The Gift of a Pastor

6 · The preacher establishes the sermon's structure and announces the controlling thesis

Now, I think there's some reasons why this is an important text, actually an essential text for all Christians to hear and why Peter has put it in this epistle addressed to all Christians and churches. It's a circular letter. It was intended to be passed around among the churches. And one of the first reasons I think that it's important, uh, is because, well, it's in God's word. But Peter, addressing this to all Christians, could have actually wrote a separate letter to just elders if he had wanted to.

But there's a reason why he's included these instructions here, because not only do elders need these instructions, but it serves us to know what is an elder and what is their function for a number of reasons. I think that'll come clearer as we go through this, but not the least of which is so that we know how to pray for elders, that we know how to encourage them. We should know why they are a gift from God, from the ascended Christ to us. And so this is going to help us this morning. And so with that, secondly, because this is the last official Sunday for Tom being here among you as a pastor and a member of this church, we get to send off a beloved pastor and his wife.

And so there's going to be a lot of emotions. There were already some this morning. There's going to be a lot of emotions and even some sense of grieving about sending off somebody who has meant so much to so many. And yet we're also to be grateful to God. So this text is going to help us this morning and understand and have some categories for how we should actually express our gratefulness to God for giving us Tom Wilkins as a pastor.

And so I believe this, this text is relevant, very relevant for us. Now, if I was gonna sum this up this morning, I would say it this way. Elders shepherd the saints assigned to them for the glory of the Chief Shepherd. Elders, and as we're gonna see, that word is interchangeable with the word pastor. We could put it this way.

Pastors or shepherds shepherd the saints assigned to them for the glory of the Great Shepherd. So I've got 3 points this morning. The first is elders are shepherds. We need to see that elders are shepherds. That's their primary function and purpose, why Jesus has given them to the church.

And then secondly, we're going to look at elders exercise oversight. Elders exercise oversight. And lastly, we want to look at that elders will give an account to the great shepherd. And what I hope we'll see in that is that that is good news for all of us, that that is the case. So let's look at the first point: elders are shepherds.

And to get— really understand this, it would be helpful to have a little context because we're just diving into 1 Peter in this verse. But in this, this letter, this epistle, Peter, he's been instructing all Christians, instructing the churches how the gospel informs the way that we are to live as Christians in this fallen world, and to do so even through suffering and sometimes persecution for the sake of Christ. Peter actually goes as far in chapter 4 as saying that we should rejoice in suffering, especially when we suffer for the name of Christ. And then toward the end of chapter 4, verse 16, 17 through 19, Peter quotes from Ezekiel 9 and reminds us that judgment, he says, begins with the household of God. And at this point, he's addressing the church.

So he's saying judgment begins with the church before it goes out to the world. And if you go to Ezekiel 9, you see that what he's saying, it's not just— it begins with the household of God, starting with the leaders, the elders. And so that's the backdrop to this, because if you look at verse 1, chapter 5, he says, so— or it could be therefore— in light of what I've just said, in light of the fact that judgment— and the judgment he has in mind isn't so much punitive judgment as it is God's loving discipline, his purifying judgment, because he wants the church to be holy as he is holy, to be giving off the aroma of Christ in this fallen world. And one day we will be perfected in glory when he comes again. But right now what he's doing is conforming all of us into Christ, becoming more and more like him, and the world needs to see it.

And so God first begins his judgment with us, purifying us, making us more like Jesus. So what he's saying is, so elders, in light of this, Listen up, this is for you because of your unique role in the church. You need to hear this.

7 · The preacher performs grammatical-historical exegesis on the verb 'shepherd' in verse 2, establishing the biblical synonymity of elder, pastor, and shepherd

And so the first thing he tells us is that elders in verse 2 are to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. This is what he says to the elders. This is their primary role. It's who they are, but it's also their primary role among us. As shepherds. Now, the word that's translated shepherd here is the verb form of the noun translated pastor. Pastor and shepherd are interchangeable words.

That may be different from how you've understood pastor. In fact, in this passage, one thing you'll see is the word— the term elder and pastor are not only synonymous, but they're being used very differently than we see in a lot of denominational settings in the body of Christ today. In some cases, an elder is really more of a voted-in board of directors person, you know, part of the governing side. Pastors, well, we hire them to do all the care or preaching of the Word. They're like two separate things.

But what we find here is they are one and the same. In fact, pastoral work, being a pastor, is the function of an elder. It's what they do. And that's how we see it in this church and in our denominational setting. And that's how Peter is putting it here.

So the first thing that elders are commanded to be and to do is to shepherd or pastor the flock. It's kind of a play on words that Peter's using here. In essence, he's saying shepherds, because a pastor's a shepherd or elder's a shepherd, shepherds Shepherd the sheep.

8 · The preacher unpacks the shepherd metaphor by listing concrete pastoral activities implied by the biblical imagery

Now, although elders and pastors in local churches may have a lot of different responsibilities based on gifting and so forth, you know, some pastors are more gifted publicly to preach, others are doing more counseling or other types of things, but the one thing that is true is that there is no such thing in Scripture as an elder that is not a pastor or shepherd. This biblical imagery of a shepherd caring for his flock is not only rich, but it's very helpful to understand what a pastor is and does. So for instance, you could picture long hours caring for, leading, protecting, nurturing, carrying the weak, seeking the lost, healing the sick. It's a picture of tenderness, Toughness and courage. And that's what a pastor is called to be among the flock that Jesus places them in.

9 · The preacher applies the theological definition of shepherd-pastor to Tom Wilkins's life and ministry

Friends, I would say that Tom, and I hope you agree, has been a gift of a shepherd, a pastor to this church. When I first moved here in 1995, as you heard earlier, I, got to serve as one of the pastors here of this church. I was the lead pastor for a number of years. And when I first met Tom, he was this goofy young guy leading the worship team. And I could fill out why I use that term goofy, but I'll save those stories for someone else to share.

In fact, Tom is still a goofy guy. And as I said to him earlier, Tom, please never stop being that goofy guy. 'Cause I love that about you and your wife. They are so fun to be with. They make life more fun.

So please keep that, your sense of humor and your fun-loving nature is wonderful. But I remember this, though he was this goofy guy, it didn't take long to observe a pastoral heart for the people of God in Tom. And it was a joy to not only watch him, but to be a part of the leadership team that was helping him grow. To the point that one day we sent him to the Pastor's College of Sovereign Grace Ministries. He had a sense of call, and it was time.

It was ready. Now, not all pastors in Sovereign Grace, not all elders, uh, go to the Pastor's College. It's not a requirement, but when it can— when it fits and it works, it is a great means of grace, isn't it, to help someone grow, be prepared for ministry? And so I was here when we sent him Uh, got to have him come back and do an internship with us. And then he was part of the team that sent me out to go lead and plant a church in Canada, uh, at that time.

But I also got to be here and walk from a distance and watch him grow and be a part. I remember coming back for the ordination. It's just been a joy to watch Tom. But toward the end of Tom's, uh, year in the pastor's college, as is often the case there, Jeff Purswell, the dean, And C.J. Mahaney would often write letters not only to the student, but it would go— we'd get a copy in the local church, and this would be an assessment.

And so I, I still remember when we got C.J. Mahaney's letter assessing Tom, or in our copy, in a big handwritten bold letters across it, he wrote, "A pastor!" Exclamation point, underline.

We were not surprised by that, not at all. That's what we saw in Tom, and they just confirmed it. You know, there's a lot of other things that CJ wrote in there, both encouraging and things that he wasn't seeing, things he was seeing that were, I think, helpful for Tom and for all of us to know to pick up on his internship. But no one questioned that he was a pastor. A shepherd that God was giving as a gift to this church.

And in the years that followed, that was proved out again and again. Friends, I would say to you, what a gift from the risen, ascended Christ this church has had in Tom Wilkins. Amen.

10 · Signals the structural shift from the first main point (elders are shepherds) to the second (elders exercise oversight)

And that leads to my second point: elders exercise oversight.

11 · The preacher performs grammatical-historical exegesis on 'exercising oversight,' tracing the verb episkopeo to its noun form overseer/bishop

Exercising oversight actually is an outworking, if you will, of or an expression of shepherding. Look how he puts it here in verse 2. He's saying, speaking to elders, "Elders, shepherd the flock of God that is among you." And notice there's not an "and exercising oversight," it's comma, "exercising oversight." So part of how that shepherding work is expressed involves exercising oversight in the church. And this word that's translated in English oversight is the verb form of the noun overseer, also called bishop.

Another word that is used very differently in a lot of denominational settings today. Often a bishop is thought of as some regional leader over a region of churches, but that's not how it was used in the New Testament. It's not how we refer to it either. These words actually— pastor, you know, elder, overseer, or bishop are all synonymous terms speaking of the same office, because elders are to shepherd the flock of God by or exercising oversight as part of that. So it means they have responsibility to govern and lead, manage the affairs of the church.

In the ESV Study Bible, it says the same thing. The notes there, it says elders are also entrusted with exercising oversight, translating the Greek word episkopeo, which is the verb of the noun form overseer. So there it is again, which is another title for those who serve as an elder. Paul in Acts 20:28, he gathers all the elders in Ephesus together as he's on his way to Jerusalem. And here's what he says to them in verse 28.

He says, "Pay careful attention to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers," using the same word, episkopeo. So he's addressing elders and he's reminding them, the Holy Spirit has made you elders as overseers. And what are you to be doing in your roles as overseers? He adds, "To care for the church of God." which he obtained with his own blood. This is the privilege of every person called and ordained to be an elder, a pastor in a local church, is we get to shepherd and care for the very people that Jesus died to save, shed his own blood for.

And so we're being reminded of that. So the Holy Spirit has made you to be overseers, and that's another key piece that I'm just going to leave there for now. But the bottom line is that elder, pastor, overseer, or bishop, they're synonymous. And elders are called to shepherd, care for, guard, oversee, teach, admonish, encourage, counsel, and equip with the word of God. And all that requires long hours and hard work, sometimes with tears, as we walk with people through all kinds of things in their lives.

12 · The preacher applies the doctrine of pastoral oversight to Tom's lived ministry, listing concrete pastoral actions and citing testimony from Tom's nephew

Sometimes shepherds must go after the wayward, the struggling sheep. And I know many of you here would have testimonies of points, significant moments in your life, maybe turning points in your life where Tom was a means of God's grace to you, you know, where he came to care for you, maybe came in just inquiring, "How you doing?" Came to encourage you, or even in some cases, as needed, admonish you. Came to weep with you, to laugh with you, to sit with you, just walk you through whatever God is taking you through in that moment. I heard a story like this just yesterday morning from Tom's nephew. I call him Bobby, but I know he's known here as Robert, I think, now.

But it was just such a Christ-honoring story that he shared with me of how Tom has been a pastor to him and a particular moment in time that stands out to him. And I know he shared that with him. Tom, you have been used of God to change people's lives. People are more Christlike in this church because of you.

Friends, what a gift from the risen, ascended Christ we have in Tom. What a blessing.

13 · The preacher expounds the first of three contrasting pairs in verses 2-3: not under compulsion but willingly

Now we've looked at what elders are to be and do, but how does this work out? How are they supposed to do this? What is it supposed to look like as they shepherd and exercise oversight in the flock?

Well, beginning toward the end of verse 2 into verse 3, Peter gives us a series of pairs really of what they're not— what they're not to be or not to do over and against what they are to do. And he begins with, in verse 2, "not under compulsion." So shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but rather willingly. So they should never serve it. An elder should never serve out of duty or obligation because, you know, well, somebody's got to do it, or whatever reason. Or maybe they feel trapped.

If an elder feels trapped in serving, that is never a good thing. They're serving out of the wrong motivation.

They're supposed to serve willingly, gladly, that is freely and with joy. And not because it's easy, because it's not. Sometimes it's great fun and it's great to be with the people of God always, but sometimes it's just, it's really hard work, it's labor. Even in those moments, to serve willingly with joy.

14 · The preacher draws on Alexander Strauch to establish the doctrinal claim that the Holy Spirit produces inward calling and desire in true elders

Alexander Strauch, on his book on eldership, says this means, among other things, that the Holy Spirit has planted in the hearts of elders the desire and motivation to be shepherd elders.

And so when we look at an elder and as elderships look at up-and-coming guys, are they being called of God as a shepherd and elder? The first thing that's important is, is there an inward sense of calling and desire? That they're aspiring to this office. If that's not there, a man should not pursue this. It starts with that.

Now, it has to be confirmed by the elders in local church that they are called and gifted appropriately and qualified, but it starts with that.

15 · The preacher applies all three contrasting pairs from 1 Peter 5:2-3 to Tom Wilkins's ministry

Friends, I could say with all confidence, knowing Tom for many years now, I could say with all confidence that Tom Wilkins did not serve this church under any compulsion, but rather willingly and with joy, even during some very difficult, difficult years. I remember when Tom stepped in to actually take the lead pastor role in the church, and not because he was asking for it or even assuming that he was gifted and called to do it, but because there was a need. And after a number of years and his own health under the weight of all that began to fail him some, I never saw Tom serve under compulsion. He served even in the hardest moments with joy.

What a gift you have been, Tom, from the risen Savior to this church. Thank you. Second thing that Peter says is they're not to serve for shameful gain. But eagerly. In other words, with zeal and enthusiasm.

Now, it's right for churches when they can to actually pay or, you know, financially support their elders. It's not always possible to do so. It's not a requirement that a pastor must be paid, particularly in small churches and seasons and times. There are bivocational elders, and in our denomination, that, that is very common, actually. So when they are paid, though, it's also good to pay them well so they can support and manage their households well.

But an elder should never be serving because of the money. It should never be about the money. In fact, if it's just about a paycheck, they should get out of the way. And it should never be about gaining wealth.

Friends, I would say once again, Tom was exemplary in this. We heard from John earlier, his story, uh, he was talking about taking my thunder. This is one of those places, uh, I remember after Ricky took the lead role as senior pastor of this church and the finances, uh, weren't there to be able to support the whole pastoral staff and administrative staff needed. It was Tom offering and volunteering, "Let me go get a job. I'll go back in secular work." Friends, that kind of thing does, as John said, you don't see that anywhere.

What an amazing testimony of his desire to put the church first, even over himself, to have to midstream, you know, change after years serving full-time. To go out and get a job, and yet he still continued to serve this church as a pastor, bivocationally, without pay, with joy.

What a gift from the risen, ascended Christ we have in Tom.

Third, what Peter tells us about how they should serve is they should not be domineering, all right, but rather lead by example, and that means as humble servants. Pastors are not to be positioned or to function like little popes, little kings of their kingdom. And there should— the concept or idea of do not touch God's anointed, which does exist in some circles, should never ever be said of pastors. Nowhere in scripture is that phrase applied to pastors. And I would add this: domineering leadership is unbiblical leadership, period, end of story.

There should be no place for that. In fact, Jesus in Mark chapter 10, gathering his disciples together, listen to what he says to them in verse 42. You know, he says, that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority, that is domineering kind of authority, over them. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be the servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

16 · The preacher narrates the eldership transition story in detail, providing a vivid historical example of Tom's humble servant leadership

Now, one example of humble servant leadership in Tom that I will never forget.

And again, John kind of took some of this, which is great to hear from someone here else who's seen it. But I was there when this happened. I was asked at a point in time to come in and help the local eldership because of my background experience with them and the church, to kind of walk through some serious questions and decisions that had to be made. The church had been declining for a couple years. The finances weren't that not that good.

Tom's health was failing him, and yet he was still trying to serve faithfully as the lead pastor. And I remember as we were talking amongst ourselves, uh, everyone came together realizing that the person among them who was the most gifted to lead, to teach, to preach the word, and to cast vision to the team and to the church was Ricky. The problem was Ricky was young. As I mentioned earlier, he still looks like about 16. It's actually— he has to shave now, which is good.

Um, I'm not sure he was even shaving back then.

But the thing that we realized is though he was young, very gifted and humble himself, there were mature men around him, including Tom. And if they could work together in plurality, not only was it the time and the right thing, but everyone believed it was God's timing that Ricky should take that role. And friends, I wish you could have been there at that moment to just observe the humility in that room of all the guys, but in particular in Tom. Tom, It wasn't just reluctant about it. He was joyfully endorsing the idea.

Ricky is more gifted than I. He's the guy to take this church and lead it into the next— into its future. And he was the one encouraging, yes, he should lead. I mean, think of this. This is the lead pastor, you know, who— and this is before he later offered to go back in secular employment.

But at this point, I'm willing to step out of the lead role, out of the limelight, and let this young man take the lead for the sake of the church. Those are the kinds of pastors the church needs. And what a gift from our ascended Lord and Savior Tom has been to this church.

17 · Signals the structural shift to the final main point and frames it positively as good news rather than warning

My last point, which will be shorter, but I think it's really important— I wanted to squeeze this in here this morning is elders will give an account to the great shepherd. And I hope we could all see this is a good thing.

18 · The preacher expounds verse 4's title 'chief shepherd,' cross-referencing John 10 and Ephesians 4:11 to establish that Jesus is the ultimate pastor who gives undershepherds to care for assigned portions of His flock

We're told in verse 4 Jesus is the chief shepherd. All right? Now John, in his gospel in chapter 10, says that Jesus is the good shepherd. We might understand or remember that more. But Peter's saying he's also referred to as the chief shepherd. So elders are undershepherds of the chief shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd, but in order to care for the flock he has given to the church, Ephesians 4:11, uh, makes that pretty clear that pastors are one of the ministries that Jesus himself gives to the local church. And so the ascended Christ gives pastors, undershepherds, to the church, to his flock, and they've been given a specific charge from the great shepherd to shepherd just an assigned portion of his flock.

So I come here as a pastor of a church in Westminster. I used to be one of the pastors here. I am not anybody's pastor here. I'm a pastor in a church who's been asked to come and preach. But you have elders and you have pastors, and praise God, you had an excellent example of what a pastor should be in Tom, in this church.

19 · The preacher expounds the eschatological frame of verse 4, establishing that all believers—and especially elders—are to live in light of Christ's return

Now, the other thing that we see here in this last verse that we're looking at this morning is that Jesus is coming again. The great shepherd is coming again. Now, all of us are called to live today in light of that final day. We see that throughout the New Testament. Even in 1 Peter, back in chapter 4, verse 7, Peter says to everyone, the end of all things is at hand.

Therefore, and then he goes into a list of imperatives that are giving instructions to us as to how we're to live out our life in Christ together in the context of local church community. And so the basis for how we live, all of us, is based on the fact that our Lord, our Savior, he's coming again. And that's what we live for. That's what we look forward to. And it gives us the, if you will, the motivation that we need in the difficult times especially.

To press through, persevere. And so now what he's telling— what Peter is saying to elders is he's saying, okay, hardworking, humble, selfless, servant-minded elders, you will receive a crown, an unfading crown of glory when the great Shepherd appears, when he returns. So elders need this, and this is a good thing. We all need it, but elders need it as well. And listen, this is not being put as a warning.

Elders, look out, watch out, you know, do a good job because Jesus is going to return and you're going to give an account. The emphasis isn't there. The emphasis is on reward. When he comes, when he comes, you who've been laboring hard and working hard and serving my people as a shepherd, you will receive your crown directly from the great shepherd. That should encourage every elder and pastor.

20 · The preacher issues direct application to the congregation: pray for pastors, encourage them, make their work a joy, and recognize the privilege of sending Tom as a gift to another church

And friends, we needed to hear this. Peter wanted us to hear this so that now we can know how to pray for your pastors, to know what the weight of responsibility that God has given them. So pray for them, encourage them, and make their work a joy to the best that you can. Because in the end, we're all going to stand before him and hear— hopefully we're all going to— everyone here is in Christ. If you're in Christ, you will hear, well done, good and faithful servant.

Friends, as you send out Tom and Lisa today, be grateful for the gift of an elder, a pastor that this church has had in Tom. But consider this, how the Great Shepherd himself is now allowing you, Cross of Grace Church, to be a part of him sending Tom to another sister church of ours who needs pastoral help. So as he's been a gift to you, now you get to send him to be a gift as a pastor to that church. And I know Tom will be a blessing to that church. So let me close just saying one more time, what a gift from the risen, ascended Savior we have had in Tom Wilkins and this church.

Amen.

21 · The lead pastor (Ricky) closes the sermon with pastoral housekeeping and transitions to honoring Tom and Lisa

Amen. Can we thank Tony for sharing the word with us today? Excellent.

All right. Well, we— I want to invite just a second, invite Tom and Lisa up. Also just want to give a note. If you've been like, hey, it seems like there's a little more chattery this morning. Like I mentioned earlier, we've seen an uptick, surprising uptake, from 0 to 60 in our kids ministry.

So we actually hit capacity in our kids ministry this morning. And so if you see a kid around you, you shouldn't be looking at me like, what's up with this kid? You should be like, man, we should always want there to be chattery sounds in our church service because it means that the next generation of kids that are going to follow Jesus after us, by God's grace, are here. I was one of those kids in kids ministry and I sat out in here and probably chattered with my parents. And so we want to encourage you, if you're a parent, you couldn't make it in, if you want to be here, we want you to be here.

So let us know. We're still trying to figure out how to accommodate everybody. But if you let us know, hey, I'm here, I'm going to be here, that actually really helps us. So thanks for doing that. Now, in the first service, I want to invite Tom and Lisa up.

Go ahead, come up. We gave them a gift. We wouldn't want to pretend to re-give it to them. That'd be so weird. Yeah, it's weird.

We did that once when we went to two services. We were like, we gave somebody a gift and then we took it back and then give them again the second service. It was just too weird. But can we show them what we gave them? I think this will be meaningful to the church.

So one part of this is a gift for us and one part is a gift for Tom. On the left, that we're going to start a sort of a legacy wall at our church. Of pastors and other folks that have faithfully served in notable and extraordinary ways. And that stretch, 2000 to 2022— so Tom and Lisa, they helped lead youth ministry, you know, for a number of years before that. Like I said, one year in youth ministry is 7 human years.

So they have served for decades already. But those are the years Tom served as a formal elder in many ways at Cross of Grace Church. So we're going to keep that, but we we gave him this so he could put it in his office in Tucson and not forget us and come back and preach hopefully every year. So with that, I want to let Tom and Lisa share just for a minute about just what they want to express in their hearts for the church. And then I asked them to give us some ways that we can pray for them as we send them off.

So there you go, brother. Thank you.

22 · Tom opens with self-deprecating humor, correcting Tony's account and narrating his own early pastoral incompetence

Well, in God's great kindness and in a way to publicly humble me again, Tony misspoke and said that when he arrived at the church that I led worship. I did not lead worship. So here's the truth of the history of that. I led worship once years ago, and I was never asked to lead again.

In fact, my closest friend said, "You look like you were chanting on stage." I'm just telling you. So also, the first time— sorry, after the first time I ever preached in this pulpit. You want me to tell that one? Yeah. So another I'm a humble guy, so you have to know this, right?

So you all know that's actually pride when someone says that, right? I'm a humble guy. Or if they say, he knows my heart. Yeah, he does. And it's black.

I needed a Savior. After my first time of preaching, Tony and Joe Calabello— Tony was lead pastor, Joe Calabello associate pastor— needed to go to a conference, and I was left to preach again. And they were not going to have that. So they had me— we had been playing a video series on a large-screen TV, which is only that big— push a TV to the middle of this pulpit and play a tape of John Piper for Sunday morning. And it was the weirdest thing ever, but it benefited the church.

They remember. It served the church, didn't it? Thank God they didn't let me preach again. Thank God they didn't let me preach again.

Ricky and the guys— originally it was possible I was actually gonna have like a last time to preach, so I'm not gonna do that. But Ricky said, so if the Lord lays something on your heart— and there were— there's two things that always are rolling around.

23 · Tom delivers two theological claims as his final charge

If I would ever start something or end something, I would want to start and and I would say this. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church, what then is Apollos? What is Paul?

Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Listen to this, so neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. So I think it's right for me to say, as a pastor, our disposition, and your understanding as well, is we really in the end are nothing. We get to stand and exalt Christ.

That's what we're called to do. We get to do that. So in the end, let's let God be honored for any fruit that has been born in this church. The second thing I would have preached is this text, which Ricky preached either last Sunday or the Sunday before.

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. So I think it's right for me to say, you know, as a pastor, but even as a believer, I'm nothing But certainly as a believer, I'm Barabbas in the story, who's been released when I should not have been released, who's been set free from prison of my sin when I should not have been set free from the wrath of God. And yet in God's kindness, I was, but Christ died in my place. So I'm nothing and I'm Barabbas.

So that's all I would have been able to preach. I just would have repeated it. For at least 55 minutes because I never preach less than that, even though I was always told 40 minutes, 40 minutes, 40 minutes. I'm like, great, I got an hour and a half.

24 · Tom shifts to personal gratitude, thanking his mother for evangelism and the church for discipling his entire extended family

Let me say this, I'm grateful to my mother. I'm grateful to my mom. She's present in this service, but I'm grateful to my mother who was the first to have showed me and spoke to me about my need for the Savior. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm also grateful for this church that my family has been part of, but this church has— I'm talking about the members of this church, one to another, the brothers and sisters in Christ. That have come to us and discipled me, my wife, and my kids, and my brother and his wife and their kids, and my other brother and his family.

Thank you. Those of you that have been here a long time, you know who you are. Thank you so much. Those of you that are new, that are in our community group, and we're just now getting to know you, thank you. For discipling us towards Christ.

Thank you to this church.

25 · Tom thanks the succession of pastors who shepherded him, culminating in an extended tribute to Ricky

And also my gratitude for my pastors. Thank you, Chuck and Joe. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Vince.

Thank you for being my pastor. And only encouraging. Thank you. Thank you, Todd, for being my pastor even before you were a pastor. Thank you, Ricky.

You know, we humorously joke about Ricky and his age. You need to know something about Ricky. He was young when we made him pastor. It'll shock you. He was in his 20s.

We made him a lead pastor of this church. Well, what is often remembered is his youth, but what is often overlooked is Ricky has been a lead pastor, has been the lead pastor in this church longer than any lead pastor in its history. This church has been around for about 40 years, and I counted them out: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 8 pastors before Ricky. Ricky has served the longest as lead pastor. Thank you for faithfully preaching Christ week after week after week for 11+ years as our lead pastor.

Thank you. I sent Ricky a picture of a CD. I think it was the first message that he preached in the church, and Lisa had handwritten— Lisa would— she always— if you were in children's ministry back then, you always got copies of the message on tape. Children, ask your mom and dad what that is. And then, but Ricky wasn't the tape era, I was.

And so we just had stacks of stacks of all the other pastors' messages, not mine, in our drawer at home. And then the CD era of the church kicked in, and now everyone's getting copies of the CD. And on Ricky's first message preached in the church, Lisa— and she always wrote, she'd always get a copy 'cause she served everywhere in the church, she would write excellent on the excellent ones. And I have many other CDs from other pastors, probably including Tony, excellence not written on it, but she kept it. She kept it.

That's a good sign. She kept it. But on Ricky's, she wrote excellent. Thank you for excellence in showing us the sense of God's word, the meaning of the text. That points to Christ.

Thank you, Ricky. That's not known about Ricky, and he is no longer 16. He's well into his 30s. Just ask his wife. She hears about it every day.

Oh, goodness gracious.

26 · Tom applies 1 Thessalonians 5 to the congregation, acknowledging they have embodied these one-another commands toward him and his family

There are many here today that have been great influence in my life.

In 1 Thessalonians, it says, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit and do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil.

So many of you ladies have been those things to me.

You've encouraged me and carried me through many a dark time, a difficult time. You've admonished me. You've loved me. You've cared for me, cared for my family, helped raise my children. Tony Walsh, Joe and Kim have helped raise my children.

This is a good church. This is a wonderful church. If you're new here, get planted here. The people here are wonderful. John Piper says, only one life will soon be past, but only what's done for Christ will last.

Thank you. Thank you for being my family for 40 years. We take you with us in our heart as we go. We love you all.

27 · The lead pastor invites the elders forward for prayer, acknowledges the specific prayer requests (grandson Everett and the Tucson church), and invites Chuck (Tom's first pastor) to pray

Excellent. Well, I'd love to invite the elders and Chuck up. We're going to pray for you guys again. Sorry, we are going to pray for you again. Do you not want prayer again?

Well, we would love to pray for you again.

We— well, Chuck's got it. He asked to pray. Oh, Judy gets to come this time. It's great.

Yeah, Tom and Lisa specifically asked for prayer for their grandson Everett, son of Scott and Melody, who is— has a— in utero has a defect in his heart that's going to require immediate life-saving surgery when he's born. So we're going to pray. If you're here for Everett, that's who that is. But also just pray for the church in Tucson, our sister church. So I've asked Chuck, it's one of Tom's first pastors, to lead us in prayer.

You going to be able to do it, Chuck? Sure. Okay. Oh my goodness.

28 · Chuck prays, grounding the prayer in Jesus' promise to build His church and Paul's teaching that Christ gives pastors as gifts

Yeah, I shared during the first service that I'm just so reminded by the Lord of His promise in Matthew 16 where He said, I will build my church. Amen. And that's not talking about a building. His church is all of us.

It's all of these pastors and their wives. It's all of you.

Jesus' promise is, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Tony referenced Ephesians 4 where Paul says Christ himself, Christ himself gives gifts to the church in the form of church leadership. So thankful for all of these pastors and their wives, how they serve us, how they love us, how they shepherd us in every sense of the word that Tony taught this morning. So thankful that this church has been the recipient of pastors who God, who the Lord has sent to help us. Our church was in really bad shape back in the mid-'90s when the Lord sent Tony and Mary from Orlando all the way across the country to relocate their family and to serve this church. And then Joe Calabello.

And then Vince and Christy. Todd and Kathy. How God is faithful. And then he enabled us as a church to send pastors out to help other churches. Paul and Dee, and Keith and Jane, Trey and Charlotte.

It's part of what the Lord does. He helps us. So it's with great joy that we send you guys to Tucson. I mean, we're not the ones. We're just acknowledging what the Lord is doing, right?

And we're going to miss you like crazy.

We're going to care for your mom. Good, because we're leaving her. So let's pray together. Lord, we thank you.

Thank you for Tom and Lisa. Lord, even more than that, we thank you, Lord, that you called each one of us into your family. You adopted us as sons and daughters. Your Word says You give us the seal of Your Holy Spirit. We don't worship You as a God who is far off, but Lord, You indwell us by Your Spirit.

And You place us together in Your church, in Your body. You enable us to enjoy relationship with You, and through Your Spirit, relationship with one another.

It's an amazing thing, Lord, your church.

So Father, we pray for Tom and Lisa and their family as they move to Tucson, that they would be as much and more of a blessing to that church as they have been here to us. That you would watch over them and protect them. That today, Lord, you would fill them afresh with your Holy Spirit that you would empower them and enable them for this new work that you have called them to. Lord, a new season and fresh grace. Fresh grace, Lord, for the work that you call them to.

And we pray for little Everett. Pray for Scotty and Melody. Lord, we pray for healing in his body. Pray for that little tiny heart that's beating so strongly now, Lord, that you would Place your hand upon it and heal him, Lord. Be with the doctors and nurses that will be caring for them.

Just surround them with your power and love. We pray for the church in Tucson, Lord. We look forward to hearing great reports of your work in their lives through Tommy and Lisa's ministry. We pray for their relationship with Derek, his family, Lord, and staff there. Lord, that Your grace would be upon them.

We pray for Evelyn, Lord, that You would comfort her heart. Father, that You would be all that You have been and more to her. Thank You for the Wilkins family, Lord. What a cornerstone they've been in this church. The family that has been here for years that have served unselfishly.

Consistently and honorably, Lord, for so many years. Bless this family, Lord. Continue to bless them. In Jesus' name, amen.

29 · The lead pastor closes with logistical details about the send-off celebration and delivers the benediction from 2 Timothy 2:2, charging the church to continue the gospel legacy of faithful teaching as they send Tom off

Amen. Well, I hope you all will be able to stay and join us for a few minutes after the service. We're gonna have— we've got easy-ups outside. We're gonna have fun. We've got food out there, some of Tom's favorite food.

And we have the aforementioned piñata of Tom. There was— I think it was Evan or somebody who was standing next to me, newer to the church. As we hit the piñata in the first service, and I asked Evan, have you ever been at a church that's done this? That when they have a beloved leader leave, they make a piñata out of them and then bash it? And he's like, yeah.

He's like, no, I haven't. I haven't. Can't say that I have. Well, today you will. I need to give a note about the piñata that is very important for El Pasoans especially.

All right. There is no candy in the piñata. The candy will be handed out when the piñata is broken. We will hand the candy out because of an incident Last time. Okay, so just know that.

Please leave a note for Tom. Take a Polaroid picture and drop it in with an encouraging note. And our benediction— would you stand for our benediction? What a great time today together as a family. Our benediction comes from 2 Timothy 2:2.

And it is the Lord's encouragement to us as we send Tom off, as he's the guy that trained me. The charge continues, brothers and sisters. 2 Timothy 2:2, "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." By God's grace, may this gospel legacy continue in our church. Amen. The Cross of Grace Church, you are sent.