Ordination

Introduction

Greetings my friends in Christ. My name is Reverend Michael Scott. I am a Senior Pastor and Acting Director of the Ministry Ordination program for YSPEO. I come to you today from God’s country…the Town of Lindsay in the City of Kawartha Lakes. I’m married with a wonderful wife, 2 grown daughters and a granddaughter too. 9 to 5 Monday to Friday you’ll typically find me in front of a computer working at an accounting firm. But my true love is serving the Lord and it is in that capacity that I am pleased to be with you today.

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge a couple of individuals who have travelled a great distance to be with us today. We have with us Romie from New York. And all the way from Belgium, Uche.

I invite you to join me in a moment of prayer.

Heavenly father, may the words I offer up today reflect the truness of your Word. May those who have ears, hear. May those who have voices, reflect the message you instill in our hearts today. And may we take away a deeper understanding of your plan for our lives. In Christ’s name we ask this. Amen.

Have you ever experienced a moment of clarity in your life that was so profound, that you can point to it and say that particular moment changed the trajectory of my life?

Perhaps it was a societal moment. 9-11 comes immediately to mind for me. Or perhaps something more recent which we are all dealing with: COVID panemic lockdowns. I’m sure you would agree with me in saying these events impacted how we live our lives today.

Perhaps your moments are more personal in nature. The day you were married, the birth of a child, graduations, milestone birthdays, landing that dream job you’ve always wanted.

Perhaps they are stressful moments. Receiving bad news from a doctor. Losing a job, the death of a loved one, marriage breakdowns.

The good, the bad, the mundane everyday moments of our lives make us who we are at this very moment in time.

For those of us called to ministry, we are no different. In fact each of our backgrounds is as unique as the number of people in this room today. Each of our callings into ministry is unique. For some, our calling was a momentous wonderful profound moment of clarity that will ever shape who we are. For others, out of tragedy, God’s hand reached down to us and brought us up to a life of service for His Kingdom. For most of us, it was simply a moment during our mundane ordinary days that brought to light God’s plan for our lives.

It was such a time in Simon, Andrew, James and John’s lives that offered clarity into God’s plan. I invite you to join with me as I read from God’s word today. Matthew 4:18-25.

scripture reading (Matthew 4:18-25 KJV)

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:18-25

And God’s children sang out in Praise Amen!

These simple folk, these fisherman were going about there daily mundane work tasks. And they were called to ministry by Jesus himself. The were called into discipleship.

The word "disciple" literally means a learner. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, it denotes "one who follows another's teaching"But a disciple was not only a learner, he was also an adherent. For this reason disciples were spoken of as imitators of their teachers-- When Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James, and John to "Follow Me" (Mt 4:19), it meant more than to just physically follow Him! THE GOAL IN BECOMING HIS DISCIPLE...

Stated by Jesus on this occasion: "I will make you fishers of men"

Just as they had worked in going after fish, now they would be going after men!As indicated in the Great Commission, they would be making more disciples - Mt 28:19 Stated by Jesus on another occasion: to be like their teacher

WHAT DOES IT COST TO BECOME JESUS' DISCIPLE?

HIS FIRST DISCIPLES LEFT "ALL" TO FOLLOW JESUS...

They left their business and family - Mt 4:20-22As Peter would say later: "we have left all and followed You" - Mt 19:27JESUS EXPECTED THE SAME OF OTHER DISCIPLES...

That He must come before family - Mt 10:37; Lk 9:59-62; 14:25-26That one must be willing to suffer hardship - Mt 10:38; Lk 9:57-58; 14:27Simply put, to forsake all to follow Him - Lk 14:33JESUS EXPECTS THE SAME OF HIS DISCIPLES TODAY...

Its not easy - even Jesus wasn’t understood in His hometown. Resistence from family, friends, co-workers, total strangers is bound to happen. Lean on each other - lean not on your own understanding but on the Word.

As children of God, as we are called into service for His Kingdom, we do face opposition from many around us. There is so much at stake…so many souls lost around us. But we have the tools in our pocket to share with, and perhaps point them in the right direction. We may never see the fruits of our labour firsthand. But, it’s really not about us is it?

And we can be assured ourselves, that we are more than disciples of Jesus. Our relationship with Him deepens and deepens, and we can call Him our friend. Oh my friends in Christ…what a friend we have in Jesus.

I am an accountant by trade. Just finishing up another hectic tax season. Doing my part to give unto Ceasar what is Ceasars! I was born naturally gifted with math skills. Preaching skills, well that came later in life to me bestowed from the Holy Spirit. I became an accountant because, well I didn’t like speaking in front of people. Tuck me in a corner with a pencil and ledger sheet and well, I was in my element. God had a different plan for me. He let me do “my thing” for 40 or so years. Then, one mundane evening He (once again) pushed me…and I finally got it. I finally understood that God was pushing me into doing His kingdom work. I finally accepted the calling into Ministry. That mundane moment was the profound moment in my life that altered who I am. It wasn’t some earth shattering societal pandemic that moved me. It wasn’t some milestone birthday celebration that woke me up to the secret of life. It was a simple one-on-one prayer with Jesus Himself who showed me the way. Well done my good and faithful servant. After all these years I certainly don’t consider myself a professional preacher. But I don’t have to. I’ve given it all to God and in my humble way, I pray I am following His plan.

Anyway, here is a small math analogy for you to consider.

Standing with us today are 6 individuals who have been called into service for God’s kingdom. They have felt the tug of discipleship, and have spent time in discernment and study and stand with us today.

If each of them mentored just one new disciple in the next year, there would be 12 fantastically motivated warriors for Christ before us. If in turn those 12 mentored just one new disciple, in 2 years there would be 24 disciples; 3 years, 48; 4 years 100, 5 years 200; 6 years 400; 7 years, 800; 8 years, 1,600; 9 years 3,200; 10 years 6,400 disciples. Wow.

Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed 5,000. We are witnessing today the potential of multiplying God’s kingdom enormously. Praise God!

And so I ask you my friends:

Which comes first, our families, our businesses, or Jesus Christ and His kingdom?Are we busy building our lives, enjoying our retirement, while the Lord's church suffers?Do we spend more time on fishing and other forms of recreation, than we do on fishing for men?-- How we answer such questions reveals much as to whether we are truly the disciples of Jesus!

May we all be open to the call of Jesus:

"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Let me leave you with this lesson from Paul. Paul has this wondrous way with words that I can only pray to emulate. It is a wondrous message, but moreso, a wondrous prayer:

Colossians 3:1–17 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

And God’s children sang out in Praise Amen!