.

Following up on services where you are working in nursery/kids/etc. - When you serve in different ministries like the nursery or the children’s ministry, you miss out on a what the rest of the body is going through in the service. For example: We have been going through a series of messages on the Sermon on the Mount since January. Each one builds on the previous one. This sermon on the mount is the basics of Christian living. When you miss out for a month, you miss what the rest of the church has been building with for the last four or five weeks. The expectation is that you would go back and listen for yourselves and apply these things yourselves. There are many of you that are already doing that and I commend you for it; keep it up. Your particular ministry directors may start following up on you with those things to make sure that you are growing and learning with the rest of us.

Commitment to the ministry in which you serve - this will involve several things. One is that you will prioritize the ministry in which God has placed you. Let me make a side note: if you don’t believe that God has you in the ministry where you are, then step out of that ministry.

Meeting attendance - that means that on the occasion that there are meetings, attend those meetings. In this calendar year, this is only our 4th general workers meeting. So, in the grand scheme of things, we don’t have them that often. Some of you will be going to a teachers meeting this afternoon. In the calendar year, I think that this may be the 3rd or fourth meeting for you as well. Meeting eight times out of 52 weeks is not that much. Please be at your ministry team meetings.

Proper preparation - Commitment to the ministry in which you serve also involves proper preparation. It means that if you teach, you aren’t getting ready for that lesson/craft/game on Saturday night. If you sing, you are familiarizing yourself with the songs as early as you can. If you work in the nursery or teach kids or teens, you are praying for those in your class on a regular basis, not just in your month or week that you serve.

Good testimony that comes with spiritual maturity - your public testimony needs to reflect the values that we represent as a church. Our stated mission is that we exist to make disciples that impact the world with the Gospel. If you are out on Monday cussing at people, treating your coworkers like trash, being a neglectful spouse or parent, and generally not embodying the fruit of the Spirit, you cannot serve in here. “Mike, are you expecting us to be perfect?” Nope, I am expecting you to be Spirit-filled, God-controlled. Does that mean that you won’t sin? No, and it doesn’t mean that you won’t sin publicly either. But it does mean that when you do sin publicly, you publicly make that right. Let’s say that you do go off and cuss out your coworker, as soon as possible, you go and apologize for not treating them with the love that God has told us to treat others. If your public testimony is bad, it is damaging to the church for you to be teaching our kids or for you to be singing with a worship team. So after today, I may be having some uncomfortable conversations with some people about their public testimonies. If I have to do that, you will be asked to step away from ministry for a period of time. Because our public testimony leads us into the next item:

Commitment to a daily walk with God - You should be walking with God daily. And this is what your public testimony should reflect. If it is not reflecting this, then it is more damaging than it is helpful for you to teach or sing about or counsel people to walk with God. We must live what we preach, teach, sing, and say.

Grace - that being said, we need to be willing to give grace to one another. Treating each other with grace is a crucial mark of the Christian. I try my best to treat every one of you with grace, and I ask that you treat me and Tahsha, the Beasleys, the Johnsons, the Pestels, and the Roses with grace. Why did I just mention their names? Because they are ministry leaders who have people that they supervise and direct in their ministry areas. Give grace to them, give grace to me.

Flexibility - This is another big expectation I have. Things change. That is the nature of things. Nothing is perfect, so that means that there is room for improvement everywhere, so things will change. How we do things will change, how ministries are structured will be changed. Be flexible. If you cannot be flexible or be willing to learn to be flexible, then there are certain areas of ministry that may not be too good for you - children, teens, anything that involves directly working with me.

Respect - You may not agree with everyone, but you will be respectful in the way you speak to people and about people. If you don’t like something that I said or disagree with something that I said in a meeting, the respectful thing to do is to come an talk to me about it. If there is a change that has been made and you don’t like it, come talk to me about it. If you’re on a ministry team and the director for that ministry did something you don’t agree with or you don’t like, go talk to that person, respectfully. Treat each other with respect in text groups, and Slack groups, and Messenger groups. If you are trying to “stick it to someone,” that is not respectful. This is a big expectation. It does not matter how talented or gifted you are, if you can’t be respectful, you can’t be in ministry here.The proper attitude about gossip

Honesty - be honest about your walk with God, if you are not right with God, step away from your ministry until you are right. Talk with your ministry leader or Tahsha or me. It does not mean it will be permanent, but like I said earlier, you have to be living what you sing or teach about.

Please understand that these expectations are for us to have unity within the church, for each of us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for us to be able to more effectively impact the world with the Gospel.

Let me ask you a question, do you expect these things from me?

If you cannot abide by these expectations, then you should not be a part of the ministry here at Good News.

Homework Check

Your homework was to listen to the message titled Oh Well by evangelist Steve Pigott.

Before we get into the questions, what are your initial thoughts?

What do the words Oh Well have to do with the passages?

How are we to respond to things that are out of our control?

What attitude should we adopt in those moments?

Name as many ways as you can that this could apply in the the ministries of which you are a part.

Here are some o the passages that he went over.

Proverbs 17:22 KJV 1900

22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: But a broken spirit drieth the bones.

James 1:2–4 KJV 1900

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

situations of life that are less than desirable

even in those situations there ought to be joy

Romans 5:2–3 KJV 1900

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

1 Peter 1:6–7 KJV 1900

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

“One day we will give an account to the Lord about how we handled the bumps in the road.”

Psalm 51:12–13 KJV 1900

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Until we have joyful hearts, we will not be effective in our ministering to others. Until we walk deeply and consistently with the Lord, we will not have joyful hearts.